Healthy Cooking / Eating Tips
- For better flavor, use the freshest ingredients whenever possible.
- Shop for local foods; find the nearest farmers’ market through local harvest.
- Use canola oil for baking and cooking mild-flavored foods such as eggs. Use a small amount of olive oil and water to cook / steam vegetables.
- Don't worry about oxidizing oils during stovetop cooking; store olive oil at room temperature. Olive oil is healthier than coconut oil.
- Replace white rice and regular pasta with brown rice and whole wheat pasta.
- Eat more plant-based foods: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds.
- Go meatless at least one day a week. There’s no need to eat certain foods together to create a “complete protein”. You’ll get plenty of protein from beans, vegetables, eggs and low-fat dairy products.
- Switch to non-fat or low-fat (1 or 2%) milk and choose reduced-fat cheeses.
- Replace regular or diet soda with water or unsweetened iced tea.
- Read food labels. For the % Daily Value, remember the 5-20 rule: 5% or less is LOW; 20% or more is HIGH. Check the % Daily Value for sodium and fat on food products. Look at the serving size first. If you eat twice the serving size, double the % Daily Value amount.
- There is no % Daily Value for sugar; consume as little sugar as possible for better health. Read food label serving sizes first and then the sugar amount listed in grams (4 grams = 1 teaspoon). Women should limit their added sugar intake to 6 teaspoons per day; men should limit their intake to 9 teaspoons.
- Check the ingredients label. Ingredients are listed in descending order of predominance by weight (i.e., ingredient that weighs the most is listed first; ingredient that weighs the least is listed last).
- Look for the word “whole” listed first when buying whole wheat products.
- Avoid foods with trans fats. If partially hydrogenated oils are in the list of ingredients, the food contains some trans fats even if the Trans Fat % Daily Value is 0%.
- Limit processed foods, especially processed meats (bacon, deli meats, etc.) and reconstituted meat products (chicken nuggets and fish nuggets).
- Control portions. Eat off of a 9 inch dinner plate. Put snacks in a small bowl instead of eating out of a large bag. Balance your food calories with your activity level.
- At meal and snack times, combine a carbohydrate (e.g., fruits, vegetables or grains) with a protein (e.g., low-fat meats, fish, nuts or dairy products). You will get quick energy from the carbohydrates and long-lasting energy from the proteins. A turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread with lettuce and tomato is a good example.
- Eat foods as close to their original form as possible – a whole baked potato instead of French fries; a whole orange instead of orange juice.
- Carry foods with you for times when meals may be delayed. Apples, nuts and raisins do not need refrigeration and provide a carbohydrate/protein mix.
- Use a food thermometer to be sure foods are cooked to the proper temperature.
- Throw away perishable food that has been left out of the refrigerator for more than 2 hours (1 hour if it’s 90º F or hotter outside). Bacteria that cause foodborne illness doubles every 20 minutes when food is left out at temperatures above 40º F.
- Leftover refrigerated food is generally safe to eat for 3-4 days and after that time it should be discarded. Label the storage container with the perishable date before refrigerating (write the discard date on a piece of masking tape and attach it to the storage container).
- If you have a large amount of leftover food that won't be eaten in the next 3-4 days (e.g., homemade soup, stew, chili), divide it into serving-sized portions and freeze it in freezer bags. Write the food name, freeze date and number of servings on the bag. Once thawed, it should not be re-frozen (hence the benefit of freezing leftovers in serving-sized portions).
- For questions about how long a specific food tastes good and how long it is safe to eat, visit Still Tasty.