How to provide wholesome, healthy and nutritious meals

How to provide wholesome, healthy and nutritious meals
Plan nutritious, balanced meals to keep your family healthy by following a few basic strategies like the ones that follow.
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Everyone is in a hurry today, so much so that we often neglect eating in a healthy way. Instead, we might grab a cup of coffee for breakfast, run out for fast food at lunch, and order a pizza for supper. While it is all right to have foods like these occasionally, we should make every effort to eat nutritiously most of the time. Good nutrition keeps our bodies functioning properly, prevents certain illnesses, and delays the aging process.

As you plan ways of providing nourishing meals for your family, here are a few tips that might come in handy:

1. Follow the food pyramid. National nutrition standards have long been based on a pyramid structure of recommended food groups. Grains formed the base of the pyramid, with six to twelve servings per day for the average person. A serving is about half a cup. The next food group included fruits and vegetables, followed by proteins. Dairy products and fats completed the decreasing percentages of the food pyramid. All of us should try to balance daily menus from a structure like this one.

2. Check in with national disease associations. The American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association are recognized as promoting a health-conscious nutrition plan that can help followers shed extra pounds and eat healthy foods and portion sizes. You need not have been diagnosed with either disease to benefit from such diet plans. In fact, their recommendations will help adherents avoid the conditions represented by these organizations.

3. Mix colors, textures, and styles in your menus. Termed "presentation" by food and restaurant critics, the idea is to make healthy food look appealing. Use a variety of fruits, vegetables, grains and proteins. For example, include juicy red tomatoes, bright orange carrots, deep purple plums, and dark green spinach among the selection of nutritious items that you serve. Instead of centering a meal on meat, use protein as a side dish and make it beans rather than beef.

4. Browse new recipes. Pick up a cookbook at the bookstore or surf the Web for interesting takes on old favorites. Reduced fat and low calorie variations are plentiful. Subscribe to a variety of weight, diet, or food sites for free daily or weekly newsletters that can enrich your cooking skills as evidenced in your entrees. Or type in a few ingredients that you have on hand for a search and see which recipes turn up.

5. Swap meals with a neighbor. If you know someone who struggles with similar concerns, such as healthy meals for family members on a time or money budget, see if you can work out a plan to trade meals occasionally. It's often fun to eat other people's cooking, but find out first what each other's families like or don't like so your surprise will not be unwelcome. You might try this with a few different families to increase the variety of selections.

Cooking nutritiously need not be boring or difficult. Mix a little creativity with a taste of adventure, and you're sure to come up with some new family favorites.