View All | Nutrition, Health and Fitness | Rice | Cooking & Eating
Tips on Healthy EatingBack
Eating fresh nutritious food is the cornerstone of good health.
Try to focus on foods low in saturated fats, salt and refined sugar, but high in nutrients with an abundance of fresh vegetables and fruit, lean protein, whole grains, nuts and seeds.
It only takes a few minor adjustments to your cooking and eating habits that could change your whole life.!
Shop wisely
Plan your menus for the week, including healthy snacks. This way you’ll avoid impulse buying and takeaway processed foods.
When shopping try and choose seasonal fruits and vegetables. Remember the richer the colour, the better the flavour and nutritional value. Also try choosing organic free range meats, seafood, beans, whole grains such as brown rice and oats, low fat dairy + good quality vegetable oils + raw nuts and seeds for snacks.
Cook simple and light
The best healthy cooking methods are steaming, poaching, baking grilling and stir-frying.
Stir-frying is one of the fastest and healthiest ways to make a delicious meal. The idea behind stir-fry cooking is to cook at a high heat for a short amount of time with very little to no fat. This retains much of the valuable vitamins and allows the vegetables to retain their crisp fresh quality.
The key to stir-frying is to cut the food you use into basically the same size beforehand, so that the dish cooks evenly and is ready at the same time. Hard vegetables such as carrots should be cooked first before most of the other foods go in, and soft vegetables such as snow peas or bean sprouts, can be thrown it just before serving. This technique prevents certain vegetables being either too hard or too limp. You can choose to stir fry with or with out oil, it’s up to you. Your wok needs to be large enough to retain the high heat and allow you to keep the food moving rapidly. Add a little vegetable oil, or just use a little or stock. The delicious flavour of sesame oil is best added at the end of the dish, just before serving. In traditional Chinese and Asian cuisine, meat is used as a flavouring ingredient or a supplement to the main dish. Serve your stir-fry with a big bowl of rice in the middle of the table so people can help themselves. Jasmine and brown rice and my choices for stir fry’s. Fast food in 5 minutes!! Not bad!!
Eat the right way
The best way of maintaining a healthy diet for life is to think 80/20.
80% of the time stick to good eating habits including lots of fruit + veg, lean protein and whole grains. 20% of the time you can indulge in your favorite cravings like that chocolate cake if you need to. But remember portion control have one slice only, not the whole cake!
Healthy eating should become part of your daily lifestyle for the rest of your life. Remember there are no quick fixes you have to put in the hard work and effort if you want results.
WHAT TO EAT FOR BREAKFAST - LUNCH - DINNER
BREAKFAST
The Aim is to eat a balanced healthy breakfast with a relatively low GI (glycaemic index). This is just a ranking of foods according to their immediate effect of blood sugar levels. Eating low GI foods will kick start that sluggish metabolic rate, keep your blood sugars stable and leave you in power mode for the rest of your busy day.
Try to include some protein and good carbohydrate, as it will keep you fuller for longer and keep you more alert. Choose from protein rich foods like eggs, fish, nuts, beans, yoghurt, milk, cottage or low fat ricotta cheese or even a few scoops of protein powder thrown into your fruit smoothie. Good carbohydrate sources are whole grains such as rice, oats, wholegrain breads and fresh fruit. It doesn’t take long to prepare a good healthy breakfast, even for the busiest person. By making your main meals breakfast and lunch instead of dinner, you will also have better success with controlling your metabolism and staying lean throughout life.
Good breakfast choices:
Brown rice porridge with banana chunks and a little honey
home made baked beans on wholegrain toast
bircher muesli with yoghurt and fresh fruit
strawberry + banana smoothie with a few scoops of protein powder.
Miso soup with rice, tofu and vegetables
LUNCH
Even if we’ve had a good breakfast, it’s important that you also have a good healthy lunch. It’s the time of day where your body is still active, so the food you eat will be burned off and help you make it though the rest of the afternoon. People skipping lunch often end up craving fats and sugar by 3.00pm so they start dipping into the biscuits in the cookie jar and tend to overeat when it comes to dinner.
Planning is essential to a healthy lunch. It should be a combination of lean protein, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Do the prep work the night before. It’s a bit easier than doing it when you’re still half-asleep in the morning, and more concerned about breakfast and getting ready for work. Salads are a great option for a healthy lunch. Something that will have a combination of good quality carbs for energy + protein is ideal, plus keep in a fridge or lunch box. Rice based salads are my first choice for a delicious lunch. Add a tin of tuna, some cucumber, tomato, lemon and fresh herbs and you have a tuna tabouli to die for! Kids love it too!
Another thing I love to do with rice is to make one of my healthy rice crust quiches. Just mix cooked rice with an egg and press with the back of a spoon into a pie dish. Bake for about 15 mins 180C until set then fill with spinach, tinned salmon, peas, a little cheese and 4 beaten eggs mixed with ½ cup of milk. An instant salmon quiche that tastes great hot or cold.
Good lunch choices
Tuna tabouli and rice salad
sushi
healthy quiche made with a rice crust base
Whole grain sandwich stuffed with lots of lean protein and salad
Rice cakes topped with cottage cheese and salad
DINNER
For most of us, dinner during the week needs to be quick easy and healthy. Anything from 15 - 30 mins is what most of us strive for and it’s really simple to do. Think organic chicken stir fry with roasted cashew nuts and steamed jasmine rice Think Thai chicken curry with lite coconut milk, lime and coriander, Think a Spanish style paella with lots of sun ripened tomato, a little wine, olives, prawns and fresh opened mussels. The list goes on..
Quick and easy dinner suggestions using rice:
healthy fried rice
organic chicken and vegetable stir fry with steamed jasmine rice
Thai Style curry + rice
Paella
Chilli mussels with napolitana and steamed rice
Eating Out
When dining out, it is a good idea to get a look at the menu early so you can check out your choices. You can also enquire about the cooking methods if you are not sure and be able to notify the chef or cook of any specific dietary requirements. It is best to do this the day before, as it can sometimes be a pain for some chefs during peak hour service.
Ask for sauces and dressing on the side, so that you can choose whether or not to have them at all. Stay clear of hollandaise, bernaise, béchamel, veloute, aoli, or any cream or butter sauces. These are all a major fat closet so opt for a squeeze of lemon or tomato based one instead.
Guide to healthier food choices:
If you do on occasion buy fast food, try and keep it to no more than once a week. This falls into the 20% part of your diet. Most fast food outlets have a few healthier food options to choose from.
On the road
Pack the car with fresh whole fruit, nuts and bottled water. Wraps, sandwiches + sushi are all good healthy choices.
Deli and bakery food
Choose fresh leafy salads and lean ham, turkey tuna rolls without the mayo or butter. Choose wholegrain bread instead of white and use healthier spreads like avocado, relish or mustard. Stay clear of meat pies, sausage rolls or any salads in mayonnaise.
Fish and Chips
Choose grilled fish and a side salad 200 calories and 7 g of fat instead of deep fried fish and chips which has about 600 calories and 35 g of fat.
Pizza
Choose 2 slices of a vegetarian thin and crispy with half the cheese which is about 300 calories and 9 g of fat compared to a regular super supreme which has 680 calories and 30 g of fat.
Chicken
Choose chicken that has been barbequed rather than deep fried and eat without the skin and stuffing. 1/4 of a chook contains about 220 calories and 9 g of fat compared to 2 pieces of deep fried chicken which contains about 430 calories and 30 g of fat.
Burgers
Choose a grilled chicken burger, minus the mayo, cheese, bacon and fries. You can also have sides like salad without the dressing and bottled water.
Mexican
Stick to burritos, fajitas, chilli con carne cooked with lean beef, chicken or beans. Grilled seafood or chicken and salads.
Chinese
Choose steamed rice over fried rice, steamed dumplings, dishes with lots of vegetables and seafood, lean chicken and beef.
Japanese
Choose sushi, sashimi, seaweed salads, stir-fried steamed or braised tofu , seafood, chicken or meat dishes. Japanese is a good choice when selecting take away food for lunch or dinner.
Indian
Basmati rice has a low GI and compliments any curry. Try a chicken curry served with rice and mango salsa or a vegetarian Dhal topped with a yoghurt and cucumber salsa.
Vietnamese and Thai
Thai chicken curry with Jasmine rice or a fragrant salad like the green papaya, it’s one of my favourites, just stay clear of anything deep fried.
French
Choose provincial style dishes based on vegetables, lean meat, chicken and seafood, rather than anything in rich butter and cream sauces.
Recipe Make overs
When making risotto, use a good quality low salt stock to add flavour to your rice and a light grating of Parmesan cheese then freshly chopped garden herbs at the end to finish off. You don’t need to add spoonfuls of butter like many restaurants do. For extra creaminess, a few spoonfuls of ricotta stirred through the rice is wonderful.
When baking cakes and muffins, try substituting butter with unsaturated fats like light olive oil or macadamia nut oil. You can then half the amount of fat by substituting half or 3/4 of the oil for a fruit puree like apple, banana or prune. The puree will add moisture to the cake or muffin so it won’t be as dry with such a low fat content. It also adds sweetness so that you can reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe. Yoghurt can also be used in place of sour cream in most cake and muffin recipes
When cooking with meat make sure you use nice lean cuts of meat or trim any visible bits of fat before you cook with it. Get a good non-stick frying pan like a green pan or scan pan and sauté in minimal oil
When thinking chips, make your own chunky chips at home and oven bake then serve with a spicy tomato salsa and enjoy.
Have Your Say
What is your favourite rice cake topping?