How many times did you eat out last week? Or pick up take-out pizza or Chinese food? Sometimes it feels like there isn’t enough time to prepare meals at home. Let me offer tips to make cooking at home easier. You’ll be able to save both money and calories, fat and sodium!!
Try planning your leftovers…
- Make extra and put it into a different dish later in the week.
- Grilled chicken tonight can be used in a veggie stir-fry tomorrow.
- Meatballs from tonight’s spaghetti can be turned into meatball subs (served with a salad!)
- Beans as a side dish can be used in a hearty veggie soup.
- Grilled salmon can be served atop a salad tomorrow.
Think of convenience items to get your meal started…
- Pair a ready-made pizza crust with leftover spaghetti sauce, reduced-fat cheese and your favorite veggies on top.
- Add leftover meat/cheese/veggies to a store-bought multi-grain sub rolls.
- Frozen vegetables can be a quick and easy way to get in your veggies.
Think breakfast for dinner…
- Homemade pancakes or waffles with berries, and turkey sausage patties on the side.
- Scrambled eggs (or egg substitutes!) with reduced-fat shredded cheese, fruit cup and toasted English muffin.
- Hash brown potatoes cooked in skillet with eggs on top, and sliced melon.
Preparing more meals at home gives you control of the ingredients – so you consume less sodium, saturated fat and sugar. And it provides the opportunity for your children to lend a hand during meal preparation and to learn cooking techniques.
