Whether you're a mom, dad or on your own, getting excited about "What's for dinner?" after a long day can be a challenge. Fast-food fixes are tempting on the drive home from work, but are not usually nutritious. Although fine for a occasional treat, most take-out foods add high fats, high carbohydrates and high sugar to your menu, which you and your family can do without.
The Food Pyramid
Putting together a dinner menu that is healthy and tasty does not have to be labor intensive or require the culinary skills of a master chef. It just needs a little forethought. To guide your planning, the United States Department of Agriculture has put together a food pyramid to simplify healthy food choices for your evening meal. By following the food pyramid guidelines, you are one step closer to providing you or your family a balanced meal. The pyramid suggests keeping half of the grains you eat whole grains, varying the color of your vegetables, eating more raw fruit, remembering calcium and keeping your protein lean and your fats from vegetable sources.
Portioned Plate
Portioning your food goes a long way to keeping your dinner healthy. The American Diabetes Association suggests quartering your plate: assign one quarter for protein, one quarter for carbohydrates such as rice, potatoes or pasta, and the final two quarters for vegetables. A baked skinless chicken breast, about the size of a deck of cards, lightly seasoned with salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme, served with brown or converted rice and two vegetables, such as broccoli and carrots, make a respectable and healthy meal choice. If you haven't eaten any whole grains during the day, add a whole-grain dinner roll. Top this meal off with low-fat yogurt and strawberries for dessert.
Italian Dinner
Everyone loves spaghetti and meat sauce. Brown lean ground beef with an onion and mushrooms in a large skillet. Add a large can of tomato puree, and about 2 tsp. of Italian seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer for at least half an hour. Using tomato puree instead of canned sauce cuts back on sodium, sugar and preservatives. This dish contains plenty of vegetables with the tomatoes, mushrooms and onions. Make a green salad and cook whole-wheat pasta al dente. Use an olive oil vinaigrette for the salad, and serve a bowl of sugar-free ice cream and peaches for dessert. Double your sauce recipe, and the next day throw in some kidney beans, garlic and cumin for a meal of chili. Add hot sauce to taste and a Caesar salad.
Fish Night
Make one night a week fish night. Lightly seasoned and broiled or poached salmon with a squeeze of lemon offers omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin C. A baked potato with low-fat sour cream provides calcium and potassium, plus fiber. Green beans with slivered almonds, alongside red peppers sauteed in a drizzle of olive oil serves as a light-tasting side dish with lots of vitamins. For dessert, fruit cocktail in light syrup and one or two oatmeal and raisin cookies provide fiber and vitamins.
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