Inspire me....I'm stuck in a rut with family cooking!!

[Mcyorkshire]

I'm trying to make some long term lifestyle changes due to a family history of breast and bowel cancer and as part of that would like to improve our diet. Increase our fruit and veg intake, limit meat to a few times a week etc. I have a 2 year old and an 8 month old so don't want to completely eliminate any food groups or fat etc.

Can anybody share some trusted family favourites? I am seriously stuck in a rut and don't want to give up!!

How about Quorn mince spag bol with diced carrots and mushrooms. Lovely.

Hello
I can offer some vegetarian suggestions to try to help you get out of your rut! The following recipes are tried and tested family favourites (including my 2 year old):
Moroccan carrot and chickpea stew sweet, tasty and simple to make
Lentil Bolagnese Always a winner with spaghetti
Jambalaya A one pot wonder of rice, kidney beans in a sweet paprika and tomato sauce.
Good luck!

A very easy and healthy curry is with the orange lentils.-;

Start gently cooking chopped onion and garlic,carrots, celery or what ever veg you've got in the cupboard (if its green spinach type add it at the end of the cooking) in olive oil then add and mix in the ground spices; turmeric, cumin, and coriander are VERY healthy add a good tablspoonful of each and ginger for the heat, ; don't fast fry, when they soften add veg. stock and the lentils. Put a tight top on the saucepan (a solid cast iron one is best for slow cooking). Keep an eye on it (it may need more stock) and mix gently it doesn't take long to finish.

Serve it with plain yoghurt and whole rice that is also easy if you bring some water to the boil then add the rice up to an inch below the water. Bring back to the boil then put a tight top on and take the heat right down for 20 mins and then turn off heat. Leave the top on for a while and you SHOULD have fluffy rice that looks like white (so won't frighten the white rice eaters!!).

I have a history of bad health in my family too and therefore follow a healthy diet; I don't eat ANY wheat because it's not good for your bowel, it can cause IBS, obesity and bad temper! It's easy to find non wheat products (sainsbos and waitrose do good non wheat bread) but you DO have to read labels because it's in a lot of things you wouldn't think.

We love Three Sisters Stew (from a cookbook I just posted about over on ArtyFarty's thread over here) which provides complete proteins and is healthy, cheap and vegan (until you serve with a handful of cheese of course...) It's a squash, corn and bean stew with a tomato base - recipe here.

It's very flexible and any squash or bean can be substituted in and out - for instance the recipe calls for "delicata winter squash" but I just use either acorn or butternut squash, and pinto or kidney beans because they're easier to find.

Serve over rice with lots of grated cheese, it's lovely and very filling so one batch also stocks the freezer for us.

Is that your blog, DrLadyBird? It's just that somebody seems to be posting to those same recipes a lot.

McYorkshire -

a red lentil dhal is easy and tasty: you'll find my recipe if you do a search in the MN Food threads or give me a shout and I can post it again

Noodles with stir fry vege is usually popular with children - I like to use omelette strips for protein

Carluccio's have a nice recipe for courgette pasta. I'm not overfond of courgettes but this is v nice. The recipe also tells you how to make spinach balls to serve with it, which are lovely.

Sweet potatoes are delicious, and better for you (I think) than normal ones. Try them baked in their skins, split and filled with soured cream with some chopped herbs stirred into it. They are also very good roasted, or in soups and curries.

Yes, I do keep posting up these family favourites...our selection is growing so I'll try to add a few more different ones!

Dhal- once you've got how to do it, it's a snack(with flatbread) a lunch( with rice) or a dinner (with veg). You can even do it with smoked fish, prawns or pretty much anything else)

Big bits if the world are healthy on very little else!

Yes especially if they eat whole rice with it, the white stuff is not so good AnimatedDad also smoked food is not brilliant for the bowel; better fresh and or marinated fish; mackerel, sardines etc.