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Bodies
Home Bodies
by
Gay Riley
Cooking at Home Saves
Calories and Money
Dining out has become a way of life in America.
Americans eat from two to 21 meals away from
home each week (that's 104-1,092 meals a
year). We have become a sedentary, impatient
society. We have more food choices than ever
before, and convenience food is available
to us 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
High tech lifestyles, physical laziness,
long work hours, television, and food availability
have made Americans one of the fattest nationalities.
Most people eat about 10 of the same foods
on a regular basis. You can save 20 percent
or more in fat calories by preparing those
10 foods at home with low-fat ingredients
rather than eating at a restaurant. Restaurants
add fat for flavor, satisfaction (fat satiates
mind and body), and as a cheap stabilizer.
Foods on buffets and steam tables are often
loaded with fat to keep them fresh longer.
Preparing food at home has many advantages.
· You can save money.
· You control the sugar, fat and salt.
· You burn calories because preparation requires some physical exertion.
Even for a quick meal, you must shop, prepare and clean up.
· You can relieve stress.
Keeping healthy, delicious foods close at
hand is a good way to lower your risk of
impulse eating. If you come home from work
and there's nothing to eat, you'll probably
opt for fast food or home delivery. However,
if you have ground turkey breast, nonfat
cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, red bell
pepper, onions and taco seasonings, you can
make a low-fat taco salad in just a few minutes.
How long does it take to steam some broccoli
and cheese in your microwave? Compare the
fat savings of a quick meal at home versus
a fast-food version. For example, in a fast-food
taco salad, there are 905 calories with 61
percent of those calories from fat. However,
a homemade taco salad with two ounces of
chips is 532 calories and just 17 percent
fat.
Try the following recipes for quick and tasty
dishes. Make a file of favorite low-fat foods,
and keep your kitchen well stocked with those
items. Every time you go to the grocery store
pick up your most commonly eaten foods. Eat
the same dish on a specific day of the week,
for example, chicken and rice on Monday night,
taco salad on Tuesday night, spaghetti on
Wednesday nights, rice and beans on Thursday
night, and beef kabobs on Friday nights.
This way you do not have to waste mental
energy thinking about what to eat. Use this
same concept for designating a particular
day of the month to shop for food. Wednesdays
or Thursdays you might shop for meat, poultry,
fish and protein foods for bargains, and
fresh deliveries. Mondays you might shop
for bread, cereals, and produce. Buy large
quantities of these foods and freeze them
so you do not need to constantly make little
trips to the store. Every time you shop remember
to pick up a few of the staple foods you
eat most often such as salsa, pastas, dried
and canned beans, crushed garlic, etc.
The following recipes are
a few of my favorites. Alter some of your
favorite recipes for your lifestyle and fitness
goals.
- BREAKFAST STEW
- QUICK
POTATO SOUP
- BEAN
BURRITOS
- PARTY PIZZA
- APPLE DUMPLING
- GARDEN
TACO SALAD
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