hubby awkward with meals help please

[marymartin]

hi can any one help me ,i'm diabetic so have to eat quite regulary, trying to lose 7 stone , also got arthritis.
i want to eat more healthly and get hubby to do same ,we are on a very tight budget and hubby awkward he won't eat anything with tomato base in ,or mince ,he will eat chicken and got him eating veg now .
he won't eat rice or pasta,he likes simply english food not many spices etc.
can anyone help please

[Cloud]

Hi, I think I know how you feel. It's challenging to find a variety of meals on a low budget when one of you has major dislikes to certain types of food. You say you've got him on some veg now, so that's worth building on cautiously.

My OH hated tomatoes until she tried a slice of beefsteak tomato and a little olive oil. That changed her whole view on what she liked and didn't like. I've now got her on to liking marrow and even celery.

Does your OH like stews? It's amazing how much veg and potatoes and beans you can get in to a stew, and you don't need to use expensive meat either. I regularly make sausage casseroles with broad beans, mushrooms, carrots and whatever else I can sneak in. We have a policy I can add what I like as long as I don't complain if it gets picked out and left on the side of the plate.

Omelets are a good way of eating cheaply. We make then with lots of potato, peas, mushrooms, and a few onions in the pan almost dry fried (very little fat), then whisk an egg up in a jug with a little milk (to make it go further) and pour that over the top - turn down heat to very low and cook until its set. We sometimes put it under the grill with a little cheese on top. Add bacon to mix for some meat (or a little chopped up cooked sausage). They come out an inch thick and very filling.

[Brij]

How about potato bakes? I did one for lunch for a couple of kids - they aren't very fussy, but one doesn't like tomatoes, the other won't normally eat potato.

Just empty a couple of cans of drained tuna into a lasagne tin or similar, add a drizzle of milk (keeps the tuna moist), sliced boiled potatoes on top (could use up the potatoes from another meal for that one) and cheese. 20 mins at 200°c will do nicely, or just until it looks good to you and is heated thoroughly!

I would suggest that you make a list of things he will eat & that is in budget, arranged in 3 columns - carbs, proteins and veg, and try to invent a bunch of meals from that, with a 1 carb, 1 protein, 2/3 veg ratio. Then once you have your basic meals, you can encourage him to try things that he might like but wouldn't normally have. Introduce a new vegetable or sauce 2/3 times a week and before you know it, you'll have it sorted!

[marymartin]

thanks forgot to say ,he won't eat fish , its taken me 29 years to get him to eat salad and some fruit,veg he says he likes saug, fishfingers (don't ask),pies and other junk food ,we have potatoes alot in all sorts of ways but i will keep trying ,thanks again

[Cloud]

thanks forgot to say ,he won't eat fish , its taken me 29 years to get him to eat salad and some fruit,veg he says he likes saug, fishfingers (don't ask),pies and other junk food ,we have potatoes alot in all sorts of ways but i will keep trying ,thanks again

I also know people who will not eat fish, but love fishfingers. But I don't think fishfingers are junk food. they are quite healthy themselves. I wonder if you could try him on fish cakes - basically round fishfinders with added potato! We make there ourselves and a small bit of fish can go a long way in a fishcake. However, I do find that for someone who's fussy about fish it's very important to get out every last bone.

We also make our own pies. Chicken and mushroom being the one we do most frequently. To save time we but the pastry and just have to roll it out. Adding a little tarragon from the garden gives it an even nicer flavour. And we sometimes add peas too and not bother with any more veg. It's actually simpler to make than than it sounds, but it does take a little effort.

Sausages can be very junk food, and better quality ones can be very expensive. I've found no DIY solution other than buying good quality sausages and making them go along way. For example, chop them up and make toad-in-the-hole, or sausage casserole.

Hope you find some new things to try that work for both of you, and are healthy and wholesome.

[Green Aura]

Does he genuinely dislike all the things he refuses. Or are they things he disliked in childhood that he's still refusing?

Maybe you could get him to try something "new" once a week, and if he likes them incorporate them into your repertoire.

Otherwise maybe he should cook for himself for a while and foot the extra food bills. Then you'll be able to follow your healthier regime - and he may like the look of them and come over to the light

I'm not sure whether I'm blessed because my OH eats anything I put in front of him, or if he just wasn't given the opportunity to refuse early on in our relationship. I don't think I could have survived 25 years with a picky eater.

[ina]

Otherwise maybe he should cook for himself for a while and foot the extra food bills. Then you'll be able to follow your healthier regime - and he may like the look of them and come over to the light

I agree with that - he must see that as a diabetic pies and the like (and a lot of potatoes) are out - so either he eats what you cook, or he does it himself! Maybe you could share the cooking? Tell him what your requirements are - you know his - and each of you has the trouble of finding food that suits both of you (and your budget) half of the time.

[Brij]

Otherwise maybe he should cook for himself for a while and foot the extra food bills. Then you'll be able to follow your healthier regime - and he may like the look of them and come over to the light

I agree with that - he must see that as a diabetic pies and the like (and a lot of potatoes) are out - so either he eats what you cook, or he does it himself! Maybe you could share the cooking? Tell him what your requirements are - you know his - and each of you has the trouble of finding food that suits both of you (and your budget) half of the time.

Ditto!

That's what you'd do with a fussy teenager - let them suit themselves, in their own time!

[Rosendula]

My OH never used to like anything much either, and I was sort-of veggie at the time (pescatarian, to be precise). We were also on a very tight budget. I occasionally sneaked things into his meals and he didn't notice them. I didn't tell him it was there until he'd eaten it a few times. For example, he never used to like onions. Well neither did I the way our parents cooked them - like slugs in gravy! - but I wanted to use them, so I chopped them up really tiny and put them in stews and things. He never even noticed. Now he will happily eat them, so long as they are cut up fairly small.

What really worked, though, was when I started working almost full-time, and so he started cooking tea. Once he had to cook things, he started experimenting with different things and really opened his mind. Not long after I took back over the cooking, I started eating meat! Being in charge of the cooking again made me want to experiment, taste different things, find out if I was any good at cooking 'their' food, and I just wanted an easier life. Is there some was you can get your husband to take over cooking chores for a while?

[marymartin]

he will cook a meal on sunday usually veg,roast potato,i do the gravy.
he was really fussy when i first married him he wouldn't eat any veg apart from peas ,carrots,and with fruit only bananas.
now he eats most veg and fruit ,its just working it in different ways,i'm not a brill cook.
trouble is he lived with his bother and sister in law at one time for a few years and she used to do daft things like put blue food dye in the potatoes ,that would put me off.
he would go without food even for days if he didn't like something , been there he made himself really ill cause of it , so thats not a option , he works hard and deserves a good meal after work.
any chance i could have the recipe for the chicken and mushroom pie please

[Cloud]

Chicken and Mushroom Pie

One onion
A little butter
2 chicken breasts sliced thinly (or diced)
Mushrooms - we like lots (big hand full)
250ml of double cream
Tarragon (nice, but optional)
Two tbsps of plain flour
Half pack of puff or shortcrust pastry

Saute onion in a bit of butter
Stir fry chicken breasts until cooked
Add the mushrooms, the plain flour and the double cream and stir gently to make a creamy mushroomy sauce.
Add a sprig of tarragon (or few dried herbs might work instead)
Pour into a pie dish - ours is 20cm diameter
Roll out the puff pastry to big enough to cover the pie dish
Cut of the excess pastry and cut out leaf shapes for decoration
Put in oven at 200 celcius for 20 mins or until the crust is browned

My OH tends to do the first part, I tend to do the pastry.

[jampot]

ditto to greenaura and ina theres 8 people in our house and more likes and dislikes than i can remember so theres one rule
eat it or starve!
and that goes double for the teenager who wont eat anything with a bone in?!

[marymartin]

thanks for recipe ,just made baked bean,saug,peppers pasties and he loved them ,also made some rhubarb and apple pie, lemon curd tarts,jam tarts, and had a go at blackberry and apple jam that didn't go as good but will still be ok for topping etc,thanks everyone

[patR]

Mary what about roast veg... pots, aubergines, courgettes, pumpkin, carrots are delish roasted too, served with a couple of fried eggs, if you use olive oil sparingly the fats wouldnt be too bad...
Also, my son was a faddy eater, wouldnt eat many things, I learnt to make a soup and then wizz it with the hand blender.... down to absolute puree... then lie about what was in it... generally the flavours blend in so well he'll never know what he's really eating...

[Graye]

I'm sorry to sound mean here but I think your husband needs a bit of a wake up call and a serious chat with your doctor.

Is your diabetes a result of your being overweight? Do you also have blood pressure problems? Is he also overweight too? Perhaps if someone pointed out to him that by not being flexible here he is in danger of causing you even more serious problems, and probably himself too, he might have a change of heart and a change of diet. Obesity and high blood pressure are killers and you need your OH to be with you on this and not being selfish.

In the meantime I would get yourself a few books from the library with recipes for diabetics and choose some you fancy. If he is going to be silly enough to actually REFUSE food and make himself ill because he doesn't fancy it I would let him get on with it for a while, or show him the way to the shops.