This week the Michiana BetterU Challengers participated in an interactive healthy cooking class. You might be asking
"Why a healthy cooking class?" For some time
now I have met a significant number of people who have been raised on processed
foods, designer foods, fast foods and restaurant foods to the point they either
never learned or forgot how to prepare a home cooked meal. For this reason healthy food and home cooking is generally misunderstood.
The misunderstanding about healthy food and home cooking is it is more expensive, takes too much time and has the same level of nutrition as foods we prepare for ourselves. This is simply is not true.
It takes too much time to prepare a healthy meal?
Let's see ...
Healthy home cooking can require very little actual cooking. The USDA recommendation is to eat 4 servings of fresh vegetables and 2 servings of fruits every day. In many food markets these foods come chopped so really all you need to do is open the package and dump the food on a plate. With any combination of fresh raw foods from the produce department of your food market you can create a beautiful salad. How much time does that take? Seconds. With these same vegetables put in a pot with vegetable broth a few spices and in 15 minutes it's soup. Vuala! There you have it economical and healthy fast food!
The fact is any food you prepare from home, with your ingredients and that do not come out of a bag, box or freezer are always going to be healthier than any food you get anywhere else.
What's the healthy scoop on restaurant food? Most of the time it's not. Restaurant food can be expensive and may seem healthy as you look over the menu but the fact is many restaurant chains load their food up with hidden salt, sugar and fat so it "tastes better" and lasts longer on the shelf. In January 2013 Nutrition Action Newsletter reported in the article Extreme Eating 2013 just how far restaurants will go to boost their bottom line.
It takes too much time to prepare a healthy meal?
Let's see ...
Healthy home cooking can require very little actual cooking. The USDA recommendation is to eat 4 servings of fresh vegetables and 2 servings of fruits every day. In many food markets these foods come chopped so really all you need to do is open the package and dump the food on a plate. With any combination of fresh raw foods from the produce department of your food market you can create a beautiful salad. How much time does that take? Seconds. With these same vegetables put in a pot with vegetable broth a few spices and in 15 minutes it's soup. Vuala! There you have it economical and healthy fast food!
The fact is any food you prepare from home, with your ingredients and that do not come out of a bag, box or freezer are always going to be healthier than any food you get anywhere else.
What's the healthy scoop on restaurant food? Most of the time it's not. Restaurant food can be expensive and may seem healthy as you look over the menu but the fact is many restaurant chains load their food up with hidden salt, sugar and fat so it "tastes better" and lasts longer on the shelf. In January 2013 Nutrition Action Newsletter reported in the article Extreme Eating 2013 just how far restaurants will go to boost their bottom line.
The goals of the Healthy Cooking Makeover BetterU class were to identify:
1. what processed foods are
2. what is unhealthy about prepared and process foods
3. foods common to family menus that are processed
4. healthier food substitutions
5. how to prepare healthier foods substitutions in you kitchen.
In class we examined food for heart healthy labeling looking for sodium, cholesterol, fat, fiber and sugar comparing these "ready to go foods" with foods requiring some simple preparation. We prepared a full meal containing USDA recommendations for a healthy diet and reviewed healthy plate management strategies.
Some of the things we learned ...
The Healthy Cooking Class demonstrates with an organized plan, knowledge and a strategy that works cooking from home is nutritious, easy to do, economical and takes very little time.
Healthy IS the new fast!
Your partner in health,
To learn more about healthy cooking techniques check out AHA Nutrition Center Healthy Cooking. Looking for recipes and video demonstrations check out the AHA Simple Cooking with Heart.
Some of the things we learned ...
- Food is always healthier when prepared from home.
- Healthy food can be prepared "fast".
- Salt you add to your food will always be less than what comes from processed food.
- Sugar your add to your drinks will always be less then drinks that come with sugar.
- The amount of fruits and vegetables for a healthy diet are more than you think.
- The serving size for meat, chicken, fish is less than you think.
The Healthy Cooking Class demonstrates with an organized plan, knowledge and a strategy that works cooking from home is nutritious, easy to do, economical and takes very little time.
Healthy IS the new fast!
Your partner in health,
Cindy Cohen RN
Health Coach
To learn more about healthy cooking techniques check out AHA Nutrition Center Healthy Cooking. Looking for recipes and video demonstrations check out the AHA Simple Cooking with Heart.
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