Healthy cooking can make a big difference in your weight and overall health. By cooking at home, you can control the ingredients in your dishes, the amount of oil used for preparation, and the size of your portions. To create a balanced diet, healthy cooking techniques need to be combined with nutritious ingredients from the basic food groups. When you start with healthy foods and use strategies for low-fat cooking, the end result will be delicious and nutritious.
Step 1
Include at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day in your meal plan, advises the American Cancer Society. While this may seem like a lot, it's not as difficult as it may appear. Fresh fruit can be added to oatmeal or a yogurt smoothie for breakfast, tossed into a salad for lunch, and even chopped and tossed with fresh cilantro, diced red onion, diced avocado and a seeded, chopped jalapeno pepper for a spicy-sweet fruit salsa to top fish or chicken for a tasty dinner entree. Vegetables can be steamed in a small amount of water, stir fried in minimal oil or eaten raw in salads or as snacks and appetizers. When it comes to fruits and vegetables, more is better.
Step 2
Make your protein choices lean, and prepare them with minimal fat, recommends the USDA. Lean protein choices include skinless chicken, extra-lean ground beef, fish, egg whites, beans, legumes and tofu. Low-fat cooking methods keep these foods extra healthy. Focus mainly on grilling, baking, broiling, roasting and poaching for meats and fish and stir frying or baking for tofu. Use beans and legumes for protein in vegetarian soups, stews, casseroles, burritos, pasta dishes and salads. Egg whites can be scrambled and tossed with chopped vegetables and reduced-fat cheese for a healthy breakfast.
Step 3
Add low-fat or non-fat dairy products in your cooking and meal planning. Dairy provides calcium and protein, but full-fat versions contain too much saturated fat. Instead, choose lower fat versions of milk, cheese, yogurt, buttermilk, cottage cheese and sour cream. Milk and yogurt are natural choices to pair with cereal and fruit. Reduced-fat shredded cheese and cottage cheese are healthy additions to salads and sandwich wraps, and nonfat plain yogurt and buttermilk can be used to make low-fat, high-protein muffins and pancakes.
Step 4
Cook with whole grains. Whole grains are high in fiber and necessary nutrients, and they are easy to use in place of refined grains. Choose whole-grain cereal or oatmeal for breakfast and whole wheat bread for sandwiches at lunch. For dinner meals, choose brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole grain tortillas, whole wheat couscous, barley, quinoa or bulgur for your recipes' grain ingredients. Whole grain products can be swapped into most recipes with little change in preparation, other than sometimes a longer cooking time.
Step 5
Treat yourself occasionally. While a nutritious meal plan limits sweets most of the time, even healthy cooking can include desserts and other sweet treats now and then. To keep treats as healthy as possible, prepare them at home rather than buying prepackaged sweets, and include some high-nutrient ingredients, such as fresh fruit and whole oats in fruit crisps and cookies, or low-fat frozen yogurt for added calcium.
Tips and Warnings
- A registered dietitian can provide detailed, individualized information and advice regarding your nutrition and meal plan.
- Consult your physician for medical clearance before beginning any new diet.
Things You'll Need
- Basic cookware
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