Thriving at Home Blog | Insights & Advice on Elder Care I Homethrive

Tom's Top Healthy Cooking Tips

Written by Dari | Mar 25, 2022 9:14:45 PM

We recently sat down with Executive Chef Tom Oliver to talk about healthy cooking for our Discussions with Dari podcast. Here are some of his top tips to make everyday cooking easier, healthier, and less boring. We hope these will inspire you to try something new in the kitchen! 👨‍🍳

  • Try to stay away from processed foods as much as possible. But if you do buy processed foods, try to find the “cleanest” ingredient statement, meaning the least amount of ingredients in it that you can possibly have.
  • When cooking, stick with polyunsaturated fats like olive oil. Try to use extra virgin olive oil which is the best olive oil.
  • You can use agave as a replacement for sugar. It’s an extract of the agave plant, which is what they make tequila from. It’s sweet but it has a very low glycemic index.
  • Chopped garlic (the kind in the jar) lasts forever in the fridge and it's a really good go-to item for marinades and salad dressings. 

Don't forget! ⏰ When you register for Dari and share your own healthy recipe with us (by sending it to dari@homethrive.com by 3/31/22), we'll enter you into a drawing for a $50 self-care gift card.

  • To cut down on the salt and still add flavor to dishes, fresh ground pepper is definitely the way to go. Dried herbs are good as well if you don’t have fresh herbs on hand.
  • Entree salads make for really quick and easy weeknight meals and cover off both your vegetable and protein portions. Chicken Caesar salad is great, and you can also substitute salmon or cooked tuna (or raw tuna if you’re ready for something different). 
  • Meal kits are great time savers, and a great way to make cooking into a more interactive experience with your loved one.