Whether you are cooking for a large family, young children, or just for yourself, eating a healthy breakfast and lunch can help you lose weight and lower your risk for heart disease, heart attack and stroke. Additionally, eating healthy meals throughout the day can help lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol.
Breakfast
Breakfast doesn't have to include boring eggs, toast and coffee. Instead, incorporating fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein and whole grains can bring more variety to breakfast.
Eggs, black beans, low-fat cheese, tomatoes, green peppers and avocado can be added to a whole wheat tortilla and heated in a frying pan for several minutes. For kids, the ingredients can be sandwiched between two whole wheat tortillas and cut into triangles to create quesadillas.
For a delicious breakfast that also lowers cholesterol, 1 cup of oatmeal can be topped with strawberries, blueberries and bananas. By mixing flax seeds into the oatmeal, a high-fiber breakfast can be made even more nutritious.
Snacks
Between breakfast and lunch, snacking can help curb hunger. Finger foods like carrot sticks, celery sticks, grapes, strawberries and cucumber slices are nutritious snacks that are also filling, because they have a high water content. The Mayo Clinic suggests topping whole-wheat crackers peanut butter for a nutritious snack. Whole wheat toast, plain yogurt with fruit added, or blended fruit smoothies are also healthy and filling snack options. Drinking healthy liquids, like water, 100 percent fruit juice and tea can also help curb hunger between breakfast and lunch.
Lunch
A hot, satisfying lunch with a variety of flavors can also be nutritious. Mixing up a batch of soup the night before can help eliminate the stress of preparing a meal before work. Chopped vegetables, like spinach, carrots, potatoes and beans can be added to organic low-sodium chicken broth to create a delicious, low-calorie soup.
Canned albacore tuna can be mixed with 1 tbsp. of plain yogurt and 1 tbsp. of mustard can be placed in a pita with spinach and low-fat , then microwaved for one minute. Albacore tuna contains Omega-3 fatty acids, which can help lower cholesterol when eaten several times a week. The American Heart Association suggests adding diced vegetables like carrots and celery to tuna to add more vegetables to the meal.
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