Dinner ideas

[Cackleberry]

Does anyone have any healthy dinner ideas for a family of 6 please? Seems to be, every time I find a recipe that sounds delish, it has around 10 ingredients involved and it costs a fortune by the time you times that by 6.

[Blitz]

Eat what you normally have but start tailoring the meals to became more healthier. Start with small changes.

For example, if you have lasagne then buy the weightwatchers brand or the like.
Other things you can do is reduce portion sizes and have fruit after dinner.
Reduce bread or don't serve it with dinner. Leave the butter or margarine off...often they aren't required as what is with the bread is fatty enough.
Cook with less oil or/and drain the meat of excessive oil on a paper towel.

By starting with small changes it is less of a culture shock to your family and easier for them to adsorb the change and they are more likely to stick with it. These small changes add up and make all the difference. Once these changes are bedded down - more radical changes can happen and also you will become more proficient at figuring out how to make simpler healthier meals. Believe it or not - healthier meals can actually take less time to make than unhealthy ones.

Kim

[Cackleberry]

The dinners we have now are boring. Was hoping to get some ideas on healthy but tasty/exciting dinners

[Blitz]

As we wean ourselves off sugar, fat and salt it is natural to crave good wholesome healthy foods. Check the recipes on this website and ask Natasha (she has got a real creative handle in this area).

Don't be put off recipes that seem to have too many ingredients...they are often quicker and cheaper to dash off than unhealthy food.
Remember that most unhealthy food is usually highly processed which means that it is more expensive to produce and the taste has often been made more bland.

I've made up (and created) a salad known around our family circle as "Kim's Salad". It has ten ingredients in it and serves easily six or so people. Most of the ingredients I eat regularly so I'm always stocked with them with only the rocket and celery having to be bought specially...both are very cheap to buy (as too the other ingredients). This salad takes all of ten minutes to whip up without rushing. To say that I'm not a cook is an understatement of this generation - if I can do this I'm sure you will be able to do likewise...unshackle yourself and go for it!

Kim

[Tams]

Along Kim's ideas of adapting your current recipes...stick veg in everything! It reduces the amount of meat you need, which also reduces cost. Of course, there's still lots of ingredients (vegetables) - but you need to eat lots of veg for a healthy diet anyway, so that's a good thing!

For example, I made chicken tacos last night - bugger the 'kit', I make it all from scratch and just buy the taco shells (so yes, that may be a little expensive for 6 people unless you get them on special). I use 250g chicken mince, 1 grated zuchinni, 1 grated carrot, 6-8 green parts of the spring onion (I'm not allowed to eat onion), 1/4-1/2 a red capsicum. Fry it all up in a non-stick wok with a little oil first to start the spring onions and heat the spices (use cumin, cinnamon, paprika, chilli, salt). And that's it. Now you build the tacos with lettuce, tomatoes, a BIT of cheese, and natural yoghurt. My husband also has some of the taco salsa (but not me of course...onion!)

The principle is the same for many dishes, and carrot, zucchinni, capsicum, spring onions tend to go in EVERYTHING very well. As do spinich or bok choy sometimes (just add it after you've cooked so it doesn't wilt to nothing).

And here's a real easy one for when you don't want to do much: 'pile-ons' as my dad says! And these I did use to make for a family of 6! SImply cook potatoes in their skins (microwave is quick), split them open and 'pile -on' the toppings (tuna, or bacon, or cooked chicken, a little cheese, and loads of veg - cucumber, lettuce, capsicum, tomato, corn, spring onions or chives, grated carrot, avacado, etc). It's also easy for people to eat 'hearty' and others to eat a smaller potato (or half) and load up on the salad for a 'lighter' meal. For dressing, use lemon, or mayonaise, or natural yoghurt.

For winter, soups are another awesome happy tummy filler - with lots of bread to fill teenage boy bottomless pits. I come from a family of 6 and I'm the only girl, so I do find that guys tend to go for the soups that include meat. ANd these cuts are REALLY cheap, as you cook them for 2-3hrs so the meat just melts off the bone. If you cook from scratch, and include bones (eg a whole chicken if it is chicken soup), the soup is really tasty, and has great nutritional benefit from the cartilege. Just scrape off the meat at end of cooking time and plop it all back in the pot minus the bones (or serve the meaty bones with the soup...we always liked getting stuck in to a hunk of something as kids and sucking out the marrow!). You can easily bulk up the soup too, so it is thick and hearty, with things like pasta, rice, barley or legumes. And of course, soups always have loads of veg - again, add the different veg at appropriate times so that none are overcooked. A dollop of natural yogurt on top and a sprinkle of chives is also a nice finish!

We're having tuna mornay tonight - about 7 types of veg in that one. I also serve mine on a large bed of baby spinach and just a small portion of brown rice as a 'lighter' version. Oh, and don't be afraid of milk in a weight-loss diet - there's more and more research to show that getting your 3 full cups of diary every day PROMOTES fat loss significantly. Calories are NOT equal.

Good luck, hope that gives some ideas...

[Cackleberry]

Thanks Tams, helps a great deal I have 3 boys and 1 girl so soups with meat in them sound great for filling their tums. My daughter is quite fussy with soups but i'm sure i'll find one or two she likes. Chicken tacos sound delish!

Kim, have had a quick look at the recipes on this website and they do look great! I am going to write down a few that sound good and give at least one a try this week. That is going to be my goal! And yes, Natasha's meals look very tasty! mmmmm

[Blitz]

Kim, have had a quick look at the recipes on this website and they do look great! I am going to write down a few that sound good and give at least one a try this week. That is going to be my goal! And yes, Natasha's meals look very tasty! mmmmm

Very good!...and pester Natasha for her ideas...the girl definitely knows how to cook!

Kim