Tuesday, October 30, 2012

10 Ways of Incorporating Uncooked Meals Into Your Family’s Diet

Getting Your family To Enjoy Raw Foods


10 Ways of Incorporating Uncooked Meals Into Your Family’s Diet


If your family is like most, fruits and vegetables are dreaded enemies in your household. After choking down those horrid brussel sprouts at dinner who wants to snack on a cup or broccoli? Bring on the chips and other junk foods, please! It can be a real job getting the household, adults and children alike, to eat the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables every day. In some cases, as a loved ones member ages he/she will discover that the carrots they have always loves is a vegetable and decide he/she no longer wants to eat them. In other cases during a hectic schedule of working a 60 hour week and running a home, grabbing burgers and fries at a fast food establishment got to be almost on the normal side. No matter what…we need to get our families eating at least 3 to 5 servings of vegetables and 2 to 4 servings of fruits daily. If you can get your family’s uncooked meals to 70 to 80 percent of your diet you can consider your mission accomplished. And even though they may not notice it at first, there are many health benefits to enjoying a raw food diet plan.


1. Make a Smoothie For Breakfast


By dusting off the blender and tossing in fruits and vegetables you can make an attractive, pleasant tasting smoothie that all your family members will be happy to start the day with. Be sure to use fruits that will overpower the taste of the vegetables and if necessary toss in a dash of nutmeg. Strawberries, bananas and pineapples are some tasty fruits that may overpower the taste of vegetables. You can toss in some protein powder or get even more creative and add a scoop of frozen yogurt or ice cream. If you are concerned about or trying to stay away from processed foods you can find all kinds of healthy recipes for making your own yogurt or ice cream.


2. Dried Fruits


Dried fruits like raisins, bananas, apples, berries and more are available and ideal for after school and evening snacks as well as for tossing into the children’s lunch boxes and the husband’s briefcase. You can also sneak fruits into your children’s diets with dried fruits in their breakfast cereals. It may even be beneficial to invest in a dehydrator to get fresher, healthier dried fruits.


3. Sandwiches Loaded With Fruits And Vegetables


Fruits and vegetables in sandwiches is nothing new. For years people have been eating peanut butter and banana sandwiches, lettuce and tomato sandwiches, bean sprout sandwiches and lots more. Tossing out the jar of strawberry jam and placing fresh sliced strawberries, bananas or apples on their peanut butter sandwiches will not only be healthier but much tastier. For some reason small children love foods that crunch. Sandwiches full of lettuce, bean sprouts and other crunchy vegetables will be fun for them to eat.


4. Salad Bar


Setting up a salad bar for dinner would be a novel idea and everyone in the household would love making their own salads. You can set out a big bowl of fresh lettuce and a variety of other vegetables and garnishments. Supply several different salad dressings and maybe some croutons. You may also have a dish of garlic bread or grilled cheese toast. Everyone will enjoy making their salads to their liking.


5. Cocktail Hour


When the household sits down to discuss the events of the day or gather around to watch television or whatever activity prompts that daily treat try preparing fresh fruit/vegetable cocktails or raw foods in a glass instead of that big bowl of buttered popcorn or that tray of various chips. With a juicer you can ensure that your loved ones is getting vitamins and minerals in their juices instead of the additives and preservatives found in processed juices.


6. Top Ice Cream With Fresh Fruit


An ice cream maker is an investment the entire loved ones can enjoy. The many original flavors you can create will keep children satisfied with the frozen treat for a long time to come. Dress the ice cream or a scoop of frozen yogurt with various diced fresh fruit toppings for variety.


7. Adorn Fruits And Vegetables With Peanut Butter


Replacing the bowl of popcorn or chips with a bowl of fresh fruit is a good way to get the fruit out there where the friends and family members will see it and they will most likely reach for a banana or a handful of grapes. They will eat a lot more fruit and vegetables if you kind of dress it up and make it look appealing, especially for young children. Have you ever seen a child that didn’t like peanut butter? Have you ever seen anyone who didn’t like peanut butter? You can spread peanut butter in stalks of celery or on top of apple slices. You may even try peanut butter with different fruits and vegetables. Try it; you may create a new snack.


8. Add New Fruits And Vegetables


We’ve been replacing potato chips with fresh fruits and vegetables even though we all know potatoes are vegetables. Why not occasionally replace those greasy potato chips filled with additives and preservatives with homemade potato chips. You can slice them very thin, coat them lightly with olive oil so they don’t stick, use different seasonings and bake them, making healthy, homemade potato chips. You may even want to introduce a fruit like pomegranates when they are in season. Just a little change or tweak here and there should keep eating fruits and vegetables interesting.


9. Using Vegetables To Make Soup


Vegetable soup is a good dish for serving up lots of vegetables. You can even make it without meat if you’re cutting down on your family’s meat consumption. All your family members will greatly appreciate a good hot bowl of soup on a cold day.


10. The Family’s Involvement


It’s really not a good idea to force anything on anyone. That goes for a new diet as well if you’ve never enforced healthy eating in the past. It’s easier to assure everyone’s cooperation by having them be involved in planning the menus and in the preparation if they choose to do so. It may be easier still if you make sure the foods and snacks you don’t want them to eat are not available.


Closing Note:


Now that the entire household has gotten a taste for healthy eating you may want to make sure you always have plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables handy for snacks and evening treats. Uncooked food foods need to consist of only 70 percent to 80 percent raw foods so feel free to include other food products. Just stay away from processed foods as much as possible.


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