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 Stock Up on Your Health
By Dayna Winter, MS, RD
Don't let "What's for dinner?" keep you from eating healthy. Take control and stop the last minute drive-thru missions that sabotage your weight loss efforts. How? The key is to stock up on the right foods and ingredients. Revamp your pantry and you'll always have quick, healthy meals on hand. Here's what you need: Cold cereal Get the most nutritional bang for your buck from whole grain cereals with at least 4 grams of fiber, less than 6 grams of sugar and only 1 gram or less of saturated fat per 100 calories. Hot cereal Up your fiber, vitamin and mineral intake by choosing hot cereals that list a whole grain first on the ingredients list. Ones with flaxseed will boost your omega-3 intake, too. Canned beans Beans are an easy start to making a super healthy meal. Plus, they are loaded with iron, fiber and heart disease-fighting folic acid. Canned veggies Go for plain versions to avoid those excess calories in sauces. Look for a variety of colors—green beans, red tomatoes and orange carrots for a variety of vitamins and minerals. Canned fish Choose omega-3 rich canned light tuna or salmon for sandwiches or to toss with salad, pasta or rice to make a quick, easy dinner. Dried fruit No washing or peeling necessary! Plus, you get fiber and plenty of vitamins A and C. Opt for fruits that don't have added sugar. Grains All grains pack essential B vitamins and fiber. Try more unusual grains like quinoa, bulger and farro in addition to old standbys like rice, couscous and pasta. Choose whole grain, whole wheat versions or pastas with added fiber like Barilla PLUS for the most nutritional punch. Nuts and nut butters All nut butters star heart-healthy, monounsaturated fat, magnesium, vitamin E and potassium, and they are also a good source of protein. Oil Olive oil and canola oil are must-haves for any pantry. Both have heart-healthy monounsaturated fat and can be used in dressings, for stir-fries and more. Sauces No pantry would be complete without antioxidant-rich tomato sauce for pasta and pizza. Other sauces you might want to keep on hand include barbecue sauce for marinades and barbecuing, sweet-and-sour sauce for stir-fries and salsa as a zippy, lycopene-rich, low-calorie addition to almost any meal. Soup Get some extra protein by choosing bean soups or soups with some chicken or beef. But don't shy away from vegetable-based soups like minestrone and carrot. They pack in a good dose of vitamins like A and C. Soy milk or boxed regular milk Use these in cereals and for drinking on the days when fresh milk runs out. Spices A few antioxidant superstars include allspice, curry, cinnamon, clove, garlic powder, ginger, oregano, pepper, peppermint and sage. Let your imagination be your guide for using them in salads, marinades, pasta dishes, salad dressing and more. Garlic cloves Whole garlic can keep in the pantry for weeks. Chop the cloves individually as you need them and reap some possible anti-cancer benefits…as well as fresh flavor. Onions A must for almost any type of cuisine from Italian to Mexican. And they keep in the pantry for several weeks! Vinegar If you're getting bored of red wine vinegar, stock up on different flavors like raspberry and balsamic. Use them in dressings, marinades and to add zip to a stir-fry. As a reminder, always consult your doctor for medical advice and treatment before starting any program. |
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Don't let "What's for dinner?" keep you from eating healthy. Take control and stop the last minute drive-thru missions that sabotage your weight loss efforts. How? The key is to stock up on the right foods and ingredients.