How to eat more vegetables

We don't eat spinach very often but I recently bought a huge bag of spinach from Costco, so you can imagine how much spinach we're talking about. We've had to get a little creative to come up with ways to use up the spinach before it goes bad: puree for the baby, on pizza, with salmon on top, as a salad with walnuts, craisins and mozzarella. In doing so, I've also remembered just how delicious salads can be. I'm one of those crazy people who actually enjoy eating salads and I always run out of lettuce rather than toppings. Weirdo, I know.

But it reminded me that you eat what's available. If we have fruit and veggies, we (our toddler especially) ask for them and eat them more often. I try to keep them around because it forces us to use them up before they go bad since I (and my wallet)  feel bad throwing away produce. Here are my top three ideas of how to eat more vegetables.

Source: iStock

1) Buy them. If you don't have vegetables in your house, you will choose to eat something else. If you don't like eating them raw or dipped in ranch dressing or something similar, try using carrots, celery or bell pepper to dip into hummus, salsa or guacamole instead of pita or tortilla chips. Or cut up tomatoes, get some mozzarella and pour on some balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Or saute they up in teriyaki and soy and serve a stir fry over your favorite grain.

2) Make them convenient to eat. Most often, the produce that ends up in our trash is still dirty and in the container we bought it in. When we wash grapes, take them off of the stems and place them in a bowl in the fridge, they get eaten within a few days. When they sit unwashed in the plastic bag they came in, that is usually where they stay. Some fruit and veggies shouldn't be washed ahead of time (berries and mushrooms come to mind) but many can be prepped and kept for days or a week or more. Here's a tip: keep celery in a container filled with water. This keeps it crunchy. Even if your celery has reached the rubbery stage, putting it in water in the fridge overnight or for a day will give it back its crunch.

3) Now that you have veggies at home, plan to make something with them. Lots of people have their go-to veggie heavy dish, but if you don't, try one of these: spring pasta, soup, curry, salad of course, quiche, fried rice, pizza, more pasta, side dishes, chili, you name it. You don't have to have a vegetarian meal, but do try to feature vegetables more than you do currently (and I don't believe in hiding veggies in food). We have meatless mealsa few times a week, sometimes unintentionally, because we like to eat things other than meat, and meat is too expensive to be in our budget everyday. Honestly, we really don't miss it when we don't eat it.

I'd love to hear some vegetable featured meals that other people make for themselves and their families. We're always looking for new recipes and flavors to bring into our meal rotation. 

Unconscious eating

Do you snack while you're watching tv (hello March Madness, I'm looking at you)?

Do you browse through websites or scroll facebook while you're eating lunch or dinner?

Do you "have to" have a snack before bed (or at 3pm or after lunch) because for some reason you've decided that you "have to"?

Do you regularly open a bag of girl scout cookies or chips and look down 20 minutes later only to realize you've nearly eaten the whole thing? (please tell me this isn't just me)

Do you open a soda, gatorade, energy drink or other form of liquid calories and finish it in record time because you're sipping it without thinking? (P.S. If you're that thirsty, you should probably drink more water)

Do you eat while driving in the car?

For a lot of people, myself included, a significant amount of calories are consumed unconsciously. I will open a granola bar and then, in what seems like 2 seconds, I reach down for another bite and, not only is the thing gone, but I'm left unsatisfied and 100 calories "fuller". A big part of making yourself and your diet healthier is being honest with yourself about what you eat and drink. I've always been afraid of doing a food journal because it makes me feel guilty about what I am putting in my mouth, even though I try to incorporate many healthy and whole food options into my diet. In a lot of ways, it's really about taking a good look at what you're eating and drinking and more importantly, how much.

There is a 24 hours news station here in Atlanta that I often listen to on my drive to and from work (while I'm eating my aforementioned granola bar in the car) and I recently heard them mention a study that claimed that "distracted" eaters consume up to 50% more calories than "attentive" eaters. Up to 50% more just from not paying attention! That's crazy to me, and at the same time it makes total sense. This article from Fox News addresses this claim so I think this is what they were referring to. They say that "distracted eaters do not pay close attention to food and are not as aware of how much they have eaten." Duh, right?

These were the results. They totally make sense, but I found them fascinating.

On average, eating while distracted increased the amount eaten by about 10 percent, compared to not being distracted. But it also increased the amount a person ate at a later meal by more than 25 percent.

In contrast, enhancing memories of food consumed at an earlier meal reduced the amount consumed at a subsequent meal by about 10 percent.

Enhancing awareness of the food being consumed at the current meal did not, however, change how much people ate at that meal.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/03/18/distracted-eaters-likely-to-take-in-more-calories/#ixzz2OfFkgesS

So here's the good news from what I understand of the results: thinking about what you ate earlier in the day can actually make you eat about 10% less at your next meal. That's pretty cool, and I think worth a try if you're looking to decrease your calories. And while you're at it, put down the book, turn off the tv and the computer, and savor the pleasure that is eating. :D

Healthy Snacks

I snack a lot. Seriously, I eat constantly from about 8am-4pm. And on top of that, snacking is my coping mechanism when I'm stressed out or anxious about something (which is basically all the time) . My being aware that I do this, though, is half of the battle. What I've chosen to do is, instead of fighting my natural inclination, I give myself healthy options to choose from. I also eat small meals instead of big ones so that my snacks are instead of meal-food, not in addition to. This way my daily intake is still reasonable. Here are some healthy options I use to satisfy my snack addiction that I've come to love:

Dried fruit! This is a biggie with me. I put it in oatmeal, on yogurt, in baked goods or most of the time, just eat it plain. It jazzes up so many things and gets you some of those fruit vitamins, minerals and fiber at the same time. Plus, it's just plain delicious! You do have to watch the sugar content with some brands as it can be pretty high. I buy the majority of my dried fruit at Trader Joe's and it is just good ole fruit for the most part.

Coconut! All varieties - unsweetened shredded (so good in oatmeal), roasted chips (Trader Joe's, also good in oatmeal) or just sweetened coconut flesh. Yes, coconut has a high content of fat but, like avocados, it has good natural fats that your body needs, although it is best consumed in moderation.

Fresh fruit! As far as I know, no one ever got fat by eating too much fresh fruit. I tend to gorge on fruit when it's in season, especially peaches here in Georgia during the summer. Try to buy locally when you can. You'll be amazed at how much more flavor it has.

Dark chocolate! Good quality dark chocolate. If I'm craving chocolate, I'm not going to bother with anything less. I generally keep Ghirardelli 60% bittersweet chocolate chips around for baking and so I grab a handful (or three) of those.

Tortilla chips and salsa! Homemade salsa would make this an even healthier option, but between the time spent chopping veggies and the price of produce, we think it's worth it to buy jarred. Still, eating tortilla chips is a much better option than alternatives - potato chips, chex mix, cheez-its...

Granola bars! Again, homemade would be better but with the two little ones, we just haven't gotten around to doing it. Still, a 100 calorie granola bar is a much better option than grabbing a candy bar, cookie, etc.

Nuts! We are partial to pistachios but any handful of nuts is a great snack. Almonds, walnuts, pecans - they're all full of vitamins, minerals, omega-3 fatty acids and also fiber that help fill you up between meals. Like coconut (and really, everything), nuts should be eaten in moderation because of the high calorie content. Obviously a big handful of nuts is good for you. Eating the whole bag likely negates the benefits, despite being delicious :)

Homemade baked goods! There could be some discussion on this one, but I love to bake and it is a satisfying and peaceful experience to me. There are many days when I am craving something sweet (cookies, brownies, cake...) and so I just make it because I have a pantry that's always stocked with baking supplies. The way I see it, if I make whatever I'm craving rather than ignoring it, I will satisfy my immediate craving with the benefit of knowing what ingredients are in it. If I don't make it, I'll generally search the house for alternatives and end up eating worse things or a larger amount of something to try to satisfy it, and in the end I probably still won't be satisfied. One of the little things I do to make my baking just a touch healthier is to use white whole wheat flour in place of all purpose flour in many recipes. I actually like the flavor of the white whole wheat better (it's not nearly as strongly flavored as regular whole wheat flour, which I don't care for) and it's better for you than all purpose. My local chain grocery store carries King Arthur flour brand (which I highly recommend) and I find it's comparable in price to the others.

Pretzel thins! These are one of the more processed things that I eat, but I figure at least they're baked rather than fried. Sometimes I just need to eat something crunchy and the dried fruit and granola bars and even cookies don't do it for me. Enter, pretzel thins. Thank goodness Costco carries these - my toddler and I go through them like it's our job. They're good alone, with some kind of cheese or dip or, my favorite, dipped in nutella! The key to the latter option is to portion out a spoonful of nutella in a little bowl and not refill it when it's gone. It's good for those chocolate cravings though, since a spoonful of nutella is probably better than a giant bowl full of ice cream or a handful of cookies. Man, now I have the munchies again...