11 March 2013

Options

Believe it or not, you have options when it comes to eating healthy. Sure, your tastes will adjust and change as you move your meals to healthy options but if you're like me, there are some foods that you just aren't going to like no matter how they are prepared. My list includes peas, sauerkraut and papaya among a few others. The good news is that, regardless of the health benefits you're looking for, there is almost always another option or an alternative preparation that you might like better. I strongly believe that life is too short to eat food you don't enjoy, even (especially!) if you're eating healthy.

For example, my husband doesn't like raw carrots but he eats these caramelized cumin roasted carrots like they're candy. They take about 2 minutes to prep when you buy a bag of baby carrots and use ground cumin, which we always have around. I strongly suggest getting the big bag of baby carrots because these will disappear before you know it. We seriously grab one out of the pan every time we walk by it. My two year old loves these also.

Another example. I think quinoa is disgusting. I know it's trendy right now and it has all sorts of health benefits but I just can't stand the taste or the texture. Neither can my hubby. The thing is, though, part of the benefit of quinoa is to reduce the consumption of nutritionally stripped white rice and pasta by replacing it in recipes. So, instead of white rice and pasta, sometimes we do whole wheat cous cous, which we love, or brown jasmine rice, which we don't totally love so I usually mix with the white jasmine rice. The way I see it, a little good is better than none and every little bit counts. You would try whole wheat or spinach pasta as other alternatives. Try different things until you find one you like!

I'd love to hear what other healthy foods your family has come to love or which ones you're currently eating for the health benefits but not totally loving. I always find it really interesting to hear what are a person/family's go-to meals or snacks.

3 comments:

  1. I totally mix brown rice with white rice, too. I have to trick myself into eating healthy foods sometimes! And I add whole wheat flour to bread doughs sometimes, too. I can't stand any more than 1/3 whole wheat, though.

    I also add tons of red lentils to any soup (chili especially) that I'm going to simmer for more than 30 minutes, since they add tons of nutrients and dissolve if they cook for long enough. They're so yummy and really thicken up any soup or stew!

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    1. Have you tried white whole wheat flour? I talked about it a little in the Healthy Snacks post. I use it almost exclusively when I bake in place of all purpose. I don't like regular whole wheat flour either, but the white whole wheat is very mild. I think you'd like it. I buy the King Arthur Flour brand and it's available at all the grocery stores here.

      I just started getting into lentils. I like that they have them in the bulk section at whole foods so I can try a little of this and a little of that to find what I like. Any ideas for what to make with green lentils? I have two cups of them and I was just going to cook them up in some leftover veggie stock but wasn't sure what to add to them or serve them with.

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    2. I have, it still tastes too whole-wheaty to me, but I really only bake breads, not a lot of actual baked goods. I'm working it in little by little!

      I love lentil soup, I mix green & red lentils for that. And I'll cook up green lentils and add them to taco meat, shepherd's pie, any "beefy" foods to stretch the meat and add protein while saving money. But I definitely use red lentils more often because they cook more quickly! Apparently you can also use them to make cookies, but I've never tried that.

      Maybe add some adobo seasoning and do a take on beans & rice with roasted veggies?

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