He's gotten much better about not saying "This doesn't taste like my mom's" or turning up his nose at something until he tries it. Until yesterday, that is. My cousin was nice enough to write out some of her favorite recipes as she has been on a healthful eating kick a lot longer than me. I was excited to try her Thai Peanut Noodles and thought it smelled delicious as it cooked. When I served it to my husband he made a face, which the three younger children saw. When he took a bite and declared that he didn't like it the three kiddos decided they didn't want to eat it either. I must say that I loved it though and I enticed Joe to eat his whole plateful as well. I sent the leftovers to my parent's house where my dad ate the rest and enjoyed it. I will be making this again, but just as a lunch when Ben is gone and will share the leftovers again with my dad or a brother.
I don't know how to get hubby fully on board with this healthy eating. I don't expect him to like all the new recipes that I try but I don't want this challenge to be like pulling teeth. I want him to want to eat healthier as well. Thankfully, yesterday when we went shopping he didn't throw any soda or snack cakes into the cart so that is a start.
Anyway, here is the recipe for the Thai Peanut Noodles that I enjoyed.
8 oz. fettuccine ( i used a lb.)
1 1/2 c fresh broccoli
1/2 carrot, grated
2 tsp. garlic, minced
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 T. brown sugar
4 T. soy sauce
3 1/2 T. rice wine vinegar
4 T. peanut butter
In pot, cook fettuccine as directed. Near end of cooking, add broccoli to same pot and cook approx. 3-4 minutes.
In greased large saucepan, heath garlic on med high heat for two minutes. Add red pepper flakes, ginger, and brown sugar to sauce pan. Allow to cook another two minutes. Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and peanut butter to pan. Mix peanut butter into liquid to form a sauce. When sauce begins to boil, add cooked and drained pasta/broccoli to saucepan. Mix well. Add carrot and mix to prevent clumps.
2-3 servings
Funny about husbands! Mine takes no part in the shopping so that solves that part of the problem for me. But boy, it bugs me when he makes a face or passes a comment before thinking, because the kids always do what daddy does. He behaves himself round food most of the time, so I'm lucky in that way. I think mostly mine's just not a foodie, so eating is like, yeah, it's great/fine/good, thanks.
ReplyDeletemy husband kind of tolerates any healthier options i try. one good thing is that he'll at least try stuff before deciding if he likes or dislikes it. another is that he does want to eat healthier - in part because he is on medication for high blood pressure and would really like to be able to go off of it. when i started working on improving our diet, i made little switches without telling him (he wasn't fully on board yet). i did things like using ground turkey in place of ground beef or buying the 'simply jif' rather than regular jif peanut butter. the changes were subtle, so he accepted them rather easily, and has agreed to other bigger changes since.
ReplyDeleteYou may have to talk to your husband privately and ask him to refrain making comments or faces in front of the children. If he does not like it, have him fake it until the children are done.
ReplyDeleteMy husband is not picky. I am blessed. But he was not on board the health kick at first. I had prayed about it a lot before starting down this path. So I told him that God was calling me. Then everything that I read about how bad chemicals and such were, I shared with him. He learned a lot that way since he was not going to do the research.
The biggest change came though when he saw the results of a changed diet in our children and himself. Some times that is the only way to get through
I agree with Amy--I'm sure he'll put on a good face for the kiddos, at least.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to incorporate more health into our diets as well...I have managed to successfully substitute whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta and brown rice for most of our dishes, but every now and then hubby just has to have some white. Ah well. The hold out on the vegs right now is me...I HATE them!!!
I did speak to my husband and he agreed not to show his distaste in front of the children. He "behaved" last night when we ate bean burgers, even though he isn't big on beans and the kids scarfed them down. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Elizabeth, I've been following your challenges- inspiring! I need to cut down on the food budget over here! I have a picky BIL who is in college in the same town we live in so we have him over for dinner often. I am sort of a freak when it comes to healthy eating so I will make the things he likes, just modify them to healthy. For example, I will make turkey burgers and just add extra spice so he doesn't know it is turkey, (can use ground chicken too). I basically make the foods that I know he likes and substitute healthy ingredients for them all. (whole wheat pasta or if spaghetti I will use squash is another good sub) He seriously has no idea and loves my cooking! Good luck! I hope this helps.
ReplyDelete