Guest Post: Iowa Girl Eats.

Hey guys! I’m so excited to present a special guest to you today. She’s been one of my favorite bloggers for years now and I follow her blog faithfully. I’ve asked Kristin to dive into the topic of “how to cook for both you and your husband while keeping it healthy and still satisfying both appetites.”

Alright here we go! Enjoy.

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Hello My Little Celebrationers! My name?s Kristin and I write the blog Iowa Girl Eats where I share my quick & easy recipes, workout ideas and travel adventures across the country, and the world.

My husband Ben and I live in Iowa and are coming up on our third wedding anniversary in April (eek, really?!). On one hand, I can?t remember NOT being married to him, on the other, I feel like we just exchanged vows last week!

Bend and I lived separately until the day we said ?I do? and, although we shared plenty of meals and I cooked for him all the time before we were married, it was a completely different ball game after we tied the knot.

After the honeymoon I wanted to make the most luscious, finger-lickin? good meals for him to come home to every night.

I showered him with cupcakes and brownies to make him blissfully happy!

Everything was fine and dandy, of course, until I found myself 7 pounds heavier 2 months later and him no worse for wear? I think they call that happy weight, but I don?t know, it didn?t make me very happy!

After I gained my newlywed ?happy weight? it was time to get down to business. I wanted to make my husband happy, of course, but knew I couldn?t continue to eat like I had been. Thankfully Ben?s pretty easy to please in that he?ll eat pretty much anything I put on his plate, but he?s still a ?simple, meat & potatoes? man, who married a ?lets try millions of new things, oh – and make them healthy too!? woman.

All is not lost, however. Here are 5 ways to satisfy both your husband?s appetite, and your waist line!

1. Modify your meals

There?s a healthy(er) alternative to pretty much every dish out there. Here are a few ways I make husband-friendly meals with a healthy twist.

If I?m mixing up a yummy, classic rice casserole, I?ll make my own sauce instead of using something from the can, and use brown rice instead of white rice, like in this Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli & Rice Casserole.

If I?m making juicy burgers, I?ll use 99% fat-free ground turkey breast instead of beef, and place it on a bed of spinach instead of a bun, like in my Greek Turkey Burgers.

If Ben?s craving a fast-food type meal, I?ll make it healthy by making it at home. Whip up your own breadcrumbs and bake instead of fry chicken breast pieces for easy Chicken Nuggets with Homemade Seasoned Breadcrumbs.

Tricks like cooking up brown rice for yourself and white rice for your man, mashing regular potatoes from him and sweet potatoes for yourself, and keeping wheat bread around for you and white bread around for him, are also easy to do!

2. Get your husband in the kitchen

The quickest way to get somebody to care about what they?re putting into their body is to have them make it themselves.

He may ask for extra butter and salt when I?m making the meal, but if he sees how much is actually going into the dish when he?s cooking it, I can almost guarantee you he?ll cut back. Over time this has led to my husband being more accepting of healthier dishes on the table and trying new things. Now his favorite thing to ask is ?Is this good for me?? I never thought I?d hear those magic words!

3. Keep snacks separate

I want my husband to eat healthy so we can grow super old and wrinkly together over the next 70 years, so I generally try and keep junk food out of the house. That said, I?m not the food police and can?t deny Ben of the stuff he loves (ok I love them too) ? potato chips, cookies, etc ? so we keep separate snack shelves in the pantry.

This technique is actually more for me because if I see those Chewy Chips Ahoy or salty BBQ Lays, it?s light?s out. I?m totally going for them. But, if I have a shelf filled with crunchy, better-for-you cereal like Kashi Honey Almond Crunch, or chewy Pumpkin Walnut TLC Bars to snack on, I know I can easily reach for those instead!

4. Eat smaller portions of the real thing.

Sometimes it?s fun to go all out and create a crazy, calorie-filled dinner for you and hubby. It?s ok. Life?s short ? have butter!

The trick is to just eat less. I always use a small, salad-sized plate instead of a big, entrée-sized plate. It makes portion control that much easier.

5. Don?t freak him out

If you try and serve your meat and potatoes husband grilled tofu on a bed of steamed spinach and brown rice (yep, I?ve done it,) it?s not going to go over well no matter how you try and spin it.

If you want to incorporate healthy foods you love into dishes he?ll love too ? try mixing them in. Make a veggie-filled stir fry with cubed tofu for you AND cut up chicken for him. My husband will gobble the whole thing, as long as there?s a recognizable protein in there.

If you?re dying to try a new vegetarian recipe, grab two individual-sized baking dishes, pour half into your dish, then sauté up a chicken breast, add it to his half and bake it up next to yours!

Over the past three years, Ben and I have definitely reached a happy medium when it comes to cooking and eating together. Hopefully these tips and tricks will help you get there too. Here?s to a happy, healthy, and tasty, marriage!

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Thanks Kristin! That was awesome. I’ll definitely be using some of those tips to simplify and health-ify my husband and I’s meals.

Alright you guys, that’s all for me today. I hope you’re having a fabulous Friday and have a relaxing and restful weekend ahead of you. Tell me, do you have any special plans?

I’d love to hear from you, as always .

John and I hope to fully enjoy this weekend and the week ahead as its his spring break! Yipeeeee!

We don’t have much planned yet but I’m sure it will involve a few bike rides and a little ice cream consumption .

Question:

Do you have any tips for how to make healthy and satisfying meals for both you and your husband/roommate/family? If so, please share! I’d love to know your insider tricks.