Typical Meals and Cooking

People usually have two or three meals a day. The usual meals are breakfast, lunch, dinner or supper.

Breakfast is the first meal taken after rising from a night’s sleep, most often eaten in the early morning before undertaking the day’s work. Nutritional experts consider breakfast as the most important meal of the day. People who skip breakfast may have problems with concentration, metabolism, and weight. Your metabolism increases if you eat breakfast. Breakfast foods vary widely from place to place, but often include carbohydrates such as grains or cereals, fruit and vegetable, a protein food such as eggs, meat or fish, and a beverage such as tea, coffee or fruit juice.

The other two substantial meals of the day are lunch and dinner. Lunch is a quick meal which is eaten during the lunch break mostly at the workplace or at school. It typically falls in the middle of the working day, between 12:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. It is common to eat sandwiches for lunch: slices of bread and cheese or ham that people usually carry to work for eating at school or at work place. Canteens and cafes offer a full-course lunch, consisting of soup for the first course, a fish or meat dish with some garnish and salad for the main course, and a glass of juice or compote to finish it up.

For some people the main meal of the day is dinner, which is usually between 6 and 7 p.m. If they don’t have a proper lunch, then their typical evening meal will be nourishing. Soup is followed by vegetables with chops, cutlets or meatballs. Sometimes this meal is also called supper. Some people prefer having a light meal in the evening, for example, bread and cheese and a cup of tea with a slice of lemon, jam and home-made pastry or cocoa and fruit.

Three square meals may not be enough, snacks of smaller amounts may be consumed between meals, particularly when we live an active lifestyle. There are so many quick and healthy snacks to choose from: nonfat cottage cheese, orange slices, sunflower seeds, yogurt, toast with peanut butter. These are the best snacks to keep the weight off and your body running optimally. However, it is advisable to avoid snacks like popcorn, cakes, candies, chocolate, chips, ice cream, flavoured soft drinks. They may be high in calories, fat, sugar or salt.

If you’re hungry, grab your apron and go ahead cooking! Making food yourself is a great way to learn about food and meal preparation. By cooking at home, it is easier to control the ingredients in the dishes, the amount of oil used for preparation, and the size of your portions. The food can be cooked in different ways. You may boil eggs, meat, chicken, fish and vegetables. They may also taste good when fried. Many people like to stew fish, meat, vegetables or fruit. Roast meat or chicken is very popular. Our food may taste good or bad or it may be tasteless, so we add some salt, sugar, pepper, vinegar and mustard to our food to make it salted, sweet, sour or simply tasty. Cook with pleasure and enjoy your meal. Remember, you are what you eat.

1. How many meals do people usually have a day?

2. What is the first meal of the day?

3. Why is breakfast an important meal of the day?

4. What does typical breakfast include?

5. Does your metabolism increase or decrease if you eat breakfast?

6. When is lunch usually eaten?

7. How many dishes does a full-course lunch consist of?

8. What is the third main meal of the day?

9. Are there many quick and healthy snacks? Name some of them.

10. What are the benefits of cooking your food yourself?

11. How can we improve the taste of our food?

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