I used to love to cook, until I got married and had children, that is. Trying to please the 3 other people in my house during meal time has been a constant challenge. It was further complicated when both of my children turned out to have food allergies, one is allergic to eggs while the other is allergic to eggs, milk, and beef. Add to that the fact that both kids are not big fans of meat or poultry. The older one will eat the occasional burger and will choke down chicken so that he can have dessert. The younger really eats very few meat products. Now add in that I have reached middle age and need to watch the fat and calories. And finally, there's my husband who generally isn't home at mealtimes but is more of a super size it with extra cheese kind of a guy. The various needs and desires of the members of my family make it a real pain to cook anything but, with some trial and error as well as some recipe hacks, I can usually manage to feed everyone in the family without making each one a separate meal.
When it comes to cooking, here are a few tips that have saved my sanity:
1. Ingredient substitutions: often you can make a quick substitution to a recipe that maintains the flavor, for the most part, and meets the needs of the family. On great sub given my son's dairy allergy is Tofutti Dairy Free Cream Cheese. I can't say that it tastes exactly like cream cheese but it works great in recipes calling for cream cheese or need a little added creaminess. You need to be careful when making substitutions as they won't all work in the recipe. I would be especially cautious when replacing milk with non dairy milk products. Many don't have the fat content to work in the recipe while some milks will significantly alter the flavor of the dish.
2. Cook in stages: This technique can be great when you have people with allergies or don't like certain food items. This strategy involves removing each family member's serving prior to adding the items they don't like. For example, I make a fettuccine with cream sauce and spinach. I can substitute dairy free cream cheese and vegetable broth when making the sauce and then remove his portion from the pot. Then I add the Parmesan cheese and bacon for those who eat dairy and meat. I use this technique often to avoid making multiple meals. The trick is remembering to remove the necessary portions before adding more ingredients. I have forgotten a few times.
3. Toppings bars: Setting up a simple toppings bar is an easy way to let everyone customize their own food. Start with a basic recipe such as chili, in my case I would make a vegetarian chili, and then put out several toppings based on your families' preferences. I usually have cheese shreds for my cheese loving oldest child, tortilla chip crumbles, Greek yogurt, jalepenos for spice lovers and maybe chicken chunks or ground beef for meat lovers. This allows everyone to add whatever they like to the dish.
So far I have come up with these hack types:
Allergy Hack: substitution of alternative or omission of allergic food items from a recipe
Veggie Hack: substitution of vegatarian products or omission of meat or poultry from a recipe.
Health Hack: substitution of healthier or omission of less healthy food items from a recipe.
Flavor Hack: allowing for the addition of extra ingredients or amounts of ingredients to please those who like a richer flavor.
Here is how I hack a family favorite recipe Spinach Fettuccine from Cooking Light magazine:
Allergy Hack #1: use Earth Balance soy free buttery spread in place of the butter due to dairy allergy.
Allergy Hack #2: use Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese in place of cream cheese.
Veggie Hack #3: use vegetable broth in place of the chicken broth to honor the wishes of my vegetarian child.
Health Hack #4: Use a cup or more of fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped, in place of the frozen. It's just easier, healthier, and no thawing or draining required.
Allergy Hack #5: Use the Cooking in stages strategy. After the flour/broth mixture thickens, add the pasta, spinach, and season with salt and pepper. Remove 1 serving (for my dairy allergy vegetarian).
Health Hack #6: Add Parmesan cheese to taste. If you are watching your calories and fat, just add enough to flavor the dish.
Health Hack #6: Omit the half and half. The sauce is pretty creamy without it, I forgot to add it the first time I made this dish and I didn't miss it. You can use a little low fat milk or milk substitute to thin the sauce if you like.
Health/Veggie/Flavor Hack #7: Use the Toppings Bar strategy. Add bacon to taste. I typically add 1 bacon slice per serving rather than the 10 slices recommended by the recipe. At this point, I might add 2 slices of bacon to my husband's dish as he loves bacon. Also, allow each person to add more Parmesan at the table to taste.
This recipe is already reduced in calories and fat from a traditional fettuccine but by letting each person add the extra cheese and bacon, I can keep the dish low cal for myself and allow the other family members to boost the flavor if they wish. Additionally, the base of the dish is dairy free and vegetarian.
You might be thinking, I don't have any food allergies or vegetarians in my family so this doesn't really apply to me. Maybe not, but most of us have a picky eater or an ingredient we need to avoid. My intention is to offer examples of how to make a recipe work for whatever your needs are.
