How to Create Healthy Meal Plans

By Ruthie Chant

Do you want your husband to lose weight? Or do you want the family to adopt a better, healthier lifestyle? You have to begin by creating some healthy meal plans. It is best to make about 4-5 meal plans and then to rotate them so that you can get a lot of variety in your meals. Here are some tips for meal plans that are healthy for your family:

1. When you make healthy meal plans, make sure of one thing: breakfast. It's the most important meal of the day, and it is also the most ignored one. Take care that your family eats a healthy breakfast. You can include healthy cereals, sprouts, fresh fruits and juices in the breakfast. It is best to have three meals a day and two snacks between them. Eating more might sound unhealthy, but eating smaller portions more often is actually healthier. It increases metabolism and burns more fat. Plus it reduces the tendency to eat out in the evening.

2. Make sure you include some carbohydrates in healthy meal plans. Though most people think that carbs are bad, but your body needs some of them to function properly. You need some energy to operate, and carbohydrates are the source of that energy. You can select whole wheat options like bagel, waffles, or toasts. Also, if you have growing kids, make sure you include calcium in your breakfast. It is good for women as well. Have a small glass of skimmed milk or a cup of yogurt. Include eggs in breakfast as they are an excellent source of protein.

3. For the first snack, pick something light and small. But it should be satisfying so that it keeps your family full till lunch. You can have nuts for energy, but try to avoid fattening ones (like cashews). You can pick almonds and walnuts instead. Also, low sugar flavored water would be a good addition. Then for lunch, include protein rich diet, like tofu burger, vegetables and fruits. You can also have shredded cheese along with baby spinach leaves and a tomato slice.

4. For the second snack of the day, include a couple of fruits. You can also give them some cheddar slices. And if they crave salt, pack some mini pretzels. Plan the dinner to be light since they are going to sleep after it. You can have some fruits, salad, and a light protein dish. There should be at least a one-hour gap between eating and sleeping. This way your body will digest the food easily, and you can have better sleep.

When you prepare healthy meal plans, make sure you prepare enough servings for each food group. Rotate your menus so that your family doesn't complain of lack of variety.

Ruthie began her meal planning journey in 2005 with the birth of her first child. Since then, the self-confessed kitchen problem-solver has worked hard to piece together hundreds of fresh recipes, countless time saving tips and delicious, budget friendly healthy meal plans.The result is a membership site packed full of these things and more - online meal planning.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ruthie_Chant

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6943156

Cooking Healthy - It's Easier Than You Think

By Jeremy Raglin

Are you interested in cooking healthy meals for your family? You're making a smart choice.

This article will provide you with several tips that you can use to start creating healthier meals for your family.

One of the misconceptions about cooking healthy that almost everyone I've talked with is cooking healthy is expensive and isn't always affordable especially if your family lives on a budget like my family does.

Here are five tips to help you cook healthier and without breaking your budget.

Tip 1 - Spend at least one hour before your next trip to the super market and plan out meals for the next one to two weeks. Each meal should incorporate a fruit and a vegetable in it so everyone in your family meets a quota of having at least 4 fruits and 4 vegetables in their diet every day.
Your shopping cart should also include plenty of whole grains, fish, poultry and beans to round out a balanced diet for your family.
If you have questions about what foods make up a balanced, healthy diet you should download the food pyramid. Just go to Google, type in food pyramid and there are plenty of websites to download it from and also plenty of other healthy cooking ideas as well.

Tip 2 - Start baking and creating your own snacks instead of buying them. Most people learn how to bake when they are children but lose the interest in baking as they get older because it's easier t to buy foods that are already pre-made. When you bake your own snacks you can avoid adding the sugars, preservatives, fats and other unhealthy ingredients that are found in store bought foods.
Baking doesn't take a lot of time either and if you plan your meals right you can always have a supply of home made healthy snacks whenever you want.

Tip 3 - Start grilling more or broiling. These methods both require direct exposure of food to heat and will allow fat to drip away from your food.

Tip 4 - Steaming - This is one of the healthiest ways to cook vegetables because only a small amount of nutrients are removed from the food compared to other forms of cooking.

Tip 5 - Start using herbs and spices. Many people don't think about using herbs and spices when they cook other than just adding a little salt and pepper and they are missing out on a whole new world of flavor that can be added to their meals. If you don't have any herbs and spices in your home you should invest in a basic spice rack because adding spices and herbs will add more flavor to your meals and also help to improve your families health as well.

When using herbs and spices in your meals you should always try and add bright colored herbs and spices last part of the cooking so you don't over cook them and sap them of their important nutrients and flavors that they will add to your meal.
Don't give up on the idea of cooking healthy. It just takes a little more effort but in the end it's totally worth it.

For delicious and healthy cocktail sauce and tartar sauce to add to your next seafood meal click here or visit http://www.malibugourmetseafood.com today.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeremy_Raglin Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6468723

Healthy Cooking Basics

By Vinnie Reynolds Cooking healthy meals doesn't have to be expensive. In fact, by learning some basic techniques, you can prepare healthy and delicious meals for your family without spending much on cookware. There are actually lots of healthy cooking techniques that allow you to cut back on calories and unhealthy fats. Most of these methods are effective and helps you capture the taste you want without compromising on nutrient contents. Baking is one of these methods. It's pretty simple and it's the first cooking technique most women learn. Aside from cookies, breads and other desserts, you can also bake lean meat and seafood. You can even bake fruits and vegetables. The good thing about baking is that you won't have to add fat to the food you are preparing. Another method you can make use of is grilling or broiling. These cooking techniques both require direct exposure of food to heat. For grilling, you can either use live charcoals or gas heated rocks. Broiling on the other hand is a fast way for cooking meat. Both of these cooking methods allow fat to drip away from your food. Perhaps the simplest form of preparing food is steaming. It's a healthy cooking method and can be used for any kind of food. If you're health conscious, this is the method that's best for you since it doesn't require oil for cooking. What's more, only a small amount of nutrients is removed from food when steaming in contrast to other forms of cooking. Make it a habit of using herbs and spices when preparing meals. It is one way of adding color and aroma aside from taste to your food and you can be sure 100% of the time that you are providing nutritious food for the family. Always pick bright colored herbs and make sure to add them at the last part of the cooking so as not to overcook them and sap them of their important nutrients. If you come to think of it, there are hundreds of ways you can prepare healthy meals at home. Again, they don't have to be expensive at all. As long as you have the right cooking equipments and the right ingredients, you can always provide nutritious mouth-watering food for your family. Vinnie Reynolds is an expert writer about home improvement topics. He recently published his latest reviews on kitchen island designs and the kitchen island bar here. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Vinnie_Reynolds Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5630081