Judy Scott Welden is a consumer advocate, nutritionist, and media spokesperson. She is passionate about bringing nutritious foods to Canadian families and we're happy to have her unique perspective in her upcoming series of posts at chickenfeeds.ca.
Many of us know the basic principles of healthy eating: eat balanced, homemade meals with lots of vegetables and fruit, whole grains, lean meats and low-fat dairy. The reality is our frenzied family life frequently leaves our best intentions in the cupboard. Making changes to what we eat can be difficult and lack of time and a reliance on convenience foods can cause us to stray from making healthier choices. Take a few moments to plan ahead and healthy, homemade meals can be convenient, efficient and inexpensive.
To start, prepare a seven-day meal plan with three meals per day, plus a snack or two. Choose meals that are simple to prepare and include items that can be made in big batches. The bonus of big batches is convenient leftovers for lunch the next day or extra portions to freeze for future meals in minutes. Making extra portions not only saves time but also reduces your energy consumption by cooking once and eating twice. Learn from the pros – many restaurant kitchens run efficiently by preparing and cooking in bulk, and some of these ideas can be incorporated into your home kitchen. At first glance it may seem like a lot of work but investing a few minutes in meal planning and preparation can save time, money and energy.
Helpful hints:
- Prepare healthy, big batch foods such as chicken or vegetarian chili, stews or curries. These freeze well and leftovers make for great lunches.
- When freezing foods place meal-sized portions into airtight containers and let the food cool in the refrigerator before freezing.
- Cook a few hardboiled eggs at once and store in the refrigerator for up to a week. A hardboiled egg can be enjoyed with breakfast, chopped up in a salad or made into an egg salad sandwich.
- Cook an extra chicken breast when preparing dinner. The next day, have a chicken salad wrap or toss it with your salad for lunch. Consider roasting a whole chicken – besides a savoury main meal you’ll have plenty of delicious cooked chicken leftovers perfect for super sandwiches, wraps and salads.
- Wash, dry and slice some raw vegetables like bell peppers, carrots and broccoli and store them in the fridge. Prepare enough for several days so you’ll always have a quick and healthy snack ready to go. Mix it up and try hummus as a tasty veggie dip.
