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I'm currently doing the same sort of food re-training with my husband, and have found that the Martha Stewart Everyday Food blog and website are very helpful.
The dishes are a bit more adventurous than what most folks have for dinner, but aren't hugely time intensive to prepare or "out there." Some recipes are healthier than others, but all of them are nutritious and none take more than 45 minutes to cook from start to finish.
(Why, why, why don't people eat fish?!)
I subscribe to Cooking Light magazine, and I love their recipes! They do a lot of what you are trying to do - cook more from scratch and make a great tasting meal more healthy. I'd recommend picking one up and checking out their recipes!
Hubs and I went through the same thing, although we were retraining ourselves, not the ILs :)
As a first step, I'd encourage them to think of ways to make their favorite meals healthier. Switching to ground turkey instead of ground beef, using low-fat cheese, drinking skim milk, etc. They might be willing to try more "out there" food after they get over the intial shock of changing their diets.
My favorite super-fast meal is browning ground turkey with some seasonings (usually chili powder, cumin, cayanne, salt, and pepper), stir-frying some veggies, and then making "tacos" out of lettuce leaves. I credit this meal with getting my husband to eat vegetables.
Ditto cooking light, and their website is great too. And everyday food has some good stuff: http://www.pbs.org/everydayfood/recipes/. I think they have little food booklets that come out every month as well--I always see them by checkout at grocery stores, and they have really yummy stuff and include the nutritional facts for everything, which I find helpful .
How fun that they asked you to help them expand their palates!
If they are truly McDonald's and Stouffer's people then I would stick with the basics at first. Look for the highly rated recipes on allrecipes.com, these tend to be simpler than the ones at Epicurious or other cooking sites. I love the blog annies-eats.com for everyday dinners too.
How exactly will you be helping them? Giving cooking lessons, helping with menu planning, or actually doing their cooking? Either way I'd start with what they DO like and show them how to make it at home. Then slowly branch out into new foods.
When planning my menu I like to switch up my proteins every night, so each week we will have one chicken night, one beef, one fish, one pork, and two or three veggie nights. That might be a helpful way into it for your in laws.
Also, with regard to more vegetarian meals: I'd suggest sandwiches, soups, pizzas, and pasta dishes as a starting point. My meat-eating hubby doesn't miss it as much when the food category itself is more familiar.
I also love many of the websites and blogs suggested. I just want to suggest portobello mushroom because it has a meaty taste and feel, which is good for meat-eaters who are not used to vegetarian dishes. You can simply saute the mushroom in some olive oil and serve it over brown rice and spinach and topped with pesto.
I second all of this advice. Another good site to try is http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/ - it mostly a South Beach Diet blog, but I love her recipes, and most are low-carb, which is always a good plave to start when trying to up your healthy food intake.
One of my absolute go-to items in the summer is grilled chicken. I take boneless, skinless breasts and cut them in half, then marinate them in a little bit of oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice (fresh or bottled), salt and pepper, herbs (whatever I have on hand - fresh or dried), and some some seasoning (I love Greek seasoning and Bob's Red Fish blend, sometimes I just add some cumin or paprika if I don't have anything else on hand). You mix the marinade in a jar or bowl, then pour over the chicken and refrigerate until you are ready to cook (at least an hour, but I have left it over night before if my plans changed). Heat your grill to about 450, and then cook for about 5-6 minutes/side. This chicken is DELICIOUS - we eat it hot off the grill with sides, then use the leftovers in salads, mixed up in chicken salad, cold for lunches, etc. It is a great healthy protein to have on hand and never gets dried out.
My fiance is super picky and sounds alot like your FILs. He's made huge strides in the past 4 years and eats things he would never have touched when we met. The key was keeping things familiar, if I wanted to try something new, I'd put it with chicken - because chicken was his safe food. :-) Cooks Illustrated is my friend, simple food, not to exotic (or exotic at all) but they use few processed foods and their recipes always come out well. Also, Elie Krieger's the Food You Crave book is a favorite of mine, although I still can't get him to eat very much out of it. It's helped adapt alot of what I do cook to be healthier.
Thanks for all the great, helpful comments! I'll try to address the questions in case anyone has further advice:
I'll be cooking for them. I'm not quite sure what the long term solution is to this, but they simply don't have the time/energy to cook for themselves. FMIL works two jobs, a full-time RN in a hospital and the nursing director at their nursing home. And she works overtime on top of that PLUS they have a few residents with them at home who are like family to take care of. FFIL works one full time job, but does most of the maintenance at the nursing home/around their home and one other property they own. So while they might occasionally have time to cook on weekends, I think the showing them how to cook the dishes will only be effective if I can get them to truly love what I'm making.
To give you an idea of how picky - they laugh at our portobello mushrooms! We make them in olive oil and sea salt, and then stick them on a whole wheat bun. Perhaps without the bun? But I think that's a little tough for the three older men that are there right now unless I cut it up for them.
I got three or four recipes from the Martha Stewart Everyday, and I'm heading over to Cooking Light. I'm also thinking that some Alice Waters recipes might be good as well? I never go around to buying her cookbook, of course, when I meant to.
I tried to learn a lot of healthy versions of some of my favorite foods in an effort to lose weight. here are some things i make:
1) fake-out chicken fingers--use egg whites and crushed cornflakes and bake
2) zucchini fries-- cut zucchini into strips and coat with a little oil and spices, bake still crispy and dip in low-fat ranch dressing.
3) chicken parm -- i use egg whites and panko breading and bake rather than fry. add sauce, fresh mozzarella, and basil. mmm.
4) grilled chicken sausage sandwiches with peppers and onions
5) ham and potato casserole-- i use ore-ida homestyle hash browns, ham, fat free sour cream, 2% cheddar cheese, sauteed onion, and bread crumbs on top.
6) chicken stir fry--this is a great way to pack a bunch of vegetables in--i like to add pineapple too. yum.
7) chicken fajitas with peppers, onion, lime, cilantro
8) for a veggie dish--i love this veggie parm
9) roasted butternut squash-- i like to add paprika and roast them still they're crispy on the outside. how can anyone not like that?
good luck!
You are so nice to cook for them! It sounds like they are very busy and overwhelmed.
I just wanted to give you a couple veggie recipes that my picky H actually likes-- he grew up eating like three different meals on rotation and has a very limited palate-- I know you said you want to get away from lots of cheese but these could be a starting place.
http://annies-eats.com/2008/08/14/tortilla-and-black-bean-pie/
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/cheesy-baked-tortellini-recipe/index.html
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/penne-with-spinach-sauce-recipe/index.html
And here's a meatloaf recipe that's half turkey/half mushrooms and my H likes it just as much as the all beef version:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Turkey-Meatloaf-107599
I second Everyday Food magazine! A subscription costs around ten dollars and provides tons of great recipes, most that are lighter/healthier than normal recipes. For example, they have a lighter meatloaf and mashed potatoes meal in there that is so good! It is made with ground turkey and you process celery and carrots and onion right into the meat. It is better than any meatloaf I have ever had. A lot of their recipes are like this: healthy twists on old classics. They also provide a lot of recipes featuring in-season veggies and quick lunches. It is where I would say 90 percent of our meal choices come from.
You are such a sweetheart, teaching them to cook! I wish someone like you would have been around when I first moved out on my own!
DH and I aren't vegetarians, but we do try to limit our red meat intake - which was hard for him! He'd eat roast beef and mashed potatoes every day if I let him. :) I really like Sanda Lee's Semi-Homemade. Every recipe I've made of hers comes out very yummy and is super simple. http://www.semihomemade.com/cooking/
I second the www.allrecipes.com suggestion. I get TONS of ideas there. Oh! Crockpots are good for beginners. Just toss a bunch of stuff in, let it cook all day, and dinner's ready! Make-and-freeze meals are good too. You can make a huge casserole, and then freeze it into meal-sized portions. I just Google "meals to freeze" and there are literally hundreds of websites with recipes.
Oh, and I forgot one! I also use E-Mealz (https://e-mealz.com). For $5 a month, I get weekly dinner menus with a matching grocery list. I just print it out, check off what I already have, and go! I don't use it every week, but when I know I have a super busy week coming up it's my lifesaver!
I feel you. FI eats NOTHING green - unless you count sourapple slurpies. I once asked him to try a green bean. He gagged on it. Almost 30yrs old & he's never had a salad in his life. Can you imagine?!? We're working on it. LOL
My advice to begin with is: Baby Steps.
I'm big on sneaking foods in at first. He really likes pesto sauce, so I usually make whole wheat pasta (he doesn't notice the difference) and I add in lots of chopped spinach (looks like it's basil in the pesto). Check out Mrs. Seinfeld's site for more.
Swap out reg. mashed potatoes with sweet pots with a little bit of agave or honey. Or just SP fries (baked of course).
If they're scoffing at the Portobello Mushrooms, maybe start them off by putting it into a whole wheat pasta dish? Or incorporating them it into a dip served with toasted pita chips?
I totally second kalynskitchen - she has GREAT recipes.
It hasn't updated in a while but this blog helped me a lot too myhusbandhatesveggies
Gina's is mostly weight watchers recipes but they're really healty.
I don't think Katie Lee has a site but her book The Comfort Table is great too
I'd ease them into other nutritious stuff like bulger wheat and other elliekrieger type stuff.
If they're short on time - (ugh, I hate her but) some of my friend's swear by Sandra Lee's crock pot recipes.
Good luck! Let us know how it goes! :)
simply THE BEST blog/site for recipes is: http://simplyrecipes.com/
i go there all the time if i get stuck in a cooking rut. scratch made stuff. cant go wrong. often i see how they have their recipes then tweak it for my own tastes (or allergies) works like a charm.
i am also a fan of watching Cooks Country (or America's Test Kitchen) learning the best way to make different stuff. I know how to cook from learning from my mom and granny but it helps to expand my horizons a bit. http://www.cookscountry.com/
oh and i love food network specifically paula deen (everything she makes tastes good) and alton brown (so simple and easy!) and if you like natural from scratch stuff ina garten... (altho she uses nuts in everything so i always have to modify her stuff ugh)
There are some great suggestions here. I think I've found some more blogs! I also use prevention.com to when I need recipes. They have a really great recipe finder, you can look for recipes containing the ingredients you know they will eat. And I second cooking on the grill as much as possible while it's summer!
Oh I almost forgot -- the #1 site that helps out:
hungry-girl.com
Sign up for the emails. She revamps recipes that're really popular - for St. Patrick's Day she had a low cal. Shamrock Shake & I'm dying to try some of her other recipes.
Maybe if you have McDonald's lovin in-laws start with her revamped Burger King steakhouse burger
http://www.hungry-girl.com/chew/chewdetails.php?isid=2032
Real Simple has a ton of recipes on their website. They are all quick, easy, and most are pretty healthy. They also don't tend to get too gourmet or "out there", which sounds like it will be good for your in-laws.
I love All Recipes..my fave recipes website! They have everything on there! I love how many categories you can sort by and all the reviews...good luck! So nice of you to cook for them!!
Wow--I can't believe you'll be cooking for them!
If the ultimate plan is to get them to cook for themselves, then I would consider effort expended as a major stumbling block. Most folks who are used to McD's and Stouffer's, yet wish to eat healthier, are royally put off by the time and energy needed to truly cook.
With that said--Cooking Light all the way. It's not "diet" food--it's just healthy. The biggest reason I recommend it is because they have great variety, and lots of super-fast options each month. If your ILs compliment you and you're able to say, "Oh, thanks! It took ten minutes!" then they might be more likely to pitch in the next time and help/learn, and/or try it on their own in the future.
Cook's Illustrated big cookbook is phenomenal; and epicurious.com has fantastic variety, and the reviews are invaluable. Pick a recipe with lots of forks, then take a few seconds to scroll through the reviews. If they're all recommending amending the recipe, try it. These two sources, though, are often more time-intensive than Cooking Light--and, again, if you're trying to change your in-laws habits, time/effort will likely be an issue.
You are AWESOME to do this for them. :)
That is awesome! You should start a blog for each night and share with us how it goes!
I have a cooking light 5 ingredients 15 minutes recipe book that I really like. I had a lot of basic stuff. I got it while in college and still cook from it.
You can buy it from amazon here.
If you are hoping to transition at some point to them cooking their meals then I would suggest a book like this because it doesn't use a lot of wierd ingredients that you have to go out and buy. At the beginning of the book it gives you a list of things you should have on hand and you can make like 80% of the recipes in the book.
I don't consider myself a very picky eater but I just don't like mushrooms. If thats something they don't like then just avoid it. Don't try to force them at first. Plus I think eating a mushroom on a bun sounds kinda strange even if I were to like mushrooms.
I’ve found (in my limited experience) that a lot of picky eaters are picky because they’ve told themselves that they. If they inadvertently eat something they “don’t like” (i.e., you hide it in food), suddenly they like it – as long as they don’t know it’s something they “don’t like”. Do you have to tell them everything you’re serving them, prior to them eating it? (I wouldn’t do this on the first meal, but maybe work up to it).
Eating in-season veggies can help too, since the flavor is so much better.
Also, preparation methods go a LONG WAY in making some veggies tastier. If I had grown up on canned peas and asparagus (shudder), I’d probably think green veggies were nasty too.
Try some “safe” veggies at first – maybe potatoes (both regular and sweet), broccoli, peppers, or whatever they like – and roast them. Little olive oil and sea salt and you’re good. Then, if they like those, try more “exotic” veggies. Parsnips are a stepping stone, as they look much like a potato when cubed, and are a little bit sweet. Roasted asparagus is a totally different animal from overcooked, limp asparagus.
Grilled veggies are another easy way to introduce people to veggies: try grilled corn, sweet peppers, onions and grilled summer squash. Those all go with a little piece of BBQ meat, or a pork chop.
Also, keep reminding them that salad is more than iceberg lettuce and dressing. We make a “summer salad” a few times a week all summer, it’s so easy. Roasted red potatoes, corn (grilled, then cut off the cob), some in-season cherry tomatoes, green beans, a hard boiled egg and (sometimes) thin slices of steak. A lot of that you can prep ahead, and then just assemble when everyone gets home. You can also sub out what you have in-stock and in season. The only “dressing” is a little olive oil and squeeze of lemon juice.
Good luck!
Thanks again, everyone!
So far, so good... I made chicken caesar sandwiches on whole wheat the first night, with the chicken roasted in olive oil and a cherry tomato, cucumber, and feta salad, and then turkey meatloaf with roasted potatoes as a side the second night. Tonight I'm doing homemade mac and cheese because while FMIL & FFIL have been enjoying the meals, they've been a little too "out there" for the residents. How those meals are out there I'm not sure, haha.
Anyway, you guys have been such a great help! Any other recipes/resources are always appreciated!
Update: bought another Alice Waters cookbook (The Art of Simple Food) and it has lots of great ideas. I'm playing around with the idea of blogging these meals, do you all think it would be interesting enough for people to read, though?
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I'm a cooking nut - my FI and I are both vegetarians and make almost everything from scratch. My FILs, on the other hand, are McDonald's/Stouffers type of people, and FMIL asked me to help change that. I'm so excited about that, but of course this means
a) dealing with the picky eaters. I'm not going to cater to them all the way (FBIL won't eat anything naturally red. Odd much?) but the basics are this: no fish, no chicken with the skin on, and nothing too "out there." (Meaning my type of food, I suppose!)
b) dealing with a vegetarian (myself) which means that while I can cook basic meats, I'm not a deboning type of girl and
c) dealing with my own issues in cooking - which means I'd rather go the extra mile in making the homemade soup than doing canned, etc. I can totally improvise my own base recipes into simple ones if you have any great ideas though!
The most important thing, in my mind, is to show them that healthy eating can taste good, and is more than salads or dry chicken. I'd like to work them up to vegetarian main dishes besides something with cheese in the name! But for now... I'll cook meat if that's what I'd have to do.
So, cooking blogs or awesome recipe ideas? My current stomping grounds are Smitten Kitchen, Sunday Suppers, and Epicurious plus a few cookbooks like Good to the Grain and Sunday Suppers. I have a few ideas, but not nearly enough. Any help would be greatly appreciated!