Smart Cooking Choices: Healthy, Quick & Easy Recipes

1. Food Preparation Choices

2. Scratch Preparing a homemade dish from unprepared foods You control what is in it How it is made Costs less Convenience foods Partly prepared or ready-to-eat Quicker and less effort No control over ingredients

3. Speed-scratch cooking • Uses partly prepared foods for homemade dishes • Store-bought unbaked pizza with pre made sauce, shredded cheese • Tastes like homemade • Saves time and energy

4. Paths to Quick & Easy Meals • Do some steps ahead • “double batch” prepare 2 and freeze rest • Timesaving equipment (micro wave and food processor • Learn management skills to work efficiently

5. Which Cooking Method? • 3 cooking methods: • Dry heat – cooking food uncovered without added liquid • Moist heat – involves liquid or steam • Frying –cooking in fat • See page 194

6. Which Recipe? • Recipe- list of ingredients and a complete set of instructions for preparing a certain dish • Newspapers, magazines, friends, Internet, family

7. Choosing Recipes • Are the directions clear? • Do I have the skills I’ll need? • Do I have the equipment? • Which ingredients do I already have? • Do I have the time? • How long will it take to prepare • How does this dish fit into my meal and eating plan?

8. Nutrition-wise Recipe Makeovers • Use variety, balance and moderation • If one dish has higher fat, serve with other lower fat dishes • Soups, salads, stir fries and casseroles are flexible • Baked goods are not flexible

9. For more vitamins: • Add more veggies • To casseroles, pasta and other dishes • Shredded carrots and zucchini are great in mashed potatoes

10. For more Calcium: • Add dry milk to mashed potatoes, meat loaf • Add grated cheese to casseroles and mashed potatoes • Add calcium-fortified tofu to salads, stir fries and other mixed dishes

11. For less Fat: • Use reduced or low-fat ingredients • Use smaller amounts of high-fat ingredients such as butter, margarine, salad dressing and peanut butter • Skim fat from soups, stews, pan juices, gravies (fat is lighter than water) • Make one or more substitutions listed on page 198

12. For more Fiber: • Use whole-grain pasta and brown rice in recipes • Add fiber-rich dry beans, peas to soups and mixed dishes • Mix bran into casseroles

13. For less Added Sugar: • Use vanilla, cinnamon, spices to bring out natural sweetness of many foods • For less Sodium: • Cut down on salt in recipes –use herbs and spices to enhance • Use low-sodium versions of broth, soy sauce and canned foods

14. Summary • You can cook from scratch or use partly or fully prepared foods, depending on your time, energy, kitchen skills and the amount of money you want to spend. • Choose a cooking method based on available time and the nutritional effect.

15. Recipes are available from many sources. Always read the recipe carefully before you decide to use it. • You can modify many recipes to improve nutritional value without giving up flavor.

16. Assignment • Do the questions on page 200 • 1 through 5 • Bring examples of some scratch and convenience cooking you have done at home, bring them in tomorrow.