Cooking for your family is a big and important job. Because you decide what everyone eats every day. Without a good plan and deep knowledge of food, you could put everyone’s health in danger. And you certainly don’t want that.
But, serving healthy food for your family isn’t that difficult. So please don’t be discouraged before you try it. Also, I have some great tips for you so that you and your entire family can eat healthy 24/7.
More fruits and vegetables
This is probably the easiest and most delicious tip on this list. Fruits and vegetables are good for you, affordable, and taste good. And considering that there are many different fruits and vegetables available everywhere, there are endless possibilities to serve healthy food for your family.
By serving as many fruits and vegetables to your family, no one is going to need additional vitamin pills. If you have kids at home, you can train their taste buds to get used to vegetables. With enough time, you can serve them vegetables and they’ll like it and feel full after each meal.
Fruits are also very easy to serve and I’m pretty sure everyone isn’t going to complain about fruits. Try buying different fruits all the time and see which fruits are best for your family. You can always turn them into smoothies if you want to.
A bonus tip for you: try to introduce vegetables with appealing words, so instead of saying green beans, you can say sweet and crispy green beans with almonds.
Always read food ingredient and nutrition labels
Many food companies are sneaky when it comes to honesty. Just because the packaging says low sugar or healthy, doesn’t mean that that’s true. Always read the labels and if you don’t know what some words mean, Google them.
After you’ve read enough labels, you’ll know what to avoid and what to look for. You are your family’s gates to the food they get in the house. By educating yourself, you’re keeping your family safe from bad companies.
Reduce sugary drinks
Sugary drinks are the number one cause of obesity. They’re so harmful especially to children since children love sugary drinks.
Even if you and your family love sugary drinks, you can always cut the amount of sugar consumption by more than 50%. First, you can try switching sugary drink to 100% juice products. Or even better, switch all sugary drinks to smoothies.
You can also try flavored iced teas, just remember to sweeten them yourself. Sugary drinks are bad because they contain a lot of calories but no nutrients.
Regular mealtimes
Many households don’t have regular mealtimes, they eat whenever they’re ready. But it isn’t good for your family. If your family eats at regular times, everyone would be healthier.
Especially important, if one or more of your family members are overweight. Schedule regular mealtimes and create a rule that says snacks are only available between lunch and dinner. This way you can stop them from overeating.
To summarize, only eat 3 meals a day, those 3 meals are scheduled, and no more than one snack each day and only between lunch and dinner.
Encourage your children to eat slowly
Sometimes children eat really fast so they can continue playing. This makes them hungry at a faster rate. That’s why it’s important to encourage your kids to eat slowly.
Teach them to appreciate the food in front of them and chew properly. This could make them eat slower and if they ask for a second serving, ask them to wait at least 15 minutes. After 15 minutes you can ask them again. If they’re still hungry, serve them a much smaller portion than the first and with more veggies.
Involve your children in shopping and preparing meals
This is actually a great way to teach your kids to recognize and appreciate healthy foods. Always explain to them why a certain food is better for them than others. You can also learn your kids’ food preferences this way.
Kids who understand food and how to prepare a meal are more willing to eat food that they help prepare. Even if you put more vegetables in it.
Your family depends on you
Never think that you’re powerless when it comes to your family’s health. In fact, it’s the opposite. You decide how healthy your family can be, by serving them healthy food every single day.