Recipes, Food Tips, Healthy Eating & More

Posted by Debbra Williams, Alumna Mentor @debbraw, Feb 22, 2019

Some of the members of the Gratitude Discussion Group were interested in having a place to share recipes and food ideas. I’m hoping that we can use this thread as a place to have that kind of discussion. I’d love to hear your ideas for quick meals, comfort food, healthy snacks, and more.

Personally, I’ve just been through a bad reaction to one of my medications that left me with a very queasy stomach. I would love to hear ideas – or recipes – that might be used when you need to get something on your stomach, but don’t want to overdo it.

Hopefully, this thread will even be a place where we can share recipes for special treats and yummy rewards. It doesn’t always have to be healthy!

I’d love to hear from members who have been part of other discussions AND from new members who have good ideas, recipes and food tips to share. I’m excited to see who might start us off here with an awesome food suggestion!

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Just Want to Talk Support Group.

@merpreb

@imallears- Good morning. You make some every excellent points. It's so important to care for your self and by knowing what's in your food is essential. I eat Kashi go lean cereal and add fruit. They are very careful about their ingredients. I think that researching everything to do with your life makes you able to make informed decisions too.
what is your best resource for reasearching food ingredients

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@merpreb
Hi,
I don’t have a particular nutrition resource. I’m not a vegetarian or follow a particular diet. I look for natural ingredients and will look up an unknown chemical on my phone while shopping. For instance, AMYs organic tomato bisque has tomato purée as first ingredient then natural seasoning and onions and cane sugar. I don’t buy much canned food but I always check what the first ingredient is and discount anything with fructose....so many sauces have that. Some sugar is necessary sometimes.
Publix unsweetened applesauce is apples , water and citric acid. The order of ingredients is important to me. Where frozen fish is from is a concern. I usually make my own salad dressing but found a brand called Skinny girl dressing I really like even though it has 6 lines of ingredients..Except for the preservatives , the other ingredients are like dried garlic, bell peppers..lemon juice. The first ingredient is water but that’s okay because it’s a light dressing and I like the taste.

So, always reading, try to buy organic and avoid sugar as much as I can and very little gluten. It’s reasonable and I am not denying myself . I found a recipe for an almond flour egg muffin that I will share ...makes one muffin in microwave. I will be back with that.
I like to cook and presentation is important to me even if just for myself. My daughter and I are good cooks, enjoy reading about nutrition and always sending pictures of our food to each other. My son is a superb cook, rarely follows a recipe... very instinctive.

Regards from FL Mary

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@merpreb good article well out goes my Cheerios and oats. I just had a smoothie for breakfast .

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@contentandwell

@merpreb My husband does not have a weight problem, and he eats either a big, fresh, toasted croissant or a big cranberry muffin for breakfast every morning. My son cannot believe my husband's diet, yet he will be 84 next month and has NO MEDICAL problems. His BP and cholesterol are both great. The only problems he has had have been totally unrelated to diet. It can be annoying!
JK

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As long as I eat healthy, which is a chore with my dislike of cooking, I seldom have problems maintaining or losing weight. My downfall is if I don’t eat healthy and my gluttony for deserts kicks in. My Mom can eat just 1 of anything but I can’t. Now I’m hungry for a Carmel cheesecake.
Jake

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@jakedduck1

As long as I eat healthy, which is a chore with my dislike of cooking, I seldom have problems maintaining or losing weight. My downfall is if I don’t eat healthy and my gluttony for deserts kicks in. My Mom can eat just 1 of anything but I can’t. Now I’m hungry for a Carmel cheesecake.
Jake

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Yes, I know how it goes, @jakedduck1. Brownie cheesecake is my downfall.

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@hopeful33250

Yes, I know how it goes, @jakedduck1. Brownie cheesecake is my downfall.

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@hopeful 33250
I’ll join you for a piece of that, with some Carmel sauce.
Jake

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I feel a little bit like the man taking his donkey to market for the last time. Since Cheerios and Steel Cut Oats are two of only 4 cereals I allow myself, I will continue to eat them. I limit quite a lot of foods and ingredients. I just have to take the risk at this point.

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@jakedduck1

As long as I eat healthy, which is a chore with my dislike of cooking, I seldom have problems maintaining or losing weight. My downfall is if I don’t eat healthy and my gluttony for deserts kicks in. My Mom can eat just 1 of anything but I can’t. Now I’m hungry for a Carmel cheesecake.
Jake

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@ jakeduck
Hi,

Gotta respond to this. Understand your aversion to cooking...that ain’t gonna change. Your knowing you should and don’t eat healthy is a good sign that you want to live a long, fairly active life. So work with yourself.

Stop looking at cooking as an everyday thing you have to do......If you could summon up the interest and energy to cook maybe once or twice a month and spend that day cooking meals for the freezer , that equals a lot of days not cooking, just defrosting.

The crockpot could be your best friend...dump the food on and forget about it. But you have to do the initial learning process.

I’m sure you’ve used the rotisserie chicken route ad nauseum. Nothing wrong with that. Pick up a premade salad and throw some of that chicken on top. So many good things are precut today that require little or no effort. A bunch of precut veggies drizzled with olive oil and tossed in the oven is heavenly....and you have leftovers. That’s not “cooking”.

Thai takeout is healthy. Pick up a quart of Chinese stir fry. Throw some frozen fruit and spinach leaves and yogurt and ice cubes in a blender just to give you the nutrients you need. That ain’t cooking, just watching . Also might satisfy that sweet tooth.

You can get around cooking by planning ahead...will cost you a little more but you’re worth it aren’t you? Then when you do have a healthy day of eating, go get that cheesecake as a reward.

Take advantage of the friends that will cook a meal for you and treat yourself to an occasional steak dinner. Chili’s has a under 500 calorie steak and salad and avocado dinner that’s very good but probably loaded with sodium. You can balance that out for that day.

Slice up you toaster steak and toss it with Chinese stir fry takeout.

Make this a game. How can Mr Holloway expend the least amount of effort and maintain a healthy diet. Then write your favorites down and rotate them.

Can’t help you with the sweet tooth...that’s will power....but I bet dollars to doughnuts, the more nutritious meals you eat the less you will crave those sweets. The body is smart that way.

You have a great sense of humor so let’s make fun of Julia Child and Emeril and all of them and say Ha! look at what I did! or, more to the point, what I didn’t have to do.

Regards and Bon Appetit from FL Mary

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@imallears

@ jakeduck
Hi,

Gotta respond to this. Understand your aversion to cooking...that ain’t gonna change. Your knowing you should and don’t eat healthy is a good sign that you want to live a long, fairly active life. So work with yourself.

Stop looking at cooking as an everyday thing you have to do......If you could summon up the interest and energy to cook maybe once or twice a month and spend that day cooking meals for the freezer , that equals a lot of days not cooking, just defrosting.

The crockpot could be your best friend...dump the food on and forget about it. But you have to do the initial learning process.

I’m sure you’ve used the rotisserie chicken route ad nauseum. Nothing wrong with that. Pick up a premade salad and throw some of that chicken on top. So many good things are precut today that require little or no effort. A bunch of precut veggies drizzled with olive oil and tossed in the oven is heavenly....and you have leftovers. That’s not “cooking”.

Thai takeout is healthy. Pick up a quart of Chinese stir fry. Throw some frozen fruit and spinach leaves and yogurt and ice cubes in a blender just to give you the nutrients you need. That ain’t cooking, just watching . Also might satisfy that sweet tooth.

You can get around cooking by planning ahead...will cost you a little more but you’re worth it aren’t you? Then when you do have a healthy day of eating, go get that cheesecake as a reward.

Take advantage of the friends that will cook a meal for you and treat yourself to an occasional steak dinner. Chili’s has a under 500 calorie steak and salad and avocado dinner that’s very good but probably loaded with sodium. You can balance that out for that day.

Slice up you toaster steak and toss it with Chinese stir fry takeout.

Make this a game. How can Mr Holloway expend the least amount of effort and maintain a healthy diet. Then write your favorites down and rotate them.

Can’t help you with the sweet tooth...that’s will power....but I bet dollars to doughnuts, the more nutritious meals you eat the less you will crave those sweets. The body is smart that way.

You have a great sense of humor so let’s make fun of Julia Child and Emeril and all of them and say Ha! look at what I did! or, more to the point, what I didn’t have to do.

Regards and Bon Appetit from FL Mary

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@imallears Mary, your message is good for anyone here, not just Leonard! Making food a healthy game could be fun. We all need food to survive, definitely, and that is what makes it difficult for people with eating or food disorders. Leonard, my dad always said he never met a cookie or cheesecake he didn't like. Towards the end of his life he wanted Panda brand black licorice. [Myself, I just want Good N Plenty]. Sometimes I still really desire what is a no-no on this renal diet, like a banana or good navel Orange.
Ginger

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@jakedduck1

As long as I eat healthy, which is a chore with my dislike of cooking, I seldom have problems maintaining or losing weight. My downfall is if I don’t eat healthy and my gluttony for deserts kicks in. My Mom can eat just 1 of anything but I can’t. Now I’m hungry for a Carmel cheesecake.
Jake

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@jakedduck1........what is this study re: cereal that you guys are talking about?

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@imallears

@ jakeduck
Hi,

Gotta respond to this. Understand your aversion to cooking...that ain’t gonna change. Your knowing you should and don’t eat healthy is a good sign that you want to live a long, fairly active life. So work with yourself.

Stop looking at cooking as an everyday thing you have to do......If you could summon up the interest and energy to cook maybe once or twice a month and spend that day cooking meals for the freezer , that equals a lot of days not cooking, just defrosting.

The crockpot could be your best friend...dump the food on and forget about it. But you have to do the initial learning process.

I’m sure you’ve used the rotisserie chicken route ad nauseum. Nothing wrong with that. Pick up a premade salad and throw some of that chicken on top. So many good things are precut today that require little or no effort. A bunch of precut veggies drizzled with olive oil and tossed in the oven is heavenly....and you have leftovers. That’s not “cooking”.

Thai takeout is healthy. Pick up a quart of Chinese stir fry. Throw some frozen fruit and spinach leaves and yogurt and ice cubes in a blender just to give you the nutrients you need. That ain’t cooking, just watching . Also might satisfy that sweet tooth.

You can get around cooking by planning ahead...will cost you a little more but you’re worth it aren’t you? Then when you do have a healthy day of eating, go get that cheesecake as a reward.

Take advantage of the friends that will cook a meal for you and treat yourself to an occasional steak dinner. Chili’s has a under 500 calorie steak and salad and avocado dinner that’s very good but probably loaded with sodium. You can balance that out for that day.

Slice up you toaster steak and toss it with Chinese stir fry takeout.

Make this a game. How can Mr Holloway expend the least amount of effort and maintain a healthy diet. Then write your favorites down and rotate them.

Can’t help you with the sweet tooth...that’s will power....but I bet dollars to doughnuts, the more nutritious meals you eat the less you will crave those sweets. The body is smart that way.

You have a great sense of humor so let’s make fun of Julia Child and Emeril and all of them and say Ha! look at what I did! or, more to the point, what I didn’t have to do.

Regards and Bon Appetit from FL Mary

Jump to this post

@imallears
You make some valid points. Funny thing is I use to love to cook and bake. I liked to make candy. I seldom eat sweets anymore and do eat quite healthy now bellyaching every inch of the way. I usually have 4oz of meat, potato veggies sometimes a salad. When my dad was alive we all went on a 700 calorie diet. Everything had to be weighed and measured but we all got full and had everything from appetizers to desert and never had any cravings. I use to eat every meal at the bakery and have a couple candy bars with a root beer float every night in bed. I’m not as active as I use to be when my pain was controlled with Fentanyl. I control it more now by staying off my feet. One reason I don’t cook or do anything for a prolonged time. After awhile I just collapse. Trying not to take any pain meds. I should hire someone to cook that way for me. I have a gal who cooks for me occasionally, guess she need to come more often. I hired her to help with my Mom but she’s not showing up.
Jake

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