Nourishing meals are just at your fingertips… but you have to be prepared to cook in a healthier way than you might have been doing in the past.  If you want to undestand more about nutrition, equip your kitchen, and get organized, here are some tips for you from Pregnancy Today!

Getting Started

• Buy yourself some healthy-style cookbooks.
• Use the internet to search for healthy recipes, and cooking techniques and tips.
• Pay more attention to food labels. Pre-packaged snack foods are often loaded with calories and unhealthy hydrogenated oils.
• Browse around the organic food sections.
• Think about portion control.  Often, foods are packaged to look like one portion, when they actually contain two or more.

Try these healthy substitudes:

• Brown rice instead of white rice.
• Olive oil in place of vegetable oils.
• Whole-wheat bread in place of white bread.
• Whole-grain cereals instead of white cereals.
• Cocoa made with skim milk and lightly sugared instead of artificially-sweetened cocoa mix.
• Sparkling water with a squeeze or two of fresh fruit juice rather than diet soda.
• A cup of dry cereal made from whole grains instead of a granola bar.
• Regular yogurt mixed with fresh fruit in place of artificially-sweetened yogurt.

Some staples you may want to keep on hand when fixing healthy meals:

• Canned salmon, tuna and anchovies
• Frozen vegetables
• Whole wheat flour
• Yellow cornmeal
• Barley
• Dried beans
• Lentils
• Brown rice
• Canned tomatoes
• Low-sodium chicken broth
• Egg substitute
• Whole-wheat tortillas
• Tofu
• Yogurt (without artificial sweeteners)
• Frozen chicken breast
• Frozen fish fillet

Instead of pre-packaged snacks, try:

• Fresh fruits (apples, oranges, melons, grapes)
• Fresh vegetables (baby carrots, pepper slices, cherry tomatoes)
• String cheese
• Hummus as a dip or spread
• Nuts
• Canned soups (low sodium preferred)

Quick, healthy meal ideas:

• Whip up some scrambled eggs (or use a cup of egg substitute and cook like scrambled eggs) adding some fresh vegetables (leftovers work great, too!). Serve with whole-wheat toast and yogurt with fruit.
• Add a cup of frozen vegetables to canned soup. Heat thoroughly and serve with whole-wheat crackers and fruit.
• Roll leftover chicken or turkey in a whole-wheat wrap with lettuce and tomato.
• Boil a pot of water, add veges (carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash) and make a tasty vegetable soup.  You can put it in the blender for a pureed soup!
• Whole wheat pasta or cous cous topped with sauteed veges.
• Oatmeal with cinnamon and skim milk, plus a fruit salad.
• Salads topped with: corn, heart of palm, avocado, olives, tuna, salmon, beans, nuts, feta cheese.

For something a little more advanced, try these recipes from The Pregnancy Cookbook:

• Glazed Salmon on Garlicky Greens recipe.
• Penne with Chicken, Asparagus, Lemon and Tarragon recipe.

You know how much I love Dr. Sears, and once again he’s sharing some great ideas to make the  holidays not just fun and delicious, but safe and nutritious too!

Here’s a reminder list of a few healthy ideas to make your Thanksgiving day just a bit healthier. Of course, it IS Thanksgiving and a little overindulgence is OK. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

1. Use whole wheat or whole grain bread for your stuffing instead of white bread.

2. Make homemade cranberries instead of the jellied cranberries in a can. See our recipe: http://www.askdrsears.com/news/thanksgiving.asp#1

3. Buy an all natural hormone-free Turkey for the main event.

4. Substitute Omega-3 enriched oil-based spread instead of butter, margarine or shortening.

5. Offer more healthy vegetable dishes to balance out all the starches like stuffing and potatoes.

6. Bake your dishes instead of frying when possible.

7. Keep the skin on. Encourage eating the skin of your sweet potatoes and leave the skin on your mashed potatoes. Potato skin is loaded with vitamins.

8. Use whole wheat pie-crust on one or more of your pies for a healthier alternative.

9. Use fresh all-natural ingredients whenever possible, they are always healthier than something out of a can or a box.

10. Watch the salt! Most recipes already contain enough salt and don’t need more once they are on your plate.

We hope this inspires you to try a healthier (yet still delicious) version of Thanksgiving dinner. While you are preparing your dinner, you will probably come up with some of your own healthy ideas. Once again, Happy Thanksgiving!!

Click here for more healthy Thanksgiving tips and recipes.

Keeping Your Family Safe in the Kitchen on Thanksgiving

According to the National Fire Protection Association, fires are more likely to occur on Thanksgiving Day than any other day of the year. Kitchen fires from cooking are the number one cause of home fires and home fire injuries. In fact, the number of structure fires that occur on Thanksgiving Day is three times higher than the daily average of structure fires in the US.

Here are a few tips to prevent home fires this Thanksgiving:

• Keep your stove clear. 12% of all fires occur because something that could catch fire was too close to the stove; dish towels, pot holders, food packaging and even wooden utensils.

• Stay in the kitchen. Don’t leave your stove unattended while cooking, if you have to step away, even for a short time, turn off the stove. Unattended cooking is the leading cause of Thanksgiving Day home fires.

• Set a timer. Aside from the obvious, not burning the turkey or pies, etc, this helps to keep track of food that requires extended cooking times as well as keeping your ears from hearing the piercing sound of the smoke alarm or worse.

• Keep children out of the kitchen. Be sure to keep all pot handles turned in so they are not accessible to little hands. Cook on the back burner as much as possible.

• Wear short or close fitting sleeves when cooking.

Even with the best preparation accidents can happen.

Click here to read Dr. Sears’ guide to treating burns; what to do immediately following a burn, how to treat the burn and whether or not you should page your doctor or take your child to the ER.