Preparing a home cooked meal after a long day of work can be intimidating but it does not have to be. Cooking a healthy and affordable dinner can be something anyone, regardless of cooking experience, can do. With a bit of time, practice, and some reading anyone can learn how to make a home cooked meal for yourself and your family.
When first starting to cook healthy meals for your family, begin by working with a plan. A good goal is to plan 5 dinners throughout the week. That gives you enough for one night of leftovers and one night for everyone to go out for a treat. If your budget is a bit tighter, plan either 2 leftovers nights or 6 meals. When making these plans, make a goal to be to aim for variety. See what produce is available at the store, find out what sales are available and use that to dictate dinner. Aim to include one night of chicken, one night of beef, one night of vegetarian, one of some other protein, and something for the 5th. For a variety of starches look for no more than one night per week of brown rice, one for whole wheat pasta, and one for another starch. By fulfilling those requirements, will be sure to offer your family many choices. In general, eating more types of foods leads to a healthier and more well-balanced diet. Also, adding this variety allows you to stock up on foods that can freeze when they go on sale and use them as you go.
Remember when planning meals at first like this to use lean and healthy meats like chicken breast, top sirloin, filets, and fish. And use whole grains whenever possible rather than refined carbohydrates like white rice, pasta, or russet potatoes.
After you get in the habit of cooking dinner for your family and have learned a handful of recipes it is time to stop focusing so much on the meat and grains. Healthy proteins and whole grains are still a part of a balanced diet but it is easy to go over on calories and budget when you are eating beef 1 or 2 nights per week. Now it is time to focus more on the fresh fruits and vegetables.
Hopefully by now you have a well stocked pantry and freezer for your staple ingredients. If so you can shop at the produce section, or better yet farmers’ markets, and let the fresh and local produce dictate the meals. Instead of making a list that offers variety and buying the ingredients you need to prepare them every week, go to the store with a handful of recipes you are able to make and look at the fruits and vegetables. Buy things that are in season. It will taste better, be cheaper, and usually be even healthier.
By making the fruits and vegetables the focus of the meals rather than the meats and grains, you can use fewer expensive and high calorie cuts of meat and lower and more affordable produce.
Learning how to make healthy family meals does not have to be so difficult. Start by careful planning while learning the basics. Be sure to offer plenty of variety. And eventually learn to let your local growing season dictate your purchases. By following these three steps you can go from someone that eats in a restaurant every night to someone that is preparing amazing home-cooked meals every night. Eventually, your favorite restaurant may be inside your own house!
