For the list member who had questions about family meal ideas (sorry, I don't
remember who it was...was it Aiko?), here are a few favorites at our house.
My husband was a confirmed "meat & potatoes" guy before I started sneaking
in vegetarian meals here & there. Now I think he actually prefers eating
healthier food. His arteries were the reason we made the eating switch, but
he didn't have the wherewithall to change his eating habits without my
prodding here & there. Here are a few of my meal solutions -- some from past
postings on this list:
(1) Chili fries -- cover a plate of oven fries with a sprinkling of fat free
cheese and then a serving of fat free veggie chili over top of everything
(Health Valley black bean is nice if you don't have homemade). We also
sometimes have oven fries with mushroom gravy over the top -- also a
carry-over from our high fat days.
(2) Lentil curry over brown rice and basmati rice -- I think my lentil curry
recipe is still in the archives. If not, just ask & I'll re-post it.
(3) Veggie pizza -- ff whole wheat pizza crust topped with ff cheese, then
chunky "garden style" pasta sauce (the cheese melts better under the sauce,
and doesn't turn to plastic), roasted peppers (that's roasted capsicums to
you Paul), artichoke hearts, reconstituted sun dried tomatoes, fresh
tomatoes, or whatever else I might have on hand.
(4) Chili over whole wheat pasta -- surprisingly tasty and a complete
protein.
(5) Veggie "fried" rice -- I use a little five spice powder & some curry
powder to make an Indonesian-style fried rice with chickpeas & lots of
veggies.
(6) Steamed veggie wontons -- cabbage, carrots, onion, ginger, etc. shredded
and wrapped into a store-bought wonton or egg roll wrapper, then steamed in a
skillet on the stove. Yummy with dipping sauce made with soy sauce, rice
vinegar, fresh ginger, garlic, and a couple drops of sesame oil.
I've gotten so many ideas from this list in the past -- sometimes I find it
helpful to just search through my recipes. I "clip" them off the list each
day & then print them off & place in a binder. I'm in the process of
indexing the whole thing according to type of recipe (breakfast, main dish,
etc.). I find that to be very useful in finding mealtime ideas. Also, we've
been pretty successful at remakes of old high fat favorites (like the oven
fries), as my husband started off being more comfortable with the familiar
than he was with the exotic. Hope this helps!
- Christy Hardin Smith
ReddHedd@xxxxxxx
------------------------------