Wintertime is the perfect time to enjoy warm, hearty meals and snacks. Some of these food choices may please your taste buds but lack the love of other addition health benefits. Here are some easy ways to still enjoy your comfort foods but not forgetting the health of your body:
- Hot Chips
Try making your own chips from scratch and save the skin. The skin is often removed in store bought hot chips. The potato skin contains many nutrients which including vitamin C, iron, potassium, B vitamins, calcium, and fibre.
Another idea is baking your own vegetable chips using heart healthy extra virgin olive oil. Try vegetables like turnip, beets, sweet potato, or carrots. Variety in chips also means you are giving your body a more diverse range of nutrients.
- Lasagna
Try adding more vegetables between the lasagna sheets such as mushrooms, tomato, carrot, or spinach to replace some of the meat portion will increase the taste experience as well as the health benefits your body will receive.
- Macaroni Cheese
Take away the bland look of this meal while increasing the nutrition value of this comfort food by adding in colorful vegetables. This could be carrots, peas, diced squash, pumpkin pieces, or sweet potato.
- Mix Up The Mexican
When enjoying tacos, nachos, or quesadillas try replacing half the red meat portion with legumes like red kidney beans or chickpeas. Decreasing the amount of red meat, you eat can not only help to look after the health of the planet but also supports the health of your gut. Legumes contain prebiotic fibre which feeds the good bacteria in your gut which plays a major role in keeping you healthy.
- Pizza
Swap the delivery pizza for home made. Try using a wholegrain base and up the vegetables on the toppings. Another good tip is using low salt tomato paste to help look after the health of your heart.
- Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Level up this all time classic with sliced tomato, spinach, mushrooms or avocado and remember to include herbs and spices. Herbs and spices are a great way to add additional flavour as well as antioxidants.
Take home message: You do not need to miss out on comfort food if you are wanting to look after your health too. Try these easy tips to keep your body healthy this winter while still satisfying your taste buds.
