Benefits of preparing meals and snacks using healthy ingredients

Preparing foods at home allows you to prepare healthy meals and snacks. By choosing ingredients with little to no sodium, sugars, saturated fats, or low sodium, you can reduce the amount of these nutrients you eat.

Eating too much sodium, sugars, or saturated fats can increase your risk of developing chronic diseases.

How to prepare meals and snacks using healthy ingredients

Even when cooking at home, people may use highly processed foods for convenience and to save time. These types of food products include:

• seasoned foods
• Prepared sauces
• Ready to eat soup
• Ready dishes

Make your own version of these foods or replace them with healthier options.

do it yourself

Although processed foods may seem convenient when cooked at home, making your own can be easy and much healthier. Use these ideas to make healthier home versions:

• Try making whole-grain pita baked crackers.
• Create your own oil-based salad dressing with healthy fats and your favorite seasonings.
• Slice the potatoes into thin slices, drizzle with canola oil and bake in the oven to get French fries without frying.
• Use simple recipes. Start with recipes with simple ingredient lists and easy instructions, especially if you’re busy or new to cooking.
• Create your own spice blends. Instead of using packaged taco seasoning, make your own by combining cumin and cayenne pepper powder with a pinch of garlic powder.
• Sweeten snacks and recipes with fruit. Mix low-fat yogurt with berries or use mashed bananas in a muffin recipe for extra sweetness.
• Make a large batch of homemade soup and freeze it in serving size portions. This allows you to control the ingredients, and reheating is as easy as making canned soup.
• Find a recipe for your favorite sauce or condiment. Make homemade pasta sauce using fresh or low-sodium canned tomatoes. Try making fresh salsa by combining tomatoes, garlic, onions, and cilantro.
• Try a homemade version of your favorite prepared food. Use a whole-grain pizza crust, tortillas, or pita bread and load it up with vegetables for a healthy pizza. Make your own macaroni and cheese using whole-grain pasta, low-fat cheese, and some vegetables.

Add flavor

When you cook at home, you can reduce the amount of salt you use by adding herbs, spices, and seasonings. Your taste buds will adjust to the less salt in your food.

Instead of using prepared foods, salt, broths, or sauces, enhance the flavor of your food by adding:

• citrus fruits
• flavored vinegar
• Fresh or dried herbs or spices

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Dill: mixes well with fish, potatoes and eggs
• Cinnamon: tastes great with yogurt and low-fat fruits
• Ginger: delicious in stir-fries, soups, and fish
• Lemon juice: great in salad dressings and pickles
• Sweet pepper: goes well with seafood, vegetables, chicken and eggs
• Rosemary or thyme: delicious with chicken, lamb, beef and pork
• Curry powder or cumin: Good with lentils, chicken, soups and stews
• Basil and Oregano: Tastes great with soups, salads, tomatoes, and pasta

For best results, add:

• Dried herbs at the beginning of cooking
• Fresh herbs at or near the end of cooking

Use healthy ingredients

When preparing meals and snacks, use heavily unprocessed ingredients.

Let your taste buds enjoy the true flavor of food. Attempt:

• Fresh, frozen or canned vegetables and fruits, preferably:
  • Canned vegetables with little or no sodium
• Whole-grain foods, preferably:
  • Options with little or no sodium
  • Naturally zero-sodium grains such as rice, barley, or quinoa
• Protein foods are preferred:
  • Unsalted nuts and seeds
  • Meat, poultry and fish without spices
  • Low-fat dairy products
  • Canned or dried beans, peas and lentils with little or no sodium
• Healthy fats are preferred:
  • Unsaturated vegetable oils