Really bad dinners

I honestly don’t know what’s wrong with me but I always screw my dinner.

I have the most wonderful breakfasts, on Mon & Fri I eat toast with cream cheese and strawberry preserve, on Tue, wed, Thu I eat an egg with a mini bagel and either ham, bacon or link sausage and on sat & sun I have white milk and frosted flakes, I love my breakfasts.

I also have amazing lunches, I have Mon thru sat toast with deli chicken breast or turkey breast or ham and a slice of cheese with two of either lettuce, tomato or cucumbers and on Sunday I eat out. Perfect lunches.

Bu dinners are one big freaking mess, my big problem is I don’t know how to season food, I'm a very picky eater so I don’t like everything. I eat Mon thru Fri either chicken breast, turkey breast, pork, beef steak or ground beef with either rice, potato, corn, plantain and one of the salad veggies mention above, and sat I eat mom's home cooked meal and on sun I eat publix small fruit salad.

Today I had my fave ribeye steak with bake potato and tomato. First I marinated the steak with some steak season and corn oil and soy sauce. my freaking god was it salty and not that great. then I forgot to cut the potato so half was burned and the tomato was chewy. yesterday I had chicken breast with corn and lettuce and my mom bough avocado so I had a small piece. I buy frozen corn I like it better, well I mixed the lettuce avocado and corn and it was bad. the corn warmed the lettuce and the avocado had no salt. disaster after another.

It just pisses me off that I have such great breakfast and lunch but dinner sucks, I really don’t know what to do.

why dont you just eat one of your lunches for dinner?

Sorry, but I don't think any of your meals are so wonderful.  All the breakfast foods you mention are filled with sugar, artificial ingredients and salt.  Frosted Flakes are the worst cereal you can eat - try finding something more wholesome and higher in fiber - Kashi GoLean Crunch is a good one.  Bacon, ham and sausage are cured meats and are not healthy at all.  Eggs are ok in moderation, but not fried. 

What you are describing is an unbalanced diet.  You need 5 servings of vegetables a day for good health.  One of those should be dark greens like broccoli, spinach or kale, and one should be an orange vegetable such as sweet potato, carrots or tomatoes (which I see you do eat).  You can substitute 2 servings of fruit for 2 of the vegetables.  You need 3 servings of WHOLE grains, not refined, white.  You need 3 servings of lean protein such as fresh chicken or fish, beans or tofu.  You need 3 small servings of healthy fats such as olive oil, avocado, peanut butter or nuts.  Deli meats are a good option if they are low fat and low sodium. 

As for the cooking - keep it simple!  That meat could have been seasoned with Mrs. Dash instead of all those salty condiments, then salted at the table to taste..  You might want to invest in a George Foreman Grill which makes it really easy and turns out perfect results. 

It's also easy to steam vegetables in the microwave.  Go shopping and look for steamer bags of vegetables in the freezer section - nothing is easier than these.  They are unseasoned, so buy some lemons, fresh parsley, and a few mixed seasonings.  A sprinkle of parmesan cheese doesn't add too many calories and is delicious.  Those butter flavored sprays are a good way to add flavor to plain vegetables.  By the way, corn is not a vegetable, it's a starch. 

Go to the library and find healthy cookbooks.  Check out a few, and when you find one you like, get your own copy.  I like the American Heart Association's Meals in Minutes.  Follow the recipes exactly. 

Here are some links to help you.

The World's Healthiest Foods - Tells you about what foods to eat for optimum health

Using a Food Pyramid - From the Mayo Clinic.  Shows you what proportions of different foods you need.

Balanced Meal Plan - from our own CC nutritionist, Mary Hartley.  Gives a sample meal plan. 

Ideas for Eating More Vegetables - Also from Mary Hartly - how to incorporate vegetables in your diet.

Basic CC Q&A - Answers common questions and loaded with good information.

Or buy some diet friendly cookbooks?  Make sure it's a realistic cookbook and not one that uses ingredients that are expensive or that you have never heard of.  Or take a cooking class.  Or ask your Mom to teach you to cook.   Or just eat bland unseasoned dinners.

How does anyone burn a baked potato?  Just poke it with a fork and chuck it in the microwave for 5 or 10 min. I wouldnt recommend a load of soy sauce for marinating.  It always needs to be mixed with something else.  Soy sauce is VERY salty. 

to claire, i know its not a good diet but like i mention i am a very picky eater and no matter how much i tried there is not a single healthy veggie i like, and i hate anything that has oats. so my options are very limited and i try to do what i can with it and do keep it within my cals.

Original Post by igottapi4:

i know its not a good diet but like i mention i am a very picky eater and no matter how much i tried there is not a single healthy veggie i like, and i hate anything that has oats. so my options are very limited and i try to do what i can with it and do keep it within my cals.

Do you like fruit? For breakfast you could have fresh strawberries (or any other fruit you like) instead of strawberry preserve - which would be much better for you nutritionally. And add some to your lunch or as snacks in the day, which would help get more nutrients into your diet.

Don't give up on veegies - try TINY TINY amounts of different salad vegetables chooped up small on your sandwich for lunch maybe at first - it is easier to eat things when the're eaten with bread and other flavours than by themselves in a daunting pile on your plate. You may find one you like.

Sounds to me like you need to learn to cook. Get a beginner's cookbook and read it and then start practicising. The only way to avoid disastrous combinations is to practice. Cooking is an art that EVERYONE should know.

oh i eat half a lettuce 1 tomato 1 cucumber and 2 fruits daily.

I marinated the steak with some steak season and corn oil and soy sauce.

For the next time you marinate a steak, use one or the other. Soy sauce is like liquid salt, and I am pretty sure the steak marinade contained a lot of salt, too.

Take note of the Forman grill that was mentioned, they are really easy to use and do a quick/tasty job.

Original Post by igottapi4:

oh i eat half a lettuce 1 tomato 1 cucumber and 2 fruits daily.

 Why not try adding spinach instead of lettuce. It has more nutrients.

And seriously invest in a cookbook.

If you dont like veggies, you should puree them and add them in with other foods. For example to get more veggies in my diet-if Im making spaghetti, I will purree a cup of spinach and add it in with the sauce. You cant taste it and its so much better for you.

Also a good breakfast idea would be to make a healthy fruit smoothie, and then add in a carrot or two-you wont taste it at all!

If you were to do both of those things, youll have 3 servings fo veggies added into your diet, and you wont cringe or say yuck once!

Original Post by igottapi4:

oh i eat half a lettuce 1 tomato 1 cucumber and 2 fruits daily.

 How do you feel about putting some darker greens in with that lettuce?  Try baby spinach.  Lettuce really doesn't have much nutritional value.  How do you feel about V8 juice? 

Wholegraingoddess has a good suggestion about sneaking the veggies in. 

I hope that as time passes you'll try other foods and try to get past your limited diet.  We want you strong and healthy!

wow i just got goosebumps, when i started the diet and saw how little veggies i like i decided to drink a v8 for dinner. I can still tasted in my mouth, it was so horrible after that i planned to buy once a week a veggie and try to create a way for me to eat it but I've forgot.

Have you ever had a stir fry before? The veggies are really good in there and you can throw some chicken chunks in there too, over a bed of brown rice. The flavor that a stir fry gives the veggies so much flavor. I'm no pro, but I put a little bit of sesame oil in the pan but you might find other ideas.

If I have left over veggies from a stir fry or whatever, it goes in an omelette the next day and then I must admit, I put Franks Red Hot sauce all over it. Yumm!

As a kid, Frank's RedHot is how I learned to like veggies, lol!