- Preserve the nutrients and colors in veggies. Cook them quickly by steaming or stir-frying
- Use herbs, vinegar, tomatoes, onions and/or fat-free or low-fat sauces or salad dressings for better health, especially if you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol
- Use your time and your freezer wisely. When you cook once, make it last longer by preparing enough for several other meals. Freeze it and have a ready-made healthy treat for the next time you are simply too tired to bother.
- A smoothie can cover a multitude of needs. Throw a banana (you can keep them in the freezer for weeks) into your blender along with frozen berries, kiwi or whatever fruit is around, some orange or other juice, fat-free or low-fat yogurt and protein powder. You can get 4-5 servings of fruit in one glass of yummy shake. Try getting your loved ones to sip on a smoothie. It’s easy, cool, refreshing and healthy.
- Prepared seasonings can have high salt content and increase your risk for high blood pressure. Replace salt with herbs and spices or some of the salt-free seasoning mixes. Use lemon juice, citrus zest or hot chilies to add flavour.
- Canned, processed and preserved vegetables often have very high sodium content. Look for “low-sodium” veggies or try the frozen varieties. Compare the sodium content on the Nutrition Facts label of similar products (for example, different brands of tomato sauce) and choose the products with less sodium.
- Choose whole grain for part of your ingredients instead of highly refined products. Use whole-wheat flour, oatmeal and whole cornmeal. Whole-wheat flour can be substituted for up to half of all-purpose flour. For example, if a recipe calls for 2 cups of flour, try 1-cup all-purpose flour and 1 cup (minus 1-tablespoon) whole-wheat flour.
- In baking, use plain fat-free/low-fat yogurt or fat-free/low-fat sour cream.
- Another way to decrease the amount of fat and calories in your recipes is to use fat-free milk/1% milk instead of whole or reduced-fat (2%) milk. For extra richness, try fat-free half-and-half or evaporated skim milk.
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