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Springfield, put some white beans and water in a food processor and process until smooth. Mix a little bit with the butter and toss with the pasta and parmesan cheese for a protein and fiber boost. Or, you can just toss in the beans whole if the kids like them. We spike our mac-n-cheese with edamame, too.
My kids don't like lentils/beans but I think they might eat them if they were pureed and mixed in with their pasta. I'll have to try that.
I usually serve the pasta with vegetables (fresh broccoli, tomatoes, etc.) and meat (chicken, roast, cube steak etc.) on the side. They don't want those mixed in. They're in the "foods must not touch" stage...
YES - exactly. And SOME parents of obese children ARE bad parents. And some aren't. But you can't tell the diffence by just looking at them.
I can't argue with that. You can't tell just by looking at the kids.
Many times (in my case) I am actively watching the kids putting the food in their mouths, though. Or lugging around a family-sized bag of cheetos. That's usually when this thought occurs to me.
My kids don't like lentils/beans but I think they might eat them if they were pureed and mixed in with their pasta. I'll have to try that.
I usually serve the pasta with vegetables (fresh broccoli, tomatoes, etc.) and meat (chicken, roast, cube steak etc.) on the side. They don't want those mixed in. They're in the "foods must not touch" stage...
Here are some other healthy, filling, and relatively inexpensive meals that are popular in our household:
Tomato soup and grilled cheese & turkey whole wheat sandwiches
Three-bean turkey chili and home-made cornbread
Lentil casserole with couscous
Whole bean burritos (black beans, brown rice, a slice of avocado, a dusting of shredded cheese, and a spoonful of salsa in a ww tortilla)
Irish oatmeal (let it cook overnight in a slowcooker) with sliced apples, blueberries, a TBSP chopped walnuts, and honey
Spinach and cheese omelet
Quinoa casserole (baked kind of like a quiche with spinach and egg)
Chicken soup made with shredded left-over chicken, mixed frozen vegetables, and egg noodles.
This list is making me drool...off to the grocery store!
Those are our family staples. We eat a LOT of soups and stews, and tomato is a winner with both of my kids. Funny, because they'd rather die than eat a plain tomato, but they'll polish off two servings of tomato soup, lick the bowl, and ask for more. Kids are really weird!
Not so healthy and not so cheap, we also love cheese ravioli tossed with cubes of butternut squash and sauteed with whole sage leaves in a brown butter sauce.
A whole chicken can be the source of multiple meals if you strip the meat off the carcass and make chicken stock.
Baked apples are yummy this time of year, and they make the house smell incredible.
Look...just based on my local prices (and I live in swankytown, where the purposely gouge you):
4 combo meals at McDonald's (cheapest one with tax): over $20
Or...
4 x chicken breast $4.00
1 x head of broccoli $1.50
1 tomato $0.60
1 x block of cheese to shred and put on aforementioned broc/chicken/whatever $3.00
4 apples for dessert $1.50
Water $0.00
Total: around 10 bucks. And that's if you DON'T go to discount superstore and buy things in bulk to freeze. Even allowing for some price variations based on where you are, the price still goes nowhere near $20.
I mean, really?
Cooking your own food is always cheaper, but we sometimes find that we need to "grab and go". McDonalds is very cheap compared to grabbing prepared sushi, or sandwiches at the supermarket. I think you missed the part where I talked about people sometimes needing to eat on the fly. I cook most nights but tonight we will probaby have to eat on the run as child #1 has a lacrosse game and child #2 has band rehearsal and nobody will be home to cook tonight. Last night I had leftovers from Sunday night.
We won't be eating McDonalds, we will probably get sushi from the supermarket and it is WAY MORE EXPENSIVE than eating McDonalds.
Yeah-but if you NEED to eat quickly (which nearly everyone does at some time) McDonalds is really cheap, much cheaper than most other prepared foods.
I agree with you completely. It takes time to prepare meals at home, and modern life doesn't always lend itself to a SAH parent, a stocked pantry, and the appliances and tools to make those meals. We all depend on convenience foods at one time or another, and we should be demanding better from the food industry.
Really, I think it's a combination of factors that are creating the obesity epidemic in the western world; however, I think it's mostly the types of foods we eat. It's commonly thought that people in France are thin, but the reality is that they are fighting obesity just like Americans. What has changed? Constant access to calorie-laden convenience foods.
Can't argue with you on the need to eat on the fly, but that's where planning comes in. My mom always had sandwiches and fruit and juice boxes in the cooler when she shuttled us around from one place to another.
I've only recently begun to appreciate how she worked her butt off to make sure we were taken care of properly.
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