While our shelves have recently been emptied of toilet paper, paper towels, meat and eggs the same cannot be said for many fruit and veggies. Recent data show that while there has been an increase in purchases of personal care and cleaning products, apples and other fresh fruit have seen a decrease in purchase rates. We also know that a diet high in fruits and vegetables is associated with reduced risks of many diseases and better health in general. Let’s take advantage of all these available fresh fruits and vegetables to make a positive impact on our health.
Make fruit and veggies your go to snack
- Wash grapes and put them on the counter in pride of place where they cannot help but be noticed.
- Cut up apples, mango, pears, oranges, strawberries and other grab and go fruit and put them out instead of packaged snacks.
- Do not keep fruit in the fridge (even in the front). Out of sight, out of mind. Only store fruit in the fridge overnight or when the house is empty. Trust me it will not go bad on the counter; it will get eaten.
“I keep a bowl of apples on the counter and no one grabs them. Why should I cut them up?”. Here is my take. A whole apple is not a snack it’s a commitment (“Do I want a whole apple? I just want a quick snack. I am not sure I want that much to eat”). An apple slice taken as you walk by is a quick snack, no internal debate required. Before you know it one slice, turns into two, then three and then the kids are asking you to cut up more.
You can do the same for carrots, radishes, jicama, snow peas. Add a bowl of hummus, especially around times when everyone often looks for a snack, and those too will disappear.
Grape tomatoes make a great snack. Since refrigerating tomatoes is not recommended anyway pick up a package, put them in a nice bowl and set them in pride of place where they cannot help but be noticed (and eaten).
Rethink the order you put food on your plate.
Start with the veggies and take as much space as you want, then add the grains and protein after. We put more on our plate when there is lots of space to fill, so this simple trick may have you eating more veggies without feeling like you gave up anything.
Put veggies in your normal side dish. Frozen peas and corn in your couscous? Sure. They take almost no time to cook (really just the time it takes to thaw and warm them) so put them in the same pan as your couscous and sneak in some extra veggies.
Make veggies (or fruit) the star of your recipes
Increase the amount of veggies you eat by making easy tweaks to recipes.
Increase (1.5 or event double) the amount of veggies a recipe calls for while reducing some of the meat or carbs it calls for. For example, if a recipe calls for 2 cups of carrots and 2 cups of broccoli, ¾ lb. of pasta and 1 lb. of chicken breast, add some more carrots, maybe another veggie like cauliflower (anything you like) and reduce the pasta to ½ lb. and chicken to ¾ lb. You can event keep the same amount of pasta and meat, by adding more veggies to the total each serving will automatically have more.
Who said that fruit has to be the garnish on oatmeal? Make it the star instead.
Instead of buying fruit flavored (there is almost no fruit in there) yogurt buy plain yogurt and frozen fruit. Thaw out the fruit in the microwave, do not drain the juice, add in plain yogurt and mix. Chunks of real fruit taste better than the fruit colored sugar on the bottom of a yogurt cup and you get the benefit of reducing the sugar while upping the taste.
A note on frozen fruit and veggies
Do not be afraid of frozen fruit and veggies. In most cases they are just as or more nutritious than the “fresh” counterparts. The reason is that they are picked at the peak of freshness and generally processed within hours or a couple of days. Unless in season locally, most of our fresh produce is picked early and travels for days and weeks before hitting store shelves.
The difference between fresh and frozen mainly exists in terms of texture as the freeze/thaw cycle tends to affect the texture of the final product. Not an issue if you are going to cook or bake with them since that changes the texture as well.
Simple rule of thumb. If you are going to munch it raw, buy fresh. If you are going to cook it, blend it or otherwise transform the texture save some money, up the taste and nutrition and use frozen. An added bonus, keeping a supply of frozen fruits and veggies means you always have some healthy options on hand without worrying about spoilage.
Stay healthy and remember to make fruit and veggies the centerpiece not a supporting act.
There are many ways to fir fruit and vegetables into your life. My programs help you discover ways that you can seamlessly fit them to your unique situation. Check out the currently available programs and deals on the Programs and Services tab. You can also preview course content and register on my online school dashboard.