Suggestions for healthy (low fat, low sugar), inexpensive, family-friendly recipes, please.

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

I badly need to lose weight. I am going to the gym regularly (or at least, I will be, when the pulled muscle behind my knee is better), but I know I need to modify my diet as well.

My problem is severe lack of imagination when it comes to thinking of meals for the week, leading to me cooking the things I have always cooked - and let's face it, that is probably what got me in this state in the first place.

I need a list of recipes I can cook easily (and relatively cheaply), that teenagers won't turn up their noses at. Armed with a list like this, I think I would find it a lot easier to plan meals for the week.

So does anyone have any recipes they can recommend? We will eat most things, and I am open to the idea of vegetarian recipes too (though we have never had tofu, and I would be reluctant to try that).

Thanks in advance.

my teens love scrambled egg with smoked salmon

wholewheat pasta with broccoli and salmon chunks with cream cheese stirred in

and spinach and cheese omelettes. Nigella veggie lasagne is a fave with my lot too

most of that is my low carbing meals (except the pasta)

Lentil dhal. tasty, cheap, you can spice it up.

Bean and tomato soup- basically just kidney beans blended with tomatoes cooked with dual soup veg base. spice up with a bit of cumin. quick and surprisingly tasty. can add cheese or creme fraiche if required.

Oh and prawns based dishes- prawns curry Etc. low fat.

Or substitute in quorn to some popular meat dish. bolognaise, shepherd pie etc.

That should say usual soup veg base e.g. Onion and carrot.

Those all sound good - thank you!

Are you up for using pulses and lentils?
If so, what about a lentil bolagnese or lentil lasagne Both tend to go down well with meat eaters and good for you.

Sorry dont know how to do links but the good food website has a nice recipe for baked eggs in a spicy tomato sauce. Lovely with brown rice. Or try their 5 a day tagine with chick peas added. I just discovered dieticianuk website and she has some nice sounding super healthy recipes but i havent tried them yet. If you are a fish fan you can do simple fishy puttanesca with a tin of mackeral or sardines with garlic, tomatoes, capers and olives mixed into pasta. It is fishy abd garlicy tho so maybe not one for fussy teenagers. Good luck!

Thank you too, bikeblues and Drladybird - and yes, we do eat pulses and lentils, so I will look at those recipes!

Our favourites are meatballs (mix mince, grates apple and onion with chicken stock cube and 2tbsp water fry then serve with tomato sauce) and turkey enchiladas (turkey mince, finely chopped red pepper and red onion stir fried and mixed with red pesto then rolled in tortillas and baked topped with tomato sauce or cheese).

The Hairy Dieter's recipe book is great for this sort of stuff. All low-cal spins on typical home cooking type recipes.

Stir fries are also good.

I think the biggest thing for weight loss though is probably portion control, rather than the meals themselves. I used the myfitnesspal ap to calculate and record exactly how many calories I was eating for three months. I didn't classify any foods as off limits, but tried to eat low-fat and lowish-carb during the week, and was more lenient on weekends. I lost the weight I wanted to quite easily, with some exercise too! I don't use the ap any more, but the main thing I have taken from it is a knowledge of what are reasonable portion sizes.

For example, you can eat lasagna and pasta and risotto and give these things to your kids, but just take a small portion for yourself. Bulk the rest of your plate out with salad and vegetables.

I am in a similar situation. I have three kids, hubby and disabled father in law who love their traditional meals but I need to keep them healthy. I've started to use olive oil in curries, and low fat yogurt, grill most stuff even samosas. If I ever have to fry its shallow fry. Kids will eat lentils etc but loved grilled homemade chicken fillet (no skin) burgers in a wholemeal bun.

Kids love their treats but I try to make things that have less sugar, date and banana cake which doesn't have any butter or sugar in it.

This website is useful but has a lot of non Indian stuff on it too, like healthy pizzas etc.

Healthy Indian & Non-Indian Food

Thank you all. I had forgotten about the Hairy Dieters Cookbook. Stupidly, I had forgotten I had bought the Hairy Dieters Cookbook!