Tips for eating healthier?

I've been thinking about my family's poor diets a lot lately (well, what I consider poor) and feel we need to make some changes. Unfortunately, I'm facing major opposition from the boys and DH. They're not willing to change and the few "clean" recipes I've tried they've just complained about and picked at. A waste of my time and of money. I really don't want to throw in the towel yet, but this is also causing some major rifts in family life.

Any suggestions for books or websites? Or tips on how to convince everyone to give this a try?

I am the one in our family with Crohn's Disease. My wife is the one who has been more open to making dietary changes. I have taken the harder route and fought change. Hopefully, your family will change their mind.

We have this problem too! Extremely stubborn family members!

I have no idea . . . .but if you figure it out . . . please let me know. My family resists all my efforts!

Well you knew you would hear from me! More later when I can type in computer. I have posted in the diet section aust of food videos to wAtch. My favorite book is clean cuisine. You can absolutely eat clean and appeal to teens etc. you just hit on a bad recipe. Clean just means nothing processed. But you also have to up the fruits and veggies.

Bottom line you have to go commando mom. Just don't buy the crap! If it isn't in the house and you aren't making it eventually they will eAt what you have.

I know teens have money and cars etc and can go get their own stuff. I let my college girl do that. But in the end her laziness and desire to keep her cash for her own use wins out.

Gotta go. Lots more later

C's is harder now than when in HS. He was much more of a stay at home kid and even if he did go out it was after eating here.

Now, in college and not home more than he is his diet has become more typical teen fare. He never liked fast food and his staples were veggies, steak and chicken. His only take out was usually Thai (he loves their sushi). Now that he is always out, with friends, crashing at their apts his diet probably consists of alot more fast food, processed food etc.

This has evolved quickly. Honestly, it is out of my control beyond making him aware of how healthy eating habits contribute to overall health. He's not at the age where I can dictate what he puts in his mouth. But I do remind him often that good eating habits are a win win.

So true Clash and I always thought that if you catch them young while they are under your wing they would make wise decisions when they left. My college girl did the same as C! I felt guilty but glad to hear it happens elsewhere. But when she is home she is definitely too lazy and cheap to go in search of that stuff so at least she eats healthy some of the time when she is home.

The thing with the processed food is that it is made to be addicting. Seriously! They pay food chemists to figure out what needs to be added to make it addicting. This is why the slide happens so quickly. There are lots of "whistle blower" types in those videos that will explain their jobs and what they were asked to do and lots of science about why it happens so quickly and why it is so hard to stop.

IDK what it is about O. Maybe I caught her early enough or maybe she is just the type to want to eat healthy but visiting colleges she has crossed a few off the list because the cafeterias were positively disgusting (her words). Oh sure there was something for everyone but the fresh produce was wilted and old and gross...and heaven forbid the fish was frozen not fresh! I told her to go to culinary school...probably the only place she will be happy:ylol2:

Good food can taste delicious it is just about making the right kinds of substitutions to make it healthy without them realizing it. I make a chicken parm bake that is totally SCD legal that my husband loves. What kinds of things do they normally like to eat? I can try to give suggestions

Crohns08 said:

Good food can taste delicious it is just about making the right kinds of substitutions to make it healthy without them realizing it. I make a chicken parm bake that is totally SCD legal that my husband loves. What kinds of things do they normally like to eat? I can try to give suggestions

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I would love suggestions! Since DS also has Celiac, dinners are usually GF for the sake of $ and convenience. High calorie, while not good for me, would be awesome for them (teen boys).

They love the typical bad stuff: pastas, pizza, pancakes. Of my current repertoire, their favorites are meatloaf, corn flake covered fish, baked GF mac & cheese, cheeseburgers. Pretty much anything with chicken is tolerated. I was able to get them to eat asparagus once. They'll eat corn, potatoes sometimes (twice baked potato casserole last night was a flop), but not much else in the veggie world. One will eat salads, one won't.

I just started reading "100 Days of Real Food". Interesting, but lots of conversions to fit our life with Crohn's and Celiac.

My wife and I enjoy Amy's gluten free , dairy free vegetable lasagna.

I'm back! O.K. so you do not have to go commando. It works for some but others need a gentler approach.

I would start with one area and not necessarily the biggest offender. This could be, giving up sugary drinks (including juices), or having one serving of fruit with breakfast, or having one serving of veg with dinner etc.

One approach that works really well is not deleting the bad things but crowding them out. So, you would have a rule...you can have ANY after school treat you want but before you have it you have to earn it by eating a serving of fruit or veg....before you know it, they are full on the good stuff and eat very little of the bad. Eventually they are actually reaching for the good stuff!

Take a look at the website World's Healthiest Foods. On that site there is a nutrition analysis. Have the kids answer HONESTLY the questions about how many foods of each category they eat in a week. At the end a nutritional analysis comes up and tells you what vitamins and minerals you may be deficient in and what the probability is. It will rank them from most deficient to least. Then they tell you what foods they suggest you eat and how many of your deficient areas it will satisfy. It is pretty eye opening and sometimes when a teen sees the info laid out in front of them like that they will buy in to healthier eating. Also, many of the suggested items to eat are really not that bad.

Let them pick a vegetable of the week to try and let them pick the recipes that sound good. If kids get a say they are sometimes more bought in to the process.

I have a stack of cookbooks and mags that my kids can go through anytime and make suggestions from. Of course O's diet makes it a little more difficult but there is usually a way around it. Plus the doc gave us the go ahead to be more lenient.

I forget, are you doing smoothies? Smoothies are a great way to get those yucky greens in. However, like everything else you have to concentrate on the "health" portion. If you are loading sugary yogurt or fruit juices in there you negate the good.

This is the same with any diet. I know some really unhealthy vegetarians and vegans...a vegetarian can eat doughnuts till the cows come home! Vegans can eat nothing but pasta and rice if they want.

As for your pasta lovin crew...how about next time you make pasta you toss a few vegetables in there...the next time a few more etc. Same with pizza!

I am telling you...let them watch a few of those documentaries and they will jump on the bandwagon quick...you can't fight with science! I also promise that once the addiction is broken they truly don't want that stuff anymore. The trick is breaking the addiction. Some docs say cold turkey, commando is the only way...you wouldn't give a crack addict "just a little" crack now would you? But do what you have to in order to get them on board.

I think you have seen some of my tips to parents of younger kids...little bit on the plate, no discussion, if they eat, they eat if not ten not. 15 consecutive exposures. Serve veggies first when they are starving...tell them meat will be out in a minute etc., cheese sauce or dip with veggies. Less sauce and dip over time.

Is this enough to get you started?

Recipes are tough because everyone has different likes and dislikes. You really just have to think of what the biggest offending ingredient or component is and try t clean it up.

For pizzas there are excellent recipes out there using cauliflower or coconut flour crusts. That would eliminate the gluten and yeast problem that can irritate the gut. I also like doing eggplant as a crust too. Burgers can be healthy if you forgo the bread. You just want to use whole foods and eliminate processed foods as much as possible. Sugar is extremely bad for leaky guts of all kinds and causes inflammation and is hidden everywhere.

CIC - remind me which documentaries exactly? My girls are more likely to believe science than mom!

Quinoa flour is great for healthy Belgium waffles
Add honey ( no sugar ) and blueberries or other berries

Quinoa ( gluten free ) can also be used in pizza crust
Spiralized zucchini /onions /tomatoes in olive oil
Lean ground turkey seasoned like sausage and sprinkle on pizza crust with veggies

Instant breakfast or snack
Cooked rice
Peanut butter
Honey
Banana
Almond slivers
Blueberries

Guac dip
Avocados
Tomatoes
Onions
Lemon
Garlic
Salt
Keep in fridge for healthy after school snacks
Just add their favorite thing to dip

Link to the video thread

http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=70264

Warning..each video does seem to push an agenda ie: veganism for health or animal protection, food politics, non gmo etc BUT if you watch with an open mind and an eye toward a healthy balance they all have something to offer.

Forks Over Knives for instance...very vegan slanted. You don't have to be a total vegan but they definitely make the case for more fruits and veggies and less animal products which about 80% of Americans could benefit from.

BTW - After watching Forks Over Knives my entire carnivorous family was changed! The very next day everyone was a vegan...we have morphed to 80% plant based diet (what can I say we love our cheese and eggs) and having meat Mondays!

crohnsinct, can you just move in? Please? You can even sleep on the good couch.

Oh, and I have a wine rack. Empty, but I can fill it just for you.

LOL! Sold! Everyone has their price:drink:

In the last years I have opened my horizons to international cuisine. North american cuisine flavors with fat, salt and sugar. I left aside this cuisine style completely. Cuisines such as Indian or middle east cuisine for instance flavor with spices. This makes a huge difference in terms of the quality of the food and nutrition value. There are plenty of very tasty indian recipes on youtube. I inspired myself greatly from chefs I found on youtube. Indian cuisine have lots of vegetarian recipes and they taste absolutely delicious. imo Indian cuisine is unbeatable. the variety, the quality and the nutritional value rank it top in my books.

We are the same here! I tend to just make sure they eat fruit and veg, I'm afraid I rarely seem to be organised enough to try new recipes, etc. We have a juicer so I try make a veg juice most days

Great thread!! Thanks for starting Mehita!

All the suggestions above are amazing and are inspiring me to try to get everyone on a healthier diet AGAIN!

Frozen veggies and the precut/slivered veggies are great to add vitamins without changing recipes. I keep a bag of frozen peas/carrots/beans mix and throw in a handful whenever I'm making rice. I just toss it in when the rice is about half done. The slivered veggies (carrots/broccoli mix), I throw in with pasta. Like the rice, when the pasta is about half done, I throw in a handful of the veggies - then I top the pasta however I would have without the veggies. I also throw in the slivered veggies into salads or soups (easy to add a bit of variety).

Over the years, I've come to accept that precut fruits/veggies are worth the extra cost. I'd always hesitated on spending the extra just to have someone else cut or peel my fruits/veggies but, I've found that having it 'ready to go' means it is used and eaten more often. And, as far as the cost, I have less waste now so, perhaps, the cost works out the same anyway!

Crohns08,
Do you have cauliflower pizza dough recipe handy? I made one and despite trying to wring out all of the water it was moist. More like a thick wet crepe. And you just grill thin eggplant as a crust?

Right now I pretty much cook/grill clean whole food unprocessed organic grass fed spoon fed whatever SCD for my son and the rest of us eat crap. I need to reset. But don't ask me how much SCD kid's food bill was on a recent vacation! Healthy is pricey!!

I'll be watching for more tips. Thanks!

We moved the whole family to about 80% vegan diet a few months ago. Pasta, pizza,stir fry, wraps, veggie burgers, veggie dogs are pretty well the rotation. We're appealing to kids from age 3 to 18 so someone always hates something.I always cut up veggie sticks and fruit (slices of melon or a bowl of mini oranges etc) to put on the table which is popular.

Chicken once every few weeks, and farm eggs a few times per week.

ETA yes the veggie dogs burgers are processed. It's a work in progress. At least no nitrates.

Optimistic Ds eats no frozen or canned food
All fresh organic veggies /lean turkey /salmon
Homemade pizza crust muffin and breads (gluten free low sugar etc)

The rest of us
Eat crap
As well
Between Ds crohns exclusive diet which is scd based mostly
And food allergies and food intolerances
I don't have time left

Wanted to add that out of the documentaries CIC posted Food Inc., Food Matters, Fed Up and Forks Over Knives are available on Netflix. Just in case anyone wants to convince stubborn teenagers!

I think I have to bow out of this thread...I just ate a whole mini processed pecan pie! Stressful day!

Implemented the "must eat a fruit or veggie for after school snack before other food" rule yesterday. It's actually going well! Not sure if it's a good perk or not, but the boys nag and remind each other. No words needed from mom!

Good.

Divide and conquer! :emot-cop:

Mehita,

Sounds radical, but we made the house sugar-free. We were already using whole foods, so we survived.

At first, we actually all jumped in to support my daughter and for a while had nothing "illegal" for dinners. Anything my other kids wanted they bought themselves (we live across the street from a grocery store). Everyone was motivated by her huge improvement. The anti-inflammatory diet we were on helped allergies and eczema, so my husband and I still eats mostly the same way, but we're more relaxed about things for the kids (baked bread today - but only the boys ate it).

We do North African and Mediterranean cooking - Tagines and lamb stews over quinoa instead of couscous, poulet Nicoise, lentils with Tunisian sauce. Chicken or lentil curries are also fab. Tell them they can eat Egyptian rice and lentils with Harissa authentically - with their fingers! My family likes this stuff. And boys...forks....

Also, my daughter and youngest son like to cook. When they do the cooking they can't complain! We looked for lots of Crohn's-friendly recipes. There are some great ones on Elena's Pantry.

We tend not to do substitutes for things my daughter can't have. We look for real things other people eat and try new foods. Do you think your kids could get into making their own sushi rolls?

Some of the Food Matters films and the first Joe Cross movie (Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead) were popular at our house. Movie night?......

For "junk food" Beanitos and plantain chips work when you just have to munch something crunchy! I would totally avoid corn/popcorn.

Bake cinnamon apples on a cold day - no sugar needed. Just core and sprinkle in cinnamon, walnuts, and a few raisins (OK, that's sugar - but if they can tolerate raisins, it works).

Best of luck!

Judy

It's January 1st and my conversion to clean eating is underway. Mind you, we're starting very slowly and with baby steps. Heck, maybe not even baby steps yet. Maybe just toe prints? Step one happened yesterday when I told the kids and DH that we're really going to do this. They're all convinced they are going to starve.

We are also doing a month of zero spending (www.livingwellspendingless.com) which suggests eating what you have in your pantry before buying more groceries. So, part one is to let them eat the junk that's left in the pantry. Since I'm the shopper, the second part is going to be on me to not buy the said junk and be more conscious of ingredients.

Dinners will be clean from here on out, since that too is something I am mostly in control of. I'm not going to fight lunch or breakfast yet.

I'm hoping to find a couple of the movies mentioned this weekend. We don't have Netflix and it needs to be free (zero spending!). Which movie should we watch first?

Last, if anyone has a favorite tried and true recipe, I'd love to see it. Especially if it's something your kids have loved. Pinterest is great, but can be overwhelming too.

I don't know where you can find this free, but my daughter thought Fed Up was very interesting. She was truly horrified to learn how much sugar is in our foods.

That said, even after watching that and being shocked by it, sugar intake hasn't really decreased much.

Just found a free app called Healthy Recipes Magazine. All issues are free! I've only read one issue so far, but I liked it!

Your public library is a great resource for videos and books.

Clean Eating magazine has lots of great recipes. I think you will be surprised to see that clean eating is not that much different than what you are already eating and it is very tasty. It is just a tad more labor intensive and unfortunately that will definitely all fall on you.

Alejando Junger M.D. wrote a great book, Clean. You can probably find it in your library and in the same section many, many other books and cookbooks for clean eating.

We started our clean transformation with Forks Over Knives. It is focused on vegan eating and we didn't go vegan at that time but it definitely helped us move in the right direction.

The Gracious Pantry is a website that is a good resource for recipes.

Here is a favorite at our house:

http://www.toscareno.com/recipe/crispy-chicken-bites/

Good luck and keep us posted!

Good luck
We do fresh foods and make everything from scratch
Then it controls the extra stuff you don't want in your food
Soups and veggie muffins are easy things fix ahead for grabbing healthy snacks

Look up whole30.com for recipes. There is a lot of clean eating. We did a whole 30 last year. I don't recommend it cold turkey. I am leaning towards cleaner eating, and I've started with cutting back sugar and complaining (okay, the second isn't food-related, just my attempt at my own attitude adjustment). I think I will follow your steps and have us eat down the junk in our cupboards, then work at only buying clean foods. I won't go nondairy, but will go organic dairy and eggs as much as possible. I find it very hard to eat the recommended amounts of veggies, but will start cognitively eating more... Let's encourage each other here. How's it going for you? Do you have Amazon Prime?

Sounds good to me, Carol!

We're keeping dairy. My boys love cheese, milk, and yogurt too much. Costco has organic options that I've been buying awhile now and we all like, so that's not going to change much. I think in that area the best we can do is switch to better and organic brands.

We did a local farm share last summer that forced us to try new veggies and recipes. It was way too much food for us, mostly because I didn't know what to do with half the stuff (or sometimes what it even was - kohlrabi!), I just signed up again for this summer.

I'm slowly getting buy in from DS #2. He's the athlete and saw the effects of too much sugar (holiday treats) during his basketball practices this last week. He actually asked for sugar snap peas in his lunch today. Whoa!

We do have Amazon Prime and I get a lot of DS' gluten free bulk food using it. I checked for the videos that were suggested, but only found one.

I'll check out whole30 today. Thanks!

Sending in easy recipes that work for our whole family. Let me know if they work for you and if you want more detail!

Roast chicken with smoked, Spanish paprika, oregano and lemon juice; quinoa salad; baby greens.

Cover chicken with smoked paprika (spending a little more on spice, but goes a long, long way and adds tons of flavor), oregano, and fresh lemon juice. Roast at 425 F for about 60-75 minutes.

Precook quinoa and add diced zucchini, red onion, carrot, celery, parsely, whatever you have. Whip up a quick dressing with fresh orange juice, a mild vinegar, and olive oil. Add some thyme if you like. You can always do this in advance and serve the next day or make double and have a fast lunch the day after you serve.

Baby greens, spinach, any kind of green - werve with vinegar and oil.

Beef stew with carrots, tomatoes, onions, bay leaves, and cloves (throw into the crock pot).

2 lbs beef, 4 carrots, large can diced tomatoes, a couple of bay leaves, one chopped onion, 2-3 stalks of celery, chopped; salt, pepper, a pinch of cloves (really small). Dump in crockpot before breakfast and cook all day (8-10 hours on low).

Turkey burgers with oven baked sweet potato fries (to save time, bake the sweet potatoes instead).

Shape the patties and cook in oven at about 375 F or on stovetop over medium heat.

Cut sweet potatoes into fries, toss in coconut oil (add as a lump and then take everything else out and toss after it melts about a minute in the oven).
Cook at 400 45-60 minutes.

Serve with fresh cucumbers and whatever else you have around.


Quick omelet with crumbled goat cheese, black olives, and sage.
Just make a basic omelet. Leave out the cows milk. It doesn't take much goat cheese for a good punch of flavor. Adjust ingredients to taste and budget. I generally spend more on condiments and stretch them.

Lentil soup with gluten-free, sugar-free Italian chicken sausage from Trader Joe’s.

1 lb. lentils
6-8 cups water
1/2 c. diced tomatoes
1 chopped onion
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 t. oregano
salt and pepper to taste

cook until everything is tender but not mushy. Throw in
1 c. leftover brown rice
fresh or frozen spinach
and pre-cooked, sliced sausage.

cook a few more minutes, and serve (good with goat's milk or any kind of yoghurt on top!).

Mehita,

Here's my best option for non-fake, health-supporting pizza and cake (I had just put this on another thread and remembered your post about pizza and pasta!):


We have a favorite Crohn's friendly carrot cake we make for special occasions, and when I make it and serve along with regular bakery-style cake, it is more popular than the bakery cake. Here's a link to it in Elena's Pantry https://elanaspantry.com/carrot-cake/. I have actually refined it and added some ingredients (pineapple, arrowroot, different oil, etc.), but the original is great too. We skip the frosting and serve plain or with cashew cream. It makes a great breakfast the next morning too.

If you have your heart set on pizza, Sami's bakery is the best way I know to go - crust made of millet, flax, and rice. Great texture! Top with homemade marinara and goat cheese (or whatever dairy your guys can tolerate). You can see the crusts from Sami's here: https://samisbakery.com/product/mill...x-pizza-crust/

Hope this helps (at least for special occasions)!