Eat 6 or 8 and Feel Great!

“Eat your broccoli because it’s good for you!" is perhaps one of the most often said comments during meal times that our Mom’s drilled into our heads as children. You know what? Mom was right!



The list of health benefits by eating lots of vegetables and fruits are seemingly endless. This healthy eating habit helps keep heart disease and risk of strokes at bay; can assist in controlling your blood pressure; help avoid diverticulitis (a very painful intestinal ailment), as well as stave off cataracts and macular degeneration. Plus here’s the added bonus: if you eat the recommended 3 ½ - 4 cups or more servings of veggies and fruits per day, your stomach simply won’t have room for a large bag of potato chips or a quart of ice cream! (I allowed a ½ cup as a serving to get to the number 6, but keep going with the count as you can never have enough vegetables and fruits in your daily diet.)



“Yes, I know all of this Linda, but I don’t have the time to prepare all those vegetables every meal time. Plus I have trouble getting my husband and kids to eat anything that’s leafy and green. How am I supposed to fit in 8 full servings and get them to chow down?" You’re not alone with this problem, so in today’s newsletter, let me tell you how to ‘sneak’ in some of those nutrient-packed goodies to your everyday lifestyle.



Get ‘Sneaky’ With Your Veggies



1. Got a shredder or food processor? Combine three or four veggies that your family may not be fond of and finely shred them, then sneak some on top of a home-made pizza. Once you add some skim milk mozzarella cheese on top of the pizza, chances are they’re not even going to notice that you snuck in some broccoli, asparagus, spinach or green peppers.



2. Do your kids love Sloppy Joes or spaghetti? Hiding veggies in a sauce is the easiest way to bump up your daily serving count. Add some finely chopped carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, parsnips – whatever you can safely ‘mask’ with your basic tomato sauce. Be sure to spice it up a bit by adding oregano or basil to the mix and use whole wheat pasta noodles. Trust me, no one will know that you’ve added some heart healthy and fibre happy veggies to their Saturday night spaghetti.



3. While you’ve got your food processor or shredder out, grate extra veggies. Simply put the additional goodies in plastic air-tight bags or containers and place them in your refrigerator. Then the next time you have an urge to snack on something, haul out a container and enjoy them with a low-cal dip or salad dressing. This is a really easy way to increase your daily intake of vegetables plus keep away from sugar laden, trans-fat happy snacks.



4. Try grilling kebobs instead of slapping a pound of steak on the grill. The rule of thumb here is to add 4 pieces of vegetables to every one piece of meat on the skewer. By using smaller pieces of beef, chicken or pork, and adding chunks of sweet peppers, onion, cherry tomatoes, pieces of cut-up fresh pineapple or orange sections, you’ll easily be able to add a full serving or two of goodness to your daily intake. Just be careful not to slather the kebobs with a high sugar content BBQ sauce.



5. Step out of your veggie comfort zone! Try different types of veggies to see what they taste like before you automatically shake your head in disgust. For example, spaghetti squash is a great alternative to regular pasta. This little gem can be baked, boiled, cooked in a slow-cooker or even microwaved. Once cooked, take a fork and ‘shred’ it into strands similar to pre-formed spaghetti noodles and then ladle on the sneaky veggie-packed sauce you’ve made for a true double whammy of goodness.



Adding additional servings of fruit to your diet is really pretty simple. Make it a point each week when out doing your usual grocery shopping to buy and try 2 different types of fruit. Keep staples such as crisp apples, bananas, and oranges in your home and add 2 more seasonal fruits to the mix. If a wide array of good fresh fruit isn’t available where you live, then simply choose from the frozen section of your grocery store. Mangos, blueberries, strawberries and raspberries are just a few of the readily available fruits in frozen form and these make terrific smoothies to jumpstart your morning or provide a nice cool thirst quencher in the evening.



Take the time to eat 6 to 8 servings of vegetables and fruits per day and I can guarantee you that you’ll feel great. Plus you just might actually lose some weight in the process – what a bonus!