American are known around the world for our sugar-filled, fat-filled, deep-fried diet. Right now, it’s more important than ever that we do our best to remain healthy, which all starts with a healthy diet and healthy cooking. Healthy cooking may sound intimidating, but it’s really not. A few simple changes to how you cook can make a huge difference. Healthier cooking doesn’t have to difficult or expensive, with these helpful tips you’ll learn all you need to know to cook healthier meals.

Plan it Out

The first step in changing how you and your family eat is planning. Meal planning gives you the chance to think about what you want to eat, and to talk to your family and children about what they would enjoy eating. You can also take the time to look through your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry for ingredients so you can save money. The internet is filled to the brim with healthy recipes for family favorites like meatloaf, pizza, and chicken parm. Take your time finding new, healthy recipes for the dishes your family loves and for new dishes as well.

Take as much or as little time as you want, if you need help there are plenty of meal planning apps available as well as websites and worksheets that are only a google search away. Once you have a plan, whether it’s pages and pages or just a sticky note with a few dish dishes scribbled down, you can start cooking.

Shop Wisely

One of the hardest parts of eating healthier is eating whole, unprocessed foods but purchasing those kinds of food can be difficult for many households. That’s why planning is so important.  If you plan correctly you can utilize what you already have in your pantry and fridge and minimize when you need to buy. Many times fresh fruit and vegetables can be the most expensive part of your grocery list.

However, you can mitigate this by buying produce from your local farmer’s market, or farm stand, as well as by buying frozen. Frozen fruit and veggies are often just as good as the fresh variety but much cheaper. Another way to save is by buying in bulk, which is often much cheaper and means you save by buying certain staples less often. Another great trick for saving money on produce is that you don’t have to buy organic if you’re going to peel off the skin to eat it. This includes produce like avocados, bananas, and pineapple don’t need to be organic unless you really want them to.

You can also save by making from scratch some of your favorite foods like homemade pop-tarts, granola, and more. These foods will not only save you money but will be much healthier than the processed alternatives. 

Start Simple

Whether you’re trying to cook for kids and teens or just yourself, trying to replace everything at once with new things isn’t going to go over big. It can be really jarring and can make you feel overwhelmed. Take it one step at a time and start by gently modifying a few small things. 

• Instead of using butter in a recipe, replace it with canola or olive oil 
• Cut back on the salt in dishes
• Use less oil when cooking on the stove
• Use thickened low-fat milk instead of heavy cream
• Oven Fry instead of deep frying

 These small changes are hardly noticeable but can be the beginning of big changes for you and your family. These simple changes will not only give a sense of accomplishment as you start out but will you start down the path towards healthier eating.

Replace One Thing At A Time

It can be tough to get a kid to eat something new so as you work towards a healthier lifestyle for your family, take it one food at time. Staples your kids eat a lot, like cereal, bread, and yogurt should be replaced one at a time. This will give everyone time to adjust to the new products before more changes come. A healthier diet should include plenty of whole, unprocessed foods like grains, veggies and fruit. You can make a lot of good changes by simply swapping out for a healthier alternative.

Switch out white bread for whole-grain bread and replace pasta with whole-grain pasta. Switch out yogurt for greek yogurt, and sugary cereals for healthier alternatives, like cheerios. Don’t forget to take it slow, however, so you don’t overwhelm your kids with new foods. 

Vegetables Are Key

The core of healthy eating is enjoying a large variety of produce. Most Americans do not eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables daily. One of the best things you can do to help your family get healthier is to add fresh fruits and veggies into their diet. Produce should be the star of the meal and take up about half the plate. Getting kids or other picky eaters to eat vegetables is a significantly harder problem.

Luckily, you can hide veggies in food with relative ease. You can hide all kinds of veggies in fruit smoothies at breakfast time, and in tomato sauce for pasta, pizza and more. There are other ways to help encourage your kids to eat their veggies, like making them kid-friendly by cutting them into fun shapes with a cookie cutter. It also helps if you model eating your veggies and show your kids they are good and that you like them.

Mix and Match Protein

Meat, while an excellent source of protein, is often served in oversize portions. One of the easiest ways to make sure you’re feeding your family the right amount of meat is by weighing it. While an experienced cook or chef may be able to eyeball what a 6 oz steak looks like, the average home cook cannot. A kitchen scale can help you make sure you’re using the correct portions of meat. You can also cut back on the amount of meat you’re eating by using veggie proteins. There are tons of vegetarian and vegan options for protein like tofu, seitan, beans, whole grains, eggs, and more. Even meat heavy family favorite’s like meatloaf can be a lot healthier with addition of grains, like rice, and shredded veggies like carrots, zucchini, and peppers. Peanut and other nut butters are also a great source of protein that is easy to get kids to eat. 

Limit Sugar and Salt

Americans eat a lot of added sugars and sodium every day. Over indulging in salt, and sugar can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, and obesity.

Aim for less than 6 teaspoons of added sugar per day if you’re a woman, and less than 9 teaspoons if you’re a man. Kids should have less than 6 teaspoons of sugar a day. Sugary foods include white sugar, brown sugar, honey and maple syrup. There are lots of sugar alternatives that can be used to sweeten up your food without eating too much including stevia, monk fruit, and xylitol.

As for salt, it’s recommended you eat no more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. It can be even less than this if you have or at risk for heart disease, or high blood pressure. Sodium is found in a lot of processed foods so you can cut back just by making homemade alternatives to certain foods. If you’re worried about flavorless food with salt, you can add a lot of flavor with herbs, spices, and by incorporating a variety of global flavors into your family’s diet. 

Take Advantage of Cooking Techniques

Just by changing how you cook your food, you can make it a little healthier and still make it flavorful. The following techniques are both healthy and wildly flavorful.

• Baking – place food in a pan or dish, covered or uncovered. No added fat needed.
• Braising – brown the ingredient first in a pan on the stove, and then slowly cook it partially covered with a small quantity of liquid, such as water or broth. The cooking liquid can be used to make a flavorful, nutrient-rich sauce.
• Broiling –  place food on a broiler rack below a heat element, direct heat cooks food while allowing fat to drip away from the food.
• Grilling- place the food on a grill rack above a heat source, usually either charcoal or propane, or an indoor version on the stove-top/counter.
• Poaching – gently simmer ingredients in water or a flavorful liquid, such as broth or wine, until they’re cooked through and tender. 
• Roasting – high temperature dry heat usually done in the oven. No extra fat required.
• Sauteing – quickly cooks smaller quantities of food. Use non stick cookware to use less oil.
• Searing –  quickly brown food at a high temperature. Locks in flavor and texture. Finish cooking by roasting, braising, etc.
• Steaming – uses perforated baskets suspended above simmering liquid. Use a flavorful liquid or add seasonings to water in order to flavor food as it cooks.
• Stir-frying – Asian method, quickly cooks small, uniform pieces of food while in a wok or large nonstick frying pan. 

Keep it Flavorful

Healthy cooking definitely doesn’t have to be bland cooking. Not only can you add tons of flavor with the methods above, but there are other ways to add lots of flavor to food. You should avoid seasoning mixes and sauces as they can contain a lot of salt. You can flavor with fresh or dried herbs added throughout the cooking process. Vinegar and citrus are great ways to perk up a heavy dish, and can be added to marinades.

Marinades are mixtures of seasonings and flavorful liquids like soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce. They can add a lot of flavor to meat, veggies, tofu, and more, and can be left for anywhere from hours to days.  Other flavor-boosting ingredients include mustard, miso, fish sauce, harissa, sambal oelek, and chipotle chiles. Don’t be afraid to experiment and prepare dishes from around the world. If you have picky eaters, encourage them to try one bite before they discard their meal.

Healthy cooking and eating doesn’t have to be difficult. So long as you’re patient with yourself and your family, add more produce and eat less salt and sugar, you’ll be on your way to a healthier lifestyle.