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1/15/09

Sneaky Ways to add Healthy foods to your family's meals

All right, so my oldest daughter has been having BAD stomach problems lately. Actually, this has been an on and off thing for a while now. The doctor has told us repeatedly it is because of the way she eats. This of course, falls back to me. I fix dinner almost every night. But, I’m Italian. So, even though I’ve learned how to personally control eating the bad stuff…. Pasta, potatoes, bread, etc…. I haven’t quite mastered how to consistently shy away from cooking them for my family. My bad. So I’ve recently taken up preparing healthy dinners for my family along with the healthy lunches and breakfasts I was already making for myself.

I’ve found some really interesting (and admittedly delicious) ways to “sneak” healthy foods into the ones that I already make. So as not to cause a huge rebellion from my husband and kids.

Here are a few that I’ve tried with tons of luck! They actually went over big. Of course I didn’t tell any of them what was really in the food they were wolfing down, I just smiled to myself and watched as my family began the journey to healthy.

-Sloppy Joes-
My family LOVES ground beef. In pasta sauce, meatloaf, burgers, sloppy joes, you name it. Here’s an easy way to turn these otherwise not so healthy foods into ones you can be proud of.

For sloppy joes…. Forget the canned sloppy joe mix. Brown your lean ground beef in olive oil. Instead of all ground beef, use half ground turkey and half ground beef. To the browned meat, add ¼ cup ground flax seed and 1 pureed avocado (I place mine in the food processor with a bit of olive oil, garlic powder, and pepper). Mix well. Then add 1 small can tomato sauce and 1 cup of BBQ sauce. Mix well and heat through. Serve with whole wheat buns if desired and TADA! You’ve just made HEALTHY sloppy joes!!


-Sweet fruit Salad-

My kids actually love fruit, so I capitalize on this.
Mix peaches, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and grapes in a large bow. (I use frozen fruit, except for the grapes) In a small bowl, mix together 3 TBS. honey and the juice from half of a lime. Add a dash of cinnamon and 1 packet of Splenda. Pour over your salad and serve at room temperature.

-Pasta Sauce-

This is an easy one. Tomatoes are healthy by nature. You just have to make it homemade. It takes barely any more work than opening a jar and heating it. But the rewards are soooooo much better.

In a food processor, pulse 1 can chickpeas, 1 TBS. olive oil, garlic powder, and a dash of MRS. DASH until smooth. Heat 2 TBS. olive oil in a large pot. Saute ½ of an onion until they begin to carmelize. Add about 1 cup of red wine to this. Boil down for about 5 minutes. Then add 1 can of whole tomatoes to the pan. Let them heat through, then begin lightly smashing them down. Add 1 can tomato sauce and the chickpea mixture. Mix well to combine. Your sauce will be a bit light in color, so add another can of tomato sauce if desired. Season to taste with Italian Seasonings, garlic powder, and pepper. I add a packet of Splenda because we like our sauce not quite so tart. Serve this with Smart Taste Pasta of Whole Wheat pasta.

If you would like to see more of these easy healthy ideas, let me know. I have an eBook that has so many more ideas in it. I’d be happy to send it to you!!

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