Healthy Food Preparation Tips

The best way for you to take charge of your nutrition is to cook your own food.  In the confines of your own kitchen, you can know the kind and quantity of foods you cook, the quality of oils you use and the seasonings or flavorings you add in.  With homemade meals, you have absolute control over the amount of salt, fat and sugars you put in.  Best of all, you can freely put in all the healthy ingredients you can think of.

Here are some ideas on how to maximize your home cooking efforts:

Establish a collection of healthy cookbooks and recipes.

Having a cookbook or a set of recipes makes cooking easier and guarantees variety.  Look for cookbooks which are written by nutritionists-dietitians as these are often interspersed with tips on how to improve your family’s health.

You cannot be an expert cook overnight but if you give some time to learning a new recipe each week or month, you’ll come ever closer to being one.

Let natural flavors rule in your dishes.

Fresh foods are naturally flavorful as opposed to the artificial appeal of packaged foods.  Flavorful meats, crisp vegetables and crunchy grains are a joy to feast on when they are at their freshest.  Use the freshest ingredients you can find and you won’t have to go to high-sodium pre-packaged seasoning mixes for help.

Naturally umami-rich foods include meat, mushrooms, peppers, chilies and tomatoes among others.  Use these foods liberally to add rich tastes to your dishes.

Spice up liberally.

You can add depth, fullness and zest to your simple homemade meals by the judicious use of herbs and spices.  Whether fresh or dried, these all-natural flavor enhancers infuse your meals not only with flavor but with powerful protective factors.

Acquaint yourself with the different herbs and spices available and try each of them, one at a time.  Better yet, grow a few pots of herbs right in your windowsill.  Nip a stem or so and put it into that simmering pot for some hearty aroma and flavor.

Do not fry.

Why fry when you can have healthier and still tastier cooking methods?  A tablespoon of oil already packs 120 calories and therefore should be used sparingly.  Instead of frying, bake, grill, roast, broil, sauté, stir-fry, steam, poach, boil or make a salad.  Hey, the choices are almost endless!

And if you do use oil, opt for the healthy ones which do not have trans fats.  Olive oil is the prima donna of oils while monounsaturated and polyunsaturated oils are also beneficial to health when used in moderation.