Healthy eating may be on the rise and on trend these days, but there are times where we struggle to maintain it as part of our lifestyle. Demanding work hours and the abundance of processed and pre-packaged foods to tempt with their offer of convenience, maintaining a healthy routine seems like a daunting task when we can so easily grab those for our families and ourselves during a quick grocery run.
That’s about to change as we’re here to let you in on a few tricks we’ve picked up over the years to incorporate a healthy touch when cooking for yourself and your family.
1. Substituting starchy carbs for a healthier alternative
Studies have shown that carbs like pasta, rice, and bread which are high in starch and gluten are one of the main causes of lethargy. This is because our blood sugar levels rise and fall too quickly, causing fluctuations in energy levels, hunger pangs, and a tendency to overeat. If you have been feeling bloated after lunch, it’s most likely because of the bread, pasta or rice you had!
A great way to combat this is to substitute carbs for a healthier alternative - like substituting pasta for
zucchini noodles instead. How you may ask? Simply use a spiraliser to transform your zucchini into an appetising bowl of noodles or rather, “zoodles”.
2. Sneaking vegetables into unlikely suspects
Another trick we have involves sneaking in diced carrots, celery, and broccoli into your regular tomato-based pasta sauce over having it solely with minced meat. Preparing diced vegetables may take some time, so we used the
Progressive Prepworks Fruit & Vegetable Chopper to cut down our time taken by more than half!
Though “burgers” and “healthy” are rarely found together, you can dice some vegetables with the
chopper into fine pieces and cleverly press it into minced beef, pork, or lamb to cook up the delicious protein and vitamin-packed burger patties like this
healthy homemade burger bowl recipe.
3. Go natural for dessert over processed sweets
Rather than reaching for ice cream or a slice of cake, consider having fresh fruits for dessert. Fruits contain natural sugars and provide an abundance of vitamins and fibre which are crucial to maintaining good health. Simply slice and serve fresh fruits in a beautiful platter as a sweet and healthy finish to you and your family’s dinner.
Alternatively, if you prefer something warm for dessert, you may opt to bake your fruits into a healthy delicious meal like our
Baked Honey Fruit recipe. This recipe is versatile as it also goes amazingly well with a breakfast of oats, coconut yogurt, or even fresh milk!
4. Opt for a fruit infusion over sugary carbonated drinks
Sodas may be cheap and easily accessible, but with the amount of sugar in it you won’t be saying the same about your medical bill! We know a few people who absolutely dislike drinking plain water, choosing to drink sugary sodas and juices instead.
If you’ve been following us closely, easily place some sliced fruits from trick number 3 above or some sliced lemons into an infuser, and leave it soaked for the rest of the day to enjoy a tasty yet healthy thirst quencher! Fruit infused water contains many benefits from healthy weight loss, better immunity, and clearer complexion to name a few. With this method, achieving these benefits for you and your family are now simpler than ever!
5. Appearance matters!
Let’s face it, some healthy dishes simply do not look appetising especially when we pack them as a ready-to-go meal to run with our hectic lifestyles. Dishes like salads and noodles tend to become a soggy mess when stored together in their sauces.
As appearances have been proven to contribute greatly to our reception towards food, a quick and clever trick is to store your condiments separately from the main dish before you consume it. While we like to store our salad in a transparent eco-friendly container to showcase its colourful mouth-watering appearance, we also loathe a soggy salad. To overcome this, we started packing our salad in the Food on the Go Jar by
Kilner, which comes with a handy compartment for condiments so our salad stays fresh and crisp!
With these 5 easy and simple tricks, you and your family will be on the way to a lifestyle of healthy eating in no time! Another thing is to always remember that the ultimate key to healthy eating is to have everything in moderation. Too much of everything is always not a good idea, but
a good balance of it will never go wrong.
Do you have any neat techniques or tricks you’d like to share on how you’ve kept to a healthy eating lifestyle? We'd love to hear from you!
We're inspired by conversations on Everten Love to Cook and we're sharing with you tips and tricks so you can make the best decisions before shopping for cookware.
Everten Love to Cook supports our readers with product recommendations that can help improve lives at home. Prices for products listed above are accurate at the time of publish and prices may be subject to changes.
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