General Wanna talk about cooking for your vet who dislikes alfalfa sprots?

[dulcia]

Lasagna

• 1 pound ground beef (I substitute with ground turkey)
  
• 3/4 pound pork sausage roll
• 3 cans (8 ounces each) tomato sauce
• 2 cans (6 ounces each) tomato paste
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 3 cups (24 ounces) 4% small-curd cottage cheese
• 1 carton (8 ounces) ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 9 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained (I use Barilla protein pasta or thinly sliced zucchini)
• 6 slices provolone cheese (about 6 ounces) (I use 4 slices)
• 3 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided (I use 2 cups part-skim fresh mozarella slices instead of shredded)

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook and crumble beef and sausage until no longer pink; drain. Add next seven ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Adjust seasoning with additional salt and pepper, if desired.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add parsley; stir in cottage cheese, ricotta and Parmesan cheese.

Preheat oven to 375°. Spread 1 cup meat sauce in an ungreased 13x9-in. baking dish. Layer with three noodles, provolone cheese, 2 cups cottage cheese mixture, 1 cup mozzarella, three noodles, 2 cups meat sauce, remaining cottage cheese mixture and 1 cup mozzarella. Top with remaining noodles, meat sauce and mozzarella (dish will be full).

Cover; bake 50 minutes. Uncover; bake until heated through, 20 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting. Yield: 12 servings.
Zoodles and Meatballs

For the meatballs:

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 3/4 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs, or you could use seasoned
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

For the noodles:

• 2 medium zucchinis zoodled with a spiralizer
• Your favorite pasta sauce

1. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil and non-stick spray. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
   
2. Place all the ingredients for the meatballs in a large bowl. Using your hands, gently work all the ingredients together, careful to not overwork the meat.
3. Using a cookie dough scoop or two tablespoons, scoop meat into individual balls (about 1 1/2 inch round) and place on the prepared baking sheet. Once all is scooped, form the meat into balls and place on the baking sheet. (The meatball mixture makes roughly 30 meatballs. If you're cooking for less people, freeze 20 of them in a freezer-safe plastic bag or container.)
4. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until no longer pink in the middle. (I flip them over about halfway through.)
   
5. For the zoodles, you can either just blanch them in hot water and add sauce on top along with the meatballs or you can throw them into a skillet and cook them until softened and pour sauce on top along with the meatballs. (The zoodles will cook very quickly in the skillet, if you leave them on too long, they may get mushy.)

 

[LuckiLee]

For your candy bar dilemma I started buying the sweet and salty granola bars. Not sure how healthy they are but at least you get a few nuts and oats too. :)

 

[Never_falter2]

So I to give @dulcia a recipe for strawberry banana smoothie.

You need:
Strawberries
One apple
One banana
Some water
Some milk
Vanilla sugar

Just out the banana and apple in the mixer with some water, mix, add the milk, strawberries and vanilla sugar. Done.

Rasberry Smoothie:

You need:
Raspberries
Apples
One banana
Frozen berries (where I am from typically contain strawberries, currants, blue berries and so on)
Water
Vanilla Sugar
Just mix

 

[Cflr]

Please join me. He wants to loose weight and we agreed to cook more healthful, but he likes savory...

If he likes pasta ther are some now made with a mix of grain and veg. Taste just like regular durham wheat pasta but have appreciably fewer carbs. Ask your grocer.
I also cheat on things like chili by pureeing carrot or squash or similar to include in the meaty chili. Of course you need to tailor it to your recipe. Dont over do it. You can doctor spaghetti sauce as well. Remember, onions are vegetables.
Serve the veg he likes, cooked the way he likes, as often as he will eat them. You can always make yourself a salad if you get tired of brussels sprouts, for instance. I try to include rice or potatos but only make enough for a moderate portion each.
Don't buy the stuff you/ he will binge on.
It is never easy. Good luck.

 

[Cflr]

One of my favorite "healthy" substitutes? Baked chicken/veal/pork parmesan (or schnitzel). Pound your...

Hypocrite! I like it! btw ur making me hungry!

 

[Fadeaway]

Sour cream is actually not bad health wise.

Avoid processed foods as much as you can. If he craves things like cream cheese, sour cream and cheesecake, he may not be getting enough healthy fats in his diet. Omega 3 fats are good, omega 6 fats are the problem.

If he loves sour cream, the Greek yogurt was a great suggestion. Kefir is also something he might like. What about something like cheesy broccoli? Could you list more foods that he does like, just to get an idea of what direction to go in?

 

[Never_falter2]

@Fadeaway: Many of the things he likes are actually German. I am not sure of you know them. One of hisfavourite dishes is called "Jägerschnitzel" (hunter's schnitzel). What's that? It is basically a breaded schnitzle, which is fried, then add a sauce from mushrooms, onions, cream, sour cream, butter. It is served with fried potatoes.
He likes "Schmandkuchen" a cake us Germans make from sour cream very much.

Another German Food he likes are dumplings with sauce or "Reibeplätzchen", ah... this even has a translation potato fritters... with apple Sauce.
OTOH German food is not even his favorite food. I think he like Mexican best.
BTW he loved the tang chicken meat loaf recipe @Sweetpea76 posted. More of this please :)
The zoodler did not work out for us. They became mushy :( still working on them.

Other things he likes:

Chili
Solyanka
Goulash
Sunny side up
Cup cake
Fried chicken
Lasagna
Chicken wings
Egg salad
Roast

Stuff like this.

 

[dulcia]

The zoodles you just barely barely need to cook or they will get mushy. I mean just maybe two to three minutes in boiling water, especially if you like them crunchier. My vet loves schnitzel and potato fritters with apple sauce! Only way I can think to make schnitzel healthier is to bread and bake the meat, instead of bread and fry. And then you could also bake the potatoes (broil them in the oven a bit at the end to make them crispier). The potato fritters? You could try substituting sweet potato, but it will taste a bit different.

 

[dulcia]

So this isn't exactly a cupcake, but a muffin, but maybe you can play with the recipe to better fit his taste. I made these for breakfast for my guy once and he didn't realize they were healthy until I told him ;)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 bananas
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon olive or coconut oil
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup nonfat plain greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 12 cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
2. Add bananas, honey, vanilla, oil, egg, milk and yogurt to a blender. Blend on high for 1 minute or until well combined, smooth and creamy. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips.
3. Divide batter evenly into muffin tin and bake for 20-25 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Cool muffins for 5 minutes then remove and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Muffins are best served warm and even better the next day. (Muffins are freezer friendly! Simply place in ziploc bag or airtight container and freeze up to 3 months. When ready to eat, microwave for 30-45 seconds or thaw out.)

 

[Sweetpea76]

Ok... Goulash! That'd be an easy one to swap chicken/turkey out for the pork/beef that'd you'd regularly use. It's basically a stew with lots of veggies anyway. The fattiest part would be the stew meat. Just use the recipe he already loves and change the meat to turkey/chicken. My Hungarian grandma wouldn't even complain about chicken in the Gulyásleves... well maybe, just because she's Hungarian and Hungarians like to argue ;).

I'd start with the meat, then if you add potatoes to your goulash, cut the number of potatoes gradually each time you make it until they're gone. Maybe he won't miss them if you taper him off. Then you'd just have to find a substitute if you add csipetke or noodles. Maybe a whole wheat pasta or the zoodles?

Also, chili... have you ever tried a white chili? They're popular over here in the US, lower fat, and pretty tasty! White Chili I Recipe

 

[Never_falter2]

Don't really think Hungarians like to argue. I just think they are a proud people. I spend many summers at the Balaton and grew to like them. :)

I am surprised your vet likes Reibeplätzchen (potato fritters) I never knew those were even known in America until I googled it yesterday when you said he lovedthem. I thought it was a German food and was so surprised a translation existed. Same for schnitzel. I think @grimalkin mentioned them too. Are those foods common in the USA or is it a rare delicatesse like sushi?

My vet can do great potato fritters. We grow potatoes and onions in our garden and my guy bulkcooks potato fritters from those. They can be stored in the fridge. They taste great... and the apple sauce is from our own apples when it is harvest time. Soon we will have our own apple sauce again.
It is basically fresh apple sauce which is not cooked but you grate apples, add a little vanilla sugar. Done!
Working in the garden is great for his mood and brings us together as a family. However. I am not sure if this is health food... but yesterday I googled potato fritters and found out there are recipes that include zucchini or squash. Maybe I can convince him to try one.

 

[dulcia]

My guy spend time in Germany as a kid (military brat) and stationed there as an adult so he has a specific fondness for German food ;) Plus we live near a town with strong German roots, so we get some okay schnitzel pretty easily here, as well.