Healthy food doesn't need to taste like garbage!

I think a lot people believe that in order to eat healthy, that the food has to taste bland or *like I posted about yesterday* it needs to taste like cardboard.  This is far from the truth!  In that this journey has been off and on since my hubby and I got married 10 years ago, he can attest to my ability to make healthy food, taste good. :)  He will also admit that his mother was never much of a cook, so he's been pretty satisfied in the food department.

If you are satisfied with your current menu, then you can move on.  If you're not, find yourself some good cookbooks!  I'm serious.  You can also pick up some magazines.  More on that in a minute.  I can't tell you how many cookbooks I have, but it's more than 10.  Some are 'regular' cookbooks, while others are considered low-fat/healthy eating cookbooks.  I keep several on the front of my shelf, ones that I go to A LOT, and there are more on the back part of the shelf that I reach for a lot less often.  I have three Weight Watchers Annual Recipes cookbooks, Crazy Plates *a low fat cookbook*, my 'go to' Betty Crocker cookbook, a crockpot cookbook put out by Weight Watchers, and another one called "Comfort Food Diet Cookbook" *this one is put out by Taste of Home.*  I love me a good cookbook.

This is the inside of my cupboard:

Back to magazines.  There for a while *even when I wasn't watching what I ate* I was receiving the Weight Watchers magazine *a birthday gift from my mom and dad.*  I didn't always see a recipe that popped out to me, but once in a while I did.  So I saved the magazine.  **Note...don't do this!!  You end up with a bunch of magazines that your hubby is waiting for you to do something with!!**  After hounding from hubby, I went back through the magazines and pulled the recipes out that I wanted to keep.  Then they just hung out in my cupboard with the cookbooks.  Also not such a great idea.  I just bought a 3 ring binder, some clear plastic sleeves, and some dividers.  I now have my own 'cookbook' of recipes that I've pulled out of magazines, but they are neatly organized now.  My hubby is very happy.

Another great tool...google *or some other related search engine.*  If I'm looking for something in particular to make, then I'll search for it.  Example...I wanted a low carb bread recipe.  I wanted it for me, not for hubby or the girls, but for me.  The two recipes I've tried have turned out a 'spongy' like bread that isn't quite what I had in mind.  I'm still on the hunt.  The worst thing that can happen when you try a recipe is that you won't like it.  Make note that you didn't like it and move on.  I generally look over the ingredients and make a decision based on ingredients whether my family will like it or not.  It hasn't proven me wrong.

What if you don't like some of the ingredients?  It depends on what the ingredients are, but often if it's something I don't like *or my family doesn't like* I will eliminate it if I can.  If I can't completely eliminate it, I will decrease the amount that is present.  I like to fiddle with recipes and tweak them to suit my needs.  I've recently used chia seeds to cut the fat in some of my baking.  I love that my family doesn't always notice a difference.  The girls never do.  Hubby?  Once in a while.  He mainly notices when I've used a sugar derivative.

Another motto of mine is if I have to buy a whole bunch of ingredients that I don't normally have on hand, it's probably not a recipe that I want to make.  I want to be able to make meals that can be made from the things currently in my kitchen.  There are some spices that can be mixed *like Italian seasoning or Greek seasoning* you just need to google that too.   By the way...I have A LOT of different seasonings.  These are what make your food not taste like healthy food.

After scouring cookbooks, websites, etc and finding recipes that suit your needs, cook it up!  If you get a thumbs up from 95% of your family, then you can log it away as a 'keeper' *this is what my hubby calls the recipes that I try that he thinks ROCK*.  I'll often put those recipes into rotation for the month or put it away for the next month *or whenever*.  If I didn't try new recipes, my girls would be happy as clams if I gave them nothing but pasta every day.  And, while I love pasta too, I just can't eat it every night.  If one of my children decides that they're "not hungry" or that they don't like it, it's tough luck for them.  Yes, I'm one of those terrible parents that make their kids wait until breakfast the next morning before they get another meal.  It's usually my middle kiddo *who really is so skinny anyway even with the amount of food she eats in a day-she turned her nose up at my stir fry last night.*

Maybe you're thinking, "But Kati, I can't cook.  I'm not even allowed to step foot in the kitchen or I'll set it on fire!"  I'll get to you in another post.  Promise.

Go find some new recipes.  Try 'em out and let me know what you liked.  I'm always on the hunt for a new recipe to try and switch things up a bit.