Have you been feeling uninspired in the kitchen? Cooking allows you to have more control over knowing the ingredients you are putting in your body and can promote well-being, but sometimes it can feel challenging to cook. Whether it is because of time restraints or a lack of knowledge, cooking can feel unattainable at times. However, recently there has been a rise in interest towards cooking at home! There are some key trends that have helped people better their relationship with cooking and we want to break them down for you!
Can Making Staple Ingredients At-Home Help You Achieve Your Wellness Goals?
The concept of meal prepping has helped many achieve their health goals. It can even be a money saver for those who alternatively choose to eat out. In a similar fashion, people have started to explore the concept of making staple ingredients at home. Certain ingredients such as bread, pastries, almond milk, and pasta sauce are all examples of ingredients that are commonly purchased but can also be created in the comfort of your own home.
Here are some benefits to cooking staple ingredients at home:
- Portion control - Since staple ingredients come pre packaged at the grocery store, it is near impossible to get the specific amount you truly need. This can be especially challenging if you live at home. Creating your own ingredients at home allows you to choose how much of each ingredient you make. In the long run this will save you money and help you to produce less food waste.
- Improves your relationship with cooking - Cooking offers us the chance to really curate what we put into our bodies, and you might think that creating your own ingredients at home will help motivate you to really understand how to cook. You will learn new methods and who knows, maybe it will become your new hobby!
- Ingredients are completely within your control - Many pantry staples that you would purchase at the store contain extra additives or processed ingredients. These ingredients do not help you reach your health goals, but when you curate your own ingredients, you really have the ability to eliminate these additives.
- Personalization - As you start to create your own ingredients, you will find the freedom that comes along with it! Has your pasta sauce always lacked a certain flavor you are craving? When you create this pantry staple at-home, you have complete control over its flavor profile!
While making staple ingredients at-home is more time consuming, in the long run, it helps to support you on your wellness journey and can bring life to your kitchen in a way you never thought possible.
The Potential Benefits of Outdoor Cooking and Techniques to Consider
Spring is upon us, and as the sunnier days approach, it is time to dust off that grill and spruce up your outdoor living spaces! Not only does cooking outdoors improve the potential benefits of the food you consume, but it is a great way to promote spending time outdoors which has tons of mental health benefits.
Grilling instead of pan-frying reduces the amount of extra fat that is needed to cook the food and can boost flavor with little to no added effort! The high heat helps to cook the food while still maintaining its moisture making it a surefire way to get that delicious piece of chicken or steak every time!
Raise your hand if you are someone who hates the cleanup portion of cooking. We have all been there, and grilling helps to eliminate this issue. Since all of the cooking is being done in one area, there is a limited amount of cleaning.
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Grilling your food can also be more beneficial for your gut health than boiling. The heat that comes with grilling your food helps to increase the amount of short-chain fatty acids in your food and boosts the amount of beneficial bacteria in the food.
Lastly, grilling can be a great excuse to invite family or friends over and increase your social activity. What better way to wait for your veggies to cook, then soak up the sun with your closest friends? Make grilling an activity that offers you mental benefits as well as physical benefits.
The Rise In Popularity of Crockpots and Ways to Use Them
Are you tired of getting home after a long day of work only to realize that you have to cook dinner? Slow cookers, or crockpots, are helping to revolutionize the way people cook and can help to eliminate your post-work cooking problem. A slow cooker will cook your food at a slow temperature over a long period of time, but due to the way it was created, you can leave your food there unsupervised for the entire time it is working its magic. That means that you can put your meal in the slow cooker before leaving your house in the morning and then come home to a fully-cooked meal after work!
The convenience of a crockpot is not its only advantage! This kitchen appliance will help you to save both money in groceries and energy. There are loads of different crockpot recipes out there, but generally, they require low-cost ingredients that you might already have stocked up in your freezer and dry storage. Crockpots also require less energy than your stovetop would meaning you are not only saving time, but energy!
A crockpot also helps to keep the nutrients in your food. Other cooking methods have the potential to decrease the nutrient power in your food, but due to the slow-cooking process, a crockpot actually protects the nutrients. A digestive enzyme supplement paired with crockpot cooking might be the new best way to take care of your gut health!
There is so much opportunity when it comes to cooking, so be sure to explore these trending kitchen tips and check back for more wellness trend blogs!