"One day at a time replacement plan"

rowing up in the south, I ate a lot of food as part of family, feast, happiness, and ritual. Most southern diets are rich ingredients that taste good but are sometimes high in fat and oils. I didn't grow up eating salads but now, salad is an important part of my every day diet. As an adult, I knew instinctively that I needed to change my diet for my energy level, for my digestion, and for my basic sense of well-being. But choosing to eat better should start with small changes. Over the years, I've discovered that choosing a healthy diet has proven to be beneficial to my overall health. I learned first to prepare my favorite southern dishes differently while still enjoying the taste and memory. Then life brought me new options for cooking and staying healthy. It doesn't matter which diet you grew up with but how to make changes to improve childhood diets.

Exploring the taste of different foods gives me a variety of different choices for cooking. Replacing the common white processed rice with others grains such as barley, millet and quinoa offers a wide variety of tastes, nutrients, and vitamins into the diet. Adding a variety of oils to cooking can also add a variety of taste, nutrient and vitamin. Here are five simple suggestions for small changes to your kitchen; I hope they will make the positive difference for your healthy lifestyle as they did for mine!

• Taste test sea salt and compare it to regular salt. Then, replace regular salt with sea salt in your cooking. Do you use as much?
  
• Replace white sugar with one of the following: brown sugar, molasses, and maple syrup. If you are a fan of sugar substitutes, try the all-natural, non-caloric sweetener Stevia (a naturally sweet herb) that can be found at your local health food store or food coop.
• If you buy white bread, try whole grain bread instead! The whole grains naturally provide protein, calcium, iron, fibers and nutrients.
• Soda in your cupboard? Try replacing cans of soda with gallons of spring water.
• Stock healthy snacks! Go to your local health food store and pick your favorite.

Here are five simple suggestions for small changes to your cooking style!
1. Limit your intake of fried foods.
2. Experiment with different oils for frying, grilling, marinating, and salads. Try safflower, olive, peanut, sesame, almond, and seasoned oils.
3. When you cook, try to use filtered, spring or distilled water!
4. Experiment with common herbs and spices. Try adding basil to a fish dish, cilantro to a salad, rosemary to a soup, or turmeric to a lentil broth.
5. Take the time to prepare your meals [and the meals you share with loved ones] with fresh ingredients!!