I need to learn to eat and cook healthfully.

[mo2]

Does anyone have a favorite book or website where I can learn some healthy, not-too-difficult recipes and tips for cooking healthfully?

[anmom]

100 days of real food bologna. It is wonderful!

[Soror]

Whole foods for the whole family

Simple basic recipes- lots of recipe makeovers so it isxfamiliar food.

[mom2samlibby]

We've been enjoying the recipes from here.

 

http://deliciouslyorganic.net/

[Jen in PA]

Hello...infused vodka! :lol:

 

That site looks great.

 

:lol::iagree:

[Mandylubug]

I liked reading Dr. Oz's book You on a Diet. It was quite informative. Some recipes were good and it helped me get on track with my cooking and eating. I will be honest and say I thought his "diet" was an expensive diet. I spent over 200 one week to follow his diet for my entire family. We just can't afford that. Anyway, it was an interesting read and was worth it.

[Greta]

For quick and easy but still healthy, I'd take a look at this and this.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

 

This lady's blog has good health ideas and recipes.

[vmsurbat]

I've found a lot of good recipes at http://www.eatingwell.com

[mo2]

Thanks for all the great links.

[Alphabetika]

I love the Simply in Season cookbook. It is arranged by season, so you can cook according to what is most fresh and plentiful - bonus if you have a farmer's market. You can look up recipes in the index by main produce ingredient (there is also a section for grains, herbs, etc) and also by recipe name. The recipes are very simple and we have liked every one that we've tried so far.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Simply-Expanded-Edition-Community-Cookbook/dp/0836194942/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340093099&sr=8-1&keywords=simply+in+season

[anmom]

100 days of real food bologna. It is wonderful!

 

Just noticed this said bologna and not blog! Stupid spell check!

[Melinda in VT]

Just noticed this said bologna and not blog! Stupid spell check!

 

:lol:

 

This makes so much more sense now! I thought, Bologna, really, on a thread about healthy eating??

[sparrow]

I've been using the Saving Dinner cookbook for years. It provides healthy recipes and a shopping list for a week's worth of dinners, divided seasonally. My book is literally falling apart from use.

[elfgivas]

what worked for us:

minor modifications over a year then some dramatic changes. this seems long, but we did it step by step so that we didn't get overwhelmed.

 

eg.

gradually moving from whole milk to 2% to 1% to fat free

making sure there were two veggies with every cooked meal

reducing meat quantity from 8-10ounces a meal to 6 ounces a meal to 4 ounces a meal to 4 ounces once a day to 4 ounces every other day.

 

making sure there was tons of fresh fruit available all the time

gradually moving from white bread to cracked wheat to whole wheat to multi-grain.

 

and then fixing meals. first was breakfast. i started making breakfast, not opening a box. this is when i started to need recipes. the cookbooks by Janet Podleski and Greta Podleski (looneyspoons, crazy plates, eat shrink and be merry....) helped a lot. having a plan helped a lot. so everyone had a piece of fruit instead of juice, and then we would make healthy muffins, pancakes, etc. (no meat). i only used recipes with under 30% fat, which is a healthy number, not a "low fat" number. and i cooked from scratch.

 

next up was fixing lunch...... i learned to make soups out of just about anything, we baked our own bread using a bread maker, which was super easy, super tasty and helped more than any other single thing to bring the kids on board.

 

then we fixed dinner. this was harder but we'd already gone to two veggies and less meat.

 

then it was snacks and sodas. we kept them in to make all the rest easier, and tried various "healthy" snacks. we simply stopped buying any chips, chocolate, cookies (not made from scratch you know ; ).

 

we added in homemade "fast" food..... homemade chicken nuggets, oven baked fries, "slider" hamburgers (because they are small and you can tailor them to have the right amount of meat and calories) etc. this helped us not feel deprived of our "special treats", but had the unexpected effect of making most commercial fast food taste really, really bad. it made the next step, eating out only for special occasions rather than fun or convenience, easier.

 

time for drastic:

we went to not eating anything i didn't make from scratch, putting the scale in the kitchen beside the refrigerator, and signing up for an organic coop, so our meal planning was centered around fruit and veggies, not meat, throwing out any unhealthy "food" that had crept back in... i think if we'd started there, we would have had a rebellion and failed miserably. because we were so far down the road, this seemed like the next step, and was what helped dh and i lose the weight we needed to lose.

 

:grouphug::grouphug: good luck,

ann

[julzar]

Thanks for sharing elfgivas! Love the step by step, slow and steady. It is so easy to get overwhelmed when you try to change everything at once.

[Parrothead]

:lol:

 

This makes so much more sense now! I thought, Bologna, really, on a thread about healthy eating??

Funny. My first thought was the "book" was about food from the Bologna region in Italy. :D I was on my way to look for it on Amazon.

[Parrothead]

what worked for us:

minor modifications over a year then some dramatic changes. this seems long, but we did it step by step so that we didn't get overwhelmed.

 

eg.

gradually moving from whole milk to 2% to 1% to fat free

making sure there were two veggies with every cooked meal

reducing meat quantity from 8-10ounces a meal to 6 ounces a meal to 4 ounces a meal to 4 ounces once a day to 4 ounces every other day.

 

making sure there was tons of fresh fruit available all the time

gradually moving from white bread to cracked wheat to whole wheat to multi-grain.

 

and then fixing meals. first was breakfast. i started making breakfast, not opening a box. this is when i started to need recipes. the cookbooks by Janet Podleski and Greta Podleski (looneyspoons, crazy plates, eat shrink and be merry....) helped a lot. having a plan helped a lot. so everyone had a piece of fruit instead of juice, and then we would make healthy muffins, pancakes, etc. (no meat). i only used recipes with under 30% fat, which is a healthy number, not a "low fat" number. and i cooked from scratch.

 

next up was fixing lunch...... i learned to make soups out of just about anything, we baked our own bread using a bread maker, which was super easy, super tasty and helped more than any other single thing to bring the kids on board.

 

then we fixed dinner. this was harder but we'd already gone to two veggies and less meat.

 

then it was snacks and sodas. we kept them in to make all the rest easier, and tried various "healthy" snacks. we simply stopped buying any chips, chocolate, cookies (not made from scratch you know ; ).

 

we added in homemade "fast" food..... homemade chicken nuggets, oven baked fries, "slider" hamburgers (because they are small and you can tailor them to have the right amount of meat and calories) etc. this helped us not feel deprived of our "special treats", but had the unexpected effect of making most commercial fast food taste really, really bad. it made the next step, eating out only for special occasions rather than fun or convenience, easier.

 

time for drastic:

we went to not eating anything i didn't make from scratch, putting the scale in the kitchen beside the refrigerator, and signing up for an organic coop, so our meal planning was centered around fruit and veggies, not meat, throwing out any unhealthy "food" that had crept back in... i think if we'd started there, we would have had a rebellion and failed miserably. because we were so far down the road, this seemed like the next step, and was what helped dh and i lose the weight we needed to lose.

 

:grouphug::grouphug: good luck,

ann

This is great advice. We are still having problems with convenience foods and eating out since I'm the only one who cooks. I get bored with the constant cooking and often don't have time for it 3 times a day.

[justLisa]

Yeah it's difficult. I love to cook, but cooking everything from scratch can be tiring sometimes.

 

I made a mental list for myself, of all the non scratch things I am fine with on a daily. Between Trader Joe's and Costco, I have found well priced, and healthy/yummy things we all love that I don't have to make.

 

My sanity matters. When I was feeling like I had to make absolutely everything I was miserable. And I mean all of our bread products as well. That meant a loaf of rye for certain things, hamburger buns, sausage buns, etc. Just too much.

 

The biggest thing for us is having a well stocked produce bin. Every dinner has a couple veggies or a fruit and veggie. My kids love salads. I am not in the low fat is better camp, so I buy good quality dairy and cheeses for snacks. My kids love a snack of good crackers, cubed cheese and tons of fruit.

 

For dinners you just need to learn to cook a few staples, and then you can change things up. Once I learned to make perfect roasted chicken you can do so many things with that. Good soups can become a staple. Things like homemade pizza are a treat but good for you and can be quick and easy.

 

I think eating healthy is fairly easy if you just stock your cupboards with the right things and include a lot of produce. I like this quote from Michael Pollan: "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants."

 

I would recommend In Defense of Food. It's just a great book that simplifies healthful eating. I really love the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks! Sure she's got some desserts on the menu and she uses real butter, but she cooks with fresh ingredients and makes simple food. Moosewood cookbooks are centered around lots of veggies.

[mo2]

what worked for us:

minor modifications over a year then some dramatic changes. this seems long, but we did it step by step so that we didn't get overwhelmed.

 

eg.

gradually moving from whole milk to 2% to 1% to fat free

making sure there were two veggies with every cooked meal

reducing meat quantity from 8-10ounces a meal to 6 ounces a meal to 4 ounces a meal to 4 ounces once a day to 4 ounces every other day.

 

making sure there was tons of fresh fruit available all the time

gradually moving from white bread to cracked wheat to whole wheat to multi-grain.

 

and then fixing meals. first was breakfast. i started making breakfast, not opening a box. this is when i started to need recipes. the cookbooks by Janet Podleski and Greta Podleski (looneyspoons, crazy plates, eat shrink and be merry....) helped a lot. having a plan helped a lot. so everyone had a piece of fruit instead of juice, and then we would make healthy muffins, pancakes, etc. (no meat). i only used recipes with under 30% fat, which is a healthy number, not a "low fat" number. and i cooked from scratch.

 

next up was fixing lunch...... i learned to make soups out of just about anything, we baked our own bread using a bread maker, which was super easy, super tasty and helped more than any other single thing to bring the kids on board.

 

then we fixed dinner. this was harder but we'd already gone to two veggies and less meat.

 

then it was snacks and sodas. we kept them in to make all the rest easier, and tried various "healthy" snacks. we simply stopped buying any chips, chocolate, cookies (not made from scratch you know ; ).

 

we added in homemade "fast" food..... homemade chicken nuggets, oven baked fries, "slider" hamburgers (because they are small and you can tailor them to have the right amount of meat and calories) etc. this helped us not feel deprived of our "special treats", but had the unexpected effect of making most commercial fast food taste really, really bad. it made the next step, eating out only for special occasions rather than fun or convenience, easier.

 

time for drastic:

we went to not eating anything i didn't make from scratch, putting the scale in the kitchen beside the refrigerator, and signing up for an organic coop, so our meal planning was centered around fruit and veggies, not meat, throwing out any unhealthy "food" that had crept back in... i think if we'd started there, we would have had a rebellion and failed miserably. because we were so far down the road, this seemed like the next step, and was what helped dh and i lose the weight we needed to lose.

 

:grouphug::grouphug: good luck,

ann

 

Thank you for taking time to detail this.

 

I made a mental list for myself, of all the non scratch things I am fine with on a daily. Between Trader Joe's and Costco, I have found well priced, and healthy/yummy things we all love that I don't have to make.

 

My sanity matters. When I was feeling like I had to make absolutely everything I was miserable. And I mean all of our bread products as well. That meant a loaf of rye for certain things, hamburger buns, sausage buns, etc. Just too much.

 

The biggest thing for us is having a well stocked produce bin. Every dinner has a couple veggies or a fruit and veggie. My kids love salads. I am not in the low fat is better camp, so I buy good quality dairy and cheeses for snacks. My kids love a snack of good crackers, cubed cheese and tons of fruit.

 

For dinners you just need to learn to cook a few staples, and then you can change things up. Once I learned to make perfect roasted chicken you can do so many things with that. Good soups can become a staple. Things like homemade pizza are a treat but good for you and can be quick and easy.

 

I think eating healthy is fairly easy if you just stock your cupboards with the right things and include a lot of produce. I like this quote from Michael Pollan: "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants."

 

I would recommend In Defense of Food. It's just a great book that simplifies healthful eating. I really love the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks! Sure she's got some desserts on the menu and she uses real butter, but she cooks with fresh ingredients and makes simple food. Moosewood cookbooks are centered around lots of veggies.

 

Thank you for the encouragement!

 

I've been using the Saving Dinner cookbook for years. It provides healthy recipes and a shopping list for a week's worth of dinners, divided seasonally. My book is literally falling apart from use.

 

I love the Simply in Season cookbook. It is arranged by season, so you can cook according to what is most fresh and plentiful - bonus if you have a farmer's market. You can look up recipes in the index by main produce ingredient (there is also a section for grains, herbs, etc) and also by recipe name. The recipes are very simple and we have liked every one that we've tried so far.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Simply-Expanded-Edition-Community-Cookbook/dp/0836194942/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340093099&sr=8-1&keywords=simply+in+season

 

Added these to my wish list.

 

Just noticed this said bologna and not blog! Stupid spell check!

 

:lol: It took me a few minutes, but I figured out what you meant!

[Alphabetika]

Just noticed this said bologna and not blog! Stupid spell check!

 

Bwa ha!! I saw it and thought....hmmm.....even if I could make REAL bologna, not sure I'd want to eat it for 100 days....:lol:

[elfgivas]

Yeah it's difficult. I love to cook, but cooking everything from scratch can be tiring sometimes.

 

we cook double when we cook things; it doesn't take much longer and means i have a freezer full of meals ready to go. : ).

 

hth,

ann

[LibraryLover]

What do you like to eat? There is no sense in buying all new foods that might go to waste. It's possible to make favorite meals healthier.

 

You can go slowly. Some painless substitutes exist. :) And! It is summer in the US. :) So many yummy items are more easily available.

[Heidi]

YES!

 

Feeding the Whole Family

 

It has simple, healthy meals that taste so so good. She just has a talent for putting food and seasoning together; it's amazing. My favorite healthy cookbook, hands down. It has a little blurb at the bottom of each recipe that tells you what part of the meal to feed to babies, but it is the actual recipies in the book that makes it amazing.

[LucyStoner]

YES!

 

Feeding the Whole Family

 

It has simple, healthy meals that taste so so good. She just has a talent for putting food and seasoning together; it's amazing. My favorite healthy cookbook, hands down. It has a little blurb at the bottom of each recipe that tells you what part of the meal to feed to babies, but it is the actual recipies in the book that makes it amazing.

 

:iagree:It's great and the foods are very affordable! I will never get rid of my copy of Feeding the Whole Family. When I met Cynthia Lair, I was star struck. :lol:

[LucyStoner]

For basic, don't know the first thing about cooking people, the book I recommend is How to Cook Everything. It goes through utensils and implements, techniques and definitions of foods and ingredients.

 

For changing your diet, there are a few key questions to reflect on so that the advice works for you and your family.

 

What do you eat now?

 

What things do you like to eat?

 

What do you eat on special occasions at home?

 

What are foods you hate?

 

Any special allergy or dietary limitations?

 

What sort of cooking and meal prep do you imagine doing?

 

On this food budget scale are you presently in spending at the thrifty, low-cost, moderate or liberal level? What is your realistic budget for groceries weekly? And how many people do you feed?

Edited June 20, 2012 by kijipt