You may have heard that processed food can make you sick and fat. But if you're busy with a career and/or family and have little cooking experience, preparing food from scratch may be a daunting notion. Mother Nature does not attach cooking instructions to her cornucopia, but with a little practice, you will be amazed how quick and easy preparing nonprocessed meals can be. As your energy goes up and your waistline goes down, you will be loath to return to a processed food diet.
Learn the Basics
Making a meal from scratch is no harder than preparing a boxed or packaged meal. The whole point of healthy cooking is to make food taste good while preserving its natural nutritional value. Steaming vegetables is a snap, as is broiling or roasting meat and fish. Watch cooking shows or peruse magazines for cooking techniques and tips. The more confident you become at meal preparation, the less likely you'll be to fall back on processed food staples.
Keep It Simple
Keep day-to-day meals simple. Save your attempt at coq au vin or spinach souffle for the weekend when you have more time. Trying complicated recipes when you are pressed for time will stress you out and send you racing to the Hamburger Helper aisle. To plan well-balanced meals, think in terms of a protein such as meat, fish or eggs; a starch such as potatoes, brown rice or whole grain pasta; and one or more fresh, nonstarchy vegetables such as broccoli, carrots, green beans or other crispy, leafy vegetables. When you look at your meal, it should include a variety of textures and colors.
Plan Ahead
As the old adage goes, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Take time each week to write out the coming week's menu. Include meal plans for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, then use your menu to make a grocery list of ingredients you'll need. If you have a plan and the necessary tools to implement it, you will be less likely to resort to processed food in a pinch.
Shop the Perimeter
You may have noticed that all the canned, jarred and packaged foods are on the center shelves of the supermarket, while the fresh perishables line the outer walls. Sticking to the perimeter of the grocery store will keep you closer to the natural whole foods and away from the tempting, but unhealthy processed, packaged, heavily salted and processed-sugar-laden alternatives.
Know Your Ingredients
Occasionally, you may need to use canned, jarred or packaged foods. Chances are you won't have time to make your own pasta from scratch, or even the sauce to go on it. But before you toss packaged food into your cart, read the listed ingredients. Different brands of the same product can contain completely different ingredients. Even foods labeled "natural" may contain high amounts of sugar, sodium and other unhealthy additives. If a product's ingredients list includes multiple-syllable words you don't recognize and can't pronounce, leave it on the shelf. Select the brand with the fewest and simplest added ingredients.
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