Category: Cooking Healthy

Ten Tips To Cooking Easy Healthy Meals

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Eating at home is one of the key ingredients to maintaining a healthy diet. When you know what’s in your food, you have more control over the portion sizes and the quality of the food you consume. However, with today’s fast-paced lifestyles, it can be difficult to carve out the time to cook.

HERE ARE TEN QUICK AND EASY COOKING SHORTCUTS FOR HEALTHY EATING

These tips come straight to you from my personal kitchen.

As a wife, homemaker, fitness coach, and doggie mom, I have a limited amount of time I can spend in the kitchen. Here are some shortcuts I use to help streamline the meal preparation process.

1) Use cookers that need no supervision.  I use my rice cooker all week long.  I make rice, quinoa and steamed vegetables in it.  While one part of the meal is cooking, you can prepare the rest.  Slow cookers and crock pots are perfect appliances for the  busy person that wants to cook healthy meals.   The food is cooking while you are doing other things like working, running errands, exercising, or spending quality time with friends and family.

2)  Choose recipes that take twenty minutes or less.  I recommend choosing simple recipes for busy weeknights.  Save the longer “project” meals for nights you can take your time.

3) Use pre-made sauces.  I usually make my own pasta sauces and salad dressings but there are times that I will substitute healthy pre-made sauces in recipes instead of making them all from scratch.

For example, I make lamb burgers that call for a “raita” sauce. The recipe isn’t hard. However, Trader Joe’s sells a yogurt cilantro sauce that works well in place of it. If you add up the time and cost of buying the ingredients and making the sauce, it is worth the few dollars I paid for Joe’s version. Just be sure to check labels when buying pre-made sauces. Make sure you recognize each ingredient and avoid things like partially hydrogenated oils, soybean oil, and high fructose corn syrup.

4)  Become a great assembler.  Years ago I complimented one of my friends on what a great entertainer and cook she is.  Her response to me was “I don’t really cook, I just know how to assemble food well.”  That stuck with me.  If cooking seems like too daunting of a task, try grilling a piece of meat or buying a pre-cooked chicken and add some healthy sides like a salad made with pre-washed lettuce, frozen veggie combos,  or precooked organic grains.

5) Speed up the veggies.  Pre-washed and pre-cut organic vegetables are a great way to save time.  Check the frozen section for a great variety as well. Frozen veggies are better than canned because they preserve more of the nutrients without preservatives.

6) Prep well. Do all of your cutting, chopping, and mixing before you start cooking, including a side salad. This will save you time, and your meals will come together seamlessly.

7) Recruit in-house.  My husband and I have a lot of fun cooking together. We open a nice bottle of wine, turn on some music and enjoy quality time. The families I work with turn cooking into family time. The kids look forward to working in the kitchen, and mom and dad get to teach their children while getting a little help.

8) Create a meal plan.  Plan your meals one week in advance with the groceries in the house. If you have to stop at the store multiple times per week, you will lose a lot of time shopping. And this can tempt you to eat out. If you are not sure how to meal plan, check out Meal Planning Helps You Lose Weight for detailed steps.

9) Have a back up.  I always keep a few easy meals in our freezer and pantry just in case the day does not go as planned. Frozen organic pizzas and a fresh salad make a great last minute dinner. By making your own pizza, you have more control over the ingredients than if you went to the local pizzeria. Dry pasta and minced canned clams make an amazing linguini and clams dish. Add a salad on the side and your family will think it’s gourmet all the way!

10) Buy freeze dried herbs.  Freeze dried herbs become “like fresh” when they are moistened. Use these to avoid all of the chopping without sacrificing flavor. They are great in the winter when your herb garden isn’t producing, and it saves having to buy an entire bunch of herbs just for a couple tablespoons.

Please let me know which strategies are the most helpful, or share your own time-saving tip below.  I love to hear from you!

With Love,
Jennifer

How to Curb Your Cravings Without Depriving Yourself

iStock_couple eatingsweets - cravings

Have you ever found yourself craving an entire bag of potato chips or a huge bowl of ice cream on a bad day?  Or, maybe some days seem harder than others to stick to your normal eating habits?  If so, you are NOT alone.

Research is showing us that controlling cravings is a lot less about will power and a lot more about creating new habits or in some cases addressing a nutritional deficiency.

Know What Your Cravings May Mean

If you’ve been finding it hard to satisfy your cravings, here’s what some of those cravings may mean and how you can curb them without feeling completely deprived.

    • Cravings for salty foods.  A craving for salty foods could mean that you are dehydrated or have a mineral or electrolyte imbalance.  It can also be caused by cutting back too much on your carb intake.  If you find yourself craving salty foods for no apparent reason, try drinking plenty of water and make sure that you are eating carbs with each of your meals.  Choose recipes with interesting spices and herbs to satisfy your craving for savory foods.  Add salted nuts to your diet.  Nuts make great snacks, taste great on salads, and work well in stir-frys.  Remember to pay attention to serving sizes which is usually around 1/4 cup or 16-18 nuts.  A small handful of nuts can go a long way.
    • Sugar cravings.  Research shows that a person can become physically addicted to sugar which means the more you eat, the more you want.  If you find yourself craving sugar often try grabbing a piece of fruit instead.  Deprivation can lead to binging so if sweets are one of your favorites it’s a good idea to incorporate them into your diet in moderation.  When you do decide to have a sweet treat avoid the artificially sweetened diet foods which can cause more intense cravings. Instead, eat small amounts of the real deal instead.  You are better off enjoying a piece of pie made from scratch or a 1/2 cup of real ice cream than you are eating  most processed desserts.
    • The late night snack.  Late night snacking can be triggered by a number of different things.  You may be over tired, justifiably hungry, or simply bored.  A lack of sleep can affect hunger controlling hormones so if you know you’ve been sleep-deprived, focus on getting at least 7.5  hours of sleep per night.  If you notice hunger pains in the evening and it’s been several hours since you’ve had dinner, you are probably hungry.  Eat a light snack that won’t interrupt your sleep.  If you’ve just eaten and you know you’ve been getting enough sleep you may be bored.  Try redirecting your attention to an activity unrelated to food.  Things like reading, stretching, organizing, folding laundry, or playing with a pet are all great ways to keep your hands busy doing something other than snacking.
    • When you’ve had a rough day.  There’s a valid reason you turn to Mom’s chocolate cake when you need a little pick me up on a bad day.  Eating “comfort foods” gives you a boost of serotonin and dopamine, which are feel-good transmitters that act like anti-depressants.  While it’s true that elevating your serotonin levels helps fight depression, turning to the sweets to elevate your serotonin levels may not be the best choice. You may feel great for a moment after eating a large piece of cake. However, when your blood sugar drops, you can go right back into the dumps and may experience guilt for sabotaging your weight loss goals.  Try experimenting with the lighter versions of comfort foods like a whole grain macaroni and cheese or berries with a small piece of dark chocolate on the side.  Or, turn to alternative sources of pleasure like taking a walk with your dog, enjoying a hot bath, or sipping on a glass of wine.

We all have food cravings from time to time. It’s knowing how to deal with them that will make or break our weight loss and/or management goals!

To your health and success!

Shared with love,
Jennifer Ledford

Why Variety In Your Diet Matters When It Comes To Your Health

Healthy Delight

It seems like every month there’s a new “it” food that’s being promoted in the marketplace for health purposes.  While the food being promoted is usually full of potential health benefits,  there is no such thing as one “halo food” that will solve all of our health and/or weight issues.

When it comes to connecting food and your health, diversity is important.  Each nutrient contributes to the overall function of your body and if one nutrient is missing, it doesn’t function  as well as it could.

It’s easy to get into a routine eating the same foods often.  Things like busy schedules and taste preferences can be a factor.  However, minimal food variation can cause you to miss out on some important nutrients that your body needs to help you age gracefully and combat disease.  The key to a balanced diet is eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables combined with good protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats.

When adding variety to your diet, try choosing recipes that include multiple fruits and vegetables as well as interesting spices all in the same dish.  Make a side salad to go with the meal.  The more color on your plate, the better.  The colors of plants contain anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds that can help boost the immune system and protect against oxidative stress.  Spices used in small quantities can play an important role in boosting your immune system as well.

Nutritional experts recommend that we eat five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables per day.  The majority of adult Americans eat less than two of each daily.  That statistic reveals that most people could be increasing their consumption of fruits and vegetables considerably.

Adding more fruits, veggies, and  interesting spices to your diet is one of the best ways to add more variety to your plate and increase the nutritional value of a meal.

Here are some examples of foods that offer not just variety but great health benefits:

  • Tomatoes, watermelon, carrots, mangoes, lemons, pineapple, broccoli, arugula, blueberries, plums, grapes, blackberries, garlic, and onions are all fruits and vegetables that are known to have protective and healing qualities.
  • Arugula, watercress, and kale all contain a phytonutrient that suppresses cancer-cell growth.
  • Spinach, asparagus, beets, lentils, and fish have B vitamins essential to the repair of DNA.
  • Yellowfin tuna, sardines, sunflower seeds, mushrooms, sauerkraut, pickled beets (raw unpasteurized), turmeric, star anise, and fennel seed are all foods that can help stimulate and protect the immune system.

If meal planning is new for you and your spice rack is pretty basic then start with one new recipe per week.  Stick to the simpler recipes in the beginning and I recommend you avoid picking anything that takes longer than thirty minutes on your busier days.  Over time you will build up a collection of nutrient-dense recipes and a diverse spice rack.  When I sit down and lay out our family’s weekly meal plan, I’ll mix things up by choosing different cuisines like Italian, French, American, Indian, Moroccan, Chinese, Vietnamese, Mexican, Spanish, and Thai.  Any recipe that goes over as a big hit is saved and if it wasn’t popular, it doesn’t get repeated.

Eating healthy doesn’t guarantee that you’ll have perfect health; however, I believe you are better equipped to fight off disease and maintain your weight when you do.  I also believe that balance is very important so make sure you are enjoying the foods you eat and having fun.  Self control is a good thing, an overly restrictive diet that causes stress in your life is not.  Balance is always important when it comes to long-term success.

To your health!
Jennifer Ledford