Before I met Dufda I cooked, I swear I did. I even have a bunch of cute aprons to prove it. Now they get about as much use as 46 pairs of black stilettos I had pre-baby. I also ate a lot of processed food because it was easy and quick. Before Dufda met me he never turned on an oven. I don't even know if he could make an egg. He had to learn quick since he assumed the role of CEO of the household. Learn he did. Dufda actually may be a better cook than me. Famous Spaghetti, Famous Fried Rice, Famous Chicken....he has them all. One thing that he definitely does better than me is make sure our family is eating whole, real ingredients that grow in the ground or on a tree or live in farm. He is slightly obsessive about it. The other day I snuck canned beets into our house and he got legitimately mad about it. I was basically ruining my salad by placing a canned vegetable among all the fresh veggies. How dare I? Don't even try to make Velveeta Mac n' Cheese around him. He will make you feel so guilty for eating fake cheese that you won't even be able to enjoy how great it taste.
Did you know you are suppose to get 5 servings and vegetables and 5 servings of a fruit a day? How does you diet stack up against that?
Today I am going to share some super simple ways my family makes sure we are getting our 10 a day.
1. Just don't buy any crap! If you avoid the middle aisles of the grocery store you will be able to avoid all the crap that you would buy instead of buying vegetables. If you don't buy it you can't eat it.
2. Budget. If you have a set amount to spend, you are more likely to buy food that will serve many purposes, fill you up and taste good. Our family has a budget of just $75/week for groceries and we are able to eat fresh so you have no excuses.
2. Learn how to make you favorite foods you would normally buy frozen or prepared. One of my family's favorite foods is chicken fried rice. Most people would either go to the Chinese place down the street and get take out or buy it in the freezer aisle. We do neither. Dufda makes it all from actual ingredients and this way I am able to serve it to Nugget without having to guess whether or not it is good for him. His taste amazing too!
3. Cook ahead. If you have to cook every night, it is very easy to turn to something quick to cook that is full of preservatives, salt and crap. If you cook for two or three days this doesn't become an issue. Leftovers save you money versus eating out for lunch as well. Always pack it!
4. Wash, cut, sort and store. One of my favorite things to get when I am at work is a salad from Hello Bistro. Hello Bistro is a spin off of Eat n' Park's famous salad bar that offers every option there is. Sure you are eating a salad but you are paying $9! for that salad and you really don't know what you are getting in terms of freshness and content in the ingredients.
Here is what I like to have on hand to make salads and snacks:
- Grapes
- Tomatoes
- Cranberries
- Strawberries
- Green Pepper
- Cucumbers
- Peas
- Carrots
- Corn
- Beets
- Lots of Lettuce
Everything get washed, sliced, diced, taken off the stem and ready to eat. This will make sure that you have no excuses when it comes to getting your vegetables in. When it comes time for dinner I can choose what fits the meal and whip up a quick salad. At night I make myself a huge salad to take with me to work and it keeps me from hitting up a fast food place in the middle of the day.
Now doesn't that look a lot better than a hamburger? It is obviously much better for you as well. How do you make sure you get your 10 a day?
