Healthy Food Without Veg

Drea

I'm hoping the OSers can help me with something

My boyfriend has recently moved in and at the moment I've found myself out of work so making the dinner is down to me.

The problem is my boyfriend is trying to lose weight/eat healthy but hates ALL vegetables. I know, I know, I've tried to get him to eat them but he just has it in his head that he hates them all and it just isn't working!

We don't have a lot of spare money so can't afford to buy expensive ingredients etc but I'd like to find something that suits.

Has anyone got any ideas for healthy/balanced meals that are cheaply made without veg? He does love his meat but I'm finding that quite expensive too...

Thanks :beer:

Derivative

It is impossible to eat healthily without veg. Would be like drinking without water.

Try legumes like beans, peas. Home made chips (does he not like potato?)

Red meat is basically bad for us. A nice luxury like wine. White meat like chicken and turkey is okay.

Sorry I don't have better ideas, but I'd be inclined to tell him to wake up if he thinks he can have a healthy diet without the healthy parts.

Dontknowanymore

WHat sort of things does he eat then?
Will he not eat tomaotoes, raw, tinned, passatta?

Drea

EdgEy wrote: »

It is impossible to eat healthily without veg. Would be like drinking without water.

Try legumes like beans, peas. Home made chips (does he not like potato?)

Red meat is basically bad for us. A nice luxury like wine. White meat like chicken and turkey is okay.

Sorry I don't have better ideas, but I'd be inclined to tell him to wake up if he thinks he can have a healthy diet without the healthy parts.

I think he'd eat beans... and yes, he does like anything made with potato so that's not so bad.

It does seem to be the red meat he prefers, but he's also happy with chicken.

Trying to think now... he likes beetroot and will eat onion in things if he can't particularly taste it. But to be honest, that's about it.

patchwork_cat

My advice would be to think like a mum trying to feed a family. I assume he likes tomato sauce on pasta and pizza? If so I make a large pot with butternut squash, tinned toms, passata, puree, carrots, onions ( I have added peppers and courgette, but they were spotted!)puree it down with the usual seasonings and I reckon we get 3 or 4 portions of veg in this sauce. Mash carrots with potatoes or swede with the usual butter and milk it is quite acceptable, (the little bit of butter necessary for the flavour is possibly worth it for the advantage of eating veg.) Perhaps take it easy on green veg except maybe cabbage and bacon or cabbage and mash.

Drea

Dontknowanymore wrote: »

WHat sort of things does he eat then?
Will he not eat tomaotoes, raw, tinned, passatta?

He tends to eat pies (but only the inside), currys, casseroles, things like that. None of it with any veg! He'll usually have chips with it or mash.

For lunches at work since he's tried to eat healthier he's been having tinned tuna (on it's own), baked potatoes, oxtail soup (one of the only ones he likes).

shinytoaster

Invest in a blender. My ex was the same - he hated all vegetables with a passion yet he ate them every night! If you can't see it, then you don't know its there!

Drea

patchwork_cat wrote: »

My advice would be to think like a mum tring to feed a family. I assume he likes tomato sauce on pasta and pizza? If so I make a large pot with butternut squash, tinned toms, passata, puree, carrots, onions ( I have added peppers and courgette, but they were spotted!)puree it down with the usual seasonings and I reckon we get 3 or 4 portions of veg in this sauce. Mash carrots with potatoes or swede with the usual butter and milk it is quite acceptable, (the little bit of butter necessary for the flavour is possibly worth it for the advantage of eating veg.) Perhaps take it easy on green veg except maybe cabbage and bacon or cabbage and mash.

Thanks! I wonder if I'd get away with it... When he was younger he was never given any veg so he's just lived the rest of his life that way. I find it so difficult because I love veg!

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

If blending doesn't work - make sure it's all blitzed before he walks in the door, by the way, or he'll insist he can taste it when if he doesn't know it's there, he won't - then I suggest you make some lovely curries. (Although if you look at some cultures that enjoy curry, they will add banana or apple and puree the result, so not every curry is the same, anyway)

Try butternut squash curry, potato curry, cauliflower curry, mushroom curry, chickpea curry, all with lovely chutneys, coriander leaves, sometimes spinach, add frozen peas or sweetcorn to the rice, etc. Make sure yours look and smell absolutely delicious. Add chicken if you can afford it and want to have it. Put yours down on the table first, so he gets the scents.

Then - if he has susssed the blending veg trick and has said he doesn't want anything like that, so you can't give him the same curry but blitzed - dump his on the table. Half a chicken breast and a blob of sauce.


Repeat this as necessary throughout the week, where you get a plate full of delicious veg, starchy stuff and a little meat/fish, but he just gets a small lump of meat and a couple of potatoes, for example. Because you don't have to suffer on his behalf.

Same way, rather than buying pies that he picks at like a 4 year old, just cook some cheap mince up for him - but only the couple of tablespoons that would go in a pie. Cook yours with all the veggies you like.

Eventually, he'll get the idea that he is missing out.

Drea

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

If blending doesn't work - make sure it's all blitzed before he walks in the door, by the way, or he'll insist he can taste it when if he doesn't know it's there, he won't - then I suggest you make some lovely curries. (Although if you look at some cultures that enjoy curry, they will add banana or apple and puree the result, so not every curry is the same, anyway)

Try butternut squash curry, potato curry, cauliflower curry, mushroom curry, chickpea curry, all with lovely chutneys, coriander leaves, sometimes spinach, add frozen peas or sweetcorn to the rice, etc. Make sure yours look and smell absolutely delicious. Add chicken if you can afford it and want to have it. Put yours down on the table first, so he gets the scents.

Then - if he has susssed the blending veg trick and has said he doesn't want anything like that, so you can't give him the same curry but blitzed - dump his on the table. Half a chicken breast and a blob of sauce.


Repeat this as necessary throughout the week, where you get a plate full of delicious veg, starchy stuff and a little meat/fish, but he just gets a small lump of meat and a couple of potatoes, for example. Because you don't have to suffer on his behalf.

Same way, rather than buying pies that he picks at like a 4 year old, just cook some cheap mince up for him - but only the couple of tablespoons that would go in a pie. Cook yours with all the veggies you like.

Eventually, he'll get the idea that he is missing out.

:rotfl: I love it! Today I was planning some slow cooked stew, I think I might just sneak in some blended carrots and onions

BitterAndTwisted

Treat him like a recalcitrant toddler because that's what his eating habits suggest. Disguise all veg and cut the meat down to three or four ounces maximum. Red meat is not "basically bad for us"! A rigid diet might be but I dispute that and I'm a veggie. Make full use of any recipes which include eggs, cheese and dairy. That's a better use of limited funds in my book. Meals of chunks of meat are a luxury and possibly can't be afforded in quantity on a limited budget.