Most people are looking for the ultimate healthy cooking at home. Wholesome cooking does not necessarily mean changing your favorite meals. It involves making your meals healthier by adapting your recipe to provide a healthier alternative. Read the following tips to cook healthy meals at home.
Shopping for Healthy Food
Trendy packaging, low-priced processed food, and less time are the ultimate cause of mistakes in the shopping cart. Always make a list of your groceries beforehand to avoid the temptation to buy that unhealthy ingredient. Shop more produce as well as canned food. Nutritionists recommend eating five servings of vegetables and fruits a day. Always read the package label to get the nutritional facts of the product. When it comes to oils, choose wisely; olive oil such as Gundry MD Olive Oil is considered one of the healthiest oils to use for cooking.
Modifying Recipes to Lower Fat Content
Modify the recipes by either eliminating or substituting an ingredient. When selecting the ingredients, establish the high-fat ingredients such as whole eggs, cream, margarine, and cooking fat. Establish why the ingredient is incorporated in the recipe, such as for flavor, texture, appearance, or habit. Determine if it is most viable to eliminate, reduce or substitute the ingredient; for instance, use two egg whites in place of two eggs and two tablespoons of cooking oil in place of four.
Retaining the Nutrient While Cooking
Retain nutrients in your food as much as possible by adopting the three R’s; reducing the amount of cooking water used for cooking, reducing the cooking time, and reducing the surface area of the food exposed during cooking. Also, scrub vegetables instead of peeling them during their preparation.
Seeking an Alternative Cooking Method
Eliminate or modify recipes that require sautéing or deep-frying in fat. Alternatively, steam, bake, grill, braise, boil or microwave your foods. For instance, remove the skin of the chicken and roast it instead of deep-frying it unskinned to reduce the calories and grams of fat. Refrigerate stews and soups to skim off excess fat as it hardens. Also, use a non-stick pan or spray, especially for recipes that require sautéing. Find your non-stick pans at the kitchen advisor.
Presenting Food on the Plate
Spend quite some time presenting food on the plate to make it visually appealing and tasty. Arrange food on a clean plate as dictated by the occasion, such as a dinner, lunch, or kid’s party. Make the food arrangements fun for the kids, especially when hosting guests. Balance varieties of textures on the plate and garnish to add a pop of color to the plate. Serve the food hot. Always serve hot food on a pre-warmed plate to prevent it from cooling fast.
Avoid Crash Dieting
In an extreme weight loss program, a crash diet is a method of losing weight too fast by reducing the daily calorie intake to about 500 to 1000 calories per day. Crash diets are not easy to implement as they put a lot of strain on the body. They are ineffective in the long term. Allow an occasional guilt-free treat occasionally.
