February 15, 2021
Want to learn healthy cook without a recipe? I actually prefer this. Once you have the formula down, the possibilities are endless. Plus, we address weight and health as a bonus byproduct instead of suffering from diet to diet.
If you feel intimated by what to cook, know that you’re not alone. Most of my clients come to me not knowing how to make simple meals that tastes good. Isn’t this why we end up gaining weight? Hence, we don’t know how to feed ourselves and we rely on restaurants, packaged foods, processed foods that are full of bad oils, sugars, extra sodium, chemicals, preservatives, etc.
Formula for healthy cooking without a recipe
Vegetables + Protein + Carbohydrates +Flavor (country) + Cooking Method
This allows for thousands of combinations for healthy cooking without a recipe. Even restaurants follow the same formula. Check out the menu description and you’ll see the same basic structure. Here are some examples:
- Chinese ginger sesame (flavor/country) chicken (protein) sautéed (method) with broccoli, carrots, and bell peppers (vegetables) served over brown rice (carbs optional)
- Grilled (method) Cajun (flavor/country) fish (protein) tacos (carbs) with shredded cabbage, tomatoes, avocados, and jicama (vegetables)
- Peanut (flavor) tofu (protein) on soba noodles (carbs) stir fry (method) with mushroom, carrots, bok choy, and eggplants (vegetables)
- Tunisian (flavor/country) turkey meatballs (protein) soup (method) served on wilted spinach (vegetables), with or without complex grains (carbs)
- Mexican (flavor/country) black bean (protein) salad (vegetables) bowl (method) with optional quinoa (carbs)
Chart for healthy cooking without recipes
Write down in a chart like the one below all the components of a recipe that you like.
| Protein | Vegetables | Carbs | Flavor | Method |
| Fish
Poultry Beans Tofu Nuts Eggs |
This list is so long so include a nice rainbow | Quinoa
Brown rice Noodles Barley Oats |
Pesto
Lemon pepper Rosemary/thyme Thai curry Mexican chili Teriyaki |
Sauté
Stewed Stir fry Roasted Baked Grilled |
Healthy cooking by country
This overly simplified list below may help you. I often think about the country I’m cooking. It helps me decide which spices to use, and it feels like I’m shaking up my cooking from day to day.
- Mexican: Chili, cumin, cinnamon, cilantro, oregano, onions
- Italian: Garlic, basil, oregano, parsley, rosemary, bay leaf
- Chinese: Ginger, star anise, red chili pepper, sesame, garlic
- Thai: Basil, Chili, peppers, garlic, turmeric, galangal, lemon grass
- Indian: Chili, saffron, cumin, coriander, turmeric, fenugreek, cardamom
- Greek: Mint, garlic, dill, oregano
- Spanish: Saffron, paprika, garlic, cumin
Here’s to healthy cooking without a recipe for our busy lives. As a result, home cooking is the only way to really be healthy, lose weight, and get fit. Food is medicine. Why don’t we focus on delicious and build those habits so it becomes our new lifestyle?
Support is the key to success.
Get it both professionally and personally. Get a free 30-minute phone consultation. See if this is the right match for you by addressing natural weight loss, cravings, emotional eating, balanced diet, disease prevention, nutrition, and getting to the root cause of what’s keeping you stuck. See what others are saying on Google and Yelp.
For more articles, read https://happyfoodhealth.com/blog
~ Samantha Hua, Online Nutrition Coach & Holistic Health Coach, San Diego, CA
