Hey all.....like most of you I am a mother and have a family. I did this the first time last year and got down to where I wanted but a lot of the time I ate something different than my family. This doesn't lead to changing a lifestyle it just shows me how to diet!

I need to know recipes that do not include supplements so that they are cost effective to feed my whole family. My goal is to come out of this this time with a new lifestyle not doing my own thing that will not survive in my home!!!

My small goal is to eat what my family does for the next week.
Last night I made Adobo Pork Tenderloin, baked potatoes (I didn't have these), green beans (steamed), gravy for the kids and Bread. It worked well to just add some thing for the kids to what I am eating.

I LOVE the White Chicken Chili but the idea of using a full box of Cream of Chicken HNS at $12 plus the food to make supper is way too much....anyone make this or something similar without HNS?????

I cant help you there. I just keep it simple. Did you look on the Recipe thread at the top... I know Ive seen some people list substitutes for the MRC HNS. Good luck! lol.

Jewelie - I am in a similar situation. I tend to stick to basics when feeding the husband and kids as well as myself. For dinner, we usually grill some type of meat or poach fish and I make a veggie side dish that is plan friendly. Then I add a starch for the family (potato, rice, etc). Depending on the starch I will have a 40/50 cal serving or something else. I find it really easy during the summer, but harder during the fall/winter. I bet there are a lot of soups that would work...maybe sub low sodium chicken stock for the HNS...a meal that I made recently for lunch that whole family liked with the grilled portabella with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil (I posted the recipe on the recipe link).

Good luck, and thanks for posting the question I can't wait to see other peoples ideas!!

I use sparkrecipes.com so many different recipes on there that I can make (all submitted by people so some aren't healthy but it shows nutrition information for ALL recipes).

I also cook for the family so I don't like making seperate things for me. Take tonight for instance, steak with boiled corn and salad but I'm also making mashed potatoes and won't eat those

Thanks for ideas....I have kept it pretty simple.
I did make Indian (some people call them Hobo) Tacos the other night and the boys didn't mind that they were not on Fry Bread. I used a Pita pocket and split them in half to make two circles. Add my taco made from buffalo and lettuce toppings. A little salsa and it was good.

I am in a similar situation. Hubby and two kids. I do usually cook two separate meals but I try to use mostly the same ingredients. For instance last night, I made spaghetti. Before I added the sauce, I took out 4 oz of my lean ground beef and put over a salad for me. I was making salad anyway to go with the spaghetti. It was sort of two separate meals but at least only had to cook one meat.
Also, if I'm frying meat for my family, I will throw mine on the George Foreman.

I totally recommend the Biggest Loser cookbook. Funny enough a lot of the things meet the MRC requirements and it has all the details about cals/carbs/fats/prot.... really good stuff. And if my fiance ate it ANYBODY will eat them I was on this before I got pregnant with my daughter and plan on using the book again when I reach my goal while I am in maintainance. Hope that helps.

Thanks for the suggestion Kristalin

I also try to keep the meat the same, make a plan friendly veggie, and add a starch for DH. Most of the time, weight issues run in the family, so at least with the people I know, it's a good thing for the rest of the family to eat a bit leaner as well (not always, but baking instead of frying is better for everyone). If you start cooking leaner for your family, it will help your kids develop better habits in the long run so they won't end up in the same place you are.

My mom gave me the fast food/fat habits that gave me the problems I have. It's a lot harder to undo now than it would have been when I was four years old.

I hadn't heard about the Biggest Loser books when I first read this post but yesterday I bought a new scale at BJ's Warehouse Store and there is a coupon for the Biggest Loser, the Cookbook, and the Fitness Program. I might send for them.

The scale is a Taylor, model 568BL and was less then $30. It tells percentage body fat, body water, and muscle mass, BMI and BMR as well as weight. I took it to my center and weighted myself on it right after weighing in on their Tanita. It was pretty accurate. Not bad for the price.

Made the honey mustard crusted chicken from the cookbook. Kids loved it and even told my brother's girlfriend about it. On hamburger night, I make mine a bison burger and kids have reg hamburger. Just have to remember which one is mine . Tried some of the chili and other things but didn't like the tomato soup supplement. Also, try making the chicken fingers and I made up a dip, mustard, splenda and a little diet cream soda (just enough to thin it), kids and guy friend loved it for the fingers and dipped broccoli in it as well, but my kids love honey mustard dip. Another idea is to make mini meatloafs, use buffalo for yours and make a few to freeze. You can use a mini loaf pan (makes 6 at a time) or muffin pan. Measure yours out after cooking because the buffalo loses a lot of weight while cooking, I was surprised. I agree with others to add a healthy starch to DH and kids meals. Something that when you are back to goal, you would eat so they are used to eating it and you can just add in when you are ready!
Good luck!

Hi love!!! You know what? I don't use the HNS in my cooking hardly ever.... I'll do some searching, but even the stuff in the cooking or that is on the thread asking for HNS, I try to leave out... I just don't like the way it tastes.

I hadn't heard about the Biggest Loser books when I first read this post but yesterday I bought a new scale at BJ's Warehouse Store and there is a coupon for the Biggest Loser, the Cookbook, and the Fitness Program. I might send for them.

The scale is a Taylor, model 568BL and was less then $30. It tells percentage body fat, body water, and muscle mass, BMI and BMR as well as weight. I took it to my center and weighted myself on it right after weighing in on their Tanita. It was pretty accurate. Not bad for the price.

Jeanette....I have one of those scales for over a year now, and I can't always get the body mass/water mass reading to work...is there a trick to it? I have re-programmed the scale now 3 times and no luck. It is a nice scale though and very accurate...now if I could just figure out the body mass function.