Side Dishes
Some Side Dish Options
Trying to lose weight can be frustrating and hard. Most people think they have to cut down the amount of food they eat or starve themselves to lose weight. However, if you count calories and keep track of your portion size you can enjoy a large amount of food and lose weight. Usually cutting down the calories in your side dishes will help you lose weight very quickly. After all, in most cases a side dish will have more calories and fat than the entrée.
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The key to choosing healthy side dish recipes is examining what is included in them. For example you can find recipes for side dishes that offer traditional ingredients and those that can be used instead. You may be able to eliminate the shortening or butter for a healthier option. Another thing you can do is replace canned vegetables with frozen varieties. Canned vegetables have less than half the nutrients that frozen vegetables do. If you want to lose weight your body needs vitamins and minerals for energy. Salads, steamed vegetables, and fruit are always healthy options for side dishes. However, if you add butter, sugar, or oil these sides can be just as unhealthy as eating a bag of potato chips.
Consider the Way Your Side Dish Is Prepared
Certain cooking methods are automatically healthier than others. For example, potatoes naturally have a lot of carbohydrates. However, when they are fried as French fries you are getting sugar and fat. Don’t add insult to injury. Instead you should eat your potatoes either steamed or baked. The same can be said for broccoli. Broccoli is one of the healthiest side dishes you can find. Unfortunately, if you cover it with cheese or butter it is as unhealthy as eating junk food. Your side dishes recipes are only healthy if prepared correctly.
Shopping Tips for Choosing Side Dishes
When you are shopping for side dishes there are certain things you can do to make sure you are making healthy choices.
- Skip the processed or boxed sides
- Read food labels to see what the portion size is
- Avoid prepackaged side dishes
- Don’t buy side dishes from the deli
- Choose low card side dishes
- Skip the processed or boxed sides
- Read food labels to see what the portion size is
- Avoid prepackaged side dishes
- Don’t buy side dishes from the deli
- Choose low card side dishes
All of these shopping tips will help you make healthier choices. After all, packaged and processed foods often have more sugar, fat, and salt than fresh ingredients. In addition, when you buy from the deli you have no way of knowing exactly what portions are used in the preparation.
How do you know Which Side Dishes Are Best?
The only true way to know what side dishes are best is to read food labels and examine how many calories, fat grams, and carbohydrates they include. However, if you are looking at foods that don’t have a label you can use personal fitness tools like a calorie guide or food calorie index. You can also use common sense. Most people know without being told that desserts are more fattening than salads. However, if you are in doubt, you may want to meet with a professional dietitian for meal planning help.