In this extremely busy time of year, we often don’t take a moment to plan our meals causing us to eat less healthy foods. Here are some ideas to still eat healthy during the busy season!
Pre-Packaged Foods
While you shouldn’t have a frozen TV dinner every night–even if you buy it from a natural food store–convenience foods can play a role in a healthful diet. These days, you’ll find hundreds of additive-and preservative-free packaged foods that are also organic, low in fat, and rich in fiber – keep a couple of these on hand for a quick meal when time gets away from you.
If you’re buying packaged entrees, check the label for fat and fiber content; here’s a short list of things to look for:
- Strive for as little overall fat as possible (2 or 3 g) and 1 g or less of saturated fat per serving. There should be NO trans fats listed (there is no safe amount of trans fats that can be consumed). Also avoid anything that has ‘hydrogenated’ or ‘partially-hydrogenated’ oils.
- Look for several grams of fiber per serving.
- Look for foods that are lower in sugars; less than 15 grams/serving is good, less than 10 grams/serving is better.
- Check for sodium content; less than 200 mg per serving is pretty good. You may have to be a bit more forgiving of packaged soups and look for those with less than 500 mg of sodium; be sure and not eat these higher sodium soups regularly.
Speedy Home Cookin’
Consider the following ingredients to speed up your cooking and meal preparation:
VEGETABLES: Some frozen vegetables pack more vitamin punch than their raw supermarket counterparts; others do not. It depends largely on whether or not the produce quickly loses vitamins after harvesting. (Frozen veggies are typically iced shortly after picking which slows nutrient loss.) For example, a 3.5-ounce serving of cooked frozen asparagus has more vitamin C (24 mg) than cooked raw asparagus (11 mg). Other good frozen choices include green beans, carrots, corn, peas and squash.
In addition, if time is an issue, buy fruits and vegetables that are quick and easy to use. Choose fruits you can take with you easily and that travel well, including apples, plums, pears, grapes, bananas, figs, dates and prunes. For vegetables, stock your fridge with peeled baby carrots, pre-washed/packaged salad mixes, radishes, olives, celery and cucumber. You can make a salad in minutes by washing and chopping a few vegetables and adding them to the pre-washed salad mix. Remember to change up the vegetables and salads you eat to get the variety of nutrients your body needs, and to prevent boredom.
BEANS: There are only negligible nutritional differences between dried, canned, and frozen beans. The canned beans you’ll find at natural food stores tend to be low in sodium; be sure to rinse all canned beans until the foam is gone. Keep several cans of different beans (including vegetarian refried beans) on hand for quick, nutritious meal planning. Instant bean flakes that you reconstitute with water are another good option.
GRAINS: Polenta (cooked cornmeal) in a tube can be sliced and baked, grilled, or sautéed, then topped with prepared sauce and vegetables. Whole-wheat couscous takes only five minutes to cook and can easily stand in for pasta or rice. And even brown rice comes in quick-cooking varieties that are ready in 10 to 15 minutes and offers nearly the same nutritional value as the longer cooking variety; another option is to cook an extra cup or two of brown rice to use as leftovers or freeze it for a quick meal starter.
This post came to us from our friends at Natural Path Health Center.
