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Benefits of a healthy kitchen

The Benefits of a healthy kitchen

Late night pizza runs, the occasional midnight frosty and, of course, Cafe Rio’s sweet pork salads.

It all sounds too familiar… You are guilty, I am guilty, we are all guilty. That is what we eat in America and it has been that way since we were kids.

Why is that? Why are we addicted to fast-food chains? Why do we constantly spend our money on food that only satisfies our craving for a short moment? And why do we tell ourselves it’s okay?

It has become a habit that is proving difficult to break as obesity levels soar in America and around the world. We’ve been presented with fact after fact, but drink sizes continue to get bigger and so do our bellies.

The cost for health care in the United States is estimated to be between $147 billion and nearly $210 billion per year, according to the Trust for America’s Health. And yet we come up with arguments for eating junk food, such as: “Eating healthy just costs so much money,” “ I don’t have time to cook,” and “ I want something quick.”

With every new upsetting fact about American food that comes out, we are more than ready to come up with another excuse and pay for the frequent visits to the chiropractor for our ever-increasing back pain.

It didn’t always use to be like this. In 1953, the term “TV dinner” was coined by C.A. Swanson & Sons. American diets have been in trouble ever since.

Meals shared around the family table became more scarce and baked goods were replaced by processed foods.

National Geographic’s study, ‘What the World Eats‘ is astonishing.Their data gives details such as: “People in the U.S. consume more than two and a half times as many grams of vegetable oil per day than they did 50 years ago.” Americans eat 781 more calories on an average day than they did in the 1960s.

It’s time America starts to fight back. Quasi Italia, an online blog, suggests Americans have lost the joy in cooking. They have lost the joy in tasting and they have lost the joy in being around the table together.

To change the obesity problem, America needs to start enjoying food again.

Eating healthy isn’t hard or expensive. A Campbell’s chicken and cheese enchilada recipe serves 4 people and costs only $8, according to Campbell’s Kitchen. That is $2 a serving, well below a typical Big Mac meal at $6. I suggest three ways to enjoy eating healthy and to take advantage of the benefits of a healthy kitchen.

1. Plan out your meals.

2. Invest in leftover containers.

3. Avoid simple carbs.

There is so much joy in eating healthy. Don’t waste your meals on simple carbs, fried foods and quick fixes. Start experiencing the joy of home cooking.