Need HEALTHY Help!

[Octavia]

Okay, deco, you inspired me to pull out my sadly underused copy of Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything.

This is some of what he has to say:

Various fruits can be poached (pears, peaches, nectarines, etc); stewed (cherries); roasted or baked (apples, peaches, pears, bananas); sauteed (apricots, peaches); grilled or broiled (watermelon, grapefruit, oranges).

As an idea for fruit that needs to be used up ASAP -- "Macerating fruit is similar to marinating; you soak it in liquid. . . .Chop or slice large or medium fruit (small fruit can be left whole) and peel it [optional]. . . .Fresh fruit needs only about 1/2 cup per pound of fruit, but dried fruit absorbs a good amount of liquid . . . cover and set aside at room temperature (or in the refrigerator if the kitchen is warm) . . . You want the fruit to be tender, not mushy. Eat as is or with some cream, yogurt, sour cream or use mascerated fruit as a topping for pancakes, waffles [or] as a filler for crepes . . ."

Apples -- should be firm and heavy for their size, avoid ones with soft spots, store in a cool, dry place or in the refrigerator for weeks.

Fresh apricots -- ripen in a paper bag if they are too hard, store ripe ones in the fridge but eat within a day or two.

Bananas -- you can store them in the fridge to keep them from ripening but the skin will turn black [and look really unappetizing. If you can get past that, it's a good way to save them from getting too ripe too quickly. Or just let them get mushy and use for banana bread].

Strawberries -- don't refrigerate, use within 24 hours. [If I get too many, I slice and freeze them in slightly sugary water to be later used in frozen yogurt or shortcakes, unless I'm too lazy and they go bad, which is usually the case.]

Cherries -- keep in the fridge, wrapped loosely in plastic, but they don't last long so eat quickly.

Grapefruit, lemons, limes -- choose fruit that are heavy for their size, store in the refrigerator (grapefruits should stay on the counter for a day or two first, though)

Peaches/nectarines -- ripen in a paper bag or on the counter; eat right away

Pears, plums -- ripen on the counter at room temperature, then store in the fridge

I'm going to have to remember to refer to this book more often, half the time my problem is that I just don't know the proper storage technique! But having new and fun ways to eat fruit can't hurt either...

 

[iheartscience]

Okay, so I'm still a bit of a fruit/veggie waster, but I've gotten better since I joined a CSA and cracked down on my and the husband's eating out habit. I've found that when I have to eat at home, I'll make veggies for dinner and eat fruit for snacks. For example, last night I ate 3 peaches because I was hungry and we hadn't gone grocery shopping in a while. Also, I eat fruits and veggies if I don't buy say, chips and salsa. Because if chips and salsa are in the house I have to shovel it in immediately.

As for the soda, I'm now on Day 8 of NO COKE and I highly recommend it. I've had 2-4 Cokes (okay some days even more) every day for the last, say...12 years, so this is a BIG CHANGE for me. I think you're 100% right about what goes well with Coke-delicious nasty salty junk. The only time I've desperately wanted Coke was this morning and last Saturday morning when I got my usual Saturday morning treat of McDonald's breakfast. Plus I've actually dropped a couple lbs. and I know it's just from cutting out Cokes because I haven't changed anything else. I've been drinking 1-2 iced coffees with no cream and 2 packets of sugar a day for my caffeine consumption and I'm loving it.

I do have one good food storage tip-for asparagus, take a paper towel, fold it to be about 2 or 3 inches wide and then wrap it around the outside of the bunch of asparagus at the bottom. (NOT the actual bottom of the stalks-around the outside of the whole bunch at the bottom...hope that makes sense.) Then put the whole bunch in a plastic bag and stick it in the fridge. It's made the asparagus last for about a week at a time.

Also, do you have an iPhone? The Epicurious app is awesome. Great easy recipes and it will even make a list for what you need to buy for the recipes you choose that you can check off as you go along at the grocery store. If we have recipes planned and buy fruits and veggies for the planned recipes, they won't go to waste because we're buying them with a use in mind and not just good intentions.

ETA frozen bananas are DELICIOUS. I take the peel off and wrap each banana in a piece of aluminum foil and then just eat them like a popsicle. Freezing them makes them taste different...kind of sweeter and extra delicious.

ETA2 don't forget about the delicious peanut butter, banana and honey sandwich! Mmmm can you tell I love bananas? Also, for strawberries sometimes I just pour sugar on a plate and dip the strawberries in it and eat them like that. Same for blueberries. Probably not the healthiest but better than not eating them!

 

[Loves Vintage]

I was going to suggest native strawberries over store-bought strawberries, but it sounds like you may have natives if you got them at the farmer's market? There is a huge difference! Store-bought are usually from CA. I suppose they pick them early so they will not bruise easily or go bad during shipping. I picked up some native strawberries this week, washed half of them, cut tops off, quartered them, put in fridge over night and brought to work. Oh my goodness, they were SO GOOD! These strawberries were so rich and so red! Heavenly. I did not add sugar, but they were so sweet they tasted as though I did! WOW, best ever!

I've also been making smoothies almost every morning for the past few weeks. I've been putting about 1/4 cup, maybe more, of vanilla (NOT plain) yogurt, with some milk and frozen berries. These are ok. I made one on Friday morning with the best strawberries ever, and it was as good as the best milkshake I've ever had. Enjoy June because soon these perfect berries will be gone. Hope you find suitable soy substitutes.

You can also add berries to your salads. Baby spinach leaves, sliced strawberries, goat cheese, some sliced almonds. Yum. I used to make this a lot with a homemade dressing -- a tablespoon of frozen oj (from the can, remember those? it adds a citrus flavor and helps to emulsify without adding liquid), balsamic, evoo, salt, pepper, little garlic or garlic powder -- whisk. It's a nice way of avoiding the diglycerides, etc. of bottled dressings.

If you eat meat, maybe there are ways to incorporate fruit into your meals. Is something like this appealing at all? I'm thinking it might be a good idea to try to incorporate fruit into your meals too, rather than focusing solely on eating it plain.

Re: carbonated beverages. I like to take some cranberry juice (1/4 glass) and fill the rest with seltzer. It's less addictive than coke or diet coke, has to be healthier (right?) and is nice with meals, I think. Sometimes straight water just doesn't cut it, imo.

 

[stone-cold11]

throw out all the sweets, cakes, junk food you have in the house. Except for fruits, then they become your junk food.

 

[TravelingGal]

Deco, giving up the coke is hard, but I went cold turkey 7 years ago and never had it since (and I was on diet coke too, so it''s not like the calories were an issue). It''s just such an unhealthy drink. It''s just habit for me now to drink water, and if I really want something else, I''ll drink unsweetened iced tea.

I loved coke and that''s why I won''t touch it at ALL now...too easy to go back and crave it.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

I guess the only thing I have to add is inspect to fruit when you are buying it.

Strawberries are always an issue because the ones on the bottom mold so quickly. I always inspect the bottom before I buy. I eat them over the next 24 hours.

Bananas I buy them mostly green (with a little yellow) and I never buy more than 3 at a time. I put them in the pantry and they ripen really quickly, and will hold for about 4 days.

Peaches are a tough one for me, I still not have figured those out.

Blueberries - buy the smallest size possible, and eat them in 3 days. I find I only want a handful at a time.

Apples and oranges - these usually keep for a week for me. I inspect them before I buy them and refrigerate them

Grapes - they keep about a week too, but I love frozen grapes. They taste really good and kill the sweet craving. Use green grapes for this. Take them off their stems and wash them. Pat them dry and put separate them out into single servings and put them in ziplock bags and freeze. Than when they are frozen, eat them like chips!

Sorry if I repeated stuff, I only read the first page.

 

[Indylady]

I think this thread has a lot of great tips!! Definitely one for me to bookmark.

I'll throw in my 2 cents anyway:

I freeze veggies the moment I realize I won't be able to eat them before they go bad. I even to this with odds and ends of veggie cuttings. I throw them in freezer-safe ziploc baggie, and when I'm in the mood, or sick, I'll throw all of my frozen veggies into a pot and make soup, or a just a broth depending on what I've got on hand. There are tons of websites that will tell you how different veggies influence the flavor of broth, but to be honest I don't really pay attention and my soup always turns out fine anyway.

I freeze bananas.

I don't shop too far in advance, and I shop often.

Definitely buy organic; I really think it lasts longer.

Just in terms of eating healthy...I buy the healthiest version of what I like that I can. For me, its not so much about calories as it is watching exactly what's going in my body. I'd rather eat something that's fatty but natural than full of crap, regardless of whether or not that crap has less calories.And I use a lot of subs; avacado on a sandwich so I don't have to use mayo, a little olive oil and vinegar instead of dressing.

I'm also totally ok with splurging on fancy yet healthy foods if that means I'll be eat them later. If it intrigues me and is healthy, its in the cart. I spend more money on food than anything else. I'll gladly sacrifice clothes or jewelery money to spend on eating healthy...my mom had cancer a few years ago, and is serious about eating healthy and watching what you put in your body. I really do think that eating healthy is one of the best things you can do for yourself.

 

[missydebby]

are skittles fruit, too?

I eat fruit cause it''s like the only sweet thing available to me now. In November, I fell off my bike and became a non-working-knee shut in for 4 months. Truly, I could barely get around, let alone get outside or exercise. So I gave up sugar just to make it easier to not completely blow up. (Not a diet - which I detest - but one fast rule to give myself a little help. I have no other rules.)

The first week was hellish, but afterwards I stopped craving it and even felt like I had way evener moods. Now, if I get a hankering for something sweet, I''m sorta forced to choose fruit. And it tastes crazy sweet to me now, too.

Where I might have earlier craved cake, now I can get the same satisfaction from a bowl of quick outs thrown in the microwave with a chopped up banana. I know, crazy, huh?

 

[hihowareyou]

When I kept my fruit in a bowl in the corner of the kitchen (or even in the fridge to help it last longer) I''d never reach for it when I wanted a snack. Now I keep it in a big bowl on the dining room table and it is the first thing I encounter that is edible on the way to the kitchen. Since it is always right there I keep checking it and eating the fruit that looks a bit sad so I don''t have to throw it away.

We also stopped buying cakes and sweets and now we bake when the craving starts. My CSA box always has a lot of apples I never get through so I stockpile the leftovers in the fridge to use in baking. I did the same with bananas (except in the freezer) when we were getting a lot of them.

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 6/12/2010 7:48:05 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
Deco, when shopping just remember...it''s the MAGIC bullet, not the silver bullet

That''s not going to help you much in the fruit blending department....

LOL!!! I haven''t run across The Silver Bullet -- but if my suspicions about it are correct then perhaps it would help me in an even more important "department" as DH is still OOT.

THANK YOU GUYS FOR ALL the other responses over night. Feeling much more inspired already. Started today with a combo of protein/fat/carbs (scrambled egg open face sammy w/a petite onion bagel & thin schmear of cream cheese). And am planning a smoothie attack for later with my hopefully frozen banana. The blueberries might be a goner after a week in the fridge. Would you eat them after a week in the fridge? Ya think?

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 6/12/2010 8:08:37 PM
Author: Octavia
Okay, deco, you inspired me to pull out my sadly underused copy of Mark Bittman''s How to Cook Everything.

This is some of what he has to say: Various fruits can be poached (pears, peaches, nectarines, etc); stewed (cherries); roasted or baked (apples, peaches, pears, bananas); sauteed (apricots, peaches); grilled or broiled (watermelon, grapefruit, oranges).

Hey Octavia!
Thanks so much for checking out that book on the subject. Man, if I ever get to the *poaching fruit* stage, someone call the looney bin, because it would be 100% proof I''d been possessed by an errant Chef demon. After reading your tips for Cherries I stuck mine in the fridge with a loose plastic wrap cover. We''ll see! Wish me luck!

Gonna try to eat those today.

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 6/12/2010 8:45:14 PM
Author: thing2of2
Okay, so I''m still a bit of a fruit/veggie waster, but I''ve gotten better since I joined a CSA and cracked down on my and the husband''s eating out habit. I''ve found that when I have to eat at home, I''ll make veggies for dinner and eat fruit for snacks. For example, last night I ate 3 peaches because I was hungry and we hadn''t gone grocery shopping in a while. Also, I eat fruits and veggies if I don''t buy say, chips and salsa. Because if chips and salsa are in the house I have to shovel it in immediately.

As for the soda, I''m now on Day 8 of NO COKE and I highly recommend it. I''ve had 2-4 Cokes (okay some days even more) every day for the last, say...12 years, so this is a BIG CHANGE for me. I think you''re 100% right about what goes well with Coke-delicious nasty salty junk. The only time I''ve desperately wanted Coke was this morning and last Saturday morning when I got my usual Saturday morning treat of McDonald''s breakfast. Plus I''ve actually dropped a couple lbs. and I know it''s just from cutting out Cokes because I haven''t changed anything else. I''ve been drinking 1-2 iced coffees with no cream and 2 packets of sugar a day for my caffeine consumption and I''m loving it.

Also, do you have an iPhone? The Epicurious app is awesome. Great easy recipes and it will even make a list for what you need to buy for the recipes you choose that you can check off as you go along at the grocery store. If we have recipes planned and buy fruits and veggies for the planned recipes, they won''t go to waste because we''re buying them with a use in mind and not just good intentions.

ETA frozen bananas are DELICIOUS. I take the peel off and wrap each banana in a piece of aluminum foil and then just eat them like a popsicle. Freezing them makes them taste different...kind of sweeter and extra delicious.

ETA2 don''t forget about the delicious peanut butter, banana and honey sandwich! Mmmm can you tell I love bananas? Also, for strawberries sometimes I just pour sugar on a plate and dip the strawberries in it and eat them like that. Same for blueberries. Probably not the healthiest but better than not eating them!

Thanks Thing2!! What''s a CSA? Its inspiring to hear about your no Coke situation -- I''m a big ice coffee lover too so maybe that would work for me. When you say "no cream" do you mean totally black? My sister uses a combo of powdered milk & nonfat powdered creamer & says that gives her more protein & calcium than the liquid creamers I use. I''ve been considering her method. Would be great if I could learn to tolerate BLACK iced coffee! (Maybe with Stevia/Truvia).

Love the frozen banana in foil popcicle idea -- and the dipping strawberries in sugar thing. Wish I''d thought of that yesterday when I was eating mine. I have that "sugar in the raw" stuff that is super yum. Darn.

I do adore the peanut butter/honey/banana sammies as well -- but need to toast the bread -- & am currently on a search for the perfect toaster after ours gave up the ghost. We are Toast-deprived right now. Its a harsh, harsh world dontchayanno it.

And NO! I don''t have an Iphone ... I have the Palm Pre -- I wonder if they have an Epicurious app for that. I''m so bad with apps. Only have the ones that come w/my phone originally. My DH is so ashamed!

(His is of course totally pimped).

 

[LGK]

I have the very same bad habit, lol. And a sweet tooth.

I realized that (like most foods) I''m picky about fruit. Bananas gag me- so I just don''t even try with them. Apples bore me. Peach fuzz makes me totally squick- touching it gives me that fingernails-on-a-chalkboard feeling. (Even though I love the flavor, I just can''t make myself touch them to even peel the skin off.) So I just stopped buying those and expecting to make myself eat them- I just will not.

I love oranges, strawberries, mangoes and nectarines. Especially fruits with a certain amount of activity involved, like peeling oranges, is good.

I usually don''t find that plain fruit fulfills that "sweet tooth" craving for me, but if I dip it in Splenda it is a lot more dessert-y. I do that a LOT to substitute for sweets and sometimes, if I''m trying to lose weight, for lunch and any snacky cravings. I lost 30 lbs last year (and haven''t gained them back!) doing that and eating a bit more carefully.

If you can''t stand Splenda I suspect you could use some real sugar sparingly.

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 6/12/2010 9:50:40 PM
Author: Loves Vintage
I was going to suggest native strawberries over store-bought strawberries, but it sounds like you may have natives if you got them at the farmer''s market? There is a huge difference! Store-bought are usually from CA. I suppose they pick them early so they will not bruise easily or go bad during shipping. I picked up some native strawberries this week, washed half of them, cut tops off, quartered them, put in fridge over night and brought to work. Oh my goodness, they were SO GOOD! These strawberries were so rich and so red! Heavenly. I did not add sugar, but they were so sweet they tasted as though I did! WOW, best ever!

I''ve also been making smoothies almost every morning for the past few weeks. I''ve been putting about 1/4 cup, maybe more, of vanilla (NOT plain) yogurt, with some milk and frozen berries. These are ok. I made one on Friday morning with the best strawberries ever, and it was as good as the best milkshake I''ve ever had. Enjoy June because soon these perfect berries will be gone. Hope you find suitable soy substitutes.

Hi Loves Vintage! INNNERESTING about the native strawberries. I have tons of farm stands around here and have wondered about the wisdom of spending the extra dough for the locally grown ones -- now I''ll try it! I think I''m taken in by the big beautiful LOOKING ones in the supermarket not realizing the small, misshapen local ones might actually be BETTER. Great idea to try! I buy locally grown figs when they are in season and they are DELISH -- but I haven''t started substituting the grocery store fruits for local ones in earnest. This week! I''m in the Hudson Valley and there''s just no excuse for not buying fresh local fruits/vege/meats. ESPECIALLY since I am at the farmer''s market every Sat morning because its the dogs fave place to see other doggies. What do I walk away with usually? A choc croissant! BAD DECO. BAD BAD DECO.

Also love the tips about adding berries to salads & jazzing up seltzer with fruit juice. I do that with OJ when I''m sick but not other times. Why NOT?? WHY NOT!!! Still mulling over the meat + fruit idea. That one is totally new for me ... aside from turkey & jelled cranberry sauce

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 6/12/2010 10:26:09 PM
Author: Stone-cold11
throw out all the sweets, cakes, junk food you have in the house. Except for fruits, then they become your junk food.

Its a solid plan Stone-cold ... but you''ll have to take that up with the Hubs. I imagine it''ll go something like "H*LL TO THE NO!"

And I don''t foresee that changing until age catches up with him a bit more. (As it has me!)

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 6/12/2010 10:28:02 PM
Author: TravelingGal
Deco, giving up the coke is hard, but I went cold turkey 7 years ago and never had it since (and I was on diet coke too, so it''s not like the calories were an issue). It''s just such an unhealthy drink. It''s just habit for me now to drink water, and if I really want something else, I''ll drink unsweetened iced tea. I loved coke and that''s why I won''t touch it at ALL now...too easy to go back and crave it.

I can see needing to go cold turkey. Its such a strong addiction! For awhile after I realized I had GERD I was drinking a lot of iced tea but when the medicine started letting me drink soda again I got lazy again stopped making the tea. GAH! When I write these things out I realize how RIDICULOUS I sound. Anyway ... I don''t think I can go cold turkey right now. Especially with DH keeping TONS of soda in the house. He''s a bigger addict than I am. But cutting down to 1 or 2 cans a day would be a big improvement for me & integrating water/sparkling water/tea/some iced coffee will be key in doing that. I hope.

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 6/12/2010 11:16:52 PM
Author: LtlFirecracker
Grapes - they keep about a week too, but I love frozen grapes. They taste really good and kill the sweet craving. Use green grapes for this. Take them off their stems and wash them. Pat them dry and put separate them out into single servings and put them in ziplock bags and freeze. Than when they are frozen, eat them like chips!

Thanks Ltlfirecracker! I''m seeing a pattern that being healthy involves a lot of tupperware and ziploc! Guess my old ways involved a lot of takeout containers and bags and paper burger clamshells and fry sleeves etc.

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

Date: 6/13/2010 3:01:43 PM
Author: decodelighted

Date: 6/12/2010 10:28:02 PM
Author: TravelingGal
Deco, giving up the coke is hard, but I went cold turkey 7 years ago and never had it since (and I was on diet coke too, so it''s not like the calories were an issue). It''s just such an unhealthy drink. It''s just habit for me now to drink water, and if I really want something else, I''ll drink unsweetened iced tea. I loved coke and that''s why I won''t touch it at ALL now...too easy to go back and crave it.

I can see needing to go cold turkey. Its such a strong addiction! For awhile after I realized I had GERD I was drinking a lot of iced tea but when the medicine started letting me drink soda again I got lazy again stopped making the tea. GAH! When I write these things out I realize how RIDICULOUS I sound. Anyway ... I don''t think I can go cold turkey right now. Especially with DH keeping TONS of soda in the house. He''s a bigger addict than I am. But cutting down to 1 or 2 cans a day would be a big improvement for me & integrating water/sparkling water/tea/some iced coffee will be key in doing that. I hope.

I used to hate tea. I grew up around earl grey which was also to bitter and green tea tastes like grass. When I went to China, I learned there was a LOT more to tea. I now drink 4 kinds that are naturally sweet tasting, and I love them. I have a decaf white tea with rasberry for after I get home from work, a peach white tea, which tastes like peaches without the pain of the fuzz. I also have loose leaf tea for at work. I have a white tea that I add dry rose petals to that I am drinking right now and jasmine pearls which are leaves rolled into little balls and infused with jasmine. I can''t explain it, they are not sweet, but somehow they feel that way and so assuage cravings.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 6/13/2010 2:18:41 PM
Author: decodelighted

Date: 6/12/2010 7:48:05 PM

Author: Hudson_Hawk

Deco, when shopping just remember...it''s the MAGIC bullet, not the silver bullet

That''s not going to help you much in the fruit blending department....

LOL!!! I haven''t run across The Silver Bullet -- but if my suspicions about it are correct then perhaps it would help me in an even more important ''department'' as DH is still OOT.

Google is your friend

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 6/13/2010 2:32:16 PM
Author: decodelighted

Date: 6/12/2010 8:45:14 PM

Author: thing2of2

Okay, so I''m still a bit of a fruit/veggie waster, but I''ve gotten better since I joined a CSA and cracked down on my and the husband''s eating out habit. I''ve found that when I have to eat at home, I''ll make veggies for dinner and eat fruit for snacks. For example, last night I ate 3 peaches because I was hungry and we hadn''t gone grocery shopping in a while. Also, I eat fruits and veggies if I don''t buy say, chips and salsa. Because if chips and salsa are in the house I have to shovel it in immediately.

As for the soda, I''m now on Day 8 of NO COKE and I highly recommend it. I''ve had 2-4 Cokes (okay some days even more) every day for the last, say...12 years, so this is a BIG CHANGE for me. I think you''re 100% right about what goes well with Coke-delicious nasty salty junk. The only time I''ve desperately wanted Coke was this morning and last Saturday morning when I got my usual Saturday morning treat of McDonald''s breakfast. Plus I''ve actually dropped a couple lbs. and I know it''s just from cutting out Cokes because I haven''t changed anything else. I''ve been drinking 1-2 iced coffees with no cream and 2 packets of sugar a day for my caffeine consumption and I''m loving it.

Also, do you have an iPhone? The Epicurious app is awesome. Great easy recipes and it will even make a list for what you need to buy for the recipes you choose that you can check off as you go along at the grocery store. If we have recipes planned and buy fruits and veggies for the planned recipes, they won''t go to waste because we''re buying them with a use in mind and not just good intentions.

ETA frozen bananas are DELICIOUS. I take the peel off and wrap each banana in a piece of aluminum foil and then just eat them like a popsicle. Freezing them makes them taste different...kind of sweeter and extra delicious.

ETA2 don''t forget about the delicious peanut butter, banana and honey sandwich! Mmmm can you tell I love bananas? Also, for strawberries sometimes I just pour sugar on a plate and dip the strawberries in it and eat them like that. Same for blueberries. Probably not the healthiest but better than not eating them!

Thanks Thing2!! What''s a CSA? Its inspiring to hear about your no Coke situation -- I''m a big ice coffee lover too so maybe that would work for me. When you say ''no cream'' do you mean totally black? My sister uses a combo of powdered milk & nonfat powdered creamer & says that gives her more protein & calcium than the liquid creamers I use. I''ve been considering her method. Would be great if I could learn to tolerate BLACK iced coffee! (Maybe with Stevia/Truvia).

Love the frozen banana in foil popcicle idea -- and the dipping strawberries in sugar thing. Wish I''d thought of that yesterday when I was eating mine. I have that ''sugar in the raw'' stuff that is super yum. Darn.

I do adore the peanut butter/honey/banana sammies as well -- but need to toast the bread -- & am currently on a search for the perfect toaster after ours gave up the ghost. We are Toast-deprived right now. Its a harsh, harsh world dontchayanno it.

And NO! I don''t have an Iphone ... I have the Palm Pre -- I wonder if they have an Epicurious app for that. I''m so bad with apps. Only have the ones that come w/my phone originally. My DH is so ashamed!

(His is of course totally pimped).

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Basically you buy a share in a farm and you get delicious fresh veggies and fruits in return. The one I belong to is a little different-I guess it''s more like a co-op, because mine gets produce and other stuff (usually cheese and eggs) from several farms. So we get a big bin of fruits, veggies, eggs, cheese, etc. delivered every other week. Some require you to pick up your share but mine delivers. The catch is you don''t get to pick what you get, but you can opt out of certain items if you hate them. (Beets for me!

)

As for the iced coffee, I do take it black with just a little bit of sugar. For some reason I don''t like it with milk or flavoring! I tried one with hazelnut flavoring and cream and it was

. Shocking for me to like something the healthier way!

Oh-and I forgot 1 other thing. Do you like sweet potatoes or yams? They''re my new favorite thing to eat. They are DELICIOUS and apparently good for you, too. I poke them with a fork a few times and put them in the oven at 425 for 45 min-hour. (Basically until it''s soft when I poke it with a fork.) Then I just cut it in half and eat it. The skin is actually good, too. They''re sweet and tasty, and even tastier with butter and brown sugar if you need it.

I bet the Epicurious app is available on the Pre, too. If not you can just go to the website and find good recipes. I just search for ones that are fast to make-I think there''s even a category like "30 minutes or less."

Anyway, this whole healthy eating/cooking at home thing is my new mission, if you couldn''t tell. And I''m as lazy as they come, so if I can do it, I''m sure you can!

 

[Iowa Lizzy]

Date: 6/13/2010 6:14:56 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk

Date: 6/13/2010 2:18:41 PM

Author: decodelighted

Date: 6/12/2010 7:48:05 PM

Author: Hudson_Hawk

Deco, when shopping just remember...it''s the MAGIC bullet, not the silver bullet

That''s not going to help you much in the fruit blending department....

LOL!!! I haven''t run across The Silver Bullet -- but if my suspicions about it are correct then perhaps it would help me in an even more important ''department'' as DH is still OOT.

Google is your friend

Okay, I thought you meant Coors Light.

Now my mind is definitely in the gutter.

 

[elrohwen]

Welcome to the world of fruits and veggies!

I'm kind of like you with fruits - I tend to buy too many, and then they all go bad. What works for me is only buying things I know I like and will eat as part of my daily routine. I really like apples with peanut butter as a snack or breakfast, and DH eats a banana with lunch every day, so I can buy those things every week and know they will be eaten. If the berries and peaches and other fruits are calling to me, I'll just buy a little bit - one container of strawberries -or- two peaches -or- a container of blackberries, etc. I can always go back and buy more if I really love them. Otherwise I try to stick with the fruits that are a part of my daily routine and not get carried away with every pretty looking fruit in the grocery store. Once you incorporate one or two fruits into your routine, it's so much easier to go through a good quantity of them every week, instead of having a random array in your fridge and not knowing what to do with them.

Now veggies I know a bit more about. I know you didn't ask about veggies, but since they're equally as important as fruit, I thought I'd share my tips. Cooking at home is healthier, in general, than eating out, and when I cook at home I have a one veggie per dinner rule. Every dinner we make, even if it's out of a box, has to have a veggie with it. We usually make mac & cheese once a week, and we always add a ton of broccoli (generally a whole head). Or if we have sandwiches, I'll make a veggie on the side. They're so easy to make, it only takes a few minutes on the stove, that there's no reason not to do it. We've done it for so long that when we go on vacation, and don't get a large quantity of veggies, both DH and I are craving broccoli and salads by the time we get home. My favorite way to prepare veggies is to throw them in a pot, using the steamer insert, then steam for a few minutes until I can pierce with a fork (generally around 5 minutes, give or take, just don't overdo it). I drain the water out, then add a little butter (literally, the smallest amount I can shave off the stick with a knife) and garlic salt. Love garlic salt on veggies! I can eat any veggie cooked this way and the local veggies I get at the farmer's market taste even better (I could've sat down with a pound of farmer's market peas and eaten them all tonight).

To me, fruit is a breakfast, snack, or dessert food, but I can incorporate veggies into every dinner (and lunch) that I eat. I joined a CSA this year, and it's so fun to get new veggies and try them out. I've never had kohlrabi before, or cooked with beets, and it's fun finding new recipes so I can use my veggies before they go bad. With fruit, most "recipes" are desserts, so I don't have as much fun finding ways to use them (since I don't want to make a new dessert every day and defeat my healthy eating). Plus, every veggie I buy lasts a week in the fridge, usually more, just by throwing them in the crisper drawer. I don't use any special storage techniques and I don't notice anything going bad until about the 9th or 10th day.

 

[steph72276]

Hi, Deco...didn't have time to read through all the responses, so forgive me if I repeat. First, I try to only buy enough fruit that will last for a few days. I usually go to the grocery store at least 2 times a week and will just buy more when I run out. My grocery store sells a pre-packaged mix that I buy with watermelon, grapes, strawberries and melons. The package I get is only about $3.50 or so and is the perfect portion size for a few days. I also usually grab some bananas as well, but only about 3 or so at a time or I find they go bad. If my bananas do go bad, I try to make banana bread (it is actually better to use really over ripe bananas for this) and cooking light has a great recipe I use. I try to make a parfait everyday either for breakfast or a healthy snack with fruit, yogurt and either granola or walnuts. I also just grab a few bites of fruit after lunch and dinner for a little sweet taste. It really helps to have it already chopped and right in the front of the fridge. As far as sweets craving go, I find that cutting out processed sweets for a few days will make fruit taste better and actually satisfies the sugar cravings just fine most of the time. Good luck with eating healthier!

 

[TravelingGal]

Deco, if you are doing this for weight loss, I recommend trying to do Weight Watchers Online. It was like 50 some odd bucks for the first three months (go to retailmenot.com and check weightwatchers.com for coupons that get rid of the initial fee or whatever that charge is).

Although I do know how to eat healthy, I DETEST (and I mean ABHOR) calorie counting. I''ve been successful with it in the past, but something about entering large numbers on a spreadsheet is horribly tedious to me and usually lasts about a week of me doing it. I don''t believe in gimmick weight loss. It''s simply a formula of calories in vs calories out, and trying to feel satisfied and not starving in the process.

There is no secret to weight watchers...it''s calorie counting at its base, pure and simple. What it does do is make it kind of fun. I have a hard time adding to 1500 on the fly, but it''s easy to count the daily point allotment (usually somewhere in the 20s, depending on your weight, lifestyle, etc). There''s also an extra allotment of bonus points per week that you can use to splurge.

The first week or so is a pain, but you''ll find that once you start learning what foods make your daily allotment AND leave you feeling full, you''ll just continue to repeat things, making it very easy count and keep to your daily goal. The whole thing seems like an a fun game. And you earn points for exercising of course.

I really am not for meetings and what not, so I think WWO is fine for me. I do think accountability is key, so I found myself a buddy (on PS no less) who I report my weigh in each week on Mondays. Neither of us are nazis about it, and we mostly find ways to joke about it, have fun and share recipes.

When you start to see results, it''s easier and easier to enjoy eating healthy. I haven''t really bothered to lose weight since I had Amelia. It was pure laziness. But one day, I just realized I was sick of it. The weight comes off, but as we get older, it''s just flat out work. Eating well requires planning menus, stocking up on healthy foods and actually cooking. I look at menus of restaurants when I go out and see if they have nutritional information online, and plan out what I am going to eat BEFORE I get there, and stick with it.

I think weight loss is like, 80% nutrition, 20% exercise. You have to get the good eating going otherwise exercise isn''t going to cut it. As FLSteph said, once you get going, you crave the processed stuff a lot less. Even though I generally eat good stuff (I rarely cave in to real junk food), I was eating too much of it, so the first week I went back to portion control, I was starving. Somehow the stomach shrinks or something!

 

[TravelingGal]

Oh, and one more point...there are many FREE sites online that will help you watch calorie intake and allow you to journal. One might wonder what the point is of paying WW money for something that does essentially the same thing. But I find it''s worth it for me because of my mental block of dealing with larger number (um, anything over single digits, actually). The best tool is the one you''re actually going to use, and I find that since I''m PAYING for it, I use it.

 

[dragonfly411]

Deco - I haven''t read all of the replies. Here are my suggestions though.

First you need to get rid of the sweets that are in the house. What anyone who is looking to eat healthier has to realize is that your body becomes addicted to sugar and refined carbs over time. It is like breaking an addiction. You can''t be gradual. You just have to stop. So remove the temptation first and foremost.

Give yourself some kind of visual image of what your ideal healthy person is like. I actually have several, including Lauren Conrad, Ellen Degeneres, Sandra Bullock, and Carrie Underwood. Take time to read interviews with them that include comments on diet and healthy eating. Remember that those ideals should be your own to reach a healthy lifestyle.

I recommend keeping fruit out in a very visible place. I keep oranges and apples on our counter... I keep grapes and strawberries and blueberries on the top shelves in the refrigerator. I sometimes put fruit on the table too. Bananas are also very visible in our house. Make them easy to access and easy to be seen.

Make a point of saying "I will include at least one serving of this fruit with my breakfast/lunch/dinner." Do this with as many meals as you can.


I''m actually guilty of wastefulness with vegetables, and am trying to get better about it. My problem is prep time so I am trying to get myself to start pre-slicing and then bagging it so I can pull it out when I am ready to use it.

 

[appletini]

Deco one thing I do that helps w/ healthy snacks is everynight DH and I prep our lunchboxes for the next day and I usually pack various healty snacks. When I get to work I put everything next to my laptop and there for me all day. And at work I don''t have the pantry with all the temptations (although my co-worker does have a candy bowl but at least she''s on another floor).

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Deco, in all seriousness, it''s GREAT that you''re looking to bring more fruit into your diet and I commend your efforts (lord knows I could do with a little more). But remember, fruit, while a good source of fiber, has a lot of sugar in it and sugar=carbs. Sure, eating a pound of grapes is ''better'' for you than eating junk, but it''s still a ton of sugar, carbs, and calories none of which you need. Many many people end up sabotaging their diets because they''re eating too much fruit. In my opinion berries pack the most punch when it comes to a healthy, satisfying fruit snack. They''re small so a serving seems really generous, they''re tasty, high in fiber, and they''re a super food so they''ve got lots of antioxidants in them.

So in addition to fruit, also look for ways in which to work veggies into your snacking/meal plan. You should be eating 2 servings of veggies for every 1 serving of fruit. Easy ways to work veggies in are carrots, celery, cucumbers, raw zucchini, bell peppers, etc, cut up and stored in 1-serving portions with hummus, PB, or some other healthy dip for dipping. Easy on the carrots though, they''re also high in sugar. Have a small salad or cup of vegetable soup before each major meal. It''s an easy way to get veggies in and the fiber will prevent you from over eating at dinner. While variety is great and we should all strive to eat a rainbow of colors, if there''s a particular veggie that you like that you can eat regularly, do it. For me that''s celery, cucumber, artichokes, zucchini, and green beans, so I eat those a lot.

As I mentioned above, carrots are really high in sugar. Other "veggies" to eat in moderation (but not cut out entirely because they''re still really good for you) are: winter squash (hubbard, acorn, butternut, etc), corn, beets, turnips, and peas. Anything that''s sweet and starchy.

 

[Yimmers]

Deco, give those small strawberries a try. I don''t buy the big ones anymore. My local farmer''s market has a local organic farm out of Half Moon Bay that grows Chandler strawberries. They are a smaller variety but are sweeter than the usual big ones. A lot of supermarket produce is grown for looks and quantity, not for taste. And, most of them come out of the same "specie" (sp?) of the fruit/vegetable.

I love the summer, because my favorite fruit vendors come out. One has a tasting station so you can choose the pluot, nectarine, or peach of choice. I find that if I splurge a little more, the organic fruits in season are much tastier than what I find elsewhere. Even my husband now eats nectarines, which he wouldn''t touch growing up - b/c his mother always bought them at the Asian market, which were usually flavorless and sour.

Also, I''ve noticed some of the vendors also package a $1 bunch of vegetables - very easy to cook, just take off the rubber band and saute, or steam. This way, I can buy different bunches and not worry about having a huge volume of one particular vegetable. I also buy salad mix at the farmer''s market as well. I find it lasts longer than the stuff at the supermarket. And by chance if they go bad, I''m not tossing a huge pile into the backyard to compost.

You have a lot of different options for incorporating fruit/veggies into your diet. If you roast meats, may I also suggest cutting up sweet potatoes and putting them in the bottom of the roasting pan? They are so delicious when they soak up the juices of the roasting lamb/chicken...

 

[Lynn B]

What a great thread -- so many GREAT tips and ideas!

OK, may I make a shameless plug for the Tupperware refrigerator ware??! (NOTE: I have no vested interest in Tupperware!

)

I went to a T'ware party a few months ago (typically do NOT like in-home *parties* AT ALL, but this one was an exception, and I am so glad I went!) I got turned onto the fridge-ware ("Fridge-Smart") storage containers with the two little vent openings, and I am SOOOO sold! Depending on the fruit or veggie you are storing, you keep 1 or both vents open or closed (and various fruits/veggies are listed on the containers for reference). The demonstrator said that these containers will keep your fruit and veggies fresh 2 -3 times longer than regular fridge storage, and I have found this to be true!

Here's an example I found doing a quick Google search. There are several shapes and sizes of the Fridge-Smart containers.
Link

Honestly, I am NOT into gizmos, gadgets or gimmicks AT ALL, but I really do swear by these. I bought 4 of them, in three different sizes, and I use them all the time. I LOVE having my fruits and veggies last so much longer -- with no sacrifice of flavor or quality!

OK, PSA over! Back to regular programming!!!