Snacks and lunches provide the biggest temptation to revert to convenience food. However, it is quite easy to take a little more time in the morning to prepare something nutritious.
If you have children, and they are attending a party or other social event where commercial food will be served, it is also easy to make an alternative at home, like home-made chips. Healthy snack recipes are just as easy as easy healthy meals.
Commercial chips (or anything else deep-fried) available at take-away shops and restaurants are full of free radicals because they are made with cheap, nasty oil, which is continually heated. Beautiful chips can be made at home and are a healthy alternative.
Free radicals are present in cheap vegetable oils like canola, and the numerous bottles in the supermarket labelled "Cholesterol Free". The level of free radicals present in these oils increases astronomically when they are used for deep frying, especially when the oil is heated to very high temperatures over and over again. Free radicals cause oxidative damage, which creates inflammation in the body. The inflammation damages cells and results in premature ageing. If you do need to buy commercial chips occasionally for a children's birthday, use a plain, unflavoured chip that is cooked in sunflower oil. Avoid all commercial chips cooked in vegetable oil.
4 Large potatoes
Coconut oil (cover 2 cm of a small saucepan)
Salt
Slice the round edges off the potato, leaving a rectangle.
1. Cut into even slices, and then even strips.
2. Place in cold, salty water, and cook until the potato is just starting to feather on the outside when stirred.
3. Drain, and place into a large tray.
4. Place in the fridge for 4 to 6 hours.
5. Heat the oil until it reaches 160°C.
6. Cook the potato in small batches, stirring occasionally to avoid the chips sticking together.
7. Place chips on a paper towel and season.
Healthy snack recipes are easy with a few simple recipes.
Easy Healthy Meals #2 - Healthy Birthday Parties
Do we need to feed our children junk food for birthday parties? At a recent party, I heard a mother say, "You have to give them junk food at a birthday party!" I guess people think that the kids won't have a good time without it.
I have been throwing healthy birthday parties for my children for the last 10 years, and I can tell you that they don't need the junk food. You can provide healthy food that they will love, and they won't even realise it is healthy. The food always gets demolished at my children's parties. They love it. Even the teenage boys that come to my 15 year old's parties devour the food.
Here is my favourite spread for birthday parties:
Crumbed chicken
Sushi
Chips
Fruit
Ice cream cake
Pineapple punch
As Jamie Oliver says, "This is the first generation of children expected to die before their parents." We need to stop feeding our children garbage. We have a great opportunity to make such a difference in their lives by taking a stand, putting in a small amount of effort, and feeding them well, even at birthday parties.
Healthy Birthday Parties are as easy as easy healthy meals with a few simple recipes. Recipes for all the above can be found in "Great Health is a Piece of Cake".
