6 Tips for Eating Healthy
Quick and Easy Ways to Eat Healthy and Make Better Food Choices
Jan 4, 2009
Healthy cooking can be as easy as reading a food label or planning a meal. Try these tips for healthy cooking at home for the family.
Read the Labels and Ingredients
Surprises abound when a food label is read sometimes, and included on each nutritional label are such facts as calorie count, total fat amounts and if there are any trans fats, and whether a food is high in a certain nutrient. Ingredients are usually listed in the order of quantity, with the first ingredients the major components of the item. Reading labels is helpful when comparing different brands of the same item, and choosing which one contains less sugar for example. Looking at the ingredient list is helpful when scanning for artificial colors and flavors.
Limit Processed Foods
A simple way to eat healthy is to limit processed foods in the diet. Try cooking at home from scratch the majority of the meals eaten by the family. If time is an issue, try prepping recipes ahead of time and freezing fresh ingredients for when schedules are tight. When cooking at home, every single ingredient is known and approved by the cook. Choices for poly- and monounsaturated fats rather than saturated fats for pan frying or sautéing can be made and amounts of salt can be limited or eliminated easily.
Menu Planning
When planning a week’s worth of meals, time and money budgets can easily be made or saved. A menu can list the days in print what the family will eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and will help eliminate the phrase ‘What’s for dinner?’ every night. By knowing what is planned for a meal, recipes are easily gathered and trips to the market can be limited. This not only saves time and money, but better choices can be made on the meals themselves helping to limit high-fat and highly processed QSR (quick serve restaurant) meals.
Choosing to Broil or Bake Rather Than Fry
Frying foods is an easy and quick way to cook, but can lead to overdoing it on the daily recommended fat intake levels. Try broiling or even baking chicken breast and thighs, fish fillets, cut vegetables and other foods regularly fried, and discover that crispy and flavorful entrées can be made easily in the oven.
Going Whole Grain Instead of White
Looking at the color of bread can indicate what it is made from, and it can be easy to see which breads are made from whole grains. If kids are introduced to whole grain bread early on, it can be an easy way to incorporate whole grain foods in the diet. If anything other than white sandwich bread is snubbed, try whole grain white bread where all the benefits are inside the loaf for picky eaters.
Portion Control
Scales are an asset for baking, but can also be used for cooking. Measure out a protein of what is normally eaten (like chopped chicken or sliced Italian sausage) and it may be surprising that more than a serving may be actually eaten for meals. If planning for leftovers or another meal, cooking a large quantity of chicken or ground beef or turkey may be what is needed, but if only one meal is being cooked at a time try to closely look at the serving sizes and prepare what is needed per person per meal at a time.
With these tips, a goal for eating more healthy foods can be quickly and easily reached. Try reading 5 Tips for Eating More Fruits and Vegetables for ways to incorporated them easily into an everyday diet.
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