Healthy Cooking (Learning about Nutrition)

  We live in a fabulous world with a surplus of food; a nation where we can have a meal in no time flat.  With a thing called “microwavable meals” we become magicians in our own kitchen.  With only the press of a button, minutes later a hot and steamy meal magically appears.  Driving?  Out of time?  No worries, just hit the drive-through, no need to even stop or get out of the car, just be ready to make the catch!  Or if you’re not the best receiver on the team and pushing buttons isn’t for you, your meal may come delivery.

   With ready made meals, does anyone cook anymore?  And what does healthy even mean?  If ice-cream fulfills our dairy requirement, Minute Maid takes care of the fruit, and Cheetos count for veggies (after-all, they LOOK like baby carrots), does that mean we have a well-balanced diet?

   I’m of the opinion that most people WANT to eat healthy, or at least know they should.  Making that happen though is an altogether different story.

    I have a confession, I don’t have a degree in nutrition (this is something I aspire to), I’ve taken only one college nutrition class, and what I eat isn’t always 100% healthy.  Pretzel M&M’s are my weakness and I’d probably choose a bag of those over lets say an apple or a nice broccoli tree.  My blogging about nutrition is all to do with the RS IT Specialist being my visiting teacher and looking desperately, I’m sure, for someone to blog for the Relief Society, why else would she ask me? 

   I do however try to eat mostly healthy.  I love the subject of nutrition.  I love learning about it and trying to apply what I learn to what I cook and eat.  I am amazed how what I eat contributes to how well I feel. 

 With that in the open, as long as you don't judge my posts too harshly we can discuss, blog and comment back and forth our thoughts on nutrition.

                 
 Here are some of nutrition sites and blogs.  Some are my go-to favorites and some are really good to reference:

Health Castle  http://www.healthcastle.com/

Nutrition Info  http://www.calorieking.com/

My Pyramid  http://www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid/index.html , http://www.mypyramid.gov/mypyramid/index.aspx

Green Smoothie Girl  http://www.greensmoothiegirl.com/

Unconventional Cooking  http://unconventionalkitchen.blogspot.com/  (http://www.unconventionalkitchen.com/)

         "There is nothing difficult about healthy eating. It is simply a common-sense approach to food that is easy to live with, once you get used to it."  Health Castle

By McKell P.