No matter who you ask, when people think of a healthy diet they automatically think of vegetables. Almost every dietary protocol out there suggests that we should eat more!

Vegetables and greens offer a wide variety of nutrients, fiber for moving things along, and anti-oxidants for fighting free radicals. Unfortunately many, if not most, Americans eat very few vegetables and never any greens!

5 ways I struggle with eating more vegetables:

1. During the winter months they are available only from the grocery store… trekked in from warmer climates. For me, this means that they don’t taste near as good since they are often picked before they are at their ripest.
2. The produce in our smaller grocery stores (the ones closest to our home) tend to begin to rot fairly quickly, sometimes I buy only half of what I’d really like simply because they aren’t fresh! They also offer very little in terms of variety. In one store I can’t even buy a bunch of kale and the bagged spinach is super pricey!
3. It can take longer to prepare vegetables for me. The chopping and slicing definitely take some time when I’m making meals.
4. They don’t taste as good as chocolate. I mean really… Veggies are great and all, but when I reach for a snack and it’s either the M&Ms I had hidden away or a handful of carrots, what do you think is going to happen? Either you (I) grab the chocolate or I miserably eat the carrots wishing I had chocolate instead.
5. Greens, other than kale, are hard for me to find ways to eat on a regular basis. I think it’s a texture thing for me.

Excuses are just that though – an excuse. And eating more vegetables and greens can increase your health dramatically if you aren’t already getting in at least 4-6 cups per day. (if you are, shoot for 7-9 cups!)

5 ways to kill my excuses

1. Deal with it. Plain and simple, I just have to deal with the fact that many veggies won’t taste as fresh as during the summer. I’ve also found that during these months I prefer to use many vegetables frozen during this time, like corn, green beans, and broccoli. Or I’ll use a dip to give them a bit more flavor. Adding them to soups also helps as the single flavors aren’t as important as the whole.
2. Make time in my schedule to get to the bigger supermarket that carries higher quality produce (with more variety)! And when I go I need to focus on shopping the produce section first and filling up my cart. Having a stock of frozen vegetables is also helpful in the weeks where I have to choose the smaller store.
3. I always kick myself for not taking an hour to chop and prepare my weeks worth of veggies. When I’m able to wash, chop, and get all my snacking veggies ready to go in the fridge, I’m much more inclined to grab some carrots and homemade ranch or celery and almond butter. I can also get things chopped up for a quick stir fry as a quick lunch or dinner. And speaking of a quick veggie meal… having lettuce and salad veggies chopped up makes grabbing a big salad for a meal really easy! I toss in a bit of protein and a great homemade dressing and I’m all set. <—note to self – do this every week!
4. I can’t buy sweets. I know there are people out there that say if you simply have access to them, or over eat them, that you’ll lose your desire for sweets. Nope. Not me. And it doesn’t matter how long I’ve been without them. I have found that I am an emotional eater when it comes to sweets, and the emotion that triggers them is overwhelm or stress. So for me, in this stage of life, it’s important that I don’t have those foods in the house. This makes the already cut up veggies a sure thing.
5. I love sautéed kale and have it multiple times a week! But other greens are not my favorite. Instead, I steam them and freeze, adding them to my smoothies. And more recently I’ve been using a powdered greens mix to drink once a day, either in water or a smoothie. Todd has been getting this drink every morning as well. (I have a hard time getting veggies into him during the day while he’s at work!)

Eat your greens!

The organic greens I’ve been using were sent to me to review from Dr. Mercola. (FDA disclosure a sec – I did not receive any financial compensation from them and the opinions stated are my own.)

At first I was hesitant to accept the product to review because I’ve tried a few powders in the past and never really liked them. One popular brand ended up in the back of my cupboard for a couple of years until I finally tossed it.

Knowing I needed to up the intake of veggies in my diet right now, as well as greatly increase it for Todd, I said yes and I’m glad I did.

The greens mix includes not only powdered greens and veggies, but an organic mushroom blend, specific antioxidants, a blend of spirulina and chlorella, as well as adaptogenic herbs like maca and rhodiola, so it’s a powerhouse of nutrients.

The mix itself is also a fine powder and doesn’t end up chunky when you try to stir it in water which was an issue I’ve had before. If you let it sit for a while it doesn’t tend to settle at the bottom of the glass, but easily stirs back in.

Organic Greens also tastes good (thank goodness, or else Todd would never drink it!). You can mix it with 6 ounces of water or blend with smoothies. Either way it tastes good, though I do love it in my smoothies.

I don’t seem to have an issue getting in enough veggies when life is running smoothly and I’m on top of my game. But in times of busyness or more stress, I love that I have options like this to help me get the nutrients I need without causing me more overwhelm. (overwhelm = stress eating junk food)

And they taste good enough that I don’t mind drinking it everyday!

 

Do you have problems getting in enough vegetables and greens in your diet? Let me know why in the comments and we’ll see if you can kill your excuses too!

This is the time of year that people just crave fresh produce. I love eating seasonal. When summer hits, my body hasn’t had fresh strawberries, blueberries, cherries, or raspberries since the previous summer, and I just savor them more. I enjoy them to the fullest!

If you are so blessed to live in an area where farmers open their fields up to let you pick your own produce, take advantage! The prices per pound are drastically cheaper than what you are going to find at the store – and even the farmer’s market. And the experience is one you will look forward to every year. If you are unsure of any U-Pick farms in your area, I found THIS site quite helpful in locating the ones around me.

Here are some ways to take advantage of your local U-Pick season:

1. Resist the urge to go on the first day of picking. The picking will be easier and more abundant about a week or so into the picking season for most things. In my experience the only exception would be cherries, whose season is only about a week anyway so go as soon as those are ready!
2. Plan on going first thing in the morning, especially if you live somewhere very warm. This is not only to ensure you don’t overheat, but you will avoid all the late morning and afternoon bug pests. And especially with something like strawberries and cherries that get picked over very fast, you will be getting the best of the best.
3. Bring your own containers. When I go in, I’m going for a haul. I’m talking 40 pounds of strawberries. 60-70 pounds of blueberries. I don’t want little pint containers. I want buckets that I can easily carry, and that hold a lot without damaging the fruit. Big plastic buckets, old plastic ice cream containers, etc work well. Some U-Picks offer decent containers you can borrow. Just check if there is a limit or a price on them.
4. Plan to go on a day when you have time to tend to your haul right after picking. You don’t want to go picking and then let it sit in your garage or home for the next day or so until you can get to it. You want to come home right away, get them washed up, and prep them for what you plan to use them for. A simple wash I like to do is just plug up your sink and start filling with water. Add in a few big shakes of baking soda and vinegar with a squeeze of a full lemon and swish it around.
5. Freeze, freeze, freeze! Do you know how much frozen fruit costs at the store? A lot! Get that fruit up on some baking sheets after you wash them, and freeze them flat. Once frozen you can dump them into plastic freezer bags and stack them up in your deep freezer. Use them for your smoothies, oatmeal, yogurt, or baking. You will never have to buy another freezer bag of fruit!
6. Dehydrate! Wash up part of your haul and get them right onto your dehydrator trays to go for a few hours. Store the dried berries in airtight containers to add to your granola, oatmeal, yogurt, or trailmixes. If you don’t have a dehydrator do them on the lowest setting in your oven. I only recently got a dehydrator and have done them in the oven for years.
7. Jam! I’m actually not much of a jam maker, although last year I did make blueberry jam for the first time and it was the most amazing thing I ever tasted! Hit up Google – there are many recipes using natural pectin, or even no pectin, and all using either very low if any sugar or natural sweeteners like honey.
8. Eat them fresh. There is just nothing like fresh picked fruit. You can make your fruit last longer by giving them a quick baking soda and vinegar bath. Eat up all you want while they are in season! That is what they are there for! Stock your body up on the antioxidants so you have a storehouse once the long winter sets in.

So tell me! What do you go picking this time of year?