A meal in focus, how I manage cooking for “others”, a few ideas from the Madras …
Note: This post has photos and descriptions of non-Opti foods. You have been warned !
I’ve had quite a few off-line enquiries about how I manage Optifast intensive phase with a family and asking for some practical tips. A few have suggested I share this information as others who prepare family meals may find it helpful. Trust me, I don’t always manage it very well, sometimes they’re eating rubbish while I nibble on carrots in the corner. On the good days it is “quite” easy with a bit of forward planning and full freezer as a back up. The good are outweighing the bad these days !
You should know that I do have one toddler & a chilled out husband who has a highly physical job, so plain food combined with high energy food combined with VLCD meal all in one. However, I don’t have a hoard of kiddies screaming, desperate for a meal, or am running between jobs or a shift worker … both are still fairly flexible (& hungry) at the moment.
So with being mindful that everyone’s situation is unique, I took a few pics of my most recent meal, a hot curry Madras, to provide a simple example.
A few tips:
-Meat for others that are able to be cooked to add to your already cooking Opti meals or stand alone are helpful time savers (avoid slow cooked meat cuts, last-minute cooking foods)
–Ready done or complete last-minute carbohydrate additions is also good so there are no temptations of freshly cooked carbohydrate around to pick at while cooking (ie. pasta, rice, toast etc.).
-While preparing non-Opti foods, sit a tall bowl or glass next to your prep areas to dunk spoons in so they also aren’t laying around wanting to be “cleaned”. This helped me heaps in the early days, especially with the mindless tasting that was going on without me even noticing I was doing it !
–Introduce new things to replace old slowly with family members. I still mix the old with the new (as above) often and also acknowledge if they really don’t like something I am cooking for me, as our tastes do change on Optifast I think. Make sure you have THE talk about support, how important it is to you etc. but also remember that they should find food pleasurable to eat as well.
–Always have back up for you (as the Optifaster) in the freezer that are quick and easy to zap in the microwave should family arrive with “treats” for the whole family.
-Whenever you cook anything you like, try to make extra to freeze. The beauty of intensive phase is that most things (other than salad) can be frozen. This especially goes for cauli rice, cores and mash. It can be a real lifesaver. Zucchini is not great, it does go mushy because of the high water content.
–Leave all salads with dressings on the side, that others can add to once it has hit their plates or make an opti suitable one
Separating vegetables for my son at the start of the cook so he avoids the spice
Cooking meat and Opti main meal separately then combining seems to work really well
A few examples of how I modify the Opti Cook meals are:
Mushroom Pot Pie: use the mushroom filling to tip over sausages with the cauli mash with a bit of steamed potato mashed and mixed in.
Lasagne: Add a layer of mince bolognese and cheese on top of the lasagne and grill.
Indo-chinese noodles/stir fry dishes: Add stir fry chicken at the end of cooking or crispy skinned salmon on the side. Add quick cook Udon or rice stick noodles to the family’s zucchini noodles.
Soups: If time poor, you can buy diced chicken breast or other ready made meats in the fridge section or butcher to add to soups at the end.
I hope this has given a few clues to “meal preparers” amongst us of how to modify the menu to take into account your changing dietary needs while still having a reasonably “normal” mealtime routine most of the time.
I’d love to hear your thoughts & how you approach it here or on facebook,
Joni xx
