(no subject)
We all need more fruit and vegetables in our diet. It's a fact. The standard notion is five servings per day, minimum, with a serving being about the size of your closed fist or palm. But we can't just eat five apples and let that be it, we need a variety of fruits and veggies through a week, not just one or two kinds. Different fruits and vegetables contain different nutrients, some of which we only need trace amounts of, and others that we need to mix with other nutrients to absorb properly.
For example, leafy green vegetables provide a great deal of iron, folate, and other essential nutrients, some of these we can't absorb as easily without vitamin C, which we find in citrus fruits.
The other thing to consider is how your system processes food, this includes timing, any deficiencies you may have (plus any indications of deficiencies), and what kinds of foods your body does and doesn't like.
Some people don't cope well with large volumes of fruit on their own and need bread or other starchy foods with them to avoid feeling nauseous. Often people who aren't used to eating it can find that a lot of fruits and veggies can be a shock to the system and cause diarrhoea and/or stomach pains.
As with any change in diet, you should be aware that your body may not immediately adapt, and lifestyle can often make changes difficult too.
So, taking this into account, here's some ideas to make fruit and veggies that bit more palletable.
Find a couple of fruits and vegetables that you really like, and use them to disguise or complement others that you aren't so keen on.
Fill up a stir fry with pineapple and capsicum and then mix some cabbage and silverbeet through it.
Use a base of butter beans and corn and add various other veggies to them.
Chop up a banana and some strawberries and have apple and orange pieces with them
Make a potato mash and add corn, carrots and other flavours to it.
Use sauces and gravies
Try a sweet and sour sauce simmer for a few minutes with mixed vegetables and have alongside the rest of the meal.
A white sauce goes nicely with almost any vegetables, and can be spiced up with cheese or herbs (such as parley, rosemary or coriander)
A plain gravy, using cornflour, marmite or vegemite and a little butter or oil makes a great compliment to almost all vegetables (herbs also make a great addition).
Blend frozen berries or other favourite fruits into a puree and pour over other fruit pieces.
Try bananas and other fruits with custard poured over the top.
Try out different sauces, such as hummus and it's variants, tahini, babaghanoush and barbecue sauce, and try dipping carrot and celery sticks into them.
Try adding a light garlic sauce (you can easily make one from a white sauce or hummus) over the top of veggies.
Center your meals around fruit and veggies.
Try stir fries made up predominantly of vegetables and add beans and nuts for extra flavour.
Try curry sauces you like poured over steamed vegetables with dessicated coconut, beans, sultanas, nuts and seeds for further flavour.
Steam vegetables and then lightly fry them in sesame seed oil and enjoy with cashew nuts.
Add lots of extra veggies to meals like casseroles (onion, corn, peas, beans, potato), burgers (peas, corn, carrot, capsicum, onion), shepherds pie (beans, capsicum, peas, corn, carrot, onion, celery), lasagne (tomato, onion, celery, corn, red capsicum), pies and quiches (capsicum, celery, peas, corn, carrot, tomato). It's surprising how many non traditional additions work nicely, experiment, and you don't have to add just one or two flavours, you can do lots of small additions if you find that any one strong flavour doesn't go down well.
Roast your vegetables with rosemary, coriander, parsley, garlic and oregano or any combination of herbs you like. Serve as the bulk of the meal and add gravy.
Try out a vegetable bake of some kind, potato, broccoli, cauliflower.
Give stuffed potatoes or capsicum a go (go easy on the potato and add more different types of veggies), and experiment with ideas of your own.
Look at shishkobobs loaded with vegetables and try marinating them in honey soy sauce, sweet and sour sauce, or just plain. You can add both vegetables and some fruits to these (they go great grilled), or you could try an entirely fruit based kebab raw as a change.
Make your salads more varied, add spinach, cabbage, red onion, red cabbage, capsicum, celery, spring onion, and beans. Try out different relishes with them too, such as vinaigrette dressings or chow chow.
Try a vegetable soup as a main, if you make it nice and thick you'll find it extremely filling and very warming. Great with crusty bread!
Get creative with desserts and snacks.
Make fruit sorbet in as many flavours as you can think of and have as a dessert or a snack.
Make smoothies, experiment with all kinds of different flavours (spiralina goes great with banana and apple)
Try mixing fruit in with your ice cream, it'll make it go further and it'll make a naughty treat that little bit healthier.
Make fresh fruit juice in any flavour you like.
Add dried fruit to muffins or breads.
Add fruit to pancakes (berries, banana, apple).
Try a little cinnamon over different fruits, such as apple, banana, pears, etc.
Freeze lumps of fruit and add them to drinks (alcoholic, fizzy, juices, or just plain water) to keep them cool, add flavour, and give you something to suck or chew on when the glass is empty.
Make fruit ice blocks, either with pureed fruit or water/lemonade and chunks of fruit.
These are just a few ideas. Experiment and share any you come up with.
For example, leafy green vegetables provide a great deal of iron, folate, and other essential nutrients, some of these we can't absorb as easily without vitamin C, which we find in citrus fruits.
The other thing to consider is how your system processes food, this includes timing, any deficiencies you may have (plus any indications of deficiencies), and what kinds of foods your body does and doesn't like.
Some people don't cope well with large volumes of fruit on their own and need bread or other starchy foods with them to avoid feeling nauseous. Often people who aren't used to eating it can find that a lot of fruits and veggies can be a shock to the system and cause diarrhoea and/or stomach pains.
As with any change in diet, you should be aware that your body may not immediately adapt, and lifestyle can often make changes difficult too.
So, taking this into account, here's some ideas to make fruit and veggies that bit more palletable.
Find a couple of fruits and vegetables that you really like, and use them to disguise or complement others that you aren't so keen on.
Fill up a stir fry with pineapple and capsicum and then mix some cabbage and silverbeet through it.
Use a base of butter beans and corn and add various other veggies to them.
Chop up a banana and some strawberries and have apple and orange pieces with them
Make a potato mash and add corn, carrots and other flavours to it.
Use sauces and gravies
Try a sweet and sour sauce simmer for a few minutes with mixed vegetables and have alongside the rest of the meal.
A white sauce goes nicely with almost any vegetables, and can be spiced up with cheese or herbs (such as parley, rosemary or coriander)
A plain gravy, using cornflour, marmite or vegemite and a little butter or oil makes a great compliment to almost all vegetables (herbs also make a great addition).
Blend frozen berries or other favourite fruits into a puree and pour over other fruit pieces.
Try bananas and other fruits with custard poured over the top.
Try out different sauces, such as hummus and it's variants, tahini, babaghanoush and barbecue sauce, and try dipping carrot and celery sticks into them.
Try adding a light garlic sauce (you can easily make one from a white sauce or hummus) over the top of veggies.
Center your meals around fruit and veggies.
Try stir fries made up predominantly of vegetables and add beans and nuts for extra flavour.
Try curry sauces you like poured over steamed vegetables with dessicated coconut, beans, sultanas, nuts and seeds for further flavour.
Steam vegetables and then lightly fry them in sesame seed oil and enjoy with cashew nuts.
Add lots of extra veggies to meals like casseroles (onion, corn, peas, beans, potato), burgers (peas, corn, carrot, capsicum, onion), shepherds pie (beans, capsicum, peas, corn, carrot, onion, celery), lasagne (tomato, onion, celery, corn, red capsicum), pies and quiches (capsicum, celery, peas, corn, carrot, tomato). It's surprising how many non traditional additions work nicely, experiment, and you don't have to add just one or two flavours, you can do lots of small additions if you find that any one strong flavour doesn't go down well.
Roast your vegetables with rosemary, coriander, parsley, garlic and oregano or any combination of herbs you like. Serve as the bulk of the meal and add gravy.
Try out a vegetable bake of some kind, potato, broccoli, cauliflower.
Give stuffed potatoes or capsicum a go (go easy on the potato and add more different types of veggies), and experiment with ideas of your own.
Look at shishkobobs loaded with vegetables and try marinating them in honey soy sauce, sweet and sour sauce, or just plain. You can add both vegetables and some fruits to these (they go great grilled), or you could try an entirely fruit based kebab raw as a change.
Make your salads more varied, add spinach, cabbage, red onion, red cabbage, capsicum, celery, spring onion, and beans. Try out different relishes with them too, such as vinaigrette dressings or chow chow.
Try a vegetable soup as a main, if you make it nice and thick you'll find it extremely filling and very warming. Great with crusty bread!
Get creative with desserts and snacks.
Make fruit sorbet in as many flavours as you can think of and have as a dessert or a snack.
Make smoothies, experiment with all kinds of different flavours (spiralina goes great with banana and apple)
Try mixing fruit in with your ice cream, it'll make it go further and it'll make a naughty treat that little bit healthier.
Make fresh fruit juice in any flavour you like.
Add dried fruit to muffins or breads.
Add fruit to pancakes (berries, banana, apple).
Try a little cinnamon over different fruits, such as apple, banana, pears, etc.
Freeze lumps of fruit and add them to drinks (alcoholic, fizzy, juices, or just plain water) to keep them cool, add flavour, and give you something to suck or chew on when the glass is empty.
Make fruit ice blocks, either with pureed fruit or water/lemonade and chunks of fruit.
These are just a few ideas. Experiment and share any you come up with.