I have made so many changes in the way that I cook over the past year. I grew up in Kansas and both my grandma and my mom were awesome cooks. I never thought that we ate bad because we always ate fresh vegetables from our garden and my mom wouldn’t let us eat lots of sugary things. We didn’t drink pop much either. I guess the main thing is that we ate LOTS of comfort foods like fried chicken and mashed potatoes, homemade mac and cheese, fried vegetables and potatoes, etc. I think you get the point.
When Andrew and I started on this health journey, I had no idea what to do to change the way we ate. I just started looking for healthier options. One place that I found tons of good recipes was a website called www.sparkpeople.com. Another website that has been helpful to me is Eat Better America. They send me e-mails every so often with “healthified” recipes, which I love. I have always loved getting Taste of Home magazine, but it is full of comfort food type of things. Then I realized that they also have a magazine called Healthy Cooking. I subscribed to this right away and I love it. One of their big features is Makeover foods. They take common recipes that many people have heard of and love and they transform to make it so much better for you. This way you can still eat the foods you love, but be a little healthier at the same time. It has been so fun for me to find new ways to cook the things that I love from my childhood. They may not be exactly the way that Grandma made them, but they’re just as good and I can feel good about giving them to my family. In future posts, I am going to start posting some of those recipes. I hope you will try them.
@andrewtate
Annette
You guys are an inspiration. I’m sure you were in a rut at some point like we are right now. So anything I hear from you on how you got started is a blessing. I hope that we get there too.
By: Chrissy Almodovar on 05/05/2009
at 11:08 AM
We’ve recently changed the way we eat as well. Ben and I used to be really healthy, and then came the boys! LOL But we’re slowly climbing out of the pit of junk food and really looking at how we’re treating our bodies. A website that I like to refer to a lot is http://www.whfoods.com It lists the worlds 100 healthiest foods. I printed out the list, highlighted what we already ate on a regular basis, and we add new foods from the list to our diet whenever we can. We’ve discovered a lot of new favorites that way!
I’ve done a lot of comfort food makeovers as well. One of the best things I did was makeover mashed potatoes. For our family of 4 I use 4 med. potatoes, boil or steam as usual, and in the last 5 minutes throw in an equal amount of cauliflower. Sometimes I still use milk and butter to whip them up, but more often I’ll use sour cream or plain yogurt, instead.
I’d love to hear more of your recipes, and I’ll be sure to pass along some of mine, too!
By: Melissa Fausey on 05/05/2009
at 12:27 PM