Many of us are looking for ways to make our meals a bit healthier than they currently are. To achieve this you don’t have to alter your entire cooking style. It is easy to transform your usual meals into ones of a healthier version by beginning with a few simple tricks.
1. Use broth or water instead of oil
There are many instances in which you can use broth or even plain water in place of oil or fat. Use a splash of broth to sauté vegetables. This keeps them flavorful without the need of a coat of oil. When frying burgers, chops, and chicken breasts begin with a non-stick cooking spray, and allow the meat to brown for a few minutes. Then, add broth or water to finish the cooking with steam. This method produces the desired brown color and keeps the meat moist. Try using chicken broth in mashed potatoes instead of butter for a different type of rich flavor.
2. Replace ground beef with lean ground turkey breast
Reducing red meat in your diet is beneficial, and if you use ground beef it is easy to do. Opt for lean ground turkey breast which will eliminate a few calories and a lot of fat from your meal. Fry turkey burgers using broth and a few teaspoons of soy sauce for a bold change-up from the usual beef burger. You can use ground turkey in marinara sauce for pasta, as taco filler, and in almost all instances in which you would use ground beef.
3. Rinse ground meats
After cooking ground turkey breast, drain any fat and rinse it with hot water. This will ensure that you remove almost all excess fat from the meat. Be sure to do this to meat which you intend to season after cooking or add to a sauce so that you do not rinse flavor away.
4. Avoid pre-packaged foods
While convenient, pre-packaged foods are loaded with sugars, sodium, fats, and lots of other nasty ingredients that can be bad for your body. Try to limit use of these products and replace them with fresh and homemade foods whenever possible. There are some acceptable pre-packaged foods, such as frozen vegetables and fruits. Use them as a substitute for things like macaroni and cheese, instant potatoes, and other processed foods.
5. Integrate vegetables into other foods
There are many ways in which you can add vegetables to usual meals. Make mashed potatoes with a combination of potatoes and cooked cauliflower or celery root. Add peas and carrots to rice or broccoli to pasta salads for a fresh twist.
If you make these simple changes to your normal cooking habits, you will lessen your intake of fats, sugars, and sodium that can hinder a healthy body. Moreover, you may be inspired to make even more healthy changes in your cooking and eating. Healthy cooking doesn’t have to be difficult, but it does have to start somewhere. So start at the beginning with small changes that will have a big impact. Do you have any tips on how to cook healthy? Please share them with us.
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