Last night as we were eating a very casual dinner of tofu corn dogs, carrots, fruit salad, and pretzels my dh said "we never ate like this when I was growing up" and I asked him if he cared and he said no, he liked the way we eat but in his words "I think my mom spent a lot more time on it than you do." He said they always ate stuff like pot roast and lots of chicken and rice casserole type things and it was a big hot meal every night. I don't cook like that. Maybe once a week we will have that kind of dinner but usually we eat healthy and simple. We will have some kind of lean protein and a veggie and some fruit and maybe some kind of grain but I assemble our meals and don't use many recipes. I just whip it together. We also eat a lot of soups, sandwiches, veggie burgers, stuff most people would I guess have for lunch.

How do you do it? Do you cook like my dh's mom every night? Or do you whip it together pretty easily?

I think we do a good variety...we usually have a full type meal...but do fun stuff to...like we've done fruit plates before in the summer...we also do alot of salad meals in the summer(some plain w/fresh veggies-some grilled steak and chicken etc)

We usually have everyone over a couple times through the summer to for veggie parties...w/fried green tomatoes-corn on the cob-fried zucchini and stuff...it's all veggies but noone ever misses the meats.

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We have a lot of meatless meals or chicken. I do cook a hot dinner every night... unless we're having leftovers. My husband would not eat tofu, pretzels and fruit. The only veggies he eats are green lettuce, raw baby carrots, green beans, corn and peas (if I'm lucky).

I think you are doing a great job and it is very healthy.

We don't really use any processed foods...I just don't find them very appetizing or 'easy' and I didn't grow up on food like that. I never use a crock pot, or make casseroles. I just don't. I don't use tofu at all...ever. LOL I cook very simply, easy grilled meats, quickly blanched or roasted vegetables etc So I make a meat, a fresh vegetable and then a 'starch' (pasta, rice, potatoes, noodles etc). Most nights we have fresh salad as well.

That is how I cook, too, Oregano, but I only cook maybe 4 dinners a week. I don't use any processed food except some organic vegetarian stuff. I am lucky that my dh is a good sport and eats all that stuff. I was a vegetarian for 15 years and he went along with it for the first 4 years we dated just to be sweet. I hardly cook any meat, but when I do cook it, I usually grill it and keep it simple and fresh. But we have several dinners a week that are typical lunch food. Dh and I both exercise a couple of nights a week and you just don't want to work out after you eat a bunch of food, so those are always light nights, and then the soccer practice nights end up being simple too. We will make sandwiches in the panini a lot too. You can put all kinds of stuff in them and make them healthy and hearty.

I make a little bit of everything casseroles, grilled meats, sandwiches with soup...I refrain from the boxed foods (rice a roni, lipton noodles) unless I get a really really good deal. We love our vegetables here!

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"It's time to move from what we can do, to what we must do, to what we will do." ~Hillary Clinton

I do a little bit of everything, too, though I will NOT do casseroles. I don't know why, I just don't really like them. We usually do a meat, a vegetable, and a grain. I cook a lot of ethnic dishes, I am originally from So. Cal. so that is what I grew up on, and I can't go without it!!! DH thinks it is awesome, while when his family comes over they turn up their noses, like, "What IS that?" I quit putting a real effort in when they come over - if there is mashed potatoes or mac and cheese, they're happy as clams. Nothing against that type of cooking, at all, I like it, too, but I wish they would expand their horizons a little bit!!

We're pretty basic, usually a meat (venison, cut up pork loin "pork chops", chicken, and fish that we catch), starch like potatoes usually, and veg - usually broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, canned asparagus, spinach, or corn. Sometimes I do rolls. I do like spaghetti, or lasagna especially, with sauce from the tomatoes last year and venison burger. I make roast about every two weeks, or a good soup in the crock pot (I think I'll make some venison ham and potato tomorrow! MMM!). I've had a bug up my butt the last few weeks and have been wanting stuffing, so we've been having that frequently, but that's about the only thing that is from a box. When I was pregnant, I really wanted Kraft Mac and Cheese. I could have eaten a box or two a day.

I don't do casseroles too often, DH isn't that big on them. If I'm really pressed for time or tired from the baby all day, I'll make one so I don't need to cook.

We do eat a LOT of potatoes, last year I didn't get them in the garden in time, but I hope to do well with them and find a good way to store them. We go through about 5lbs a week of the dang things. I've been having pretty good luck getting them on sale so far.

I like cooking different things, but DH doesn't like too much change. If he's working storm, I'll make Chinese for myself, since he won't eat it, and I love my wok

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I cook a big meal 2-3 times a week, usually once a week we have homemade pizzas, once a week we have a "clean out the fridge" night, once a week we have breakfast for supper.

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DD-13
DD-5
DS-3

This is what we basically do also.

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS!