Feeding thin husband with active job

Steel_2

I need to make some changes to my hubby's diet and need recipe ideas from you lovely talented peeps.

He has a very fast metabolism, which runs in the family, and weighs in at about 9st 4lb. He is also a postman and does his delivery at about warp speed 9.

These two factors combined means he is hungry all the time and scarfing large amounts of food, BUT being nearly 50 I'm worried for his arteries and heart. Yes he's fit, but probably eating too much fat, sugar and not enough veggies. He thinks nothing to eating an entire pan of curry and following it up with an entire steamed sponge pudding. He doesn't eat one slice of cake, he eats four. Always four slices of toast, not two, and a bowl of cereal is heaped like a small volcano.

He cannot stand cheese and tomato unless it is on a pizza - so gratins, bakes and lasagne are out - and I have to careful with pasta sauces to make sure they are not too tomatoey. He will not contemplate fishcakes, corned beef or macaroni/semolina/tapioca.

Healthy ideas for filling him up? Tried serving more veggies but I might as well have been serving fresh air. This evening I wrapped wholemeal pastry around a mixture of seasoned potato, carrot, onion and mushrooms to make a turnover. That combined with meatballs which I bulked with oats seem to have done the trick ie. he's not in the cupboards looking for pudding.

But the night is still young! :rotfl:

meritaten

think of him as an athlete, and look for a diet suitable for say a distance runner or walker.
personally I would increase the carbohydrates and protiens but avoiding too much red meat.
most athletes seem to eat a lot of pasta chicken and fish. veg can be hidden in all sorts of purees and so can fruit.
no reason why he cant have a pudding but try something light after a 'heavy' main course, such as a sorbet (pretty it up with a couple of biccies or ice cream wafers to fool him into thinking its sinful).

babyshoes

Lots of lean protein should help to fill him up without being too hard on his arteries - think lentils, beans, soya etc as well as chicken and fish. When I was on the Atkins diet, I was amazed that I didn't feel hungry when I ate lots of meat - which is why the diet works, at least in the short term!

Will he eat baked beans? They can be added to a lot of sauces, even blended up to disguise the fact that there are beans in the food again...
Eggs are not as bad as previously thought, and can be eaten daily if desired.
Soya mince can be added to normal mince to bulk it out and reduce the proportion of red meat in the meal.
Protein powder for athletes may be another source of inspiration - I am thinking you could use it as a base for smoothies or milkshakes for puddings.

As well as that, make sure he gets his 5 a day if at all possible, perhaps by including fruit in pudding or 'hiding' veg in savoury dishes. A hot pud always seems more filling than a cold one, so what about pre-making a bunch of different fruit crumbles and freezing them in little tinfoil containers which can go straight into the oven to heat up? We did that with a giant batch of peaches we bought, and with a little custard they make an easy yet filling, hot dessert.

Another good dessert base is yummy greek yoghurt. Try serving it with stewed fruit such as plums or rubarb, honey and nuts or even a dollop of good quality jam. The dairy is good for him and also full of protein, yet it is nice and creamy so feels like a treat.

Steel_2

Thanks meritaten, you're right about avoiding red meat. I don't like eating too much of it, although hubby being a bloke could eat steak until it came out of his ears. We have beef only once a week, usually in the form of lean mince.

He does love fish of all kinds but we don't seem to eat it much, so I might try and find some big meaty fillets to bake as well as make up into a pasta sauce of some kind. We're a bit funny with chicken - we keep them as pets so feel odd eating it sometimes and don't eat a lot :rotfl:

As far as ice-cream and sorbets go, he seems to view those as accompaniments to other things, like whacking great big fruit pies! He's never really viewed ice-cream as a dish in itself. He says it all melts to liquid in your stomach so he'll be hungry again. I don't think he's ever seriously sat down with a tub of Ben & Jerry's like I have

Thanks Babyshoes - he will eat baked beans but has requested those only a couple of times a week but I can disguise them into other dishes no problem. His mother used to feed him a lot of beans on toast so they've lost the edge for him. That's why fishcakes, corned beef and tapioca/semolina and macaroni are banned substances in the house. He also won't touch bread and butter pudding.

I've worked out I can get pulses into him in the form of curries, but that's really all I seem to do with them which is a shame. Might have to bone up on some other veggie dishes...

I have hens so no probs with eating eggs. Occasionally I send him off with a couple of boiled eggs in his lunch and have the occasional omelette and poached egg, but I find there's not a great deal I do with them otherwise. Hubby's just shouted out cakes are a good place to put them

I'd forgotten about using soya to bulk out mince. I used to do it myself when I was single. Actually the oats I added tonight allowed me to do the meatballs with only half a pound of mince instead of the full pound so I was able to freeze a few.

Protein powder makes him feel sick! He tried some protein shakes for about a week a few of years ago and finally ended up being sick in a bush on his delivery.

Good idea about the crumbles! They're very easy to make although I might have to watch the sugar content. And I've heard you can put oats in there too - another way of helping keep cholesterol low.

Like the idea of greek yoghurt and stewed fruit too...especially as I have just split my two rhubarb plants into 10!!!

lynzpower

Why not get extra veg in by making carrot cakes? Beetroot chocolate cakes? Bluberry pancakes?

Creme fraiche ( low fat) is also a good alternative to fatty creams or ice creams, I make savoury sauces with this too like honey mustard or mushroom.

Whistling_Gypsy

Pasta Bakes, Savoury Rice and HM Pizza are staples here - My OH can eat for England too and I'm constantly surprised when he says he's still hungry:D

Pasta Bake - I use about 500g with some HM Tomato Sauce or a tin of condensed chicken or mushroom soup (or occasionally a jar of bought sauce;)) peas, sweetcorn, peppers, mushrooms and onion etc and a handful or two of chopped ham or chicken or maybe a tin of tuna. Whatever herbs, spices he'll eat (mine doesn't 'do' hot, so am a bit limited!!) This just about does 2 meals with afters.

Savoury Rice - fry onions/mushrooms/peppers etc in some EVOO in a large wok. Add a panful of cold cooked rice, some peas/sweetcorn etc, a handful or two of cold cooked meat and stir fry til piping hot. Make a well and chuck a couple of eggs in. Stir it all round until the eggs are cooked and serve. I add soy sauce/BBQ sauce to taste.

Pizza - fab threads on here - I use plenty of veggies/sauce on a thicker base and probably less cheese than he would like sometimes!! (He'd use a 400g block if I let him!) I'll also use feta with spinach for a change. Have tried low fat cheese and we both hate it - better to use less decent cheese IMHO

Toad in the hole....sausage casserole....corned beef hash....stir fried veg with plenty of noodles and chicken or salmon....broth with dumplings...these are all on the menu over the next couple of weeks. Not terribly exciting...but filling, inexpensive, fairly healthy and tasty:p

Rice pudding, bread pudding, crumbles with oats in the topping, fruit and yoghurt smoothie, granola and yoghurt - good and fairly cheap (OS) 'filler' deserts too.:)

lisa26_2

I have a similar situation with my OH but he doesn't have such a big appetite and will only eat when he feels properly hungry. He has the protein milkshakes but as an alternative, have you tried him with the meal replacement bars you can get? i think both holland and barratt and boots sell them and big tesco's etc might too.

The other day I made him some cookies from a recipe I found on here. They are date oat & walnut and have coconut in too so are fairly healthy but also high in calories.

When I cook a meal I make sure I do him an extra big portion of carbs. For example, next week we are having marinated chicken and rice one night. we'll both have salad with it and OH will have extra rice and a pitta bread too.

Will he eat bananas? They are much higher in calories than any other fruit. also the same goes for parsnips.....still one of his 5 a day but lots of calories.

Will he eat nuts and dried fruit? again they are healthy but high in calories, nuts (especially walnuts) are quite high in good fats and they are not too filling either. seeds are good too.

Basically you need to do exactly the opposite of what you'd do if he was on a diet so put plenty of butter on bread/toast/sandwiches also add butter to potatoes. mayo with salads, full fat yogurts and milk.

Hope that helps!!