STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Grace · Dooney & Bourke

Who gets all their fruits and veggies?

wicked · Coach

I don't know if I get 'em all, but I try to eat either a banana or bowl of unsweetened applesauce everyday(or grapes when they're on sale). I always munch on baby carrots and I try to squeeze a big salad (lettuce, cuke, tomato) in every day or a bowl of steamed brocolli with a little asiago.

greendiamond · Marc Jacobs

V8, V8 splash or Vruit are good to help you along.

-gd

Kelly · Hermes

I love fruit more than most things, so that's not hard for me. Especially because you don't need to prepare fruit and for the most part, fruit comes in small enough bits that you can snack on it when you just want something to munch.

I don't know of a whole lot of tricks... maybe try replacing your usual snacks with fruits and veggies? You could eat an apple with peanut butter or broccoli with ranch dressing. When you're preparing vegetable or beef soup, pour in an extra handful of frozen mixed veggies beyond what just comes in the soup can. If you're running through McDonald's just for convenience, they have apples there. It's a bit much to pay $1 for what amounts to one apple or less, but it might be worth it to get another fruit and stay away from fries. You can have fruit salad for dessert after supper one evening and pack leftovers for lunch the next day.

I'd just try to make them the most accessible thing in your refrigerator. I also like fruit because it's biodegradable - you can throw an apple core or a banana peel into the dirt by the highway because you know some animal will come along awfully soon and get it. With anything else, you have to fuss with the trash!

I have to work on making vegetables appear more in my diet, as well. I love fruit but unless someone else serves me vegetables or I get them at a restaurant, I don't eat them!

e_doli · Dooney & Bourke

serving sizes are smaller than you think -- so sometimes you're eating more than one serving and you don't know it. (like a really big apple, etc.)

i try to bring raw veggies with my every day as my snack. if they are the only thing you have to eat, you'll eat them. carrots, celery, brocolli, cauliflower, etc. so lame, but you'll scarf them down and feel better for it when you're starving on the way home. also, whatever fruit is on season (right now it's apples so i always have one with me).

-- Edited by e_doli at 23:36, 2006-11-06

luckylily · Gucci

I'm pretty good about eating fruit. I grab a piece whenever I need a snack and often have it on the side for breakfast or lunch. Veggies are hard for me as I hate most of them. I try to eat a spinach salad every day to insure that I get some veggies.

NCshopper · Hermes

I don't always get all my fruits and veggies in, but one thing I always do is put raisins, dried blueberries, or dates on my cereal. I also munch on dried apricots during the day and I try to always make a salad to go with dinner.

Bastet · Kate Spade

Salsa is a vegetable, right? I try to make salad w/ most dinners or serve a simple veggie side dish like steamed artichokes, broccoli, or asparagus with lemon juice. If I'm too lazy to make a separate side dish, I try to make a main dish that includes veggies, like stir fry or chili with extra veggies. I'm horrible about fruit. I try to make myself eat it for snacks, but I don't like apples, pears, and other "snack fruit" very much.

I'll eat strawberries or nectarines when I remember to buy them. I try to incorporate fruit into my meals by looking for recipes which call for fruit. I make mango and chicken stir fry and chicken w/ dried apricots.

NCshopper · Hermes

Bastet wrote:

I make mango and chicken stir fry and chicken w/ dried apricots.

That sounds REALLY good. How do you make it? Do you use fresh mango?

valenciana · Dooney & Bourke

NCshopper wrote:

Bastet wrote:

I make mango and chicken stir fry and chicken w/ dried apricots.

That sounds REALLY good. How do you make it? Do you use fresh mango?

I agree. I'd love that recipe too!

And yes, salsa is definitely a vegetable...and by that standard, yep, I think I'm doing okay.

No...I probably don't get as much as I should. I prefer veggies to fruit, cause I like most fruit cut up rather than just biting into it (yes, I'm 5 years old). Also, bananas have been really off-putting to me lately, after a string of really gross bananas that were brown and mealy inside. Bleah.

Dried fruit is really good and easy though, doesn't have to be refrigerated, easy to carry with you, etc.

Dizzy · Marc Jacobs

On any given day I get one or the other, but I used to be a lot better at it. Anyway, these are my tricks: I eat an apple while watching tv almost every day. I buy those bags of prewashed beans, broccoli and mixed vegetables that you can just microwave, I wilt spinach and toss it with my pasta for a low-cal meal, I buy those precut things of fruit in the grocery store and try to eat them for breakfast, or the little boxes of berries, and I like asparagus or brussel sprouts broiled, which only takes about 12 minutes. Oh, and I love this quick thai noodle dish i learned that has a lot of red and yellow peppers.

Bastet · Kate Spade

valenciana wrote:

NCshopper wrote:

Bastet wrote:

I make mango and chicken stir fry and chicken w/ dried apricots.

That sounds REALLY good. How do you make it? Do you use fresh mango?

I agree. I'd love that recipe too!

I posted the recipe over in the food & dining forum if you're still interested.

Grace · Dooney & Bourke

Thanks for the ideas, they are helpful. I like the idea of adding extra veggies to soups or pre-made meals.