Cook healthier, not harder

By Kristy Alpert?

March is National Nutrition Month, and there are plenty of small ways you can make your cooking habits healthier, from using choosemyplate.gov? to help keep portion sizes under control to bulking up pasta sauces with vegetables.

?Healthier eating can be as easy as identifying one part of your diet that could use improvement,? says Jennifer Hofmann, a registered dietitian from Cherry Valley, Illinois. ?I always encourage clients to change one thing at a time, as completely transforming your diet all at once can seem like a daunting task. Making just one dietary improvement at a time usually results in a more sustainable behavior change.?

Luckily, healthy eating doesn?t have to mean extra hours spent in the kitchen, and it definitely doesn?t mean you?ll be eating boring foods; healthy eating actually broadens your palate and offers a variety of foods to choose from. All it takes is a little thought. ?Plan, plan, plan ahead!? Hofmann advises. ?Taking just a half hour on the weekend to plan out your menu for the week?can result in a much healthier diet overall. Also, making an effort to portion out your plate appropriately can make a huge difference.? She advises her clients to follow the guide from choosemyplate.gov and recommends filling each plate with ? fruits and vegetables, ? with lean protein, and ? with some type of 100 percent whole grain product.

When it comes to eating healthier, sometimes the trick can be substituting healthier items in your regular recipes. Here are a few of Hofmann?s favorite substitutions to drastically reduce calories, fat, and sodium.

• Use fat free/skim milk in place of whole or 2% milk and as a substitute for full fat coffee creamer.
• When baking, substitute some or all of the fat with applesauce or pureed prunes/black beans [it?s surprisingly good!].
• Reach for the orange instead of the orange juice. ?Eating a whole piece of fruit instead of drinking juice will not only save you calories, but will also result in a higher fiber intake and greater feeling of satiety,? Hofmann adds.
• Serve your favorite high-calorie foods in a smaller serving dish. For example, eat ice cream out of a small ramekin or enjoy a bite size piece of dark chocolate instead of a king-sized candy bar.
• Bulk up pasta, sauces, or meat dishes with vegetables! Dice up some onions, green and red peppers, tomatoes, or carrots and add them to meatloaf, spaghetti sauce, or other pasta dishes.
• Taste before you salt! Reach for sodium-free seasonings (such as garlic, basil, thyme, pepper, etc.) to flavor your foods.
• Avoid canned or other highly processed foods. Fresh is best when it comes to sodium intake.

Changing your eating habits now doesn?t have to be a total diet makeover, in fact, like Hofmann suggests, it can be as simple as a few substitutions. ?Healthy dietary changes can have positive effects on your whole family, especially young and impressionable children,? she adds. ?The sooner you start with your healthy diet, the more likely your children will choose these same healthier habits in their lives.?

Source: http://associaliving.com/2012/03/cook-healthier-not-harder/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cook-healthier-not-harder

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