Ten Heart-Healthy Cooking Tips
- One of the best ways to maintain a healthy diet is by eating at home. Here are some tips to help keep your cooking healthy and satisfying.
- Veggies can lose nutrients and color if they are overcooked. Try to steam them or stir-frying to cook them quickly while preserving their healthiness.
- Try to avoid creamy-based foods, especially salad dressings. Use vinegar, olive oil, herbs or low-fat, low-sodium sauce choices to create your own condiments.
- Cook efficiently. Cook once and refrigerate/freeze meals to make eating heart healthy easier.
- Smoothies can be a great heart healthy go-to breakfast. Bananas can last for weeks in the freezer. Toss a banana, whatever fruit you have on hand in the blender with some ice. If you want a creamier texture add some fat-free or low-fat yogurt (Greek yogurt is chalked full of healthy antioxidants and protein). Smoothies help you get 5-6 servings of fruit in one on-the-go meal.
- Try to avoid pre-packages seasonings. While they make cooking easier they are often loaded with salt. Instead try to use citrus zest or fresh herbs and spices in their place.
- Another thing that makes cooking a little easier is canned, processed and preserved vegetables. While super convenient they too are often very high in sodium content. Look for “low-sodium” or “no-salt added” on the label. If you cannot find any, check out the frozen veggies. Often these are lower in sodium and calories.
- Did you know you can substitute bananas in muffins and quick breads? Instead of ½ cup of butter, lard or shortening, add three ripe well-mashed bananas or applesauce.
- If you are baking regularly, use plain fat-free or low-fat yogurt or fat-free or low-fat sour cream in place of butter, whole milk, or heavy cream.
- Sometimes you just want a sandwich. Choose whole-grain/whole-wheat flour, oatmeal and whole cornmeal. If you are making your own bread, 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.
- Milk can be sneaky. You add it in your coffee...you have it warm before bed. Try swapping out your whole milk for 1% milk instead of whole or reduced-fat (2%) milk. For extra richness, try fat-free half-and-half or evaporated skim milk.
