10 Essentials for Healthy Eating; no fads, no diets, just some handy products to get you excited about cooking and preparing your own balanced food.
It’s January.
Our wallets are a bit skimpy and our waistlines are a little thicker. However, it is far too cold outside (for most of the Northern hemisphere) to be starting that running program or forcing down cold green juices.
Healthy, balanced eating does not have to be miserable. It also does not have to mean slashing your calorie intake in half or eliminating carbs (AKA joy) from your diet. Healthy eating is making sure you eat what you need to nourish your body, both in quantity and in nutritional quality.
This isn’t a list of stupid spiralisers and grim green powders. This post will give you 10 products that will actually make you want to get more creative with your diet. Plus, you’ll actually get some use out of them. Hopefully you will find some inspiration to get you into the kitchen and cooking/baking something wholesome and delicious.
Anyway, here are those 10 Essentials for Healthy Eating!
1. Spices
Nothing makes food more delicious than proper seasoning. If you’re trying to cut back on all of the cheese you pile onto your dishes or trying to reduce the amount of salt in your diet, spices may be a small saviour. They pack a big punch in a small quantity. Adding cinnamon to your porridge or some smoked paprika to your vegetable stew can ramp up the flavour and make healthy food properly enjoyable.
2. Food Processor
Obviously, this isn’t within everyone’s budget but there are some seriously affordable kitchen gadgets out there nowadays. A food processor (even the cheapest kind) can speed up the time it takes to chop or mince anything you need to cook. This can make cooking from scratch a lot more appealing than standing and manually slicing up everything you need for a recipe – especially after a busy day.
3. Good Set of Knives
No one is going to be motivated to cook or meal prep if they don’t have the proper tools. A blunt knife is inefficient and annoying, and can be dangerous as they are more likely to slip right off of whatever you are slicing. Getting a good set of knives and a sharpening tool will make chopping your ingredients a lot quicker and easier, and will also minimise the risk of requiring an ugly blue plaster for those fingers!
4. Good Sea Salt
This may seem exceedingly obvious, but good quality sea salt can absolutely transform a dish. Avocado on toast or a loaded salad isn’t all that appealing without proper seasoning, and standard table salt doesn’t always go as far as it should. Proper sea salt is surprisingly cheap and adds twice much saltiness as regular pouring salt; you only need a really tiny pinch to give your food some major flavour. It could even help you add less salt to your meals, mad as that sounds.
5. Nigella Lawson’s How To Eat
This is no weight loss book, far from it actually. It won’t teach you how to prepare super-low-calorie meals or how to cut down on certain foods. What it will give you is a plethora of recipes you will return to time and time again. It will teach you everything form basic cooking skills to catering to large gatherings. Nigella writes in a way that is accessible to everyone, which is why this book is still just as relevant over 20 years later. I challenge you not to be excited about cooking after leafing through this.
6. Blender
Much like the food processor, this isn’t within everyone’s price range. However, it is a worthwhile investment. Whether you want to blend up tasty homemade soups full of winter vegetables, or a big old summer smoothie when the weather warms up, a blender is the gadget for you. It might not be an everyday item, but it will most certainly improve your kitchen efficiency.
7. Niki Segnit’s The Flavour Thesaurus
If you’re new to cooking, or you want to get a bit more serious about home cooking, this book is worth a read. Giving incredible tips on flavour combinations, this book will not only inspire you but will make you want to get creative with ingredients you’d never even considered before. It is well written, informative, and doesn’t rely on health fads or current diet trends. It will be on my bookshelf for years to come, for whenever I need some ideas.
8. Pretty Plates
This is a slightly more frivolous suggestion, but not one without merit. Much like wearing nice clothes makes you feel better about yourself, eating from pretty plates can make the whole experience more enjoyable. I’d never suggest you have to start plating your food Masterchef style, but a bit of style can make even the greenest salad more appealing. Plus, if you are looking to reduce your portion sizes, buying nice slightly smaller bowls and plates can help you naturally scoop less on to your servings.
9. BOSH!
If you want to tackle Veganuary this year, or just want to reduce the amount of animal products you consume, this book can help. Plant-based food isn’t the hippie nonsense it might have once been, and it isn’t the reserve of teenage girls. The boys from Bosh make proper curries, tacos and even amazing cocktails with absolutely no meat, eggs or dairy. This is hearty and tasty food you’ll actually want and will probably save you money too.
10. Cute Lunch Box
In a similar vein to the pretty plates suggestion, a funky lunch box can set you up for healthy eating (and money-saving) success. A clear plastic box isn’t particularly inspiring or enticing. Getting yourself a practical Bento box, or any other kind of compartmentalised lunch box can get you excited about bringing food to work. They can help prevent your salad going soggy, or your healthy sandwich fillings leaking onto other foods. Or if you’re like me and love a picky finger food meal, they are ideal for keeping everything separate to nibble at when you’re busy.
I hope these 10 Essentials for Healthy Eating have given you some inspiration for getting into the kitchen to cook some wholesome food. Don’t waste your time on fads and programs that promise unrealistic results, invest your money in things you’ll actually use instead!
