Healthy eating - how?

CharlieRabbit01

Funky_Bold_Ribena wrote: »

CharlieRabbit01 wrote: »

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.

I occasionally buy oven chips but waffles and smilies are pretty good nutritionally, I'm not bothered what shape they are as long as I like them.

heartbreak_star

Jacket spuds would be much better though.

I'm not very keen on fish, but a tin of tuna stirfried up with onions, sweetcorn and peppers is delicious on brown rice or with a jacket spud...or even on a potato waffle

Try adding herbs and spices to food as well - sage and rosemary to chicken, paprika or mustard to beef, and mild chilli to tuna. It's not enough to make it "spicy" but gives a good flavour.

You don't have to stand in front of your cooker for ages - 5-10 mins max

Beef stew - throw everything in a pan, add stock, tomato puree and any herbs or spices, put on low, ignore for half and hour, stir and ignore again. Repeat until beef is cooked. Same process for veg soup.

I thought cooking was hard till I actually tried it

HBS x

KerryBish

I think a lot of people think they have to cut out all fat, some fat is good, you just need to stay away from animal fats.
I'd try to cut out things like ice cream etc every day after a meal. Every so often is fine but not every day. That's a lot fo sugar, especially as you ave a lot of potatoes/bread too. Fruit juice/squash has a lot of sugar in too, as well as diet foods.
It's just a case of finding things you like and having a balance.
Having said all that, I did see a really nice recipe for a chocolate cake made in a slow cooker, haven't tried it yet but it sounded gorgeous I'll try to find it.

CharlieRabbit01

Yeah its trying to find a balance that's hard.

I'm reluctant to cut out my treats after an evening meal especially considering I don't have anything else high in sugar during the day.

I get bored of food as it is with out cutting the dessert/pudding out.

how manycarbs is enough/too much?

As I honestly don't see how 2 slices of bread (from those small loaves ie not the standard full size loaf) and a small portion of potatoes with my dinner is too much?

CharlieRabbit01

heartbreak_star wrote: »

Jacket spuds would be much better though.

I'm not very keen on fish, but a tin of tuna stirfried up with onions, sweetcorn and peppers is delicious on brown rice or with a jacket spud...or even on a potato waffle

Try adding herbs and spices to food as well - sage and rosemary to chicken, paprika or mustard to beef, and mild chilli to tuna. It's not enough to make it "spicy" but gives a good flavour.

You don't have to stand in front of your cooker for ages - 5-10 mins max

Beef stew - throw everything in a pan, add stock, tomato puree and any herbs or spices, put on low, ignore for half and hour, stir and ignore again. Repeat until beef is cooked. Same process for veg soup.

I thought cooking was hard till I actually tried it

HBS x

One of my downfalls is my mum was the same as me, not a big fan of cooking so only really taught me to bake, that mixed with my exacting nature, its unnatural for me to just throw in some spices and taste to see if its good (last attempt at this went very wrong).

My OH on the other hand enjoys experimental cooking which is great but I don't want him to have to cook all the time just because I'm not very good.

Maybe have to go back to basics and dig out the Delia book which i know is lurking somewhere and work my way through the recipes.

KerryBish

Nigella does a good book, her express book (don't think I can post a link) which has a lot of good recipes in it, quick ones too so not a lot of fuss. Maybe not particularly healthy but I do like how she really enjoys food and uses quite simple ingredients. But it's good for if you're working, she does a couple of recipes with chicken where you basically just put it in a big sandwich bag with different ingredients and leave it in the fridge overnight to marinate, the buttermilk chicken is a nice one.

heartbreak_star

Jamie's 15 Minute Meals are pretty good too

HBS x

sally24_2

I have given away my microwave oven since discovering that it destroys the nutrition in food. It's worth finding out on Google more about this, there is research to show that it creates carcinogenic elements in the food. I'd rather cook than risk that. It doesn't take long to chop a batch of root vegetables, sprinkle with sea salt, drizzle with oil and bake in the oven. The taste of fresh cooking is so worth the effort.

CharlieRabbit01

sally24 wrote: »

I have given away my microwave oven since discovering that it destroys the nutrition in food. It's worth finding out on Google more about this, there is research to show that it creates carcinogenic elements in the food. I'd rather cook than risk that. It doesn't take long to chop a batch of root vegetables, sprinkle with sea salt, drizzle with oil and bake in the oven. The taste of fresh cooking is so worth the effort.

I'd like to note that I barely use my microwave.

Fire_Fox

CharlieRabbit01 wrote: »

I occasionally buy oven chips but waffles and smilies are pretty good nutritionally, I'm not bothered what shape they are as long as I like them.

No really they are not, processed reformed rubbish: the nutrients are under the skin of the potato. To be honest you may as well eat table sugar as eat those potato products, they will behave much the same in the body. Look again at your diet: how many foods look the same as when they came off the plant or animal, how many are mucked about with? The only natural things I can see are some of the chicken, veg (one to two servings which is less than the national average) and a splash of milk.

Smiles and waffles don't count as potato they could towards your maximum 10% daily calories as fat added/ sugar added junk. If you are eating dessert AND cereal AND occasional crisps you are way exceeding the guidelines, I wouldn't be surprised if over half your diet is in this category instead of a tenth. Potato is jackets, boiled new potatoes in their skin, wedges and so on.

There is no evidence microwaving is bad for you, it's what people put in the microwave that is the problem and how long they cook for in some cases, it's great for lightly steaming veg or heating through leftovers beans and so on. I can find 'evidence' on the internet that Obama is a shapeshifting alien and the earth is actually flat, that doesn't make it fact.

Nor are starchy carbs all bad for you: in fact if you cut back hard on these without substantially increasing nuts and seeds you are likely not to eat enough minerals. Just eat a wider variety of whole carbs, wheat no more than once a day. Beans and lentils are so nutritious, canned are super fast, dried red or yellow lentils don't need soaking just cook from raw.

Chicken breast is really not that nutritious, don't rely on that - have some dark turkey, lean steak mince, organ meats like liver, fish or eggs. A lot of people who are not that keen on fish will eat canned pilchards or mackerel mashed (include some of the crumbly bones) with low fat soft cheese to make a pate. You are barely eating any dairy, given you are eating plenty of sugar and all your carbs are processed, no fish and few veg I would be worried about the state of your bones long term - that is a pro inflammatory, stress inducing diet.