One Step At a Time...
You Can Go Meatless
For All Three Meals
When you were a
young,
your Mother probably struggled to get you to eat enough fruits and
vegetables. Now that you're grown up, you may be struggling to follow
through on Mom's
advice on your own.
Fruits and
vegetables are loaded with vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants, yet
many adult women find it a chore to eat the recommended amount of
five to nine servings every day. It's especially challenging with
today's stressful lifestyles that juggle careers
with
motherhood, but by following just a few of these tips you'll go a
long way towards reaching your daily quota:
Make
it a habit to include fruit or vegetables with breakfast, and you'll
be getting a head start on your daily intake right away. Add veggies
to your omelet and berries or banana slices to your cereal
or pancakes, or try a smoothie made with yogurt and fruit.
Have fruit or
vegetables as a snack, and pair them with something else to make them
easier to consume. Carrots, cucumbers, and red pepper slices go great
with hummus, and fruit is a natural
match for cheese.
Have a
vegetable-based soup with your lunchtime sandwich instead of chips.
Soup provides one of the tastiest ways to eat your veggies, and the
varieties available are endless, so you're sure to find a favorite
that provides you with a full serving.
An
8-ounce glass of vegetable or fruit juice counts as a serving. Just
be sure to check the label to make sure it contains 100 percent
juice, rather than a small percentage added to high fructose corn
syrup and water. V8's V-Fusion beverages contain nothing but juice
and fruit and vegetable products with no added sweeteners. Or
consider buying a good quality juicer, and have fun creating your own
tasty combinations.
Eat
a fruity dessert. Traditional pies are high in calories and fat, but
fruit tarts and cobblers provide the same taste for fewer calories.
For simpler desserts, make your own chunky applesauce; try grilled
fruit kabobs made of sliced pineapple and bananas; or drizzle cut
figs with honey and crumbled Gorgonzola cheese.
Food
manufacturers are jumping on the
healthy
snack bandwagon by incorporating real fruit and vegetables into their
products, so keep an eye out for them when you go grocery shopping.
Some breakfast cereals contain dehydrated fruit such as bananas and
strawberries, and Frito-Lay's Flat Earth product line of snack chips
provide a half serving of produce in every ounce.
Pick your own
fruit when it's in season. Not only is apple, strawberry or blueberry
picking a fun activity (especially with the
family),
but you'll also be more motivated to use up the fruit right away.Try
a fruit or vegetable you've never tasted before, and you may discover
it's something you can't get enough of. Pomegranates and figs usually
come into season in the fall, and unusual tropical fruits start
appearing in your supermarket in the winter.
Buying fresh
produce when it's in season such as squash during the autumn months
means you'll enjoy them when they're at their tastiest.The key is to
get so used to eating fruits and vegetables as part of a daily diet
that you couldn't imagine meals without them. You will thank your
Mother... and your body will thank you!
Healthy Meatless Recipe:
Eggplant Parmesan Quinoa Casserole
(Adapted
from The Iron You)
Ingredients:
- 2 cups cooked quinoa (you’ll need about 1 cup of uncooked quinoa)
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 large eggplant (about 1 lb), cubed
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- a handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped
- 1 29 oz (good tasting or your own) tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated*
- ½ cup Romano cheese, grated**Vegans: sub this with vegan cheese
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375°F and lightly grease a 8x8 baking dish.
- Fill a large bowl with cold water, add one teaspoon of sea salt and stir until it dissolves completely. Place eggplant cubes into the water and let sit for 20 minutes to draw out the bitterness.
- Drain the eggplant cubes and pat them dry.
- Heat olive oil in a large non-stick pan (or skillet) over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and ½ teaspoon of sea salt and saute’ for 6 to 7 minutes, or until onions are translucent.
- Add eggplant cubes and saute’ for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, making sure that the eggplant doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Add tomato sauce, basil and ½ teaspoon of sea salt, turn the heat to low, cover with a lid and cook for 25 to 30 minutes.
- In the meantime, in another dry non-stick pan (or skillet) over medium-high heat, toast quinoa with red pepper flakes, black pepper and a pinch of salt for 2 minutes. Set aside.
- In a large bowl combine quinoa, eggplant sauce and ½ cup of Parmesan cheese.
- Transfer quinoa mixture to baking dish, top with remaining Parmesan and Romano cheeses.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes and then turn the broiler on and broil for 1 to 2 minutes and carefully brown the top.
- Remove for the over and top with fresh oregano leaves (or basil ribbons). Allow to sit 10 minutes and then serve.
- Serves 6 and this casserole will be better the next day or even the day after that.
Enjoy and Bon Appetit!
Healthy Weekly Motivator
Talk It Out
Although
it can be hard to discuss stressful situations, keeping perspective
and coming up with potential solutions is an important part of
remaining calm and moving forward.
Friends
or coworkers - who are often facing similar issues or have advice
from past experiences - can provide the perfect support system to
help you do just that.
If
you feel stressed this week, ask friends or family to lend an ear.
They may be able to offer insight that you wouldn’t have seen
otherwise.
Remember Green Goes With Everything
Let's
Do Fall House Cleaning
Let's
get every nook and cranny spick-and-span for winter. And let's make
sure you do it right with products that are SAFE, especially
around your little ones. Powerful against even the most
stubborn dirt; Green for the planet; and Smart on your
wallet. In other words,let's try Shaklee's Get Clean products.
Get Clean: Safe for
you, your home, and your planet. To learn more click here.
Have a great week and remember a better tomorrow starts with what you eat today!
Do you have a favorite meatless recipe you would like to share with us? Send it my way!
Wishing you health and wellness from the inside out,
Lisa
LQ WELLNESS
Professional Wellness Coach
973-383-0955
lisaquinnwc@embarqmail.com
Make sure to follow me on Twitter @lq_wellness
Like me on Facebook
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“As
I see it, every day you do one of two things:
build
health or produce disease in yourself.”
~Adelle
Davis~
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