Samara Felesky-Hunt, For the Calgary Herald
Time is the biggest factor when it comes to cooking healthy meals--and for most of us, time is increasingly short supply.
It's a tough task to eat healthy meals when there's just no time to organize and prepare food-- especially when we're dealing with family members who have all kinds of different meal preferences.
There are, however, tips and tricks you can use to put healthy dinner meals on the table that you and your family will enjoy--without taking up too much of your ever-decreasing time.
Here are 10 ways to put healthy meals into action.
1. Plan, plan and plan. Today, a little planning goes a long way to ease the stress on meal preparation. There is nothing worse than walking in the door at 5 p. m. and staring at the cupboards, wondering what to prepare for dinner.
On the other hand, it's a great feeling to walk in the door, knowing the chicken is marinating and ready to grill, the vegetables are cut up and the potatoes are ready to be baked. Be sure to plan at least four days of menus before you go grocery shopping.
2. Visit "Let's make a meal" at dieitiansofcanada.ca.You can create your own menu from the ideas given for each meal on this very handy website. The tips and information show how different meal choices compare to Canada's Food Guide for your age and sex. The site also provides shopping tips, a full pantry list, simple and easy recipes, and tools for easy menu planning. 3. Use five-minute windows of time to make big headway on making meals. Prepare meat and fish before dinner: Meat can sit in an oil-based marinade for about 24 hours in the refrigerator. Fish should sit for no more than four to six hours.
Chop vegetables when you have a chance in the morning. Just cover them with a damp paper towel to keep them crisp in the refrigerator.
4. Plan for no-cook dinners or simple dinners on busier nights. Try dinner salads using grilled chicken and fish, or make up an antipasto plate and serve with a lentil soup. You can make a veggie omelette, or spinach frittata in no time.
5. Once a week, incorporate a one-pot dinner into your menu plan. Use your slow cooker. Time is at a premium, so take advantage of the complete meal in one pot. Save time cooking, satisfy a crowd and make cleanup super easy.
6. Plan for a kitchen-sink night. Make dinner from practically nothing. You will be amazed with the meals you can come up with using only 10 or fewer ingredients--and it's a great way to use up what is in your refrigerator before you go grocery shopping again. Quesadilla, pizza, ethnic recipes and Mexican dishes are great for nights like these.
7. Build a better breakfast each morning. Make breakfast a larger meal to fill your family for the day, so they are less hungry at the dinner hour.
Add a banana berry protein shake to a bowl of steel-cut oats, for example. Make the shake the night before and make oatmeal two to three days ahead of time. Warm oatmeal each day, top with honey, wheat germ and dried fruit, and serve with milk.
If everyone is in a hurry, choose the shake to go and make up scrambled eggs rolled in a whole wheat tortilla to be eaten on the run.
8. Be sure also to incorporate "planned overs"as a part of your weekly menu. Get the most out of your time by cooking more food than you need.When it comes to last night's vegetables and grains, they will do just fine to complement tonight's dinner. If you are making a stew, a hearty soup or chili, double the recipe and freeze the second batch for another day.
9. Organize snacks for cars, offices, purses, knapsacks and/or briefcases. Planned snacks will keep appetites in check for the dinner hour. Keep dried fruit bars, nut bars, trail mix, and vegetable juices handy for when family members need an energy snack. An airtight container on the kitchen counter can be stocked full of a mixture of favourite dried cereals, chopped mixed fruits and assorted unsalted nuts, topped with cinnamon and coconut.
10. Be on the recipe watch for quick, easy and delicious recipes. Check cookbooks such as Simply Great Food or Great Food Fast, both from Dietitians of Canada. Look on the web at realsimple.com,cookinglight.com,or canadianliving.cafor seasonal menu ideas. SAMARA FELESKY-HUNT IS A REGISTERED DIETITIAN AT THE DOWNTOWN SPORTS CLINICS IN CALGARY. HER COLUMN APPEARS WEEKLY IN THE HERALD. SHE CAN BE REACHED AT DIETITIAN-ONLINE.COM.
Time is the biggest factor when it comes to cooking healthy meals--and for most of us, time is increasingly short supply.
It's a tough task to eat healthy meals when there's just no time to organize and prepare food-- especially when we're dealing with family members who have all kinds of different meal preferences.
There are, however, tips and tricks you can use to put healthy dinner meals on the table that you and your family will enjoy--without taking up too much of your ever-decreasing time.
Here are 10 ways to put healthy meals into action.
1. Plan, plan and plan. Today, a little planning goes a long way to ease the stress on meal preparation. There is nothing worse than walking in the door at 5 p. m. and staring at the cupboards, wondering what to prepare for dinner.
On the other hand, it's a great feeling to walk in the door, knowing the chicken is marinating and ready to grill, the vegetables are cut up and the potatoes are ready to be baked. Be sure to plan at least four days of menus before you go grocery shopping.
2. Visit "Let's make a meal" at dieitiansofcanada.ca.You can create your own menu from the ideas given for each meal on this very handy website. The tips and information show how different meal choices compare to Canada's Food Guide for your age and sex. The site also provides shopping tips, a full pantry list, simple and easy recipes, and tools for easy menu planning. 3. Use five-minute windows of time to make big headway on making meals. Prepare meat and fish before dinner: Meat can sit in an oil-based marinade for about 24 hours in the refrigerator. Fish should sit for no more than four to six hours.
Chop vegetables when you have a chance in the morning. Just cover them with a damp paper towel to keep them crisp in the refrigerator.
4. Plan for no-cook dinners or simple dinners on busier nights. Try dinner salads using grilled chicken and fish, or make up an antipasto plate and serve with a lentil soup. You can make a veggie omelette, or spinach frittata in no time.
5. Once a week, incorporate a one-pot dinner into your menu plan. Use your slow cooker. Time is at a premium, so take advantage of the complete meal in one pot. Save time cooking, satisfy a crowd and make cleanup super easy.
6. Plan for a kitchen-sink night. Make dinner from practically nothing. You will be amazed with the meals you can come up with using only 10 or fewer ingredients--and it's a great way to use up what is in your refrigerator before you go grocery shopping again. Quesadilla, pizza, ethnic recipes and Mexican dishes are great for nights like these.
7. Build a better breakfast each morning. Make breakfast a larger meal to fill your family for the day, so they are less hungry at the dinner hour.
Add a banana berry protein shake to a bowl of steel-cut oats, for example. Make the shake the night before and make oatmeal two to three days ahead of time. Warm oatmeal each day, top with honey, wheat germ and dried fruit, and serve with milk.
If everyone is in a hurry, choose the shake to go and make up scrambled eggs rolled in a whole wheat tortilla to be eaten on the run.
8. Be sure also to incorporate "planned overs"as a part of your weekly menu. Get the most out of your time by cooking more food than you need.When it comes to last night's vegetables and grains, they will do just fine to complement tonight's dinner. If you are making a stew, a hearty soup or chili, double the recipe and freeze the second batch for another day.
9. Organize snacks for cars, offices, purses, knapsacks and/or briefcases. Planned snacks will keep appetites in check for the dinner hour. Keep dried fruit bars, nut bars, trail mix, and vegetable juices handy for when family members need an energy snack. An airtight container on the kitchen counter can be stocked full of a mixture of favourite dried cereals, chopped mixed fruits and assorted unsalted nuts, topped with cinnamon and coconut.
10. Be on the recipe watch for quick, easy and delicious recipes. Check cookbooks such as Simply Great Food or Great Food Fast, both from Dietitians of Canada. Look on the web at realsimple.com,cookinglight.com,or canadianliving.cafor seasonal menu ideas. SAMARA FELESKY-HUNT IS A REGISTERED DIETITIAN AT THE DOWNTOWN SPORTS CLINICS IN CALGARY. HER COLUMN APPEARS WEEKLY IN THE HERALD. SHE CAN BE REACHED AT DIETITIAN-ONLINE.COM.
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