11 March 2011

Quick Tip - Sneak in Additional Nutrition


Here's a good quick tip. I try to throw in some extra vegetables and added nutrients in anything I cook when I can. For instance I frequently make easy taco/burritos. I use brown rice, black or brown beans (not refried to avoid all the additives, oils, etc.), slivered spinach instead of lettuce mixed with shredded carrots. Then we add the regular basics of cheese and onion. I just found handmade tortillas at Trader Joe's that are very healthy and without malted barley or maltodextrin or other additives we try to avoid.

When I make spaghetti sauce I either make my own or embellish a basic Trader Joe's jar for just $1.78. I beef up the sauce by adding a lot of Italian Seasoning a teaspoon or so of sugar to lower the acid in the tomatoes, then shredded carrots and zucchini and an entire onion chopped in big pieces. Sometimes I make my own meatballs using ground turkey or lean ground beef. You could also add fresh spinach to spaghetti, lasagna, etc. and let it cook down.

When I make eggs for breakfast I throw a 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil in the pan, then throw in a mountain of chopped spinach and diced onions and red peppers and cook it down. It shrinks down quite a bit. Then I set them aside while I make an omelette then just before it's done I add it all along with some cheese. Then I set the omelette aside and quickly saute a chopped tomato for about a minute. I serve the egg with the tomatoes on top. It makes for a healthy and pretty morning meal.

You can find ways to beef up the nutrition in almost any recipe you make by lowering the fat and increasing the nutrients. It can be a great way to hide veggies from kids too. I'm sneaking fresh and cooked spinach in all over the place. In my Two Minute Salad I've begun adding celery which is supposed to be a good stress reliever. More nutrients and a variety of food colors and flavors will please both the palate and body. How do you add in nutrients? I'd love to learn from your techniques! Happy cooking.

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