I need meal ideas that I can selectively add meat to...

[Julie in CA]

I *and* my dc are overweight.

 

We eat relatively healthy foods, but in too great of quantity. We've been working on that, but I'd like some meal ideas that would provide a lot of "bulk", without a lot of fat, and I'd like to add meat for my dh (who will seriously be miserable without it!).

 

I was thinking of bean soup maybe, and then I could throw in some extra ham for dh. I need more ideas though. Nothing too exotic, please. If my kids don't recognize it, they probably won't give it a fair shake.

 

Thanks!

[Kimm in WA]

Quick boil approx. 4 c. of great northern beans (dried) by soaking overnight or boiling quickly, remove from heat & let sit, covered, 2 hrs. Drain.

 

At same time as quick-boiling beans, boil ham bone to make broth to fill about 2/3 of your pot. If you're making a huge pot (like I like to do), double the amount of beans.

 

To broth add beans and cook 30 min.

 

Add carrots, celery, onion, canned tomatoes (broken into smaller pieces) and ham pieces, if desired (optional!).

 

Cook all afternoon - as beans cook more, it thickens.

 

If desired, add Old Hickory Smoke salt (use sparingly) OR serve w/ 1 TBSP. white vinegar per bowl @ the table. My little people don't like the vinegar (haven't tried the smoke salt) so I set the vinegar on the table with the basket of rolls.

 

YUM! My 13yob actually likes this MORE than the ham & potatoes meal that precedes it (for the ham bone) and he's a big meat & potatoes eater, so that's saying a lot! I like to do a double batch when making the broth and either freeze the stock to do another batch later, or cook up a double batch and freeze it - easy meal next time, just thaw and heat!

 

Enjoy,

Kimm in WA

[Laura Corin]

Some ideas:

 

I make lentils with cumin and coriander. You could slice some ham and stir it in later.

 

Vegetable soup with some sort of grain - pearl barley, quinoa, etc. Bacon bits on top would be a good option.

 

Veggie fried rice made with brown rice. You can separately stir fry some meat and stir it in later.

 

Split pea soup works well: start it with a little bacon or ham for everyone: if you just use enough to add flavour, it won't be too may calories or too much fat.

 

We all like whole-grain couscous and bulgur wheat. You can make good salads with both.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

[gardening momma]

This is not exactly what you asked for, but keep starchy food portions to a minimum (potatoes, pasta, rice, bread, etc...) and increase your daily intake of vegetables. And as far as vegetables are concerned, corn is the highest in starch, although not nearly as bad as potatoes (I don't even consider potatoes a vegetable anymore).

[LaxMom]

My carnivorous husband really enjoyed losing weight a few years ago, just by planning our meals with Cooking Light recipes. They use enough protein to keep you satisfied, trim extra calories without affecting taste, use real food, and tell you how much a portion is (which is our biggest downfall).

 

Many of the recipes have become family favorites.

[KJB]

I chop up ingredients, including a variety of kid pleasers like cheese cubes, chicken breasts cut-up or thinly sliced grilled steak, black olives, mandarin oranges, diced apples, grapes, baby carrots etc. as well as normal salad staples (for us this might include spinach, tomato, peppers, lettuces, cukes, red onion, etc.). For my dh, I reserve an entire chicken breast or piece of steak to top his salad or to eat on the side.

 

The kids usually don't want dressing for their salad, however one son likes to dip his salad fixings in some kind of dressing once in awhile.

 

We also make a version of the weight watchers soup which has a V-8 juice and chicken broth base. You add chopped cabbage, green beans, carrots, zucchini, celery, and whatever veggies float your boat. It's quite tasty alone or with left-over roast. I've seen this recipe float around the board occasionally. I just wing it with whatever veggies I have.

 

We don't eat bread at meals unless it's part of the meal like for a sandwich.

 

Hope you find some good ideas!

[Julie in CA]

My carnivorous husband really enjoyed losing weight a few years ago, just by planning our meals with Cooking Light recipes. They use enough protein to keep you satisfied, trim extra calories without affecting taste, use real food, and tell you how much a portion is (which is our biggest downfall).

 

Many of the recipes have become family favorites.

Yay! I already asked for (and will definitely receive) a Cooking Light subscription for Christmas.

[Julie in CA]

This is not exactly what you asked for, but keep starchy food portions to a minimum (potatoes, pasta, rice, bread, etc...) and increase your daily intake of vegetables. And as far as vegetables are concerned, corn is the highest in starch, although not nearly as bad as potatoes (I don't even consider potatoes a vegetable anymore).

Yes, I didn't make myself very clear. I was hoping some of the vegetarian folks here would chip in with vegetarian meals that wouldn't seem way too "out there" to the kids, and that I could add meat to the serving for my dh. We already eat whole wheat bread, brown rice, and very little pasta. Potatoes, on the other hand, we probably eat too much of.

[Carol in Cal.]

...used to always bring spaghetti to potlucks. She would add raisins to the sauce about 1/2 hour before serving. They would not taste sweet at all in the sauce--in fact, they would be so chewy that everyone would think that they were little chunks of meat.

 

You could add meatballs for your DH to a dish like that.

[AnnetteB]

DD,14, likes to cut chicken breasts into bite size pieces, brown with olive oil and seasonings (basil, parsley, oregano, chili powder, cumin), while the meat is browning she chops up cabbage, carrots, onion, garlic, bell pepper, broccoli, and adds these to meat for an additional few minutes to wilt the veggies. We serve it with cooked rice. DH tends to go for lots of chicken pieces and few or no veggies. Everyone seems to be happy with this two-pot meal.

[LaxMom]

Yay! I already asked for (and will definitely receive) a Cooking Light subscription for Christmas.

 

You can get all of their recipes free from the website. (Oddly, for a few years, you couldn't, but they changed it back a while ago)

 

Yes, I didn't make myself very clear. I was hoping some of the vegetarian folks here would chip in with vegetarian meals that wouldn't seem way too "out there" to the kids, and that I could add meat to the serving for my dh.

 

Is somebody vegetarian, or are you just trying to pare down the meat as a source of calories?

[Julie in CA]

Is somebody vegetarian, or are you just trying to pare down the meat as a source of calories?

Nope, no vegetarians, but I'd like to move towards making vegetables the main part of meals rather than just the side-dish.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I don't know if pasta is on your weight loss food list, but I always put the ground beef on the side for dh and I 'cause the kids don't like meat sauce.

[Stacey in MA]

A high correlation between people eating soup as a meal regularly and weight loss. I enjoy soup for lunch 3 or 4 days a week. And maybe once a week for dinner. Any kind could be made vegetarian (black bean soup (my favorite!), veggie soup, lentil soup, etc. - you can add cooked chicken or light sausage or even beef chunks for the meat eaters!

 

Here's my crockpot recipe for black bean soup:

 

2 cans of black beans

1.5 c chopped celery

1.5 c chopped onion

1.5 c chopped green pepper

(those veggies you can buy frozen, already chopped, makes it easy!)

1 c. water

1 c. tomato sauce

4 cloves of garlic (I use more - maybe 4 tsp of the already chopped)

some thyme (I used oregano too, when out of thyme)

salt and pepper to taste

 

For the meateater, add any amount of cubed cooked chicken, or as I did last time, some cut up low-cal maple chicken sausage.

 

Cook all this on low for about 6 hrs.

 

The secret ingredient I used last time that made a whole new flavor was some leftover homemade dressing - about 4 oz of it. Made it out of lemon juice, garlic and sundried tomatoes. Chopped it all in the blender. Dumped that in the pot too and made a great flavor!

 

Good luck! I recently made the switch to more fruits and veggies as main course, and am actually really enjoying it now! I lost 15 lbs in 4 months and feel so much better!

 

- Stacey in MA

[The Governess]

I second the salad idea. We do taco salads often and you could easily leave the meat out.

 

Also, burritos (or if you want to stay away from tortillas you could just put the contents of your burrito on a bed of rice), ratatouille (you could add in some sliced sausage for your dh), almost any curry dish would be great with all veggies and meat could be added later.