Make Healthy Meals

With the new year approaching it’s a great time to think about your eating habits, and perhaps make some changes. These are some ideas to help get you started.

1. Avoid prepared foods.

Pick your foods more from the fresh sections of the store, that is, along the outer rim. This gives you more control over the kinds of things that are in your foods, helping you to avoid excessive sugar, salt, artificial flavorings, colorings and so forth.

2. Buy more fresh fruits and vegetables.

Yes, I’m kind of emphasizing this. Both can be excellent for snacks. If it makes it easier, chop up some vegetables in advance so that they are as easy to snack on as chips and candy. Then keep the chips and candy out of the house and as far as possible from you in the office.

3. Find healthier recipes you can enjoy.

If you aren’t much of a cook this can be challenging, but there are a lot of relatively healthy things you can make fairly easy. A basic stir fry needs only a little oil, and you can add plenty of fresh or frozen vegetables once the meat is mostly cooked to make a fairly healthy meal.

4. Get good cooking equipment.

Cast iron frying pans are a favorite of mine right now. They don’t wear out like nonstick ones do, distribute heat beatifully, and can increase the iron content of your food, which can be a very good thing for you. They can even last a lifetime – my large cast iron frying pan belonged to my grandmother.

5. Try bringing lunch to school or work.

ReusableBags.com has some delightful lunch bags and drink containers. I especially like the Laptop Lunches box which makes it easier to have several different types of food along for a more interesting meal.

6. Drink more water.

Sodas add a lot calories and sugar to your diet that you just really don’t need. Reserve them for an occasional treat. If you can ease up on coffee, especially any gourmet varieties that have a large number of calories, you’ll save money and be eating healthier too. Get a good water bottle from the aforementioned ReusableBags.com. If you really need flavor in your drinks, juice is a bit better than soda.

7. Figure out your weaknesses.

We all have them. I’m a major chocolate fiend. I can somewhat control it by only allowing myself better chocolates. They cost more, but they are far, far more satisfying than cheaper ones, and so it takes less to satisfy the chocolate cravings. Try to find a way to do similarly if you have that kind of a weakness.

Technorati Tags: new years resolutions, healthy eating, eating better, healthy food, fresh food, vegetables

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (10 ounce) bag baby spinach leaves
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
crushed red pepper flakes to taste

Heat olive oil in a skillet. Saute garlic for a couple minutes. Add spinach, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Stir over heat for a few minutes, until leaves are wilted.

2 cups flour, sifted
1/2 cup light olive oil
1/4 cup milk

Mix flour, oil and milk together until it can form a ball. Flatten and roll out to the size needed for your pie.

Editor’s Note:

Add more milk if the mixture needs more liquid.

This pie crust has some advantages, since olive oil is better for you than butter or shortening. But it can be harder to roll out. Some people get better results by freezing the oil for an hour or so before getting started. Rolling it out between sheets of wax paper can also be helpful.

Technorati Tags: olive oil pie crust, dessert recipe

At this time of year there are a lot of gatherings of family and friends. It’s really easy to eat too much at these gatherings. There are a lot of temptations, and it’s easy to say “It’s just one day,” day after day.

While it’s true that just one day of indulging yourself isn’t going to suddenly blast your weight sky high, the challenge at this time of year is how many “one days” there can be. You really do have to think about it.

Appetizers are one of the easy areas to overindulge, and a lot of them are very high in fat and calories. That makes it a perfect place for a little self control.

If you’re in charge of appetizers for a gathering, try adding a vegetable tray and a fruit tray. Yogurt makes a good dip for the fruits, and a reasonably low calorie dressing is good for dipping vegetables. These are at least better than many other choices for dips, or cheeses to snack on and so forth.

Pick some fairly healthy crackers, and make or buy salsa for dipping. Baked chips if you like, as these are better for you than fried one.

Popcorn can also be a lot of fun. Look around for good spice combinations for flavored popcorn, rather than just limiting yourself by buttering it or making carmel corn. There area  lot of popcorn recipes online that are fairly healthy.

All it takes is some extra thought to pick healthier foods for appetizers. There are plenty of great options that won’t make people feel like you’re not allowing them to enjoy their food. After all, the holidays should have a lot to do with fun, not just with self control.

Technorati Tags: healthy appetizers, holiday entertaining