Your Simply Living Tip of The Day by Registered Holistic Nutritionist Jenn Pike:

By Jenn Pike | February 5, 2012

Well hello there Foodies!

So you’re back for part 2 of my Simply Living Tip I posted Saturday…

Well here goes; I will be dividing this info up over the next 5 days of my tips so that it comes to you in smaller, better to absorb pieces.

Saturday I talked about purging your cupboards, pantry and fridge from all of your faux foods and replacing them with real, live, vital foods instead. BEing that its Superbowl Sunday I am sure there is more than just your kitchen that needs the purging!!! But that’s another blog in and of itself!

Today I am going to give you some awesome tips on how to incorporate todays ‘ Featured Fierce Foodie Food-Group’ Vegetables!

When you are grocery shopping I encourage you to have at least 1/2 if not 3/4 of your shopping cart to be full of lush color, nutrients, alkalizing and slimming power foods – VEGGIES! Choose from the rainbow available to you (be sure to check out my recent blog on the dirty dozen so you know which to buy organically); broccoli, kale, spinach, collards, chard, bok choy, cabbage, cauliflower, green beans, zucchini, red, orange and yellow bell peppers, mushrooms, beets, cilantro, dandelion greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet potatoes and yams, onion, leeks, carrots, snap peas, corn and squash…the list could keep going but I think you get the point?

Now I know most people look at this list and think well that sounds great but what the heck do I do with half of these, some of which I have never heard of before? Well as a little helping hand to get you going take a peek at our day at home so you can see how managed to get 15 different veggies in today and its only 6pm!!!

This is for my husband, myself and my 2 children ages 3 and 5:

Breakfast – Tropical Green Smoothie ~ 2 cups So Delicious Coconut milk, 2 fresh bananas, 3/4  cup frozen mango, 3/4 cup fresh pineapple, 2 large handfuls of kale, 3 large handfuls of spinach, 4 tbsp flax oil, 4 tsp bee pollen and 1/4 cup hemp hearts. Blend for 2 minutes in Vitamix or powerful blender and enjoy! In one glass we each received 3 fruit and 2 veg servings, fat, fiber, protein and loads of vitamins and minerals.

The kids also had a piece of spelt toast with almond butter and jam, Chris had oatmeal and about 1 hour later I had some live porridge (1/2 cup worth)

Snack – apple for all plus apricot almond bites fr0m studio

Lunch – I made a huge veggie platter with red, orange and yellow peppers, snap peas, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots and humus. We also had salsa & guacamole, organic nachos and black beans.

So now we’re up to 9 servings of veggies and 4 fruit each!

Snack – Kids had rice crackers and goat cheese, applesauce and almonds, Chris had yogurt & granola and I had few rice crackers and goat cheese/humus

Dinner – Vegetarian Chili – zucchini, peppers, mushroom, onions, garlic, tomatoes, celery, beans, quinoa, sauce and nachos on the side

So you see from the time you wake until your day ends there are many varying ways you can add extra vegetables into your day.

Here are a few ones to remember:

  • smoothies
  • fresh juices
  • wraps and sandwiches
  • soups, chilis, pasta and stews
  • lasagna and casseroles
  • rice or quinoa salad with veggies
  • veggies and dip or humus
  • healthy pizza, nachos or tacos and burritos
  • fruit and veggies juice pops
  • bake some into your muffins, breads and brownies

Again, we could go on but I am pretty sure you have taken away at least a few great new ways of adding more nutrients and living whole foods fuel to your daily eating routine for both you and your loved ones.

And the biggest bonus of all…the more veggies you eat in the long run, the cheaper your grocery will become and the healthier all of you will feel:)

Stay tuned tomorrow when I chat about fruit, nuts and seeds!

 

 

 

Posted in Childrens Nutrition, Nutrition, Recipes and tagged , , , ,