TRY IT: Eat at Home

Image: Wikipedia

Everyone knows that eating out can sabotage your waist line: the portions are huge, everything is fried and there’s no end to the naughty options available.

People resist cooking at home both because of a perceived lack of time to cook but also because restaurant food is yummier.

I think that there is an easy compromise between the two, which is to fancy up your home-cooking. By cutting out the restaurant staples of extra salt, fat and sugar, you have a wide variety of options for meals that will still be a vast improvement over eating out.

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Making Time to Cook

One of your main objections to cooking at home is probably the time it takes.

You have a job, you have a social life, you have a lot of online shopping to do. I understand completely.

But this isn’t 1950. You don’t need to spend two hours in the kitchen to make amazing food.

Some tricks to speed things up:

1. Planning – I’ve said this before, but the best way to put healthy food on the table every day is to plan it out on the weekend. Find a few recipes on Sat/Sun. Buy JUST the stuff you need for the week (no rotting food, no temptation to eat “extra” food). Make a quick recipe every other day, in sufficient quantity to provide 2 dinners – or three if your family will put up with it.
2. Check the preparation time – There is no reason to wing it in the kitchen. The internet is chock full of recipes that reduce kitchen time by a) telling you how long it will take to make and b) giving you instructions so you don’t waste time walking around in circles. Pick recipes that fit your time budget. Is that 10 minutes? Fine. Read on.
3. Pay for shortcuts – If you are seriously have no time to cook – and I mean under 15 minutes – there are plenty of semi-prepared foods that are healthier than restaurant fare. Check out frozen stir-fry options, pre-cooked chicken, steam-in-bag veggies and other half-way made grocery offerings. If you have the cash, “meal assembly” stores let you pre-organize meals to freeze though you’ll have to be selective as some options are healthier than others.
4. Get a crockpot – If you have never crocked, you can’t complain about not having time to cook. Crockpots (slow cookers) are magic little devices that allow you to literally throw a piece of meat, some cut up veg and some beans in a pot and walk away. Come back 6-10 hours later and dinner is done! Try crockpot365 as a start for recipes, but there are just tons online. Crocks start at $20 but if you leave for work, please get one with a safety shut-off feature so you don’t burn the house down.
5. Make a freaking sandwich – OK, we’re supposed to be off the processed meats now, but how good does a grilled lean skirt steak/salmon fillet/big mushroom with spinach, tomato, sprouts, avocado and spicy mustard sound? Good, right? How long is it really going to take you to make a fancy sandwich? You can even pre-plan the quickie meal and buy nice bakery bread. Have some ideas like this for days where time is REALLY short.

You also need to be realistic about how much time you are saving by eating out. Even if you do take out, you have to decide what to get, order, pick it up, spread it out, clean up the trash. Making a quickie meal that you already have in mind can be just as fast and just as tasty.

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Get Over Healthy = Yucky

You probably have no idea just how crappy restaurant food is for you. So you think that when you cook at home, it needs to be some bland brown rice with chicken breast and broccoli. Come on.

If you seriously stop eating fast food and carry out, you can afford to indulge a little on the details when you cook at home.

Make your food worthy of the effort:

1. Eat what you like – you’re not going to suffer from malnutrition if you don’t like a couple of vegetables. Stop forcing them down your throat. Pick foods you like and will be excited to cook and eat for dinner.
2. Pick good ingredients – goat cheese does cost $20 a pound, but you only need a few crumbles to make a dish 84% tastier. Select a key component or two in each meal that will really stand out and go for quality.
3. Crib the restaurant dishes – just because you’re not eating out doesn’t mean you can’t have your favorite take out fare. Google “takeout makeovers” or “healthy takeout recipes” to find tons of recipes that spin your favorite cheaty foods into something you can eat everyday.

And be sure to keep a recipe book or computer bookmark folder with your favorites. Part of making home-cooking a joy is the development of a repertoire of fast favorites that you can work into the rotation and know that success is guaranteed.

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What are your tips for making healthy, tasty dinners in a flash? Please share your favorite recipes, resources and ideas in the comments!

TRY IT: Eat Better, Not Less

Image: Creativity+ Timothy K Hamilton

As part of a series on the common New Year’s resolution of losing weight, LifeHacker covered some tips on changing what you eat instead of how much you eat.

This is advice I often give to people who are new to making lifestyle changes.

Sometimes I even suggest eating MORE – adding healthy fruits/veg/whole wheat/yogurt on top of normal meals  – to start the transition to a better diet.

The LifeHacker post covers:

• Using basic recipes to incorporate new, healthier foods into your diet.
• Simplifying your “diet” – in other words, try to eat less meat or more veggies instead of following a complex regime set out in many diet books.
• Use rice cookers, crockpots and microwaves to simplify cooking.
• Follow the USDA Food Pyramid for easy food guidelines.

I loved this article because it really focuses on reducing the barriers that most people face to healthy eating.

Changing habits can be overwhelming, so making simple first steps can make the difference between giving up or changing your life. Of course, everyone is different so if any of this advice sounds hard/stupid/boring, don’t do it!

Find changes that are comfortable for you and when those are easy-peasey, move on to the next step.

On a personal note, my husband would be dead of starvation if we didn’t have a slow cooker (crockpot, same thing). You can find them for literally $20. You cut up veggies, throw them on top of meat/beans/rice/lentils/spices, hit a button, come back in 6-10 hours and eat it. It can be a big help if the food preparation part of healthy eating seems like torture.

So, what are ways that you’ve simplified your eating plan? Do you focus on eating well or eating less? What kitchen tools and tricks have made healthy eating a breeze for your household?