Healthy Cooking 101 Victoria Ferrante Senior Nutrition Student Greater Boston Food Bank

Healthy Shopping Healthy Cooking starts with shopping The Gatekeeper- the person in the household that controls what foods go into the home

Simple Shopping Tip: Watch out for Sodium Sodium –Experts recommend not eating more than 1500 mg of sodium per day –Canned foods, processed foods such as Mac N’ Cheese, Ramen Noodles, frozen pizzas… Aim for less than 300 mg of Sodium per 1 serving

Healthy Cooking There are many easy ways to make meals healthier for you and your family! –Even simple, and small changes go a long way! What are some changes you think you could do?

Small, Simple Changes Add a vegetable and/or fruit –Fresh, frozen or canned Rinse all canned vegetables with water before eating –What fruits or vegetables would you add to: Mac N’ cheese Frozen or homemade pizza Ramen Noodles Ice cream or yogurt

Small, Simple Changes Reduce Fat –Try switching from whole milk to 2% or 1% Or from 2% to 1% or skim in recipes –Mac N’ Cheese or Ramen Noodles Try cutting back ¼ -½ the packet Lowers calories, fat and sodium

Small, Simple Changes Replace or Switch –Chips and Dip Replace chips for carrots, celery, broccoli or any of your favorite vegetables Dip: choose low fat dip or make your own with low fat sour cream or low fat yogurt –This lowers calories, fat, sodium while increasing nutrients like protein and fiber

Small, Simple Changes Cut back on the “Pack” –Seasoning and sauce packets contain a lot of calories, fat and sodium –Cut down on the seasoning or sauce packets Mac N’ Cheese Ramen Noodles- –If you cut back ½ the packet, you save 900 mg of sodium, about 2/3 of what experts recommend Lean Cuisines or any other TV dinners with sauces

Small, Simple Changes Add a lean protein –Fresh, frozen, or canned –Chicken –Fish (limit to 2 times per week) Choose canned fish packed in water –Beans Rinse all canned beans before eating

Juice Try to use juice with 100% fruit juices Juices contain a lot of extra calories that you don’t need –Try diluting or mixing juice with water to lower calories and make juice last longer Start with ¼ water and ¾ juice or ½ water and ½ juice

Healthy Cooking: Shake the Salt Salt contains a lot of sodium –1 tsp of salt = 2400 mg of sodium Cook without salt Try using herbs or seasonings for different flavors –Lemon/ lime juice –Dried, fresh peppers –Onions

Cheers to Healthy Cooking There are many small changes to make meals healthy –Pick only a few small changes that you can make or want to make What changes do you think you are willing to make?

Questions? Thank you for you time!