Healthy Cooking

Healthy cooking is a process, but most of you do not get very far in the process! Supermarkets are laden with processed pre-done meals, so why cook?


Healthy Cooking Tips from Healthy Diet Habits

A very interesting statistic from Early Retirement Extreme, October 13, 2011 Blog, titled "The total cost of TV" stated:

"The average person spends 4 hours a day watching television and that is close to 1500 hours per year. It takes 1000 hours to become competent in a skill, 3000 hours to become a master (master’s degree level), and 10,000 hours to become a world expert in a field (PhD level)." He further states that, "If you did a focused study on food that was not just following recipes or heating up pizza, then in less than one year, you could learn to whip up a meal from whatever was in the fridge and pantry. In three years, you could cook well enough to cater, or work in a restaurant. You would certainly be the chef at family gatherings. In six years, you could open your own restaurant!"

Wow! How many of you are at the level of being able to cook well enough to open up your own restaurant, work in a restaurant, or even make a meal from whatever is in the fridge and pantry? Not many! Yet your health might just depend on your competency! 


Healthy Cooking Tips from Healthy Diet Habits

My favorite Veggie Salad - Broccoli Salad

My Story of Healthy Cooking

I began to cook my senior year in college. I had two roommates and we all wanted to cook well, but couldn’t. We decided to eat together and prepare a different recipe each day of our senior year, with no repeat meals. We succeeded in our goal, but basically we learned to be great recipe readers. We graduated and could officially follow any recipe. We each had a huge file of recipes that we loved! Success, or so I thought!

When I was 26 years old, I moved to Morocco for 8 years. All of a sudden, I was in a place where I could only purchase food from a local farmer’s market, and produce in those markets was seasonal. There was very little processed food, so my recipes were fairly worthless. Every single thing I made had to be from scratch, using what was in season! I became a real scratch cook. It was not about the recipe, but what was in my refrigerator and cupboard. I learned to use spices, herbs, and fresh ingredients! My food tasted delicious! We lost weight because we ate so healthy!

When I returned to America, I cried the first time I went to the supermarket! I actually left my cart and cried! Produce was so old. I could bend the cucumbers and zucchini! What’s with that? Didn’t people know produce was supposed to be firm? I didn’t know how we would eat! I caved and went back to my old way of cooking, rather than healthy cooking. I used more processed foods and poor quality produce. That is all there was!

Times have changed! Farmer’s markets, CSA’s and healthier stores offering local organics have increased! Fresher products are available, but many of you still fill your carts with bags of processed foods!

Please take the time this year to graduate to the next level of cooking. Learn how to whip up a meal from seasonal foods in your refrigerator and pantry, rather than just following a recipe! I will provide a few recipes this year that you can follow, but make your own substitutions for the vegetables, spices, and herbs, that you love! I will provide some generic recipes for you to experiment from! Learn to cook well. That is my dream for you! 


Healthy Cooking Tips from Healthy Diet Habits


These sections will provide tips!



Cooking from Scratch

Learn the benefits of cooking from scratch!




How to Evaluate Recipes

Learn what determines a healthy recipe and what you should be looking for!


Kitchen Survival Strategies - Tips from Healthy Diet Habits


Kitchen Survival Strategies

Learn simple kitchen survival strategies that will help you to cook at home and keep your calories under control! Tips to lower fat in recipes too!



Produce - Fruit and Vegetable Tips

Learn tips to include more produce in your diet!




Slow Cooker

Tips, Benefits of Slow Cookers, and recommended Products




Stealthy Healthy Cooking

Learn tips on how to sneak in extra fruits and vegetables to your recipes!




Summer Cooking

Learn ideas for cooking when it is hot out!




Top 10 Recommended Healthy Cookbooks

Learn what to look for in choosing a great cookbook and a few of my favorite cookbooks!




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Holidays and Observances

US and Around the World - Includes the many Health Awareness Days/Weeks/Months

Lots of Food Holidays and Holiday Food Tips!!




Related Pages

Farmers Market Info. from Healthy Diet Habits

Farmers Market

Healthy Diet Habit Tips to Make Lifestyle Solutions

Healthy Diet Habits

Here are my Top 10 Healthy Diet Habits to make Lifestyle Solutions for permanent weight control. Plus links to lots of other tip pages!!

Healthy Eating

Healthy Eating Tips from Healthy Diet Habits

Healthy Foods

Healthy Foods Info. from Healthy Diet Habits

Nutrition


Organic Foods Information from Healthy Diet Habits

Organic Foods

Processed Foods information from Healthy Diet Habits

Processed Foods

Seasonal Food Info/Tips from Healthy Diet Habits

Seasonal Food



Healthy Recipes


Bread Recipes

Bread Recipes

Healthy Breakfast Recipes from Healthy Diet Habits

Breakfast Recipes

Crockpot Recipes from Healthy Diet Habits

Crockpot Recipes

Dessert Recipes

Dessert Recipes

Main Dish Recipe

Main Dish Recipes

Healthy Pasta Recipes by Healthy Diet Habits

Pasta Recipes

Salad Recipes

Salad Recipes

Healthy Soup Recipes

Soup Recipes

Stew and Sauce Recipes

Stew & Sauce Recipes

Chicken Zucchini Stir Fry Recipe

Stir Fry Recipes

Vegetable Recipes

Vegetable Recipes