It’s Friday night. Are you planning to get take away for dinner tonight? If you’re trying to improve your health maybe you should think again.
It’s Friday night. Are you planning to get take away for dinner tonight? If you’re trying to improve your health maybe you should think again.
I understand that you’re probably tired after a busy week (I know I am!) and don’t really feel like cooking, so try some of my favourite quick and easy swaps:
Instead of going to the fish and chip shop – put some frozen fish or fish fingers in the oven and serve with a small handful of oven baked chips and a salad. This way you can better control your portion size of fries, you’re significantly reducing your intake of oil, and you’re adding a healthy salad so that you can include some vegetables into your meal.
Instead of ordering pizza – make your own. Homemade pizza is really quick and easy to make. Pop a whole meal pita on a tray in the oven. Cover with a passata or tomato-based sauce, then sprinkle with your favourite vegetables (I like capsicum, mushroom, fresh tomato, pumpkin and a bit of rosemary) and a little bit of low fat cheese. Heat in the oven until the cheese has melted. Advantages of making your own pizza include that everyone can choose their own toppings, you can use a low fat cheese which means less saturated fat and you can use wholemeal pita instead of a pizza base which are lower in sodium, lower in kilojoules and higher in fibre.
Instead of ordering Asian – have a bowl of soup? If you’ve got a big pot of soup ready to go, all you need to do is re-heat it. If you don’t, use a canned soup, and add some fresh green vegies (bok choy, baby spinach etc) and some canned legumes, and any other vegies that you have lying around that need to be used up.
Instead of ordering a burger – why not have a baked bean jaffle? Every home has a jaffle maker, they were all the rage about ten years ago. Pull yours out, open a tin of beans and cook yourself an oozy, warm jaffle. Beans are rich in protein, high in soluble fibre and low in fat, so a baked bean jaffle makes a cheap, nutritious, warm, quick and yummy Friday night meal for a cold Winter’s night.
If you are going to buy take away, watch my suggestions for choosing healthier take away food options.
Enjoy your week end!
To Do: Break the habit of Friday night take away, and start a new Friday night tradition.