Smart Eating Made Simple

Originally Posted: March 01, 2011

Southampton - A total 62.8 percent of Better Homes and Gardens readers said that eating a healthier diet would help make 2011 their Best Year Ever. Well, here's the scoop: Eating healthier is easier than you think. So forget everything you know about fussy meal plans, calorie counting and deprivation. Six of the nation's leading experts in food and nutrition including New York Times columnist Mark Bittman, nutritionist Dr. Melina B. Jampolis, and Cornell University food psychologist Dr. Brian Wansink, have outlined mealtime strategies so sane and practical, you'll never look back. Here's a peek of what they recommended:

Home Cooking With Confidence: It's Easier to Find Recipes For Your Ingredients Than The Other Way Around

Let's say you decide "Tonight I'm going to make monkfish with white turnips." But then you get to the store and the monkfish looks terrible or they don't have white turnips. Bittman suggests avoiding the trouble by going to the market with no prefixed notions, buying whatever fresh ingredients look best, then figuring out how to cook them. The result? Less stress and a much better meal.

Avoid Sneaky Supermarket Traps: Refined Grains In Rolls And Breads

When shopping for bread and other baked goods, Dr. Jampolis warns against the vague phrase "made with whole grains." That product might contain 45 grams of refined grains and just three grams of nutritious whole grains. The phrase to look for instead: "100 percent whole grains."

Dining Out Hazard Free: Watch Out For Menu Extras

Between the wine list, appetizers, entrees, side dishes, and desserts, a restaurant menu offers endless variety. Rein it in with Dr. Wansink's rule of two: Once you've picked your entrée, limit yourself to two extras, such as an appetizer and a cocktail, or a roll and a dessert.