I know many of you are not a big fan of cooking.
Neither am I.

But we still want to eat healthy and feed our family healthy foods, right?

So today I am bringing you some tips to make cooking easy, so that even a teenager will enjoy cooking.

Tada…..

Coz that`s what I am all about ya know- making life easy and healthy at the same time.

Here we go….
• First, plan what you need to eat.
• Every day you need to identify your protein sources, complex carbs, fats source and fruits and vegetables
• You should eat at least 7 servings of fruits and vegetables a day
• Eat least one fermented food a day. It is a great source of probiotics for your gut.

 
Steaming Vegetables:

Steaming vegetables is super easy.
Fill a pot with about 2 -3 inches of hot water and place a colander on top. Bring the water to a boil.

Add the vegetables and cover with a lid. Steam until soft.

Hard vegetables like potatoes and carrots take 14 minutes. Medium hard veggies like broccoli, cauliflower kale, peppers, take 7 minutes. Softer vegetables like zucchini and bok choy take 3 minutes and spinach just needs to be heated. Doing a medley is easy.
Start with the hard veggies. At the 7 minute mark, add the medium veggies and then the softer veggies at the 11 minutes mark when there is just 3 minutes left to go.

Season the veggies with butter or olive oil, lemon or lime juice, garlic and your favourite herbs like dill, parsley, cilantro, rosemary basil or oregano. Season to taste with sea salt and veggies.

 
Roasting and Grilling Vegetables:

Roasting vegetables is also easy. Hard veggies are best such as potatoes and sweet potatoes (leave the skin on), carrots, squash, parsnips, onions. Mix the vegetables with 1 tbsp olive oil, crushed garlic and your favourite herb such as oregano Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Season to taste with sea salt and pepper. If you want to ad red peppers and zucchini, then do so at the 15-20 minutes mark as they do not take as long to cook.

The same recipe for roasting can be used for grilling. Cut the veggies into strips, instead of chunks, and coat with the oil garlic and herb. Place on the grill. Or you can marinade the veggies in the same marinade as the meat or fish.

 
Marinating

• Marinating is an easy way to add flavour and texture and extra health benefits to any meal you are making. A marinade should contain oil, an acid and herbs and spices.
• Benefits of marinating: Add nutrients, makes foods more digestions, and improves the flavour and texture. If grilling, marinades can lower HCA-Compounds; create in the processing of the blackened grill marks. HCA-compounds may be carcinogenic.

 
Here is an Easy Marinade:

• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• ¼ cup chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic,
• Fresh or dried herb of choice
• A pinch of sea salt and pepper

Mix all the ingredients together and cover the meat or fish and let it sit in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

 
Salad as a Meal:

• Making a salad a meal is easy. Use your favorite greens and add fresh nutrient dense veggies. Fruit can also be added. Legumes make a great addition as they provide protein and complex carbohydrates. Leftover meat such as chicken could be added as a protein source or add nuts and seeds for protein and essential fatty acids. Adding aged raw milk cheese is another is an easy way to add a fermented food.
• Make you own dressings or use your favorite bottle dressing. Add yogurt to the salad dressing to make it creamy or miso as another way to add a fermented food.

 
Easy Salad Dressing:

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp yogurt or miso
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1/2 tsp honey
• 1 small clove garlic
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

Place all the ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake to mix or place in a bowl and which until smooth. Make a larger batch and store in the refrigerator to have ready to use as needed.

 
Seasonings:

• Herbs and spices are far more nutrient dense than food so a little goes a long way. They also have beneficial phytonutrients with all kinds of health benefits.
• Find the ones you like and stick with them to make it easier to prepare meals.
• Garlic and onions are too of the most beneficial foods around – they help support the liver, are full of antioxidants and contain prebiotic substances to help feed our good bacteria. Using them frequently add flavour and health benefits
• Sea salt and Himalayan salt are also good for seasoning as are tamari and coconut aminos if you want a like more of a salty taste.

 
So how`s zat?
Easy peasy right?

Happy cooking! 🙂
 
 

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