10 Painless Ways to Improve Your Family's Diet

It is easy to fall into the trap of mindlessly preparing meals for your family. The recipe calls for a cup of oil, so you pour one in. A cup of flour is needed, so you use a cup of bleached, enriched, white flour. In general, foods we make at home are superior to convenience super market foods because they lack much of the sodium and other preservatives necessary for maintaining shelf life. However, with a little bit of planning and knowledge about healthy ingredients, you can get into the habit of improving the recipes you already make.

1. If a recipe calls for flour, use half 100% whole wheat flour. Whole grains are excellent for heart health, being richer in fiber and lower in calories than traditional white flour. Often, substituting 1/2 wheat flour in a recipe does not drastically change the overall taste. At the very least, avoid bleached flour.

2. If a recipe calls for butter or oil, use half applesauce instead. Applesauce is low in fat, calories and cholesterol. By using applesauce, you greatly reduce the fat content of your recipe. You may notice a small change in texture or consistency, but the taste is still great. If a half and half substitution is too much of a change for your family's taste buds, try using 1/4 applesauce in your recipes.

3. When possible, use milk instead of water. When making liquid based meals and drinks (tomato soup, hot chocolate, etc.) go for milk instead of water. When you do this, you add calcium and vitamins A & D to your meal or beverage. Using milk also greatly enhances flavor.

4. Limit sugar drinks. Kool Aid, sodas, juice drinks...all are loaded with sugar and have very little nutritional value. If your family is addicted to these drinks, phase them out slowly. Consider allowing your family members 2 cans of pop per week, for instance, then let them decide when they will drink them. Offer healthy, tasty alternatives. Offering Ovaltine, 100% juice drinks or even chocolate milk is better than letting your family fill up on sugar which will harm their teeth, attention spans and energy levels.

5. Find substitutes for chips. Whole grain crackers, soda crackers, pretzels, graham crackers or even saltines are better than snack chips. The more you reduce artificial colors and preservatives, the more you guard your family's physical health. (By the way, did you know that all Red number ingredients (#4, #40) are derivatives of petroleum? Red 40 is a common ingredient in chips and drinks that are orange or red in color. )

6. Limit red meat consumption. This is a hard one for our family. I grew up on a dairy farm and probably had red meat every day of my life until I was a teenager. However, red meat is high in fat and eating too much of it may have a negative effect on your health. Eat more fish and poultry instead.

7. Use brown or wild rice instead of white. Sure, preparing brown or wild rice takes more time and the texture is a little different, but it is superior to white rice in composition and health benefits. Brown and wild rice are whole grains and give you all the benefits of wheat flour, oatmeal, etc.

8. Use fresh or frozen fruits instead of canned. Fruit is usually canned in a highly concentrated sugar syrup. Fresh fruits have the highest concentration of nutrients without the processed sugar. The rule: Food is always healthier in its natural, original form.

9. Use fresh or frozen veggies, instead of canned. This follows the same principle as the fruit, only canned vegetables are usually loaded with extra salt. Frozen veggies are the way to go when the fresh vegetables you want are out of season. Frozen vegetables retain most of their natural nutrients. Steam vegetables and do not boil them to preserve flavor and nutritional content.

10. Avoid sliced or packaged deli meats. Sliced, packaged deli meats are almost always loaded with salt and preservatives. You are much better off buying a turkey or ham, cooking it, and then slicing and freezing the meat yourself.

Making changes to your family's diet is not an easy thing to do. Eating habits are learned and deeply engrained in our lives. Implementing a few of these changes will improve your family's overall health without compromising taste.