Feeding a family with DH going Eat to Live

[momee]

I need help and recipe ideas. I'm a burnt out mom who doesn't have the energy to drive 35 minutes to town to go to Whole Foods (one way!!!) or 50 minutes to an even bigger town to Trader Joes. Last time we tried to do ETL as a family our budget went completely out the window!

 

My husband IS my ministry so I'm feeling guilty about the lack of enthusiasm to serve him in this way. I want to but I don't have the HOW to, kwim?

 

HELP :) me feed these guys...

[Jean in Newcastle]

Canned or frozen stuff can be bought at Whole Foods even once a month if you have a freezer and adequate pantry space. Do you have farm stands closer by? Fresh produce needs to be bought more frequently. (Also if there is a Costco in the big city then you might consider getting some freezer/pantry items there. Costco does have some organic items.)

[abbeyej]

Well... Do you have access to good produce closer to home? That's the thing you really need. Lots of leafy greens, other veggies, fruits...

 

Dry or canned beans (dry are much cheaper and if he'll eat the same kind for a few days running, you can just make a large pot of beans twice a week, and the work load isn't too high) will keep pretty much forever, so you can buy those and store them. Nuts and seeds will keep much longer if you put them in the refrigerator or freezer (otherwise they can go rancid in the heat)...

 

Grains are so limited with EtL that you could probably get by with a couple of loaves of sprouted grain bread in the freezer and they'll last you quite a while. That and a canister of steel cut oats.

 

But the main thing comes down to produce. Lots and lots of produce. You can keep a few frozen things on hand... But with EtL you'll still have to have access to a lot of fresh things.

 

But if you have the produce, you can keep the Whole Foods trips to once every couple of months. (And much as I love TJ's, I think you'd be better off with anywhere that you can get good produce and the very occasional trip to WF's -- TJ's doesn't even carry dry beans...)

[momee]

Thanks for the suggestions. While it's summer we have a local farmer's market that's just in high gear now so I think we'll be okay there.

 

But it's the cooking! the recipes, the having stuff on hand I need.

I feel like with ETL I am making EVERY meal for all 6 of us from scratch.

That's alot of cooking three times a day.

 

No cereal, no milk even, no eggs, no bacon, ssg etc. Not even pancakes.

 

Lunch - no bread allowed - a salad is doable but that does not fill up a 16 yo boy.

 

Dinner - this is the kicker. I have been feeding my guys garb. beans and black beans and so forth but they want food :) like shepherds pie, bbq sand, hamburgers and sweet pot. fries. Dh doesn't want to eat that, bless his heart.

He'd love sauteed veggies, fresh black bean burgers, and a huge salad.

KWIM?

[gaillardia]

I wanted to incorporate the eat to live diet in our home, there are usually 9 of us. One will only eat peanut butter.:001_huh:

It is so expensive! I know, fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, legumes and grains, no simple carbs, no dairy, no meat.

We've been trying to change our diet for years. A year ago dh was having health issues and I informed him his meat eating days were over. He looks like he has lost weight, but didn't really lose but maybe 10 pounds (he's at 165).

Yeah, you're going to have to adapt to the diet yourself.

I agree with what Abbeyej wrote.

Can you get a container garden started? The leafy greens don't take up much room and do better in cooler temps, so starting them from seed now would work well. They mature quickly.

Every four days you might have to run out for fresh vegs/fruits.

We don't have too much in the way of farmers markets around where we live.

I'll post some recipes in the next uh,,,24 hours?;)

[Food4Thought]

Well, this is actually the first I've heard of the ETL diet, but I'll pitch in a few ideas. If you've got the summer squash/eggplant/zucchinis at the farmer's market, your DH & kids might like ratatouille: http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/07/rat-a-too-ee-for-you-ee/

 

Green smoothies are really the way to go in order to get all those greens & fruits and still feel full. Check out Green Smoothie Revolution from your library for some great recipes. There's nothing too rare here - if you've got strawberries or blueberries frozen in your freezer, you're good to go. You can add hemp protein powder to any of them for an extra protein kick (but I'm not sure if that adds fat to the diet??).

 

Are you putting the whole family on ETL, or just DH?

 

I don't shop at any of the specialty stores, even though my family is gluten-free, dairy-free & additive- and coloring-free. I shop the outer aisles of the grocery store (produce, mostly) and avoid anything processed. (We do, however, eat a lot of rice - which I see is not allowed in ETL). August is a great month for all sorts of good produce!

[abbeyej]

Okay, I would try to focus on cooking meals that will work for your husband with "extras" that can make them more satisfying for the kids. For instance, a big pot of red beans and a salad for your husband is great. For the kids though, also throw on some brown rice and pull our some shredded cheese. That way they have red beans and rice with cheese (more protein, fat, and total calories) and a salad as well. Or if your husband has a black bean burger, the kids get buns and cheese... Serve all dressing on the side, so your husband can use something fat free and low cal (juice or salsa-based, perhaps), but the kids can throw on something with more olive oil. If he has a baked potato with salsa and a salad and a big plate of roasted broccoli, then the kids can put full fat plain yogurt on their potatoes, eat more potatoes, and add in cheese or even bacon (if the smell won't make your husband crazy). If you make fresh green beans, just blanch them for your husband and toss with tiny pieces of orange. But for the kids, toss their beans back in a pan with a little butter or olive oil and a handful of slivered almonds.

 

Think about ways to give the kids larger servings of unrefined carbs (more whole grain or sprouted bread, brown rice, baked potatoes or sweet potatoes), or add healthy oils, butter, cheese, nuts, etc into their meals (without changing the overall structure of what you're cooking for your dh). If he's having a gigantic salad, make sure they have more croutons and olives, nuts, seeds, cheese, dried fruits, etc, to add on.

 

Now, if you're trying to make the whole family go vegan during this time, obviously you'll have to stick to giving them larger servings of unrefined carbs and nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and oils...

 

But find ways to make what your dh needs -- and then (with relatively little work for you) bulk them up for growing kids who need more calories and more fat. (If they're eating all of the beans and the nuts and seeds he's allowed, they're probably okay for protein -- if not, and if you aren't trying to make the kids eat a mostly vegan diet as well, you can slip in some simple lean meats and cheeses as well...)

[rafiki]

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[rafiki]

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[smrtmama]

Dh doesn't want to eat that, bless his heart.

 

 

Then it's time for DH to start cooking his own meals.

 

It's unfair and inappropriate to expect the whole family to eat the specialty diet he wants or to expect you to prepare special meals for him three times a day.

[Ferdie]

Then it's time for DH to start cooking his own meals.

 

It's unfair and inappropriate to expect the whole family to eat the specialty diet he wants or to expect you to prepare special meals for him three times a day.

 

:iagree: I probably wouldn't try to put your whole family on ETL.

 

One idea would be to subscribe to a super simple menu planning service to use with the rest of your family. E-mealz.com would be good because their dinner prep is about 15 minutes which would give you extra time to make something for your dh. Also since they shop store specials, a week of dinners cost about $75 for a family of six which would give you extra money to buy his special items.

 

I would also encourage your dh to make his own breakfast, (how about a green smoothie) and lunch, (maybe leftovers from dinner). My dh makes his own breakfast and his is okay with that.

 

You could also get a vegetarian crockpot cookbook from the library, (Robin Robertson has one). If you made a recipe early in the day when you have more energy you could also use it as a side dish with an e-mealz.com entree. I made her No Hurry Vegetable Curry last night and two of my kids went back for seconds. There was also a large bowlful leftover for lunch today. Yum!

 

 

You can do this!

Edited August 13, 2010 by Ferdie

[musicianmom]

Okay, so the basic ETL plan is this: 1 pound of raw veggies, 1 pound of veggies cooked, 1 cup of beans, 1 ounce of nuts, 1 serving of whole grains, 1/2 avocado, flax seeds (not sure of the exact amount), and 1/2 an avocado daily.

 

When I was doing ETL alone in my family, this is what I ate:

 

breakfast -- whole-grain cereal with soy milk, topped with flax seed meal(the soy milk isn't on the diet, but I wanted the extra calcium as a nursing mom), fruit

snack -- nuts

lunch -- large salad with half an avocado, 1 cup of beans, more fruit

dinner -- another large salad and a large plate of cooked vegetables

 

There was no way I could handle the fancy recipes in the ETL book with no one else in my family participating. With this plan, I simply added a meat entree at dinner for the family. The kids usually eat their "kid food" at breakfast and lunch anyway.

[gaillardia]

I'm sorry, Momee, I am a bum on the forum now and don't feel like doing recipes... :tongue_smilie:I said I would post recipes.

Do what you can for your husband, let him do the rest.

My 15yodaughter and husband have been eating without beef, pork, poultry and other four-legged creatures for over a year. Daughter doesn't get as sick or as often as the rest of the family.

Have you read the book? That is what makes the mortar to the program. You have to understand: why not this food, why not that one, to be able to put it into practice.

Soy milk bloats me, adds too much fat or something. I use juice in place of milk for myself...

for those who have not btdt, this diet advises as much raw vegs as possible as the primary food source.

[jld]

You may want to try the McDougall diet, or at least look at the website. It's similar to ETL in that it's a low-fat vegan diet (it doesn't allow added oil, however). It's a lot cheaper and easier than ETL, and much easier to fit to the whole family. The website is free and has lots of friendly people eager to answer any questions you may have.

 

Good luck, whatever you do.:)

[tiffijo1]

this sounds like great advice...something that I strive for in our house!

[Margaret in GA]

I think you need to follow the diet too. Maybe not put the kids on it, but do you have a real reason not to be on the diet- like a health restriction? The reason I say that is because you would benefit from it , feel the results, and would be therefore more willing to sacrifice some of your time for this awesome lifestyle change. I think your whole family will benefit from eating more fruits and vegetables- even if you just supplement their diet as Abbey suggests. My two cents is that most of us would *love* if our husbands wanted to eat more healthy ;) So, read the book, get psyched and see this as a positive thing!

[Luckymama]

My guys are meat and rice/potato and veggie/salad guys. We mix two packets of Liption onion soup mix in with 3 lbs on ground turkey and 1/2 C of water for the best turkey onion burgers, then eat without the buns.

 

It's really not harder, just different and is more expensive IF you only look at the grocery bill. How does one quanitify the improvement on your health?

 

Michele, do you really use Lipton brand dry onion soup mix or a different brand? I haven't looked at it in three years, since dd was diagnosed with a soy alllergy, but I remember it containing some soy product (protein isolate?). If it doesn't anymore, dd will be SO happy because she really misses the sour cream dip!

[rafiki]

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[Luckymama]

Thanks Michele! The mix used to contain a soy protein according by my notes. She is going to be one happy teenager at Thanksgiving :)

[Laura Corin]

I follow ETL. I tend to keep some cooked beans on hand. Otherwise, I just make two veggies, a fruit, a protein and a starch for lunch and dinner, but I just eat the veg. So it's very little different from what I did before, except that I make more of the veg/salad dishes.

 

So, for example, I cooked store-bought ravioli for lunch today and we had a tomato/cucumber salad and fresh blueberries. The boys ate everything; I just ate the salad and fruit but lots of it.

 

Laura