Happy Tuesday and March! A couple of months ago, I posted about how we changed the way we ate as a family about 7 years ago. If you missed it, here is the blog post. I really took those cookbooks and used a lot of her recipes until I was confident to start branching out into making my own recipes again. I had to understand making food again without having to just throw some cans and cooked meat together for our meals. Now I am at a point where I know what my family likes/dislikes. Do I continue to incorporate new foods, yes! And I did this in the beginning and still try to use different foods to just see what reaction I get. You know when you were a kid you didn't like almost everything and now as an adult, you can pretty much tolerate most things! Or as an adult, we understand food better and how it fuels our bodies and helps heal and protect it, so that is what drives me to eat a wider range of food! So trying to teach that to my kids early on is really important to me. Sure food tastes good, but it's used for much more than that! So, I am going to share a few recipes that my family loves and some ideas on how you can use the same recipes your family loves, by just incorporating a few changes to make it healthier!
I really wanted to take the time to make all of these recipes and take pictures, but I'm doing good if I can get it made in time for dinner, so I am going to share the links and give credit to the bloggers that take the time to photograph these beautiful meals. Again if you are stuck and would like something to read, like a book. I highly recommend these cookbooks here and here. These books are not just recipes, but an understanding of food!
I also did a blog post of meatless meals awhile ago too, here is that post! Perfect for the season of lent!
When making healthy recipes, you can still use any recipe that your family loves! You just have to look at what all goes into the recipe. If it's canned items, a lot of times you might have to take the extra time to make the individual ingredients like cream of chicken, I will make this in place of that. I typically always use fresh or frozen vegetables, never canned. The only canned veggie I will get is the tomato, but I try to buy the ones in the cardboard box. Or green chile sauce and green chiles. If it's rotel, I try to have homemade salsa on hand. It's basically dissecting any recipe and making it healthier!
I love to do one-pot meals like this one here. Typically one-pot meals are soup or pasta based with protein and veggies. If you are looking at a recipe and decide to throw it out because your kids don't like one thing in it, just take it out or substitute it with something they like.
Roasting veggies of all kinds is my go-to. I roast broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, potatoes, green beans, and brussel sprouts. Do some of my kids complain about some of these?! Yep! Sometimes adding a little parm cheese on top makes all the difference and they end up eating it! Frying an egg with a side of avocado and adding in the roasted veggies is a great meatless meal idea. Or if you prefer a side of meat that would work too! Figure out what will work BEST for your family, I roast 2 different types of veggies depending on what they are to accommodate the complaining, lol! I love using these pans for my veggies!
I have so many great meal ideas over on my Pinterest board here. I love to make homemade salsa and use it throughout the week! I'll make enchiladas like these here or this burrito bowl here and have salsa, guacamole, and chips on the side! I always make my own taco seasoning, I pretty much have it memorized by now, but here is a great recipe. You can make a big batch of it and keep it on hand! I do buy green chile sauce in the can and green chiles.
One recipe I've made almost weekly, for sure every other week is Veggie Lasagne! The secret to this is all the veggies get blended up, so the kids aren't seeing what is actually going in it!! It's brilliant, and every single time they eat the entire pan!! Now do I follow it word for word, no! I sub out veggies that I have on hand or are in season. I also buy the jar marinara sauce.
I'm definitely not a good cook by any means and I'm ok with that, lol, most of the time! I know I'm feeding my kids healthy meals and most of the time they are super easy and quick! Find those couple of meals that can be your go-to when you are pressed for time and you know your family will love! It's definitely trial and error, let me tell you I have thrown an entire meal out because it was no good! And then you learn, lol!
Hope this helps inspire some new meal ideas or new ways to eat your meals! Have a great day!
Mandy