Healthy dinner/meal ideas.

[-Skye]

So basically my father has been told if he continues the path he's on he won't live past 60. He's a diabetic and ex smoker and weighs about 240 pounds. He has little self control and I'm trying to help him diet by cooking him food (I'm a trainee chef ^^). I've been doing it for a week now and it's working out pretty well. Basically I'm cooking medium sized portions of food with low sugar, some carbs and high protein.

I was wondering if anyone could share some of their healthy meal recipes/ideas. I'm not so creative so I'm running out of ideas and would like to add some diversity so he doesn't get bored.

Thanks!

[Deleted]

I can recommend you to check youtube.com/michaelkoryfitness. He releases quite good recipes on a weekly basis.

My main recipe which i eat pretty often is

Boil 100g red lentils
Put about 2dl of water in a pan, put in 150g chicken + 100g broccoli and put the lid on, let it be like that for 15 minutes.

[Softyknuckles]

I'm not sure these recipes are what you're looking for nor am I claiming they are super healthy, but my dad requested these three dishes most often when he was losing weight (he was also 240 lbs) and he's now down to 175, so they aren't too unhealthy, I suppose. Up to you, of course, whether or not they'll do. Hope your dad likes chicken.

Most requested: http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2012/...tons-best.html. I like to set aside a bit of the marinade prior to adding chicken, then mix in a little mayo - maybe a tsp. Warm it on the oven while the chicken's cooking and it makes a great sauce. Best grilled, but good broiled too.

Second favorite: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/szechwan-shrimp/. Triple or quadruple the sauce, depending on how much you're making; use fresh sliced ginger in place of ground, chicken in place of shrimp and add some steamed broccoli and cabbage. Let it sit covered on low heat for about twenty minutes to half an hour and it tastes pretty damn good.

And finally: http://www.food.com/recipe/lime-gril...-breast-465762. Good marinated for two hours, best if eight hours or more. We always have it with Cuban-style black beans (and rice, ofc) ~ http://www.medicinenet.com/script/ma...ticlekey=78915.

Hope one of 'em works for ya.

[MickoLis]

make a salad bowl with lett tom onion beetroot and for meats either a couple slices of ham or chicken. small amount of ground pepper. try to stay away from dressings and cheeses.

[Deleted]

So basically my father has been told if he continues the path he's on he won't live past 60. He's a diabetic and ex smoker and weighs about 240 pounds. He has little self control and I'm trying to help him diet by cooking him food (I'm a trainee chef ^^). I've been doing it for a week now and it's working out pretty well. Basically I'm cooking medium sized portions of food with low sugar, some carbs and high protein.

I was wondering if anyone could share some of their healthy meal recipes/ideas. I'm not so creative so I'm running out of ideas and would like to add some diversity so he doesn't get bored.

Thanks!

Try-
<Nm cant post links, put BBC good food into google and look at the recipies and healthy tabs on the site>
has some good recipies, or at least idea.

Dont be too worried about going for "healthy" meal....just go for portion control and a balanced diet. You dont need to go down the extreme healthy route, or cut out anything he likes, he'll just get frustrated by it an quit it or sneak other food. Food can still be enjoyable.

Personally I do a lot of lentil dishes, and chickpeas and such to bulk out other foods. So you can still eat what you want but its just more healthy.

Grilled chicken and such is good, use marinades to keep it interesting, as it fish, which is full of flavour anyway so you dont need to do much to it to make a really nice meal, a decent piece of steamed fish or a griddled fish steak is great.

Couscous, lentils, beans, chickpeas, bulgerwheat, that kind of stuff can be really nice and healthy if you just add something interesting to give it flavour, and most of the time its quick and easy to cook.

Its hard to advise on specific recipies, as we dont know your tastes, but put those ingredients into the BBC food site and see if any of the recipies take your fancy, its pretty easy to spot the ones that are more healthy.

But usually with people needing to alter their diets, the first thing you need to get a handle on is portion control which is sounds like you are doing anyway.

[Blueobelisk]

? This is a huge lifestyle change to be eating healthier and I'm not sure if every single day you'll be able to make him a new different meal. In fact I usually just eat the same dinner 2-3 days lol and switch up my snacks.

What I eat:
-Canned tuna in a whole wheat wrap. (Bread is bad.)
-Grilled chicken and yellow rice.
-Sometimes chicken baked in the oven with breadcrumbs and some home made French fries (also baked in oven).
-Turkey breast pan grilled with some mashed potatoes.
-Home made chicken and broccoli (Chinese) with a small amount of white rice.
-Chicken meat loaf and some mashed potatoes.

And basically rinse and repeat. I'm considering making chicken/turkey burgers but I don't want to have to eat bread.

Hope that helps somewhat lol.

[-Skye]

? This is a huge lifestyle change to be eating healthier and I'm not sure if every single day you'll be able to make him a new different meal. In fact I usually just eat the same dinner 2-3 days lol and switch up my snacks.

What I eat:
-Canned tuna in a whole wheat wrap. (Bread is bad.)
-Grilled chicken and yellow rice.
-Sometimes chicken baked in the oven with breadcrumbs and some home made French fries (also baked in oven).
-Turkey breast pan grilled with some mashed potatoes.
-Home made chicken and broccoli (Chinese) with a small amount of white rice.
-Chicken meat loaf and some mashed potatoes.

And basically rinse and repeat. I'm considering making chicken/turkey burgers but I don't want to have to eat bread.

Hope that helps somewhat lol.

Yes it is and I know it'll be hard for him, but when he did it on his own he would get fed up because of the sheer amount of chocolate my mother eats (she probably eats 500g/1kg+ per day) and temptation is always around him. So by making his meals and doing it with him I hope it's not as hard. Cheers for the advice everyone !

[Blueobelisk]

Yeah I get the feeling lol. My parents buy KFC or Pizza or something every Friday and then on Saturday they go out to a restaurant to eat. Of course I don't join them but it's hard to eat your small "healthy" meal when there's something good in your face. (Not to mention my physics and math clubs keep inviting me and they order pizza and soda and I have to watch and get told "Hey Tariq take a slice" ZZZZZZZZZZ.)

But if he's really diabetic then he shouldn't be eating snacks like chocolate at all. (Not that I'm blaming your Mom or saying that he does.) The healthy-meal part of the diet is good to lose weight, but won't help too much with his diabetes (just don't give him a lot of sugar or salt and really any meal will work out). Just watch what snacks he eats, it's okay as long as they aren't loaded with sugar. If he has Type 2 Diabetes make sure he exercises, even if it's very lightly. The point of the exercise isn't to lose weight or burn calories, but to get his cells to be more active, which can help his diabetes.

To reiterate: There's a difference between a diet to lose weight and a diet to help Type 2 diabetes. If you're trying to kill two birds with one stone that'll be good but maybe you should wean him into the losing weight part. (If you haven't been.)

[Deleted]

Something i would really like is a healthy meal plan without the evil vegetables.
And i dont mean Paprika, Corn, lettuce, radish or rocket those are a few of the good ones.
I mean truly evil vegetables: Broccoli, cabbage or even the worst of them all Beets. WHY DO YOU EVEN EXIST ??

And whats wrong with broccoli?

[-Skye]

Yeah I get the feeling lol. My parents buy KFC or Pizza or something every Friday and then on Saturday they go out to a restaurant to eat. Of course I don't join them but it's hard to eat your small "healthy" meal when there's something good in your face. (Not to mention my physics and math clubs keep inviting me and they order pizza and soda and I have to watch and get told "Hey Tariq take a slice" ZZZZZZZZZZ.)

But if he's really diabetic then he shouldn't be eating snacks like chocolate at all. (Not that I'm blaming your Mom or saying that he does.) The healthy-meal part of the diet is good to lose weight, but won't help too much with his diabetes (just don't give him a lot of sugar or salt and really any meal will work out). Just watch what snacks he eats, it's okay as long as they aren't loaded with sugar. If he has Type 2 Diabetes make sure he exercises, even if it's very lightly. The point of the exercise isn't to lose weight or burn calories, but to get his cells to be more active, which can help his diabetes.

To reiterate: There's a difference between a diet to lose weight and a diet to help Type 2 diabetes. If you're trying to kill two birds with one stone that'll be good but maybe you should wean him into the losing weight part. (If you haven't been.)

Yeah, sadly he has little to no self control and he's working on that. I'm trying to help him lose weight and keep his diabetes under check because he's overweight for his height/age (not like I can talk but ohwell). And as soon as I can drive (test next tuesday \o/) I'm going to start going to the gym and such and occasionally I'll invite him and slowly ease him into everything. He got the diabetes after he quit smoking. (He'd been smoking for 30+ years, then after about 1/2 years of quitting he put on a TON of weight and got diabetes). So yeah, I'm trying to just prepare healthy balanced meals in smaller portions for now, then after some time once he's used to that get him into exercising

[Blueobelisk]

Well the exercise I'm talking about is really light. I don't even mean lifting weights. I'm talking about slow walking on a treadmill for 30 minutes a day. Or riding a stationary bike 30 mins a day. If it's Type 2 diabetes he has (I'm assuming it is) then it'll make a world of difference.

You should considering buying a treadmill or bike if you have the space in your house and the funds, it'll be much more convenient for him to use than having to go to a gym.

How old is he by the way?

And also good luck on your driving test.

[Zeglo]

Here are some ideas off the top of my head:

Baked chicken: Just take some boneless chicken from the supermarket and bake it in the oven with some herbs and bottled sauces. You could serve it with brown rice and some frozen broccoli or something. No fried items. No heavy sauces, and frozen vegetables can be quite healthy.

Stir Fry: Get some chicken or shrimp and sear it in a big pan. Then add an array of vegetables like carrots, baby corn, water chestnuts, broccoli, green beans etc. You can mix in as little or as much sauce as you'd like. Of course using some spices will help, too. Serve over whole grain rice or noodles.

Pan-seared fish or baked fish: Any kind of fish, especially Salmon, can be so healthy. It's a little more expensive, but even something like canned Tuna (Without mixing in mayonnaise), can be quite healthy in a salad or just grilled with light seasoning. Canned tuna of course is more difficult to work with.

Stew or Roasts: Take a crock-pot or big pot on the stove and fill it with a big hunk of meat, stocks, vegetables, etc. (You can find slow-cooker recipes). After many hours (You can start it in the morning), it'll be cooked. The fat should fall off of the meat, leaving you with a lean stew of many vegetables and some hearty meat. You could dip bread in or something to help add carbs (Or use potatoes in the stew).

[-Skye]

He turns 50 this year. Yeah, we have a cross-trainer but as I said. I need to slowly work him into things or he'll give up as I'm doing with the food. Once he's used to that I'll start getting him exercising. I'd like him to come the gym with me after a while just to have a friend to do it with tbh. I'm really unhealthy myself (17 years old, 6'3, about 330 pounds) and I'm slowly working my way onto the things I'm doing for him also, since I also have little self control. It's a lot easier having someone doing it with you.

Thanks for the recipes Zeglo

Tonight we had a light chicken korma with wholegrain rice and tomorrow I'm making; http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2012/...tons-best.html with some slight modifications.

Cheers everyone!

[Osyrus]

A friend of mine for quick meals/healthy uses 'hamburger helper' believe it or not they are decently healthy

sounds silly, but you had tons veggies and a protein source and you have a fast meal.

personally? Im chicken, rice, and veggies kinda person.

[-Skye]

Yeah. I have the basics down of what to cook, what not to cook, portions etc. Now I'm scouting around for healthy complete meals to keep things interesting :P Making a little binder for them.

[Blueobelisk]

50 eh? You'll probably kill him in a gym lol. I'm not saying it's impossible but it's hard, he's old and overweight.

I know you want a partner but your Dad isn't that partner. At least not for the gym. The diet part would work out tremendously for you both though.

I wonder what the condition of your Mom who eats a lot of chocolate is.....

[-Skye]

50 eh? You'll probably kill him in a gym lol. I'm not saying it's impossible but it's hard, he's old and overweight.

I know you want a partner but your Dad isn't that partner. At least not for the gym. The diet part would work out tremendously for you both though.

I wonder what the condition of your Mom who eats a lot of chocolate is.....

She has a gastric (probably misspelt) band, I don't know how it works but she doesn't gain weight and she can easily lose it by going to the doc's and having it tightened. Never understood it or researched what it is myself, not interested because I'd probably want one :P. Yeah I guess so about the gym thing, but even using the treadmills and stuff wouldn't be so bad for him?

[Blueobelisk]

Yeah the treadmills in the gym are good but I'm talking about exercising every single day. I doubt a 50 year old man would do that, but you know him better than I so maybe he will. (I'm very serious when I say exercise is key to treating Type 2 Diabetes. It's not just the diet.)

And ehhhh at your Mom's Lap band. I was gonna tell you to include her in your diet + exercise but she needs it less severely than you and your Dad it seems.

And isn't it like 10 or 11 o clock in England? Go catch some sleep, sleep is important for losing weight.

[Deleted]

Since you are a trainee chef, try mediterrean diet, maybe with less pasta and more vegetables. Avoid fried food and after dinner dessert, and negate too much alcoholics.
Trust an italian.

[Kraenen]

? This is a huge lifestyle change to be eating healthier and I'm not sure if every single day you'll be able to make him a new different meal. In fact I usually just eat the same dinner 2-3 days lol and switch up my snacks.

What I eat:
-Canned tuna in a whole wheat wrap. (Bread is bad.)
-Grilled chicken and yellow rice.
-Sometimes chicken baked in the oven with breadcrumbs and some home made French fries (also baked in oven).
-Turkey breast pan grilled with some mashed potatoes.
-Home made chicken and broccoli (Chinese) with a small amount of white rice.
-Chicken meat loaf and some mashed potatoes.

And basically rinse and repeat. I'm considering making chicken/turkey burgers but I don't want to have to eat bread.

Hope that helps somewhat lol.

that's a lot of chicken lol. how about some fish?