Smart Cooking Tips

Smart Cooking Tips

Convenience foods such as takeaway and supermarket ready-to-eat meals can be expensive, and some are notoriously high in salt and fat. Fast foods are up to 65 per cent higher in calories, and larger in portion size than food prepared at home. If you lack the time or motivation to cook healthy, the following suggestions may be helpful.

• Cook large batches of items that freeze well, like sauces, stews, and casseroles. Store them in your freezer.

• Cut up veggies or fruit in advance. Store them in your fridge or freezer.

• Make the meals and snacks you planned for the week.

• Measure out single servings of snacks, like air-popped popcorn. 

Put them in bags or containers.

• Use a slow cooker, so you won’t need to stir as much.

• Use leftover veggies and meat in an omelet, pasta or rice dish, stew, soup, salad, or burrito. This saves money as well as time.

• Change your favorite dishes to make them healthier. Or serve a small portion of the original recipe.

• Choose good quality items.

• Choose items with a variety of flavors, textures, scents, and colors.

• Cook veggies like green beans and broccoli lightly, so they stay crisp and colorful.

• Dress up food with herbs, spices, low- fat salad dressing and gravy, lemon juice, vinegar, hot sauce, plain nonfat yogurt, and salsa. If your healthcare provider says to limit your salt, look for items that are low in sodium.

• Grill or roast veggies and meat to bring out the flavor.

• Learn healthy cooking methods online, in books, in magazines, and from TV shows. Learn from your friends and family. Or take a healthy cooking class.

• Try new cooking styles and ingredients. 

Cook with Less Fat

These cooking methods will reduce your intake of saturated fat as well as lower your calorie intake which is useful for weight control.

• Bake, grill, roast, or stir-fry in a small amount of healthy oil.
• Coat pans with healthy cooking spray.
• Simmer in water or stock.
• Steam or microwave.
• Take the skin off the chicken before you cook it.
• Trim the fat off the meat before you cook it.
• Use nonstick cookware.
• Use oil sprays while cooking and for salad dressing.