How To Keep Husband Healthy....

[diapason05]

Hiya! This might be a little lengthy but I dont think there is ANY other post on here quite like this one that I can reference. Please Help!!

Ok, My husband is on deployment to the Middle East right now. I am sensitive to gluten and feel much much MUCH better when I dont eat any of it. My husband apparently has no such problems, but when I was buying gluten-free stuff, he pretty much ate what I ate.

Problem is: The first time I was being gluten-free with him, I was eating a lot of cheese, meat and stuff like gluten-free cereals/waffles. I would buy him regular waffles and make them. We ate bad stuff like bacon a lot.

I started eating gluten again with him and we ate HORRIBLY. (Pizza, chips/candy/soda/JUNK~!)I felt sick, too, obviously. Once he left I started gluten-free again and feel better,

Heres my problem:

Ok, I am currently eating only vegetables, fruits and eggs/seafood/some red meat/chicken and nuts (not peanuts just almond butter and other nuts)- olive oil, apple cider vinegar- herbs/spices. I use butter and sf coffeemate with my coffee. Eventually I am going to be adding back in brown rice, polenta and some gluten-free cereal again.

I had Hodgkins disease (lymphoma-cancer) when I was 16 and now i also have Hashimoto's disease (hypothyroidism)- I am trying to get healthy again (I have been feeling extremely sick these past months) and I am eating like this and taking lots of supplements in order to build up my immune system and hopefully feel great!

I am actually also worried about all of the vaccines and chemicals that my husband is CONSTANTLY around/receiving. I am scared that when we start having children they might not be healthy. (seriously, hes in planes alot- and some of the vaccines they make him get have caused birth defects in some babies, even when its the father getting them!)

I am trying not to stress about it- as there is nothing I can do about having had chemo or his being exposed to this stuff-- I know that a lot of military people go to iraq and also get these drugs and they still have healthy kids and they are still healthy themselves... ITS JUST-- I can help my family be healthy at least in one way. I can control most of the food that we are eating. We eat at home most of the time anyway and if I can develop some great recipes and habits while he's gone, I hopefully can carry it into when he comes back and he'll like what I am cooking..

I find that I am always feeling really hungry on this diet and I dont know how to make good salads and cooked veggies!!! I just don't. My husband loves his light string cheese and I dont mind feeding him that, but I want the bulk of our meals to be veggies- with some meat and fruit and some gluten-free grains (he loves brown rice from our rice cooker so that is easy).

Please offer me any recipes or ideas you have for making great vegetable-based dishes that taste great and are light on the cheese (ill use olive oil and butter- any herbs and spices)-- THEY NEED TO BE FILLING!!

I feel very dedicated to changing our diet into something that is really really healthy. My husband is 30 years old and prior to this he mostly ate junk and drank lots of beer but- whenever we brought fruit and veggies home, he'd be all over them, finishing them in a few days..

What Id like is some stuff that we both can enjoy that packs a nutritional punch and is satisfying!

Maybe my reasons for this seem kind of strange, but I will have some peace of mind knowing that I am doing what I can to keep my family healthy! Its all I can do and I know how eating the right stuff affects my own health, so I want to MAKE it my responsibility to ensure that we put the best stuff we an in our bodies. (I dont think he'll mind as long as the food isnt getting too boring- like i said he'll eat whole foods when we make them)

[JNBunnie1]

First thing- YOU ROCK.

Seriously, you are a completely wonderful person for wanting so much to take care of your hubby. And tell him a stranger on the internet said thank you for protecting us!

For recipes, I have lots and will post more as time goes by, I don't have much time right now. The best place to searchis in the baking and recipes section farther down the forum page.

One of our favorite filling dinners is pan-fried zucchini (in butter, NOT oil, tastes funny) with any chicken and rice. Just salt and pepper the zucchini, or add yellow squash too, and make your rice in the cooker, and maybe pan-fry some lemon chicken?

[FootballFanatic]

Maybe you could buy a vegetarian cookbook. There are tons of them, and even if you aren't going to be a full-on vegetarian, it would have lots of good ideas and recipies and you could always add a meat to those dishes.

Stay healthy!

[diapason05]

First thing- YOU ROCK.

Seriously, you are a completely wonderful person for wanting so much to take care of your hubby. And tell him a stranger on the internet said thank you for protecting us!

For recipes, I have lots and will post more as time goes by, I don't have much time right now. The best place to searchis in the baking and recipes section farther down the forum page.

One of our favorite filling dinners is pan-fried zucchini (in butter, NOT oil, tastes funny) with any chicken and rice. Just salt and pepper the zucchini, or add yellow squash too, and make your rice in the cooker, and maybe pan-fry some lemon chicken?

Thank you!!

I love him so much and I just want us to be happy, healthy and live a great life together. He has never been one to gain weight, so while he knows fruits and veggies are healthy, he doesnt know much about nutrition past that! Since its become sort of my hobby, I can do a lot of good if I develop some good habits!

and mmm, that sounds pretty good!

Can I bake lemon chicken? What do you put on it besides lemon juice?

[JNBunnie1]

Thank you!!

I love him so much and I just want us to be happy, healthy and live a great life together. He has never been one to gain weight, so while he knows fruits and veggies are healthy, he doesnt know much about nutrition past that! Since its become sort of my hobby, I can do a lot of good if I develop some good habits!

and mmm, that sounds pretty good!

Can I bake lemon chicken? What do you put on it besides lemon juice?

Actually when baking, lemon juice will help keep it juicy, but lemon pepper is what I use on the stovetop. For oven chicken, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic, whatever you like! I would be simpler with chicken breat, but when I do legs with skins on, I put a crapload of spices all over the tops, after squirting a little lemon juice. Basil, parsley, oregano, garlic, paprika, salt, pepper, rosemary. My dad used to call it forest floor chicken. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 min and check, usually takes 35-45, depending on how much you're making. Also, burger patties with lots of cheese on top and sauteed soft onions with peas is one of my favorite meals. Adding squash to any meal will help make it more filling, too. Acorn squash, butternut, zucchini, yellow. I like using spaghetti squash as spaghetti instead of rice pasta. It soaks up more sauce than pasta though, so beware! Try slicing butternut squash in inch-thick slices (the bigger ones taste better) and laying flat in a pan, sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg and drizzle with honey. Bake those the same time as the chicken! The squash usually takes a little longer though.

If you're looking for a good website about health in general, check out the Weston A Price foundation website, it's great.

[diapason05]

Actually when baking, lemon juice will help keep it juicy, but lemon pepper is what I use on the stovetop. For oven chicken, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic, whatever you like! I would be simpler with chicken breat, but when I do legs with skins on, I put a crapload of spices all over the tops, after squirting a little lemon juice. Basil, parsley, oregano, garlic, paprika, salt, pepper, rosemary. My dad used to call it forest floor chicken. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 min and check, usually takes 35-45, depending on how much you're making. Also, burger patties with lots of cheese on top and sauteed soft onions with peas is one of my favorite meals. Adding squash to any meal will help make it more filling, too. Acorn squash, butternut, zucchini, yellow. I like using spaghetti squash as spaghetti instead of rice pasta. It soaks up more sauce than pasta though, so beware! Try slicing butternut squash in inch-thick slices (the bigger ones taste better) and laying flat in a pan, sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg and drizzle with honey. Bake those the same time as the chicken! The squash usually takes a little longer though.

If you're looking for a good website about health in general, check out the Weston A Price foundation website, it's great.

Those're a lot of good ideas. I recently bought a crapload of cheap spices at the commissary because I am trying to avoid using too many condiments (ranch, etc) and cheese. I forgot about spaghetti squash!! I made it twice for Juan. Both times I added extra mushrooms/onions garlic to the classico sauce!! HE LOVED IT! thats definitely one that I will be making more of a staple. He's free to still buy/make himself the regular pasta he likes on the days I dont have anything he wants, but, he really liked the spaghetti squash and its really filling and makes quite a lot- so- if thats available, I am sure he will eat it!

yay

(he tends to eat a lot of pasta with sauce and ramen noodles if we dont have a meal planned. Its quite awful. I want to avoid it and not buy it at all!)

ps. he actually REALLy enjoys cooking and when I was working instead of doing school, he usually cooked our dinners. When I stopped working and took school online, I started making the food. If we establish some menus we both love, I know he will be cooking them for us, too, if I get busy! (right now, he likes to use margarine, breadcrumbs, pasta, sugar lots of good but not that healthy of stuff)