Tips On Cooking Healthy Meals

Cooking healthy meals does not take any more effort and time than preparing less healthy main and side dishes. Eating healthy meals you prepare yourself is a simple way to improve your family's health, give your children better opportunities to be successful and contribute to your overall life's satisfaction.

Examine the Ingredients

To make healthy meal preparation easier, examine the ingredients for your family's most frequent meals. Eliminate any recipe that calls for frying food, uses organ meat or contains mainly high-calorie ingredients, such as full-fat cheese. With your recipes pared down to the healthier choices, improve the health of the remaining recipes by making healthy substitutions that do not substantially change the taste of your family's favorites. If a recipe calls for a fatty beef, such as prime rib, substitute beef round. Reduce calorie counts by using small amounts of lower fat cheeses, removing skin from chicken, switching from white sauces to red and substituting beans for meat.

Use Healthy Cooking Techniques

Healthy cooking techniques save calories and help you learn to appreciate the flavor and taste of the food without fattening sauces or creams. Bake or grill meats rather than frying, use your microwave to steam fish and vegetables with a small amount of water, boil or roast potatoes rather than pan or deep frying and grill, oven roast or steam vegetables. If preparing an Asian or Mexican dish that requires sauteing vegetables in oil, stir-fry the vegetables in a mixture of sodium-free broth and water. When roasting vegetables or meats, brush lightly with olive oil to add flavor and healthy, monounsaturated fats.

Choose Quality Ingredients

Buy fresh, in-season fruits and vegetables as main and side dishes for your meals. You will not only save money, but you may find the flavors and textures fresher. Brown rice is a healthier choice than plain, bleached rice because the brown rice still has its outer bran. Consider using freshly ground whole wheat flour to make yeast breads to use as a side dish or for a sandwich meal. If using Parmesan cheese, you may find that the superior flavor of freshly grated cheese allows you to use less, which saves calories. If unable to find in-season vegetables, purchase frozen or canned. Verify the sodium content is less than 140 mg per serving by reading the food label.

Season Liberally

Season vegetables, meats and salads with low or zero-calorie seasonings. Lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, white cooking wine and fat-free marinades not only save calories, but they also help you avoid adding unhealthy fats to your food. Season polenta, brown rice, grits or pasta with salt-free, or low-sodium seasonings. Add cooked onions, shallots or garlic to vegetable dishes for flavor. Make your own tomato-based pasta sauces using fresh tomatoes, garlic, fresh parsley and basil and avoid the sodium in canned tomato sauces and pastes. Mix your own healthy salad dressing with olive oil, orange juice, vinegar, mustard, fresh basil and a bit of mustard.