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How to cook more at home

Food preparation

Safe food preparation

Foodborne illnesses don't just come from restaurants. In fact, they usually come from bad food preparation, serving, and storage at home. Follow the guidelines below to keep your food as safe as possible:

Close up of a chef's hands preparing leafy greensWash hands and surfaces often using hot, soapy water. Wash your hands before and after you handle food or utensils, especially raw meat, poultry, fish, or eggs.

Wash all fruits and vegetables before eating.

Separate raw, cooked, and ready-to-eat foods. Keep raw meat, poultry, fish, or eggs away from other foods to prevent cross-contamination. If possible, use separate cutting boards for these foods. If not, be sure to wash cutting boards carefully with soap between uses.

Cook foods to a safe temperature using a food thermometer. Uncooked or undercooked animal products can be unsafe.

Keep hot foods hot (above 140 degrees) and cold foods cold (below 40 degrees) to prevent bacteria growth. Refrigerate foods within two hours of purchase or preparation (one hour if the temperature is higher than 90 degrees).

When in doubt, throw it out. If you are not sure that food has been prepared, served, or stored properly, throw it out. If food has been left out for more than two hours, throw it out. Eat cooked leftovers within fo ur days.

Healthy cooking

  Healthy eating also involves preparing food to preserve nutrients and prevent disease, as well as paying attention to food production issues.

Healthy cooking

When preparing food, aim to preserve the nutrient value of the food and utilize healthy fats, reasonable portions, and whole foods. Here are a few tips:

Use healthy cooking methods such as steaming, broiling, grilling and roasting. Frying requires adding fat to achieve the desired results and deep-fried foods add considerable fat to the American diet.

Cook foods in as little water and for as short a period of time as possible to preserve all water soluble vitamins (Bs and C).

Use a variety of herbs and spices for additional flavor rather than relying on salt alone.

Avoid packaged or processed foods, which are likely to contain added salt, sugar and fats. Recognize that consuming these foods increases your intake of salt, sugar, and fats considerably (often without knowing specifically what or how much). As we eat more and more processed foods, we eat less of the phytochemicals and nutrients our bod ies need.   

Basics of healthy eating

These 8 practical tips cover the basics of healthy eating and can help you make healthier choices.

The key to a healthy diet is to eat the right amount of calories for how active you are so you balance the energy you consume with the energy you use.

If you eat or drink more than your body needs, you'll put on weight because the energy you do not use is stored as fat. If you eat and drink too little, you'll lose weight.

You should also eat a wide range of foods to make sure you're getting a balanced diet and your body is receiving all the nutrients it needs.

It's recommended that men have around 2,500 calories a day (10,500 kilojoules). Women should have around 2,000 calories a day (8,400 kilojoules).

Most adults in the UK are eating more calories than they need and should eat fewer calories.

1. Base your meals on higher fibre starchy carbohydrates

2. Eat lots of fruit and veg

3. Eat more fish, including a portion of oily fish

4. Cut down on saturated fat and sugar

5. Eat less salt: no more than 6g a day for adults

6. Get active and be a healthy weight

7. Do not get thirsty

8. Do not skip breakfast 

Choosing the best soil

It’s all about the soil

The best soil suitable for vegetables includes lots of compost and organic matter such as composted leaves and ground or shredded, aged bark. Whatever you’re starting with, incorporate enough organic material so that the amended soil is neither sandy nor compacted.

When the mix is right, it will bind together when you squeeze it but breaks apart easily when disturbed. This soil is full of living microorganisms that help feed your plants. Water will be sufficiently retained and yet won’t saturate the soil eith er.

Importance of eating fruits and vegetables

 Why is it important to eat vegetables?

Eating vegetables provides health benefits — people who eat more vegetables and fruits as part of an overall healthy diet are likely to have a reduced risk of some chronic diseases. Vegetables provide nutrients vital for health and maintenance of your body.

 

Nutrients

Most vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories. None have cholesterol. (Sauces or seasonings may add fat, calories, and/or cholesterol.)

Vegetables are important sources of many nutrients, including potassium, dietary fiber, folate (folic acid), vitamin A, and vitamin C.

Diets rich in potassium may help to maintain healthy blood pressure. Vegetable sources of potassium include sweet potatoes, white potatoes, white beans, tomato products (paste, sauce, and juice), beet greens, soybeans, lima beans, spinach, lentils, and kidney beans.

Dietary fiber from vegetables, as part of an overall healthy diet, helps reduce blood cholesterol levels and may lower risk of heart disease. Fiber is important for proper bowel function. It helps reduce constipation and diverticulosis. Fiber-containing foods such as vegetables help provide a feeling of fullness with fewer calories.

Folate (folic acid) helps the body form red blood cells. Women of childbearing age who may become pregnant should consume adequate folate from foods, and in addition 400 mcg of synthetic folic acid from fortified foods or supplements. This reduces the risk of neural tube defects, spina bifida, and anencephaly during fetal development.

Vitamin A keeps eyes and skin healthy and helps to protect against infections.

Vitamin C helps heal cuts and wounds and keeps teeth and gums healthy. Vitamin C aids in iron absorption.

 

Health benefits

As part of an overall healthy diet, eating foods such as vegetables that are lower in calories per cup instead of some other higher-calorie food may be useful in helping to lower calorie intake.

Eating a diet rich in vegetables and fruits as part of an overall healthy diet may reduce risk for heart disease, including heart attack and stroke.

Eating a diet rich in some vegetables and fruits as part of an overall healthy diet may protect against certain types of cancers.

Adding vegetables can help increase intake of fiber and potassium, which are important nutrients that many Americans do not get enough o f in their diet.