HealthyHabits - Food Tips (2021 and beyond)

Parents Forum Parent Cafe
21

I’ve had vegetable noodles and spaghetti squash. I usually don’t end up feeling as satiated, but I think they taste fine.

Friends of mine organized a tasting of the various new hamburger meats on the market. I think we decided the Beyondburger was the most convincing, but it certainly isn’t any healthier and I’m not convinced it’s better for the planet. (My friends are all about methane gases and beef.) They brought vegetarian sausages to the neighborhood Oktoberfest in 2019. Those sausages were the only leftovers! I’d rather just have real burgers be an occasional treat.

3 Likes
22

I like spaghetti squash every once in a while but not all the time. I prefer zoodles. And I tried the shiritaki noodles too, but they were pretty bad. Definitely not a repeat!

1 Like
23

I used spaghetti squash as a spaghetti noodle substitute for awhile, but I got tired of the effort to prepare the spaghetti squash. I also worried about losing a finger when I was cutting it!

Now, I use spaghetti squash all the time. I can’t remember the last time that I prepared traditional spaghetti noodles. What changed?

  1. I bought a better knife for slicing the spaghetti squash, so now I don’t worry about an unplanned ER visit. It is a cleaver-type knife.
  2. I slice the spaghetti squash into rings, season with olive oil and salt and pepper and then roast them in the oven. Exposing more of the squash surface allows more of the moisture to be cooked out of the squash. No more soggy spaghetti squash! (Credit to my friend JF for the “ring” tip.)

In fact, we are having spaghetti squash with turkey meatballs and spaghetti sauce tonight for dinner.

5 Likes
24

Don’t forget, many older adults don’t eat enough protein. So eating a mostly plant-based diet may take some extra effort to get the desired amount of protein as we age.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/for-older-adults-a-protein-rich-diet-is-important-for-health/2019/01/18/886926ce-1a78-11e9-88fe-f9f77a3bcb6c_story.html

4 Likes
25

My costco sometimes has refrigerated packs of spaghetti squash already scraped-into-noodles…it’s not as good as roasted, but does save time and potential injury!

I cut my spaghetti squash this way: How To Cut a Spaghetti Squash

1 Like
26

We have come to really like spiraled zucchini. (Often we use fresh zuc and our Vegetti device. But it is harder to get the ideal diameter zuc with online grocery ordering, so we now also use frozen.)

We saute our “zoodles” with olive oil and garlic and then add sauce or canned tomatoes and whatever we have on hand - peppers, mushrooms etc. For protein we add chopped up leftover meat such as a pork chop or sausage or chicken breast OR add frozen shrimp or scallops. I agree it does not replicated the taste and texture of real pasta, but my husband and I have realized that we actually like it better. We make real pasta as a change of pace now and then, but we don’t crave it.

If we are doing spaghetti squash, we cook separately and spoon sauce over the top of it.

27

I understand no traditional pasta is you have an allergy or health-food related issue with it…or you just dont like pasta…but If not…do you have pasta 3x a week? Maybe so! But I don’t feel a cup of spaghetti noodles once every 10 days or so is not out of line.

1 Like
28

@sushiritto that seems like a lot of protein. I eat an egg and lots of milk in my coffee for breakfast every day. If I eat that plus a cup of beans plus whatever else I typically eat it looks like I’m good. I am by no means a vegetarian, I probably have fish or leftover meat most days for at least one meal.

29

I eat much more protein than what the article says to eat. I don’t count my calorie intake, but I’d bet I eat between 30-40 grams of protein per meal.

My typical breakfast is almost always a 3 egg whites (one yoke occasionally) scramble with 1/4 lb of ground turkey and lots of veges (spinach, mushroom, onion, squash, zucchini, etc.).

Mid-morning, lately, I’ve been having overnight oats with oat milk, nonfat Greek yogurt, pumpkin, seeds, fruit and almond butter.

2 Likes
30

Sure, a cup of spaghetti noodles every 10 days (or more) is fine. For us the switch to zoodles is as much about adding vegetables as it is reducing carbs.

3 Likes
31

Agree with @Colorado_mom I want to up our veggie intake therefore sometimes switch to zoodles. We eat best when I meal plan. Figure out what we are having for the week, grocery shop and have the food in the house so there is no “I don’t know what’s for dinner” at 6pm. I usually make a pot of soup, a quiche and grill chicken early in the week so we have stuff in the fridge at all times to have a full meal or at least the fixings for one.

1 Like
32

Upping veggies of course is a win. I personally choose to do that by having the occasional amount of regular pasta (which I enjoy) but adding veggies to the sauce - chopped zucchini, mushrooms, onion, extra tomatoes, shredded carrots - and then add a protein (like a lean meatball) - or not!

3 Likes
33

I probably plan more than most people would feel the need to do, but in case anyone is interested, here’s my process. As I noted, I am a recipe junkie, and I’ve been collecting recipes for 20+ years. I have two large covered bins of them. I have an accordion file for each type of food category, such as Beef, Pork, Fish, Vegetarian, Breakfast, Dessert, Soup, etc. Within each of those accordion files, I have large envelopes that further break down those recipes into categories. For Breakfast, as an example, I have a folder for eggs, oatmeal, pancakes/waffles, French toast, fruit, smoothies, baked goods, misc.

I have a freezer in my basement, and we often buy large quantities of protein, either directly from a farmer or when it’s on sale, so it’s usually pretty full. I keep an inventory of that so I know what’s on hand. When I’m ready to start my weekly menu plan, I go through my recipes and choose 7 recipes for each meal from my recipe storage bins. I consider what is in season, what is on sale, how I can use ingredients for multiple meals to avoid waste, who is home what night, etc. I usually use the following rotation for breakfast: eggs-2x, smoothies-2x, oatmeal-2x, yogurt or apple & pb-1x. Lunches are almost always either soup or salad (not necessarily lettuce based - I have a ton of salad recipes that are not lettuce salads.) Dinners are usually one beef, one pork, one or two fish, one or two vegetarian, and a chicken or turkey. Then I have a paper with a grid, Mon-Sun rows and Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner columns and I fill them in. Then I’ll add any dinner sides I need. Once that’s done I create my shopping list. For me, a detailed plan helps ensure I only buy what I need. I look at it daily to see what I need to take out of the freezer to thaw, and if I have free time I will do some prep for an upcoming meal, or even cook a meal ahead of time. If I’m making something that freezes well, I often double the recipe and freeze it.

4 Likes
34

Ideally I’d do what @taverngirl does :). More often than not, I find myself paralyzed because of the competing requests of my family:
DD - vegetarian, almost vegan, with avoidant/restrictive food disorder. I don’t care if she has a milkshake every day, as long as she gets enough calories into her. Loves pasta and chickpeas

DS - Carnivore, works out a lot therefore always hungry. Could eat a half pound of pasta in one sitting. Likes meat, pasta, eggs, sandwiches, but will definitely enjoy veggies too

Me - Trying to eat mediterranean but can’t eat shellfish or tomatoes

DH - wants to eat low carb, no processed food, no poultry, doesn’t like beans/lentils

I seriously need someone to write me a computer program that satisfies all of these preferences, besides a salad bar!

10 Likes
35

If you each take one night a week that’s at least 3 nights it’s someone else’s problem to solve!

2 Likes
36

Thank you for sharing, @taverngirl - that is quite the process. We have a large freezer that is quite full and I’m hoping to make some headway using products I’ve put there - we also keep an inventory of what’s in there. Breakfasts are easy and I’m the only one who eats lunch at home. I keep a binder of recipes that I’ve tried in like but it’s not nearly as organized as your file system. I will periodically acquire a new cookbook and spend a lot of time cooking exclusively from that. Unfortunately not always healthy foods.

Right now I’m reading “How Not to Diet” which has been a very interesting read with a big focus on anti-inflammatory foods and a predominantly plant based, “Blue Zones” type of eating.

Sorry for getting off track here - obviously I’m interested in improving my diet!

3 Likes
37

Our reasons for the switch to spaghetti squash is two-fold. First, my husband has Type 1 diabetes, so substituting spaghetti squash for traditional pasta reduces the carb count for dinner, which mean a lower insulin bolus for him and less swings in his blood sugar. The second reason is that I started a lifestyle/diet last August where I have set macros to hit every day for protein, carbs and fat. The change to spaghetti squash really helps me hit my numbers on that day. I still love pasta, but we are prioritizing the substitute.

2 Likes
38

I’ve seem mention of macros. Can someone give us an easy to understand synopsis?
I love pasta but it is a trigger food for me. I save pasta for a special occasion meal and I use good pasta.
I have a lot of cookbooks and also use the internet for recipes. I sometimes print them out and I stick them in a folder. This weekend I spent half a day organizing the two folders. I need a better method. I also sometimes have the issue of I make something off the internet and I don’t make note of where I got it. When I want to make it again I have to search.
I just went to Costco and stocked up on fresh vegetables. I don’t like to waste so it makes me eat more vegetables.
Things I like to keep in my freezer are cauliflower rice and frozen brown rice. I need to reorganize my freezer and make an inventory of what I have.
Places I enjoy getting recipes from are Cookie and Kate, Nom Nom Paleo, Skinnytaste.
I wish I liked salmon but I can’t bring myself to even eat it. My H also doesn’t like mushrooms or anything fishy.
I found a container of collagen protein in my pantry. I’m not sure if it does anything but I’m going to try using it each day.

1 Like
39

The thing I like best about zoodles is that my husband really likes them. He has not joined me much the past few years as I’ve improved eating / exercise habits. He tends to like high carb breakfast/lunch foods and dinners with large meat portions (and sometimes carbs too). Our sautee zoodle dinners give a low carb alternative with a lot of veggies and less meat. The main pasta meal we used to have (other than mac/cheese with kids home) was lasagne. These days I mostly do it without noodles, using breaded/baked eggplant (or zucchini) instead.

1 Like
40

Macros are your proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. With the program I am using, I have target numbers of each in grams that I should hit every day. I use My Fitness Pal app to track all my food, and I can make adjustments in the app when my coach tweaks my target numbers. I am most successful in hitting my target numbers when I plan my food for the day.

In the beginning I struggled to eat the amount of protein that I was supposed to. Adding collagen peptides to my morning protein shake was a game changer for me.

3 Likes