Increasing Fruit/vegetable content of diet

[Inquisitive Raven]

I'm going to be fascinated by the results of Steve's raw food experiment, but I'm not doing it myself for one simple reason. Before I can think about cutting meat from my diet, much less cooked food, I need to increase my intake of fruits and vegetables. This appears to be the legacy of childhood food wars. My mom was overfond of canned and boil-in-bag veggies, and much too much iceberg lettuce. Well, that explains the lack of veggies in my diet. I'm not sure what explains the lack of fruit. Mostly, what I eat in that department is apples and bananas, although I'll drink a wider variety of fruit juice. To top it all off, I probably have Asperger's Syndrome. (Translation: It's easy for me to get into a rut, and hard to change habits even compared to most people.)

So, does anyone have any advice for adding foods to a diet that previously lacked them?

[mlc82]

If you aren't a big "sweets"/sugary food eater, fruit is easy to work in- it tastes like candy to me! I just buy a bunch of all the kinds I like, mainly apples, oranges, and bananas, and eat several a day. My usual breakfast is a big banana or orange and 2 scoops of whey protein in water. Eating a big breakfast first thing just makes me want to go back to sleep.

Veggies I don't eat enough of either- I really don't like cooked veggies very much, and can't stand them raw, it's like trying to eat a tire to me. The best bet with veggies would probably be to throw them in a blender with water, liquify and drink

[mlc82]

Also, make sure any fruit juice you get is just pure fruit juice (in the ingredients), not from concentrate and without any sugar added (any kind of "syrup" either). A lot of fruit juices out there aren't much better than a coke- I personally like Tropicana pure squeezed OJ quite a bit, and the farmer's market near me sells some great fresh squeezed apple juice as well. I generally just eat fruit and avoid fruit juice though.

[mintyway]

For fruits, buy a blender/mixer. It will allow you to make incredibly tasty smoothies with fresh fruits. For instance press a couple oranges with it, blend it with a banana, a mango and a kiwi, add a bit of soya milk and there you have the tastiest juice you ever drank! You can use any variety of fruit you like of course. I can't stop drinking home made smoothies since I bought the machine.

As for vegetables, I find it easier (tastier) to eat them on a pie. I just buy raw pie/pizza paste (make sure you get those made with butter instead of the many ones that contains hydrogenated oil (trans fat) ), I then cook some brocollis, for instance, and lay it on the paste with sliced tomatoes and mushrooms, and a bit of mozzarella. You can use other veggies. Put in the oven for 15 minutes. Enjoy.

I can assure that even as a junk food and meat lover, I have learned to LOVE these. Thanks to my vegetarian girlfriend

[chilove]

Hi there,

I think that your goal to eat more fruits and veggies is awesome!

I used to think that I HATED fruits and veggies. I NEVER ate them. My mom never served fresh fruits and veggies. The veggies that she gave us were those horrible weird square potato, carrots and peas (I think) that came in a can. We never had salads or fresh veggies of any sort. We never had fruit. I ate nothing but junk food as a young adult and into my thirties. Now I LOVE fruits and veggies!

Making progress from where you currently are is the right idea!!

I have helped many people with issue and have some tips that I think might help:

Start with making a list of all the reasons why you want to start being more conscious of your health and eat more fruits and veggies. Think about it for awhile and try to think of all the reasons, both little and small, serious and silly. It will help you stay motivated if you remember why wanted to do this in the first place.

Write another list of all the fruits and veggies that you really enjoy eating and actually like the taste of and wouldn't mind eating. You will be surprised to find that list will be a lot longer than you thought! This will help you realized that you have many good options to pick from. It is important to see this change as a life enhancing and have it be pleasant and easy.

Now go out to the store and buy as many of them as you can get your hands on. Start with the goal of adding two a day. If that is easy, increase to three. Add on one more each week or two or as it feels comfortable. Aim for seven to nine as your ultimate ideal.

Now depending on how much you like to cook, there are tons of ways that you can increase your intake fruits and veggies in quick, easy and tasty ways.

If you like to cook there are many vegetable or vegetable based soups and stews that are super easy and quick to cook, especially if you have or get a crock pot. You can also throw veggies in any soup and it will usually taste great. Some good things that really enhance soups and stews are carrots, onions (use red or purple ones-the darker and more brightly colored friuts and veggies contain higher levels of anti-oxidents), celery, yams or sweet potatoes, chopped spinach or other greens, chopped purple cabbage, and whatever else you like. You can make veggie chili or just throw in more veggies in a met chili.

If you email me, I'll send you some yummy soup recipes.

You can also improve your diet easily by adding more beans to your diet. Beans are full of protein and healthy fiber and low in fat. Lentils and pretty much any kind of bean that you like can be added to soups and stews. They are really good on salads and on top of baked potatoes. Black beans and salsa and guacamole are really good on top of a baked potato. My little sister who used to eat three meals a day at fast food restaurants now LOVES vegetarian chili on top of baked potatoes. Canned beans are actually pretty yummy. Making your own is super easy and very, very economical. They are really cheap. Once again, even easier with a crockpot. Alot of varieties of beans are really yummy with rice. Especially pinto beans and black beans. Hummus is basically a bean dip and is very yummy with cut up raw veggies like carrots, and broccoli and cauliflower. Use them to dip into the hummus. Hummus is also very yummy with pita bread and tortilla chips. Hummus is very easy and cheap to make with a can of garbanzo beans.

Salsa and guacamole is very yummy and contain a lot of healthy veggies. MAke your own guacamole with purple onions, tomatoes, cilantro, lime, and little bit of salsa or hot sauce. Delicious! Veggie fajitas are super yummy and really easy to make. Adding more veggies to meat fajitas would be easy and yummy. Veggies are great in quesadillas, especially spinach and burritos. Marinated and cooked carrots, zucchini, potatoes, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, onions and bell peppers are great in burritos. Potatoes are great in tacos. Mexican salad topped with corn, guacamole and salsa is super yummy and taco salad are delicious. Sliced avocado and olives are yummy in tacos and burritos.

Pitas are awesome stuffed with sauteed veggies, potatoes, and beans. Top it off with shredded romaine lettuce, chopped tomatoes, and a good italian dressing and a dash of parmasan cheese (there ARE yummy vegan versions).

Veggies are delicious grilled if you like to grill or have a George Forman grill. Just be sure to marinate them first to make them really yummy. Really good marinades include italian dressing (even the cheap ones are good as marinades) and teriyaki. Grilled mushrooms (especially portabellos) are delicious. Portabellos are awesome on sandwiches and make a great meat substitute. You should marinate them first. Asparagus is delicious grilled.

Veggies are delicious steamed and stirred fried and covered in peanut sauce (super easy and cheap to make or you can buy bottled in the store) is delicious with rice. Veggie curries are delicious. Lots of veggies in fried rice and chow main is delicious. There are many Thai, Chinese, and Vietnamese dishes that all veggies or that have lots of veggies that are delicious.

Pasta salads and potato salads are very easy to load up with veggies.

Pizzas are yummy with lots of veggies, especially grilled ones. Artichokes and olives count! :-) Pineapple is yummy on pizza. You can even ask for or make pizza with no cheese, or with vegan cheese. It's really yummy if the sauce and crust is really yummy.

Potatoes are very healthy and easy and there is SO much you can do with them. They are yummy mashed, roasted (awesome in salads) with yummy herbs and olive oil and other veggies, baked and in soups and stews.

Sweet potatoes or yams are delicious baked with a little bit of butter or margarine and salt and pepper. They are super easy to make in an oven or microwave. They are really yummy roasted with other veggies and potatoes. They are great sliced and baked to make sweet potato fries. They are great in soups and stews and curries.

Veggie stir frys are super easy and yummy. Just stir fry in some oil with garlic, ginger (both of which you can buy pre chopped ready use in little jars) and soy sauce. You can buy many different stir fry bottled sauces. Teriyaki is great but there all different kinds. You can also add meat or tofu to stir frys. Good stir fry veggies include broccoli, carrots, baby bok choi, onions, red bell peppers, baby corn, asparagus, green beans, onions, and pea pods. Serve with steamed rice.

Try substituting the bean and veggie veggie burgers sometimes when you make burgers. They are actually really yummy.

Veggies are great in spaghetti sauces. Carrots, red bell or yellow peppers, mushrooms, and zucchini is yummy in spaghetti sauce, saute in olive oil with garlic and onions first to really make it yummy.

Veggies can be added to a lot of meat dishes to add flavor, color, fiber and nutrition. Shredded veggies like carrots and zucchini (easy to do with a food processor) are easy to hide in burgers, meatloaf, and meat balls.

Squashes and eggplant are delicious baked, marinated and grilled. Squashes are very yummy in soups and stews.

Add veggies to dips. Dips are super easy and cheap to do in a food processor. Just blend up some beans or cream cheese or sour cream with herbs, garlic and veggies and serve with chips, pita bread, or raw veggies.

A really simple easy, yummy side dish is sliced red or yellow or orange bell peppers, zucchini, and portabello mushrooms sauteed in some olive oil, soy sauce, garlic, purple onions and ginger. So easy and delicious! Asparagus is also delicious made this way.

As someone else mentioned fruit smoothies are super easy, cheap and delicious. My favorite is frozen cherries and blueberries, blended with several ripe bananas, and some orange juice. Delicious!

A delicious frozen treat is a bag of frozen mangoes, the juice of three or four large juicy oranges and several tablespoons of honey all blended up into a sherbert like consistency. Super yummy and easy! You have to eat it fast before it melts.

Fresh squeezed orange or tangerine juice is extremely delicious if you pick nice sweet ones. Always sample all citrus and most other fruits to make sure you are getting yummy sweet ones.

So much fruit is served and eaten unripe when it is not sweet or at the height of its flavor! Fruit is much more delicious when ripe. Learn how to tell when fruit is really ripe. Ask the produce people in the grocery store or look it up online if you are unsure. Return fruit that is not tasty, the stores don't mind, just keep your receipts.

Strawberries are yummy cut up and drizzled in honey (and for the adventurous a little splash of balsamic vinegar).

Top cereal, yogurt, granola, oatmeal, pancakes and waffles with berries and cut up bananas and strawberries.

Apples sliced are delicious sliced and spread with almond butter or cashew butter or peanut butter. Almond or any other nut butter is super yummy on celery. Bananas are also yummy with nut butters.

Switching to whole grains and brown rice is a also pretty painless and easy way to improve your diet.

You can find tons of veggie and veggie based recipes online, just google vegetarian recipes or vegetable recipes. You can great deals on used cooked books online.

Feel free to email me at audrey@rawhealing.com for more info and those recipes.

You might be interested in this story of a young lady who feels that the raw diet and yoga helped her heal from aspergers and many health conditions:
Shazzie.com > The raw food diet > Raw Transformation > Jaime

Blessings,

Audrey
Raw Food Coach, Raw Food Diet, Emotional Eating, Weight Loss

[Samuel Bryson]

Eating more fruit and veg is definantly better for you on a nutritional front. Whether its good to go all raw or cut meat and dairy or not is uncertain but one thing is, and that is that fruits and vegetables are fabulous for our system.

Another interesting thing to ponder about is how much better it is for the planet if we eat more vegetables and fruit rather than meat. I made a post on just this issue about a week ago if anyone's interested. I think you might find it quite intriguing:

Total Wellbeing: Vegetarianism From a Different Perspective:

Anyway, long story short say "yes" to more fruits and veg in your diet. You needn't do something extreme like go all raw to get their benefits, even cooked these foods are still extremly nutritious and are also far better for you than a lot of the processed foods we all eat today. So go grab yourself an apple!

[Inquisitive Raven]

I already have a blender; the problem is finding a place to put it when I want to use it. I have packrat housemate who accumulates food to the point that there's almost no open space on the counter. Yes, I'm talking about non-perishables here. Her spice collection alone covers about 4 square feet, most of it not on any kind of rack. I've been bugging her about it for a while now.