Healthy eating - how?

Funky_Bold_Ribena

CharlieRabbit01 wrote: »

well wouldn't you know, family visited this weekend and gave us a slow cooker as a housewarming gift!

now only to use it.

Its this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Morphy-Richards-48710-Cooker-Stainless/dp/B0000C6XOJ/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365417023&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=ramsey+slow+cooker

now to work out how to use. and get my lazy bum out of bed early enough in the morning to put it on.

You don't have to get up early in the morning! On a Sunday evening when I'm doing a roast dinner, I also prep enough veg for one slow cooker meal, and a huge salad [don't add dressings, but you can chop the main ingredients and just put lemon juice on and add dressings later in the week when you serve]. The slow cooker meal gets put on either Monday or Tuesday morning and is left in the fridge with the lid on in between [I don't add the spuds until the morning though as they can go black] and the salad is there all week for adding to the plate or the basis for a meal later in the week. So that's 3-4 evenings prep all in one session.

CharlieRabbit01 wrote: »

I've been slowly getting there, cutting out fizzy drinks, only one glass of squash a day then water or tea (i'm not ready to give up tea yet).

Cut down snacks (sweets, chocolate etc) to 1 portion a day.

Don't buy the snacks and you can't eat them!

CharlieRabbit01

HappyMJ wrote: »

You don't have to get up early. Prepare the contents the day before and put in the slow cooker pot and put in fridge overnight. In the morning whilst you are making your morning cup of tea pull the pot out of fridge put into the base of the slow cooker and turn on. It'll be cold for a little while longer but by the time you get home it'll still be cooked through and very hot.

well that suits me very well, shall give it a go. I'll all for sling it in a pot and ignore till the timer beeps.

Are slow cookers energy efficient? since I'll be leaving it on all day?

HappyMJ wrote: »

What do you think of NAS (no added sugar) fizzy drinks?

I don't mind them, and if I do treat myself to one i'll often buy the sugar free option. unless its a rare night out then i'll have the regular stuff.

But the other reason for cutting them out is fizzy drinks are bad for your teeth and for some reason no matter how hard I try I always need dental work my dentist is stumped as they can clearly see I look after my teeth.

CharlieRabbit01

Funky_Bold_Ribena wrote: »

Don't buy the snacks and you can't eat them!

agreed but my intake of such snacks is very low, I don't eat crisps much I barely eat them with my sandwiches at lunch, but I treat my self to some chocolate or desert after my meal in the evening. and always weigh out the recommended portion.

Unlike my OH I can have a share size bar of chocolate in the fridge and leave it there for a week or more and not eat it.

Fire_Fox

CharlieRabbit01 wrote: »

I know you can never trust these health scare things but I read that cooking with olive oil is bad as it turns it into a bad fat? is this true?[/COLOR]

Depends on the molecular structure of the fatty acids in the oil and the temperature. Fatty acids are building blocks of oils, there are loads of different ones, ratios vary massively from oil to oil. Trans fats are bad because they are 'alien' to the body, they have the bad properties of a saturated animal fat plus their own negative effects. The body can recognise them as fats and use them in place of natural fats, but because they are an 'alien' structure the resulting cell or chemical doesn't function properly.

Some polyunsaturated vegetable oils (eg. sunflower, corn, soybean) are unstable at high temperatures or with repeat use - for example chip pan oil - so can form trans fats. But most supply omega-6s which aren't good for us/ we eat too much of anyway so best to limit or avoid these.

A couple of seed oils (flaxseed, chia) are rich in short chain polyunsaturates omega-3s, these are healthy but unstable and can easily oxidise so should be stored in the dark/ cold and not heated. AFAIK this sort of damage is different to forming trans fats. Other fat that you would not cook with but mentioned for completeness is long chain omega-3s DHA and EPA (found in oily fish). These are SUPER healthy and survive cooking (eg. canning process) intact, ie. stable.

Monounsaturates (olive, avocado, peanut, rapeseed) and saturates (coconut, red palm) are stable in cooking due to their chemical structure. Olive and avocado are particularly low in the polyunsaturates that may form trans fats, peanut and rapeseed are much higher so I don't personally buy or use them. When you are roasting you tend to use a mid range temperature anyway, it's high temperature frying that is higher risk with certain oils.

Although you may think of saturates as 'bad', it's saturated animal fats (long chains) that appear to have the negative effects in excess, these can relatively easily be converted to cholesterol or bodyfat if not burned as energy. Coconut oil contains very short chain lauric acid: research suggests these fatty acids behave very differently in the body, they go straight to the liver and the body prefers to burn then as energy rather than deposit them as fat.

Sorry if that is a bit too geeky.

CharlieRabbit01 wrote: »

well that suits me very well, shall give it a go. I'll all for sling it in a pot and ignore till the timer beeps.

Are slow cookers energy efficient? since I'll be leaving it on all day?

Slow cooker uses roughly the energy of a old style lightbulb - next to nothing - I beleive, that is why they are safe to be left unattended. :T

Definitely do the night before prep method, then all you need to do is add a liquid - canned tomatoes, boil the kettle and dissolve a stock cube or mini bottle of wine or a combination. I never fry anything off beforehand, it does improve the flavour slightly but the whole point to me is that is doesn't take any much longer than a microwave meal and there is only one (non stick) pot to wipe out instead of a pile of pans and trays to scrub.

Ilona

CharlieRabbit01 wrote: »

I treat my self to some chocolate or desert after my meal in the evening. and always weigh out the recommended portion.

If you are eating this after every evening meal it is not healthy food, in fact, it's not even food, it's junk. A treat should be something you have occasionally.
Ilona

CharlieRabbit01

Ilona wrote: »

If you are eating this after every evening meal it is not healthy food, in fact, it's not even food, it's junk. A treat should be something you have occasionally.
Ilona

I don't think there is anything wrong with me having a serving of chocolate or desert after an evening meal especially considering I don't have any during the day.

A typical day is:

Breakfast: Cereal with a splash of milk

Lunch: usually a ham or chicken sandwich on granary/seeded or wholemeal bread (depends on what's available in the shop) once or twice a week I'll have a bag of crisps as well.

Dinner: grilled Chicken or chicken escalopes with a large serving of veg and a potato product such as waffles. (portioned out as 1/4 carb, 1/4 protein, 1/2 veg)

Treat/desert: serving of chocolate / semolina / jelly / ice cream

(all milk products are either goat / soya / lactose free)


I'm really looking to jazz up my meals a bit as I've reached a stalemate.

heartbreak_star

You're not eating enough IMO - certainly not enough fruit or vegetables, and too many carbs with both bread and potatoes in one day.

Add an apple, banana, handful of berries, or some dried fruit to lunch. Swap out the bread for salad at least once a week.

Mix up your chicken with beef and fish - a stir-fry probably takes less time to do than your escalopes (I freeze steak strips and use frozen veg - chuck it all into a pan with a load of olive oil, a bit of tomato puree and some crushed garlic - lovely stuff and done in 15 mins) and your potatoes with brown rice.

Good luck

HBS x

CharlieRabbit01

heartbreak_star wrote: »

You're not eating enough IMO - certainly not enough fruit or vegetables, and too many carbs with both bread and potatoes in one day.

Add an apple, banana, handful of berries, or some dried fruit to lunch. Swap out the bread for salad at least once a week.

Really? As I said I'm not trying to lose weight or anything, I'm a healthy weight for my age, height etc so didn't think this was too bad? Its only 2 slices of bread and 2 waffles or 4 potato smiles.:D

heartbreak_star wrote: »

Mix up your chicken with beef and fish - a stir-fry probably takes less time to do than your escalopes (I freeze steak strips and use frozen veg - chuck it all into a pan with a load of olive oil, a bit of tomato puree and some crushed garlic - lovely stuff and done in 15 mins) and your potatoes with brown rice.

Good luck

HBS x

Agreed I am definitely not eating enough, but I find it such a chore so eat enough to get by which I know is bad, which is why I'm trying to make what I do eat as healthy as possible but without losing too many calories.

Time isn't too much of a problem I just despise standing in front of my cooker, but I'll give it a go, I think we eat more chicken than other meats because 1. I don't like fish and 2. OH goes to the gym so chicken is good for his protein, but he does mix it up and bit and has fish a few times a week.

Our new place has a tall fridge freezer so will be able to buy more frozen veggies etc currently I cant fit a pizza in the freezer unless i take it out of the box.

CharlieRabbit01

Thanks Fire Fox, I find it hard sometimes to sort out the health scares from genuine health information.

Funky_Bold_Ribena

CharlieRabbit01 wrote: »

heartbreak_star wrote: »

You're not eating enough IMO - certainly not enough fruit or vegetables, and too many carbs with both bread and potatoes in one day.

Add an apple, banana, handful of berries, or some dried fruit to lunch. Swap out the bread for salad at least once a week.[/QUOTE

Really? As I said I'm not trying to lose weight or anything, I'm a healthy weight for my age, height etc so didn't think this was too bad? Its only 2 slices of bread and 2 waffles or 4 potato smiles.:D

Waffles and potato smilies? Seriously. I thought that was for kids.

At the very least, cook some jacket spuds and have them with salad. Even chips would be better than those.