Ken had a heart attack - Meal ideas needed now!!!!

[redhen]

Would he be open to trying veggies cooked so they dont taste like veggies?

LIke carrots with honey? something like that? I dont eat healthy..so i cant be of much help..sorry.

 

[cheeptrick]

We eat salmon, tilapia (fish tacos with no fat tortillas), ONLY fat free shredded cheddar that fat free block cheddar is terrible save your $$, RED meat only on his birthday and we had the BEST filet mignon and it was SO good and worth it! HUMMUS...it really is not that bad....and there are all these wonderful flavors garlic, peppers, horseradish...and fat free pita.

We also did Tofu (marinated for 24 hours at least...believe me it needs it) and skewered veggies and chunks of tofu and grilled them....it was OK>

Any MEAT is cholesterol...even chicken and turkey...if you must have it only credit card size.

Skip the starches and dairy/cheese altogether....NO trans fatty oils....no butter....Smart Balance, fat free sour cream, grapeseed oils, low salt tortilla chips with homemade salsa. BUT if he loves potato chips...UTZ has a NO sodium brand...great brand...hard to find. I had to go to my Price Chopper and ask them to order it for me...

SKIP all sodium and MSG....literally throw out all your old spices...we only use Mrs. Dash. It will take a few days or weeks....but after being NO sodium you will be so surprised at how great food tastes without it. YOU can actually taste the different flavors. It takes a few days to get used to it...but well worth the withdrawal.

BREAD...just skip it...find alternatives....we use a lot of fat free tortilla wraps and pita bread. Think about it...ONE slice is over 100 calories.

Only skim milk...sorry...I know it tastes terrible in the coffee...but it is better in the long run.

Lastly...CHEAT every so often...its ok...just go back on the diet.

HUSBAND'S cholesterol was 104 last check...so that is good...his LDL was low...but his HDL was still low too....so we are pumping him full of GOOD cholesterol OLIVE Oil, grapeseed oil, fish oil, etc.

Good luck...there are tons of recipes out there and so many ideas. It gets overwhelming...we tried out all the low fat/NO fat labeled products and found they were just full of sodium or tasted bad. WE skip the frozen food section ALL together...and NO canned goods or processed foods. MEAT and fresh veggies...our grocery BILL went UP...but we are spending less time eating now.

PS do not drink GRAPEFRUIT JUICE anything on I believe Lipitor or maybe the metapropolol...it does something with metabolising the medicine? I'd just watch the citrus...if he's on a strict medicine regimen.

 

[sweet tweets]

My DH was not too keen on ground turkey either. But I have searched and found some recipes that really "spice up" the turkey for things like patties - includes jalepenos or tacos - plenty of oregeno and cumin. I found the recipes by going to the Zacky Farms recipe site and searching "ground turkey"

Good luck, I am trying to cook better for my DH who needs to shed pounds and is controlling his diabetes with meds.

Best of luck.

 

[Judy]

He doesn't like pork? How on earth did you used to do biscuits and gravy? Here the gravy is ground sausage, milk, flour, pepper, salt, and that's about it. I'll bet I can come up with an alternate to whatever you were doing.

One trick is flavor enhancers like Worcestershire sauce. We do not eat beef in this house at all, as I cannot tolerate it, not sure why, maybe allergic, don't care. But you can make a great French onion soup, for example, by using Worcestershire, any old boullion, and a bit of sweet Marsala or red wine. I do the same to make "beef" gravy. Heck, we had French onion soup here for dinner tonight. Two roughly cut onions sauteed for about 30 minutes in 4 Tbsp Smart Balance, then 2 cups stock (any kind; I just use water and chicken or veggie boullion cubes,) or 1/2 beer and 1/2 stock, and serve with a slice of bread in the bowl, with a slice or two of low fat Provolone top. It's not about cutting out all animal fats, it's about keeping them within reason. Otherwise, you go nuts and go buy about 3 McDonald's quarter pounders, or whatever they sell....

Yes, Smart Balance is great. Maybe not farm fresh butter, but pretty darn close, and actually good for you. I keep it and butter, and have to keep the butter in the freezer because I use so little, and we are under no compunction to limit animal fats here.

Our local (well, 25 miles) Publix carries bison meat, and venison should not be that hard to find. Might be good beef alternatives for him, at least ground and made up as meatloaf, or meatballs with spaghetti, or whatever. Lamb might be another possibility. I love a good shoulder lamb chop, but I do poke it with a fork and add meat tenderizer to it. My parents always wanted mint with lamb, sauce or jelly, whatever, but I never got this. Goat, too, if there is anyone around you that raises goat for meat; check wih the Mexican community, if you have one. Unflavored meat tenderizer is basically just fruit enzyme, papaya or pineapple, so no health problem, and does not add a flavor. Bison has a lovely flavor, but is low fat, so you may need to add a bit of a good veggie oil (or Smart Balance) to the dish to make it really palatable. You could mix up some meatballs wth part bison, part beef, part whatever, fry them and drain off the fat, and see how they are. Or just jump in and cook a steak or chop, and see what you think.

Don't get too freaky about the sodium thing. Biggest source is stuff like ham, bacon, and sausage, but if he doesn't like pork, obviously that isn't a problem. Next biggest source is processed or packaged food. I used to love those noodle mixes and dried potato gratin and hamburger helper type things, but finally just stopped because they always tasted too salty. And sure enough, they are full of sodium. You just have to develop homemade versions of them.

 

[TennesseeTruly]

I just want to tell you that I know its not easy but he'll come around to a different way to thinking/eating. My husband had a major heart attack last March and if the ambulance squad hadn't just happened to have been driving past our home, we would have lost him. He died 3 times in front of our home inside the ambulance.

My husband immediately quit smoking, he's changed his diet drastically, he exercises regularly. This isn't his first heart attack either but this is the one that caught him off guard.

When we switched from things like hamburgers to turkey burgers, I at first mixed them half and half. Now I do them all turkey and he loves them. If you do the switchovers slowly, he'll learn to enjoy them.

I want to wish you guys lots of luck. I remember being exactly where you are right now and I was so sick with worry. That's why we retired to TN so he could relax.

Take care of yourself too, Deb, don't forget that!

Laurie

 

[Reinbeau]

Debi, I've only skimmed the last few pages about Ken's diet but it does sound as though you've got one like mine - he has a really bad diet, and I'm sad to say I'm just waiting for him to have a heart attack, too!

Anyways, have you heard of a book called Nourishing Traditions?? It describes the kind of diet we should be following (meat is not the evil thing it's cracked up to be) and follows the good info with recipes. My husband will eat veggies, some, he's no salad eater, though, that's what food eats

You have to drag them along sometimes! Given his own, he'd eat nothing but Los Campos chicken and bean burritos and drink Diet Coke (he has no sense of smell, was born that way, he's a tactile eater, hates all fruit cuz it's gushy, no tomatoes

, it's a pain to feed him! Otherwise he's wonderful, though, so I think I'll keep him

)

Anyways, I hope you find foods that Ken will like and will help make him healthy.

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
No asian food at all. He is THE worst when it comes to food. Though he IS being cooperative. As long as we can compromise, he is doing well in my opinion.

After my having had a heart attack and several strokes, my wife can relate to your "he ain't eatin' right" problem. You're just going to have to slap him around some.
*****
The following is not too hard for me to stick to:
He should eat meat, all kinds.
He should eat vegetables, all kinds, but few carrots, corn, and/or beets.
He should not eat any sugar of any kind.
He should only use the product named No Salt and eat no salt whatsoever.
He should eat few dairy products of any kind.
He shuld eat as few fried foods as possible.
***********
Just change the above "he shoulds" and "he should nots" to "Thou shalt nots" and "Thou wills"; otherwise, make him do his own cooking; that'll straighten him out real fast.

 

[The Chicken Lady]

You might want to seek the advice of a nutritionist; check with your doctor for recommendations.

Also, find out what kind of exercise he is allowed to do (if any) and get him on a workout plan when it is possible.

 

[ozark hen]

After my having had a heart attack and several strokes, my wife can relate to your "he ain't eatin' right" problem. You're just going to have to slap him around some.

We wouldn't want to lose you Joe

 

[Dar]

why doesn't he like veggies?...

this may sound like a strange question...but ask him why

is it the taste?
texture?

because taste and texture are the biggest 2

factors with veggies for people who dont like them.

my DH HATED sweet potatoes until i tricked him into eating them...

i cut them just like a french fry and mixed it with other potatoes that i had cut like french frys and i bake them in a 400deg oven for about 40 minutes seasoned with herbs. when DH asked what the orange fries were I told him a different kind of potato (you know how yukon gold are yellow and Russian blue are blue) well he thought this was great a whole variety of colors for yr taters... a week later he seen me cutting them to make fries again... he loves them now

just to find out my MIL boiled them to death and they are gross when she makes them

same thing with squash and turnip he hated them until i found a way to cook them that he likes