DIAMOMs

It was very hard for me to cook for myself and the family. My husband was born and raised in the Dominican Republic and grew up eating what seems like nothing BUT carbs and starches. My problem is I am really not a carb person. Literally every meal for him is a meat, rice, and potatoes (YUKE). He won’t eat anything else. No Veggies, No Salad, No fruit, No Fish, I mean nothing else (sigh)… Worse is my daughter loves to eat like him too so I am outnumbered. I can only hope when my son gets older and can eat solid foods that he turns out like me and will like to eat everything and try new things.

So you can imagine eating all those carbs has done to my waist line and my confidence. I have gained 35 pounds (this was even pre-baby!) and it is so hard to lose. I really had to figure something out. My husband’s advice, “Just do portion control love and workout more.” When he said that to me I glared at him and threw a pillow in his face. He also had the nerve to try to argue that white rice is healthy for you because your body needs carbs. My husband obviously needs a course in food education on good and bad carbs.

If only it was that easy to just portion control more and workout more. Instead I was thinking I am going to have to cook two separate meals and buy twice the groceries then in order to accommodate for me and my needs. Yes this is a need because I wasn’t happy with the food I was eating and then feeling. The problem in this is I really couldn’t afford to buy extra food just for me to eat healthy. What could I do then?

I started to reevaluate what I bought and had to think of another way to use most of those ingredients I use to cook his unhealthy stew and Latin food to making my clean eating meals. What I noticed is a consistency of onions, tomatoes, peas, carrots, green peppers, and garlic. I could use most of those ingredients not only for his stew and meals but also for separate meals for me. I realized I wouldn’t have to exactly buy as much as I thought. Instead of putting all the ingredients into his and my daughters dish I could take my portion of that out and use it to make a salad or something lighter. Below is an example of how I started to cook smarter!

Theirs: Chicken stew – chicken breast, tomatoes, onions, garlic, lots of seasonings (so much sodium), potatoes, peas, carrots, cilantro, and beer (to create the broth of the stew). Then there is a side of rice and a hardboiled egg.

Mine: chicken cooked in tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and garlic (baked). Then there is a side of steamed broccoli and salad – lettuce, tomatoes, onions, carrots, and boiled egg.

The only thing extra I had to buy was broccoli, lettuce, and salad dressing. Everything else was already used for the stew. Since I already was cutting everything up for the stew it worked great because I would then just put that in with my salad or chicken. There really wasn’t any extra work! I still have to plan out the meals for the week but that’s what I do now. I see what I am going to cook them and the ingredients they will need. I then figure out what I can make from those ingredients that can be healthy for me.

I started to lose weight right away and feel better too! Don’t get me wrong I began to work out and watch my portions as well. Yes occasionally I would eat the food my husband likes to eat everyday but the key word here is occasionally. So next time your planning your family meals think what you could do to make your meal healthier and still satisfy them! Want to keep following what I do? Watch me on snapchat at caciastyle to see my food inspirations and quick workouts throughout the day!