Tips On Making Healthy And Tasty Meals For Your Family

Food is essential in any household; this is what brings most of the busy people in a family together. Not to mention, the type of food that your family consumes is directly related to all of your long term health. Now that you are pregnant, eating healthy becomes even more important for you and your growing baby. Whether you are planning to whip a whole meal up on your own, or your husband or other family members are cooking, consider the following tips to make cooking healthy easier.

Shop For Healthy Foods

This is the first step in cooking sumptuous and healthy meals. Getting the right ingredients beforehand will make your whole meal prepping smoother and faster. To keep things interesting over a few meals, get different types of ingredients when you shop.

Buy lean meats if you love meat and skinless breasts when it comes to chicken. Shop for essential ingredients like okra, almonds, broccoli, and Bokchoy as they are rich confinement foods. In this way, you can ensure that you have a balanced diet by consuming everything in moderation.

Method Of Cooking

The commonly used cooking methods include stir-frying, deep-frying, blanching, steaming, boiling, grilling, roasting, and baking. The method of cooking used will influence the overall healthiness of your food. For example, instead of deep-frying a fish, steaming a fish may lessen the oil used and preserve the nutrients of the fish better. Furthermore, you can try baking or steaming vegetables instead of frying them to make the dish healthier.

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Change The Type Of Oil You Use

Instead of using the usual vegetable cooking oil, consider healthier alternatives such as olive oil, avocado oil, or flaxseed oil. Whether you are stir-frying or sauteing vegetables and meat, making a salad, or even baking, these oils are great alternatives to make your meals healthier. Other than being more thoughtful about the type of cooking oil you use, you can try cooking sprays for minimizing the amount of oil that you use.

Reduce The Amount Of Salt

Salt is a great flavour enhancer in meals, and having salt in our meals can make them more appetizing. However, taking too much of it can lead to water retention and other health complications in the long run.

To make a meal just as flavourful, include more natural ingredients with strong flavours in your meals, for example, corn, red dates, ginger, garlic, turmeric, and lemon.

Infuse Herbs In Your Meals

Learning how to cook with herbs can enhance the whole flavours of your food, making them more aromatic. Some examples of these herbs include cinnamon, cardamom, and basil. Other than making your meals taste more flavourful, herbs are often packed with goodness that can benefit your health too. For example, basil is considered one of the pregnancy superfoods. Not only is basil delicious, but it is also rich in antioxidant essential oils and phytonutrients, which helps to fight against inflammation and diseases. 

That said, remember to check with your doctor before using any of these herbs, as some might not be suitable for pregnant women to consume. As for the herbs that are suitable for you, remember to have them in moderate amounts.

When it comes to eating healthy, what counts the most is that all of you are able to do it continuously. Hence, maintaining a healthy diet as a family doesn’t mean there can’t be anymore eating out or ordering fast food delivery. As long as you and your family are eating healthy most of the time, eventually all of you will benefit from this lifestyle change.Moving forward to after your delivery day, you can continue your healthy eating lifestyle without hassle by engaging with a confinement nanny from PEM! Apart from being experienced in baby care, PEM confinement nannies will prepare home cook confinement food that is commonly consumed during Chinese confinement in Singapore.