5 Simple Food Resolutions for the New Year
After all the indulgences of a busy holiday season, starting at Halloween and running through New Year’s Eve, who doesn’t long for a simpler, healthier start of the new year?
Keeping resolutions limited and measurable helps to actually succeed in reaching them. So here are my five simple food resolutions to kick off 2016 as a nutritious and delicious new year:
- Stay hydrated: with an assortment of hot beverages and sparkling waters. I’m not one to naturally drink water all day, so I’m helping myself remember to stay hydrated by making non-caffeinated teas, lemon water, and drinking sparkling water… in addition to my coffee!
- Use technology to help feed my family: increase efficiency by ordering groceries on-line and use a grocery list app to manage the list instead of re-creating it every week. This seems like a sensible and obvious solution for anyone who lives in an area that grocery delivery is available, but I like going to the market and picking out my own food, and I often forget to use technology in all its forms. When I do order groceries on-line (like I did during the busy month of December) I found it was a great time saver (and eliminated my impulse shopping as well).
- Eat less meat: and more tofu and fish. Eating less meat is good for our health, the environment, and our budgets. Many recipes can be made with a smaller portion of meat than the recipe calls for (I try to use half the meat and double the other ingredients for recipes like chili, spaghetti sauce, tacos, enchiladas, etc.)
- Add a stir-fry to each weekly menu: stir-fry is a fast, one-dish meal, when served with a side of brown rice or quinoa. Healthy stir fry can be made from all vegetables; vegetables with tofu; or vegetables with a small amount of meat, poultry, or seafood.
- Make more meals based on whole grains: whole grains like quinoa, polenta, and whole wheat couscous can serve as the base for any meal from breakfast to dinner. Whole grains are a delicious foundation for almost any kind of a salad; can accompany almost any hot entree including meat, beans, seafood, stew, pasta sauce; and are even a fabulous way to start the day as a warm breakfast. Here’s an inspiration I just saw on the breakfast menu at the Empress Hotel in Victoria B.C. (now don’t you feel more healthy just reading it – imagine if you ate it):
Organic Red Quinoa & Steel Cut Oat Porridge
Fresh strawberries, Empress Honey, Warm milk
Hemp hearts, Ground flax, Chia Seeds
Happy New Year and let us know what your food resolutions are for 2016.
Cheers!
