During the colder months of the year, we often swap out corn, salads, and grilled food for heartier meals. But what if there was a way to still get that comfort food without having to compromise on health? Here are three ways to make delicious, low-fat, heat-packed meals. You’ll see: healthy eating is easy.
1. Slow cooking: ideal for weeknights
At your stove and slow cooker: stews are back! Slow cooking allows you to add herbs, tomatoes, or red wine to your favourite meat to make it tasty, so you don't have to add a lot of butter or oil when cooking. Plus, this cooking style helps tenderize the meat to perfection (use this to your advantage by choosing more economical meat cuts). As a side note, braised vegetables, like cauliflower and squash, are so tasty that you’ll quickly forget about those extra-buttery mashed potatoes.
A few gourmet ideas:
Psst! Keep an eye on your IGA weekly flyer: throughout the year, you'll find different discounts on various cuts of beef. Also, remember that you can always use the TADA! meal planner, available on the IGA app. This great tool can help you plan your menu based on the weekly specials.
2. Substituting or reducing fat, for healthier meals
Many comfort meals can be just as comforting with less fat. Here are some ideas to help you replace butter or oil and reduce the amount of fat in your recipes.
- When baking muffins, use equal amounts of applesauce to replace half the butter or oil.
- Substitute ground beef for horse meat in your spaghetti sauce.
- Use Compliments Greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise in your potato salad.
- Chips for movie night are a thing of the past. Instead, have natural flavour popping corn (or the light buttered version) with a sprinkle of chili or onion powder!
3. Unlimited vegetables for well-balanced meals
Squash and root vegetables are ideal for soups, stews, and purees. Opt for classic fall and winter meals containing lots of vegetables, like vegetable soup, butternut squash soup, and even ratatouille. From now on, vegetables shouldn't be considered an add-on, but rather the highlight of your meals. Impress your friends and family with clever recipes, like spicy pumpkin soup, stuffed spaghetti squash, or layered eggplant. The possibilities are endless!
Try out: