For the Love of Quinua or (what not to feed my husband)

Your Mama is so fat and so I am always trying to find things that I can eat that are healthy for me. I don't know about your husband and families but my husband is not usually too happy with my healthy choices.

I love pretty much every veggie. His veggie likes are limited to peas, corn, carrots, green beans, and an occassional piece of celery.  He is happiest with a large portion of meat, a potato of any kind and corn or peas. Anyone else have a husband like this?

I've tried sneaking some veggies into his food, trying to make his meal a little more healthy and have had varied results. I usually have tried to puree or finely chop veggies like broccoli, onion, or spinach and "hide" it in a dish. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. A couple of times, I have gotten a question like, "Are there onions in this? I taste onions". 

"No, honey,  there are not any onions in this. It must be your imagination". 

It worked! He kept eating,  albeit with a confused look on his face.

And there was the time, I put chopped (but not chopped enough) spinach in my hamburger stuffed shells. Well, I can't even say the what the response to that was. He was NOT happy.

Meals are a struggle between making something healthy and making him happy. In the past, I have leaned toward making him happy and that has not been so good for my weight. Now, I do have to take some of the blame because my one of my favorite foods, pasta, is also something that he likes  and I have had nooo...none whatsoever problems making that at least once a week. YUM....

So last night was another of those pasta nights and I was trying to see how I could get more of the veggies I love and some non animal protein into my meal. I am trying to cut some of the animal proteins out of my diet and I knew there was no way he would go without his meat. So what to do? Here was my solution and it turned out exceptionally good.

I decided that instead of eating the meatballs my husband had requested, I would replace my meat serving with some Red Quinua I had in my cupboard. If you haven't heard of Quinua, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa , or tried it yet, I strongly recommend it. I discovered it several months ago and absolutely love it! Just be careful, it is high in fiber and it might take some getting used to eating it.
You can find it either in the rice or pasta section of your grocer or, if you have an organic section, it may be there. It is super versatile and can be used in all types of dishes ranging from using it as a breakfast "cereal" to using it in soups and casseroles.

I looked in my crisper and pulled out the following:

3 Japanese eggplant (any eggplant will do)
Green Pepper
5 Plum tomatoes
You could use whatever you have in stock, broccoli, onions, artichokes, and carrots would also be good.

I chopped these and threw them into a saute pan with some garlic powder, fresh basil and fresh oregano (dried is ok and season to taste). I added a small amout of salt and some crushed red peppers. I added a litle water and simmered everything until the veggies were tender.

Meanwhile, I heated his meatballs and some Prego Traditional sauce and made Dreamfields Angel Hair Pasta (also high in fiber). I had already cooked the Quinua and set it aside. It takes about 15 minutes to cook.
I added maybe half a cup of the Prego to my homemade veggie mixture to make it a little "tomatoier" and then added it to the Quinua. The result was a very chunky tomato sauce.

Voila! I served him his spaghetti and meatballs and he was happy. I served my veggie mixture a small amout of pasta and added some parmesan cheese and had a dish that was delicious as well as nutritious, high in fiber and animal protein free!

I wish I could get my husband to eat more types of veggies. He is diabetic and needs to eat better.  It is a battle that I can't win, however. I am reading more and more about the value of eating all different types of vegetables on our health. I still plan on sneaking a few in on him now and then, but know that I need to eat what my instincts are telling me and what is good for my own health.

If you try my recipe or just try eating the quinua in your own recipe for the first time, enjoy!

Love to all,
Yo Mama