By Kristi Patrice Carter
Nutritious eating promotes healthier lifestyles. As a result, many of today’s families seek to find traditional “homestyle” recipes that are low in saturated fats, salt and cholesterol, while providing a great source of vitamins, fiber and protein.Instructions
1. Establish measurable nutritious goals. Just like other key areas of our life, we often set short-term and long-term goals and accomplishments. Well, establishing healthy eating patterns (for ourselves and our family) is no different. Take the time to select a few of your all time favorite unhealthy food choices that you would like to limit or eliminate from your diet. For example, if your goal is to minimize your daily sodium intake, then you may need to establish a target date of when you would like to begin your new regimen to stop eating fried, salty, processed potato chips, and substitute this snack food with baked, low sodium chips, or even better a piece of fruit.
The basic idea is to gradually remove these types of items from your diet and make healthier food choices. Home cooking is the best way to manage our daily diets. As a result, we can control the ingredients in our recipes, and strive to prepare healthier, more natural foods. It is a lifestyle change.
2. Categorize your recipes into food groups. Prior to beginning your search for healthy recipes for families, it is recommended that you specify the kind of information that you are researching for, such as: appetizers, main dishes, side dishes, vegetables, fruit medleys and desserts. Also, identify the type of food groups (meat, poultry, fish, dairy, protein, and fiber) that you want your recipes to feature.
3. Conduct your research. There is a multitude of on-line databases, as well as books on nutrition, health conscious cookbooks, magazines and cable network programs that feature healthy recipes and cooking demonstrations.
As an illustration, when using an on-line search engine to research data for an alternate recipe for an all-American favorite such as potato salad, you may want to type the key words “healthy potato salad recipes.” Ideally, website links to recipes featuring ways to modify the traditional recipe will surface. This is what you are looking for. In the healthy recipe, ingredients such as egg whites only, low fat salad dressing, and a salt-free seasoning, such as Mrs. Dash to add a little spice may replace whole eggs, mayonnaise, and salt in the traditional recipe. These food substitutes regulate the amount of saturated fat, salt and cholesterol that is consumed.
4. Consider Family Budget. Eating healthy can sometimes require a little more funding in the food budget. For example, organic veggies are typically higher priced than non-organic veggies. Therefore, if possible, clip coupons, take advantage of in-store promotions, and purchase items in bulk. Another recommendation may be to prepare your healthy recipes in advance and store them in the freezer. This will save time when you want to serve your family a healthy meal on a day with a busy schedule, and it will also save you money from potentially purchasing non-healthy fast food meals.
5. Assess the taste. As we mentioned earlier, for many of us, eating healthy is a lifestyle change for the entire family, so it may take a little while to be ok with skipping the fried potato chips and French fries. However, please do not be too hard on yourself, because that is fine. Eating healthy is a choice and should not be a chore; it is an ongoing process that continues to evolve. As you and your family experience a variety of healthy dishes, you can determine what healthy recipes work, as well as those which are just not appealing to your “new” taste buds.
Have fun trying your new healthy recipes. Bon Appetite…Let’s eat and be healthy!
eHow Article: How to Find Healthy Recipes for Your Family
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