Talking About Green

Getting one home-cooked meal prepared each day is no easy feat for most of us.  Between demanding work schedules, kids on the go, and a house that won’t be cleaning itself any time soon, it can be a lot easier to go for take-out or pop a frozen meal in the microwave.  And you can’t even begin to contemplate the added complication of making your already tenuous routine into an eco-friendly affair.  But by changing the way you work in the kitchen to make your cooking better for the Earth, you may find that you actually simplify things a lot and end up with more time and energy than you had before.  Here are a few ways you can green up your routine when it comes to home-cooking and come out healthier and happier in the long run.

For starters, you need to take a close look at the food you’re buying.  If you’re like most people, you likely purchase very little fresh food, opting instead for pre-packaged items that are full of harmful chemicals and preservatives.  Whether you know it or not, these unnatural foodstuffs are making you feel awful, sapping your energy and leaving you deficient in vital nutrients.  The first thing you need to do is ditch these from your diet.  You may think that adding more fresh foods to your palette will necessitate a lot more time and effort, but this isn’t necessarily true.  If you plan accordingly, you can prep produce and meats (wash, chop, and bag) over the weekend so that all you have to do is throw them together for a quick and healthy meal.  You can even cook large meals ahead of time for reheatable leftovers on busy weeknights.

Next, you should consider going organic.  By choosing certified organic products (those that have passed the rigorous standards required by the UDSA and bear their label), you will ensure that the many hormones and antibiotics found in meat and the pesticides and fertilizers found in produce will not make their way onto your table and into your body.  Further, they will not seep into our soil and groundwater to cause further damage to surrounding ecosystems.  And you will probably notice that items not treated with toxic chemicals taste a lot better, as well as providing you with the nutrients needed to keep you strong, healthy, and full of energy.  It’s a win-win for you and the Earth.

As for how to make your life easier, why cook at all?  Consider the many benefits of a raw food diet (one that consists mainly of fruits, veggies, nuts, grains, seeds, and so on).  It is great for healthy digestion and detox, and has been known to improve skin, increase energy, aid in weight loss, and prevent certain diseases (such as heart disease and diabetes).  Why?  For one thing, the diet contains little or no meats, trans fats, or processed foods (it calls for 75% raw, unprocessed food).  Additionally, it is believed that high temperatures destroy beneficial enzymes in food, so by not cooking, you’ll receive extra nutrients.  And the best part?  No time wasted on cooking!  As you can see, getting on board with eco-friendly cooking is not only easy, it is also a great way to keep yourself and your family healthy, even as you do your part to help make our world a cleaner, greener place to live.

Sarah Danielson writes for Ask Deb where you can view what questions to ask your boyfriend or even find out what the fastest car in the world is.