What to do?

[porphgoddess]

I was watching Oprah today. They had all the "healthy" foods on, and alas, most of them were IC no-nos.

What do you do to consume healthy foods? How do we get the vitamin C and other vitamins that we need? The doctor said to eat REAL fruit and vegatables, but how can we????

[ICNDonna]

There are many vegetables that are IC friendly. And pears and blueberries are safe for most ICers. There's a low acid orange juice on the market that some of us can tolerate in small amounts. I don't watch Oprah so I don't know what she recommends as healthy foods.

Hugs,
Donna

[kadi]

Hi there,
I eat a lot of broccoli - it contains vitamin C. I also choose my lettuce carefully-romaine has tons more nutrients than iceberg! I eat a pear &/or blueberries every day. I can eat bananas & raisins in small quantities, so I'll eat a half banana with cereal.

I try to load up my salad with stuff - grated carrots, steamed chilled broccoli, kidney & garbanzo beans (low salt & I rinse them too), hard boiled egg, cottage cheese. shredded chicken. I can get away with a 1/2 tsp of Marie's ranch dressing if I take prelief & include it as part of a large salad/meal.

(I also love the Carolina Tarragon carrots in the IC cookbook - but I reduce the amount of butter)

Hope that gives you a few ideas.

[kadi]

Hi there,
I eat a lot of broccoli - it contains vitamin C. I also choose my lettuce carefully-romaine has tons more nutrients than iceberg! I eat a pear &/or blueberries every day. I can eat bananas & raisins in small quantities, so I'll eat a half banana with cereal.

I try to load up my salad with stuff - grated carrots, steamed chilled broccoli, kidney & garbanzo beans (low salt & I rinse them too), hard boiled egg, cottage cheese. shredded chicken. I can get away with a 1/2 tsp of Marie's ranch dressing if I take prelief & include it as part of a large salad/meal.

(I also love the Carolina Tarragon carrots in the IC cookbook - but I reduce the amount of butter)

Hope that gives you a few ideas.

[Dixiefireball]

i'm not to king on taking pills because i have so much medicine but the doctor told me i could try some vitam pills. but check with your doctor before doing this to make sure it want hurt you with the medicine you are already taking.

[porphgoddess]

Thanks for all the replies everyone! I do eat veggies every day, but I've found that most fruit bothers me, including blueberries. And I thought that cooking killed Vitamin C......but I guess that I can eat raw veggies in a salad.

[MakinIT]

Kadi: are you lucky....you can tolerate some bananas..I can't eat any. Sets my tummy on fire first then spasms in my bladder and hips. ( I sure do crave them though)

I have no probs with veggies except It's a chore to eat them. (All that chopping and sautee'ing and stuff) Plus...they just don't thrill me a whole bunch. I love blueberries, Mangos are ok too, for me. grapes in very small moderation and , I think that about does it.

See ya...

[Dixiefireball]

how about checking out the ic cookbook that would give you some great ideas. hope this helps. grouphug

[MakinIT]

I have the IC cookbook...its very good especially with suggestions in terms of food groups, and education. What would be nice is to add a "food for fatigue" section. Like what to prepare when we are too damn tired to cook a meal. I scrounge the fridge only to shut the door in frustration and crawl back into bed sometimes. My father in law lives with us, he offers to make me something but it is usually frightening..I;ve tried to teach him to saute veggies but he's from the old school...you gotta cook the hell outta 'em...so they are nice and soggy. I appreciate his efforts but .....

I dunno Dixie...whadddya think..eh?

[Raelyn]

I too find it troublesome to be preparing food all the time so when I or my husband cook we tend to do large amounts of food (potatoes, rice, pasta, etc.) that we can pull out of the fridge to eat with salad vegetables. With just the two of us we can put out a nice meal in no time. This probably wouldn't work as well if you had children to feed. I make lots of pudding too which we enjoy.

[Annie2]

There are 2 kitchen items that I rely on for quick, effortless and nutritious hot meals. One is a Foreman grill. In minutes I can grill chicken, beef, fish or veggies. The other is a microwave vegetable steamer. It only takes a couple of minutes to lightly steam a healthy plate of fresh veggies. If in a rush I can eat these as they are or, if I am more energetic and have a few minutes, can use these items for any number of casseroles and other dishes (grilled chicken and brocolli alfredo, beef and noodles, chicken and rice casseroles, etc).

I do make my own chicken, beef and vegetable stocks using ingredients I tolerate and freeze them in small quantities. All I have to do is pop them out of the freezer and use them for making quick sauces, in casseroles, soups or stews.

Also, I agree, cooking larger quantities when you are up to it and freezing leftovers provides you with fast microwave meals for the not-so-good or super busy days.

[kadi]

Favorite meals when I'm exhausted are:

Leftover rice with butter & salt and a scrambled egg cooked & then mixed in. (Although my best friend insists a fried egg is better b/c she likes the runny yolk mixed in the egg. hey, whatever works! )

Bag salad with kidney beans, garbanzo beans, small container of cottage cheese. (you can mix dill in cottage cheese for flavor). Then I feel virtuous because of what a healthy lowfat meal it is (instead of the takeout I used to get when tired.)

I buy fresh baked baguettes, cut them up & store them in freezer for quick reheat. (I have trouble with most loaf breads - due to acid preservatives. Am now a big label reader).

I also have been known to eat cereal with almonds & blueberries for dinner. (I buy a shredded wheat with no BHT in package & no additives - just wheat). Then I curl up on the sofa with it & watch TVLand or something equally benign.

Oh, yeah, oatmeal is 2 minutes in the microwave & I take a hot shower while waiting.

My best strategy though is that I cook on Sundays for two-three days. And double any recipes I can & freeze them...

Hope those ideas are helpful:)