After you have made sure that you have shop for heart healthy foods, we dare you to plan your menu around these super heart healthy cooking methods. All these prep methods are basics, which essentially lies in the heart of heart healthy dishes. If you are one of the million women over 40 who have been constantly monitoring their heart, translating these heart healthy prep methods for their very own dishes can be quite easy. If you’re quite new to all these, consider this list as the better alternative to your traditional it’s-all-about-the-taste method of cooking.
1. Preparing meat and veggies. Anything that goes beyond what is recommended is always not healthy. When it comes to preparing veggies and meat, a good rule of thumb is the faster, the better. Always opt for quickie when preparing your dishes, especially when it comes to veggies. Stir-fry and boiling may top other’s list of healthy prepping methods. But when it comes to our kitchen, what really won our heart is steaming.
2. Adding flavors. Be natural, even when you’re putting flavors to your meat. Whether you’re marinating or throwing some fast, quick flavor to a slab of steak, experts always have on their pantry fresh herbs, onions, vinegar, tomatoes, garlic, and ginger. For the on-the-table adjustments, always make sure that low-fat sauces or, better, fat-free salad dressings is always within reach.
3. Real fast dessert. Need some fun dessert ideas this Valentine’s Day? Throwing some fresh fruits in the blender is a no-fuss, no-bake, and super healthy dessert that lovers of all ages can really love and appreciate. Right after you have put down the grocery bags, snatch three to four pieces of banana, toss in a handful of frozen berries and kiwi, and just pop open a bottle of fresh fat-free yogurt. In less than three minutes, you’re ready to sip a super healthy and refreshing glass of smoothie that has at least 3 servings of antioxidants to pump up your body’s defenses.
4. Cheating your veggies. If you need to be somewhere the whole day of the 14th (of all day), opening a can of vegetables is the fastest and most convenient way to meet your recommended serving of veggies that day. But before you pop that can, make sure that you have picked up the low-sodium variety from the shelf.
If you have time to do some shopping comparison, get a number of cans and check what’s on the label. Though this would take some time from your estimated number of hours to do all the dishes, this would make sure that you get to pick the healthiest item to use in your dish.
5. Low-cal baked recipes. Cap the evening with a low-fat bakery recipe by simply cutting the fat ingredient in half. Traditional bakery recipes are just loaded with oil, butter, shortening, or margarine; if you love to surprise your hubby with not only a heart shaped but most importantly heart healthy cake simply follow this rule: When your recipe book calls for one cup of the fatty ingredient, supply your mixing bowl with half. Worried about serving dry cake? Replace what is lost. We recommend pouring in healthful ingredients like orange juice, fat-free sour cream, applesauce, or low-fat yogurt. This not only provides a surprising flavor in your dessert but a healthier substitute to these heart nemesis-ingredients.
6. Sometimes extra are just extra. Cooking heart healthy dishes also means removing what’s really unnecessary. Embellishments and extra ingredients, if possible, can be removed if you have seasoned and cooked the star of the dish well. If your dessert recipe calls for a cup of chocolate chips, dare to cut what’s recommended in half, or even less. If your main dish needs half slab of butter, we encourage that you just skip this fatty part.
Baking for a heart surprise for the hubby? When it comes to your cake recipe, dare to spread less frost than necessary. Serving a double-layer cake? Simply fill in the middle and top and forget about putting the unnecessary frills on the sides. Feeling more daring? Do some light sprinkling of powdered sugar instead of generously meticulously spreading the pink frosting. This will not only cut your prep time by half but also pulls the numbers down to 130 calories, less than 5 grams of fat, and, hear this, only 2 grams of saturated fat.
7. Always go for the fat-free products. Let’s be honest, here, fats do taste good – and they make our foods more savory and tasty. If you think your dish will end up still tasting good, try the low-fat version like fat-free sour cream, light cream cheese, reduced-fat cheeses, light mayonnaise, and everything that show off “light”, “reduced-fat”, or “fat-free” in their label. What we have in our kitchen include fruit purees, strong coffee, chicken broth, free sour cream, and, of course, fruit juice. These super healthy alternatives not only cut the fat by more than half but add the much needed boost of moisture and even flavor in your dish.
8. Make egg substitute. When it comes to egg dishes, we recommend using egg substitutes in place of half of what the recipe calls for. Say, you’re making a mighty breakfast casseroles and need to crack 6 eggs. In cutting the fat in half, pour in 3 whole eggs and 3/4 cup of the egg substitute in the bowl. With every egg you have replaced, you cut 45 calories, 213 milligrams of cholesterol, 5 grams of fat, and 1.6 grams of saturated.
9. Go for the less-fat fry. The cardinal rule of heart healthy cooking is to never deep-fry. But when it comes to dish that really calls for some real crispiness, we recommend you do some pan-fry or oven-fry instead. When it comes to pre-frying, spread some safe amount of cold-pressed olive oil instead of canola. By simply controlling the oil that you have poured in the pan, you can save your heart from drowning from at least 13.5 grams of fat and 120 calories.
10. Add whole grains to your menu. If you’re planning to make a five-course Chinese meal, we’re sure you’re going to need a lot of rice in there. And when it comes to rice, we always recommend the wild and crazy varieties when it comes to fiber: Wild rice and the brown ones. For some really heart healthy dishes, plan your meal around menus that feature lots of grains and oats. Aside from the obvious health benefits of eating grains, filling your plate from these fibrous items will fill you up so you can just say “no” to the rest of the calories waiting at your plate.
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