Cooking healthy can be really really tough, but there are easy ways to incorporate healthy habits into what you eat every day without sacrificing flavor! We’ve found 16 ways for you below.
16. Use the grill to cook your meals!
Cooking lean meats on the grill can help you use less oil to cook great tasting meals! It’s an easy way to make your meals healthier.
15. Eat complex carbs and whole grains [think sweet potatoes, quinoa, and brown rice!]
Whole grains and complex carbs are great for you, and they taste great too! They digest slowly and have a ton of nutrients. They also work at keeping you full for longer periods of time.
14. Get a dependable slow cooker for making low maintenance one-pot recipes.
For a lot of us, working all day and then coming home to cook for yourself can become a chore. Get a slow cooker and find some one-pot recipe that’ll make cooking easier. Some slow cooker recipes will take all day, so you can come home to find dinner already done! Country Living and Delish have some really easy recipes you can find here and here, respectively.
13. Use non-stick pans so you can use less oil when cooking.
Non-stick pans help us avoid using too much oil! Quality pans are worth the investment for your health!
12. Roast Your Dinner
Roasting is another way you can save on using too much oil! It’s another way to keep your meals healthy in a small way! Plus, roasted foods are always delicious.
11. Stock up on frozen veggies and add them to everything.
Raw veggies are always the best, but they have a short expiration date and sometimes it can go bad before you’re ready. While we always recommend fresh, adding frozen veggies into your meal is an easy way to get some of your daily nutrient needs in check! Frozen veggies are great because you can add them to almost anything!
10. Experiment with fun spices (and maybe even grow your own) to make those same veggie and protein combinations taste more interesting.
People assume that eating fresh means just eating boring food that doesn’t taste good. Not so! Try using spices from all over the world to spruce up your meals. Try spices from Asia and India to give even your regular recipes a new twist!
9. Buy plastic freezer bags and good Tupperware so that you don’t have to cook as often.
It’s hard to know exactly how much to cook, but that’s okay! Save food for later. Stock up on Tupperware and plastic bags to save food for later. Cook healthy and then preserve!
8.Cook with oils like olive oil and avocado oil
It’s near-impossible to avoid all oils, and some of it is okay! Make sure you avoid regular oil for something healthier-like olive or avocado or grapeseed. The key is to avoid processed oils like canola.
7. Swap out sugar-loaded staples for natural sweeteners
Trying to eat healthy doesn’t mean giving up sweets. There are ways to cut back. Try using honey for your tea and swap out the sugary creamers in your coffee for something a bit more natural. Little things can make massive changes to your body!
6. Use broth to cook your food
This is a great way to make great-tasting food while avoiding using oils completely! You can make your own or buy from the store!
5. Read the ingredients on a nutrition label. If it doesn’t make sense, find another alternative!
It’s important to know what exactly you’re buying. If the label doesn’t make any sense to you, skip it and find a more natural alternative! Always find out what’s going into your body!
4. Try poaching and braising your food instead of frying.
This is another great way to make delicious meals without getting into too much oil! Poaching and braising are underappreciated in how tasty they make food taste! Plus, it feels fancier than just grilling.
3. Make and freeze a bunch of healthy breakfasts so you always have something to grab in the morning.
Breakfast is a great way to get your day started. Why not stock up and make sure you’re having a solid, healthy breakfast every morning without having the hassle of making it each and every day. Stocking up will give you the option to make sure you eat healthy instead of just running to the donut shop for quick sugar.
2. And stock up on frozen lean proteins, like shrimp, salmon, and chicken.
Salmon, shrimp, and chicken are healthy ways to get some protein and they taste great too! They make for great meals and will add another dimension to your everyday meals!
1.Bookmark a bunch of healthy one-pan or one-pot recipes that you really enjoy.
We briefly mentioned earlier that getting a slow cooker would be a great way to bring nutritious meals to your life, but there are plenty of one-pot dishes that you can do even without one!
Being healthy in our on-the-go world can feel like it’s a tall order. It’s hard to squeeze in time for the gym when work, family, and everything else in-between alone feels like so much work. But there are little things you can do to make health a priority, and with these little tips, you can bring health into your meals! Happy cooking!
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[Source: Buzzfeed]
