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It's really easy to bake chicken. I always use boneless, skinless breasts because my family won't eat dark meat. Here's how to do it: Line a baking sheet with foil for easier cleanup. Preheat the oven to 375. Get a gallon bag and put about two tablespoons olive oil inside, along with whatever seasonings you want. (McCormick makes a bunch of seasoning blends like brick oven or Montreal seasoning that are easy to use and taste great.) Open the package of chicken and cut off any bits that don't look appealing, sometimes there's a tough part along the edge or a bit of cartilage left where the wing was removed. Put the trimmed chicken pieces into the bag, hold it closed, and turn it over a few times until all the chicken has oil and seasonings. Put the chicken on the baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes.
For the veggies, buy some of those steamable bags that go in the microwave for a few minutes. You can get all sorts of combinations and flavors. If you need a little bit of starch to go with it, those packets of flavored mashed potatoes that you just add boiling water to are really pretty good.
Instead of cooking your own food when your wife is making dinner and having to avoid the temptation to eat what she cooks, along with making twice as many dishes to wash, offer to cook for the family a couple nights a week. You'll be getting your healthy food and she'll be getting her days off from cooking. Tell her it's because you appreciate her so much and want to do your part, not because her food is too fattening, and you'll get bonus points for being a considerate husband.
Wow! Now you're talking! I like easy! I think I can make chicken like that.
I struggle sometimes with portion control and I eat too much of it. Even though I exercise, I have not mastered eating sensibly when supper is homemade cheeseburgers and french fries.
I know, it takes time. But learning it means that you can eat "in real life", when you may not have access to super healthy choices. Also, it gives you a bit of a break from what can become monotonous, especially when confronted with life's dietary landmines. The truth is there are going to be days when you want a homemade cheeseburger (they're the best!) and fries and a grilled chicken breast with quinoa isn't going to cut it. For me, I maintain a caloric deficit most of the week and one day I go "all out" and yes, I'd consume the cheeseburger. And the fries too. Call it banking calories to use for splurge meals. I'm not advocating that you do this, but it's helped me keep my sanity through a 70 lb loss. There's a way to knowing how to manage this properly and lose weight, but it does require discipline all of the other days of the week.
Or, you can learn to eat modified portions - i.e. instead of the bun maybe use lower calorie bread. Stick to maybe 5 oz meat tops, insist on lower calorie cheese for YOUR burger. Eat maybe 10 fries, and include a salad as well to help fill you up. This may not be as bad of a calorie bomb as you'd think. For lasagna, cut a square the size of an iphone 6. Include salad/veggies.
I keep a bag of frozen grilled chicken cutlets from Costco (BJ's and Sams Club sell the same thing) on hand at all times. I also tend to have bags of steamable vegetables as well. On those nights when the dinner choices are limited, I nuke two cutlets and a bag of broccoli and within ten minutes have a 400 calorie dinner on a plate and ready for eating.
I also try and keep salad items on hand and a variety of low-calorie dressing options around (salsa is a fave, I also use a variety of marinades that are only a fraction of the calories of traditional dressing).
Another meal hack I've used is to saute a frozen chicken cutlet using Pam and some seasoning (love Old Bay), it cooks in minutes and is super tasty.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hickoryfan
I struggle sometimes with portion control and I eat too much of it. Even though I exercise, I have not mastered eating sensibly when supper is homemade cheeseburgers and french fries.
If you use a lettuce wrap in place of a bun and limit your fries to a sensible portion, you can get away with indulging and keeping things to respectable calorie levels; I frequently have a Five Guys Little Cheeseburger and half a small fry portion which comes in around 600 calories.
Once you accept that you are relying on excuses as a means to justify your circumstances, results will improve.
OP, I'm kind of a flip side of you; I'm the regular cook in the family. Like you, I stick to simple meats and veggies for my own meals. DH & son don't so I sometimes fix them casseroles, creamy chowders, spaghetti, etc.
For those occasions, I stick to the advice you've been given above: always have chicken thighs or breasts and steamable veggies in the freezer. When steak's on sale, I stock up on it too.
And on the days she cooks healthy, she could make some extra and have you eat the next day ...? I get that it is very difficult to stick to a diet when you see lasagna on the table. Either have some and not that much and add some salad to it. Or eat on the way home..?
And on the days she cooks healthy, she could make some extra and have you eat the next day ...? I get that it is very difficult to stick to a diet when you see lasagna on the table. Either have some and not that much and add some salad to it. Or eat on the way home..?
If you learn how to eat properly, a piece of lasagna large enough to satisfy an average person has its place in a regular diet.
I eat pizza several times each week, I enjoy real vanilla ice cream with whipped cream sometimes daily and always use half-and-half in my coffee; I lost seventy pounds and have kept it off.
And on the days she cooks healthy, she could make some extra and have you eat the next day ...? I get that it is very difficult to stick to a diet when you see lasagna on the table. Either have some and not that much and add some salad to it. Or eat on the way home..?
I'm a muscular build, but I would like to lose another 25 pounds simply because I'm getter older and I don't want to carry the bulk and the muscles in my fifties. Up until now, I did not mind having big arms, and a wide chest, but I want to look a little sleeker and slimmer as I continue to age.
If you learn how to eat properly, a piece of lasagna large enough to satisfy an average person has its place in a regular diet.
I eat pizza several times each week, I enjoy real vanilla ice cream with whipped cream sometimes daily and always use half-and-half in my coffee; I lost seventy pounds and have kept it off.
It's all about food control. The mind over the mouth! Glad you are there!!! I'm working on it.
We went to the store this week and bought the following: A pack of lean steaks on sale (2) frozen-mesquite chicken thighs (3) chicken wings/drummies (4) chicken tenders and some oranges, bananas, and packs of frozen vegetables that can be boiled or thrown in the microwave! Hey, it's a start. I prepared my lunch for work today!
True, but everyone is not a cook. I can learn, but it's hard for me for some reason. I would wash the dishes, clean and scrub the kitchen and take her out to eat three times a week if she would cook all the time, but she won't. It gets old. I really do understand her. Sometimes you just want "real" food.
I hear you...my husband is the cook in our house. Unfortunately, he has not been on a very healthy kick since I had our daughter in October and it's been an uphill battle. I've learned some basics of cooking but I'm just not very good at it. In fact, my husband won't even let me do it when I offer because he doesn't like my cooking...he says I have bad 'timing' when it comes to cooking.
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