Tips for Healthy Cooking for a Delicious 4th of July

I just returned from a wedding in Puerto Rico where much of the food was local fried plantains and sauce driven food – it made me think that we have our annual clambake this weekend in the Hamptons, and since that involves lobster and butter and hot dogs, I was trying to think of what other ways we could incorporate healthy cooking into our 4th of July family weekend.

Cooking healthy food for the 4th of July basically translates into reducing the sodium and sugar content, as well as the grams of saturated and trans-fats in your holiday meal. It also means adding vitamins and minerals by serving vegetable and fruit based dishes. Keep your traditional Independence Day recipes by making small changes to the portion size too!

Meat on the Grill
Place chicken and fish on the grill for healthier fare. The healthiest fish include salmon and trout because they contain omega-3 fatty acids which are good for your heart. Choose skinless chicken breasts instead of dark meat. Replace hamburgers with turkey burgers or vegetarian burgers.

Our "Ship Ahoy!" Nautical Sunsuit Top & Check Panty would be a perfect outfit for your little girl on 4th of July

Replacing Chips and Soda
Replace the chips and soda in your Fourth of July meal with healthier options. Instead of store bought potato chips grill steak-cut French fries brushed with olive oil to use with dips, alongside fresh cut vegetables such as carrot and celery sticks. Instead of soda, serve fresh brewed lightly sweetened iced tea with fresh lemon. Take out your blender and mix up fresh fruit smoothies with strawberry’s, peaches and other summer fruits.

Dessert
I am always a fan of “homemade’ baked goods and everything organic from scractch! Bake your own all-natural desserts this Independence Day instead of purchasing commercial baked goods. Use whole grain flour to add fiber and vitamins. Bake with egg substitutes to reduce the cholesterol content. Banana bread, carrot cake, fruit cobblers and oatmeal raisin cookies represent desserts on the healthier side. Instead of ice cream serve sorbet and low-fat frozen yogurt. Throw some fruit kabobs on the grill made with pineapple and plums.

Reduce and it Still Tastes Good
To make healthy adjustments to your favorite recipes, start by simply reducing the portion size. Cut a pie into eight slices instead of six and make smaller hamburgers. Remove the salt from recipes or reduce the amount by half — except in baked goods. For pasta salad and dip recipes that call for mayonnaise and sour cream, use low-fat versions or substitute low-fat yogurt for half the amount called for to preserve the taste of the full-fat version.

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New USDA Guidelines for kids eating!

The USDA just released a week ago a document outlining new eating guidelines for Americans, including our kiddos. But just what do these guidelines mean and how can we incorporate them in our everyday eating habits? The main changes since the last update five years ago include: Reducing daily sodium intake to 2,300 milligrams, eating more fish (especially pregnant and breastfeeding women), and increasing physical activity.

In my opinion, the basic advice is the same. The new edge on these ideas is that the USDA is recognizing the fact that it’s very hard for people to follow that advice.

Candidly acknowledging the lack of progress, the USDA Guidelines Advisory Committee said they were aimed at, “an American public of whom the majority are overweight or obese and yet undernourished in several key nutrients.”

Lower Your Sodium
Lowering your sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams (about 1 teaspoon) is one of the key recommendations. For people who already have hypertension, diabetes, and other illnesses, this number drops to less than 1500 mg a day.

Increase physical activity
Children ages 6-17 should do 60 minutes or more of physical activity daily. Adults ages 18-64 should do at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity.

 

Make the Switch to Fat-Free or 1% Milk
Only babies and children under 2 should be drinking whole milk. Everyone else should switch to low-fat or fat-free milk products.

Kids overwhelmingly choose flavored milk over plain, making it one of the few bright spots in the milk sales landscape, despite the otherwise seen milk sales plummet over the years as kids embraced sugary soda and sports drinks. Dairy interests are vigorously promoting flavored milk in schools through their “Raise Your Hand for Chocolate Milk!” campaign, endorsed also by the School Nutrition Association, representing some 53,000 of the nations school food service workers.

An eight-ounce carton of strawberry milk contains nearly as much sugar, ounce-for-ounce, as Mountain Dew. Very scary right?

 

Eat More Seafood
Consume 8 to 12 ounces of seafood per week from a variety of seafood types. Pregnant and breastfeeding women should eat seafood at least twice a week for nutrients that play an important role in babies’ brain and eye development.

 

 

Consume More Whole Grains
At least half the grains you consume should be whole grains. Do this by replacing refined grains with whole grains.

 

Cut Down on Saturated Fats
Consume less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fatty acids. This means that we need to cut down consumption of animal products, dairy, eggs and also of processed foods (trans fats hide under the guise of hydrogenated oil in processed foods). We need to replace these with good fats like monounsaturated fatty acids (found in walnuts, pistachios, avocados and olive oil) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (found in salmon, fish oil, safflower oil etc).

Lower Your Dietary Cholesterol Consumption
Consume less than 300 mg per day of dietary cholesterol. Dietary cholesterol comes from animal and dairy products but not from fruits and vegetables. So basically this means less meat and more plants!

 

 

Reduce Added Sugars
Read nutrition labels to look for added sugars. Beware! Added sugars often “hide” behind less common monikers. Look for these varieties in your ingredient list: brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrates, glucose, high fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, lactose, maltose, malt syrup, molasses, raw sugar, sucrose, and syrup.

Fight Fat
Use oils to replace solid fats like butter, tallow, shortening and margarine.

Eat More Fruit
Nearly everyone can stand to increase their fruit intake. The USDA recommends about four 1/2-cup servings of fruit a day.

Eat Your Vegetables!
Increase your intake of vegetables including leafy greens, peas, and other brightly colored veggies.

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