What lockdown taught us about eating well
While lockdown has been tough in many ways, it’s showed us some simple, yet practical ways we can stay healthy, try new recipes, taste new foods, and even have some fun.
Here are my top 10 tips on what was good on the lockdown menu and some great dishes that include a dab of dairy.
- Keep much-needed variety in your daily life by being creative in the kitchen (try new healthy recipes, new cuisines etc).
- Used to eating out or getting takeaways regularly? Learn/brush up on some simple cooking skills to help you eat at home more healthily and save money.
- Have your New Year’s resolutions fallen by the wayside? Think of this time as a great opportunity to kickstart your healthy eating habits – why not introduce at least one healthy behaviour and commit to it for the rest of the year (and beyond)!
- Now that you’re comfortable preparing more food at home, it’s the perfect time to focus on simple, nutritious ingredients and find some healthy recipes your family loves – keep a list of favourite recipes. Apps can help with this e.g. Yummly or BBC Good Food.
- Being at home more is a good reminder to have a spring clean of your fridge and pantry more often – throw out foods well past their best before date and make sure you’re well stocked with a variety of nutritious foods.
- Calories in vs calories out (energy balance) is important to consider when you have a sudden change of lifestyle. Make an effort to be active each day and, if your activity levels drop, change your nutrition to match your lower energy, check out this video.
- Commit to buying at least one new healthy food you haven’t tried before, every time you shop.
- Plan your grocery shopping well so you stock up on plenty of nutritious foods and don’t overdo the treats. This also helps you keep to your budget and minimise the number of trips to the supermarket.
- Reducing food waste - there are useful sites/apps that can help you find recipes for unfamiliar items or things you may have left over that you don’t quite know what to do with e.g. lovefoodhatewaste.co.nz
- Share your recipes with others and you are bound to get some great new recipes in return, like these great dairy recipes from our NZ Foodservice team.