Fruits and Vegetables

It is very important to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables when you are eating healthy. Vegetables are the most efficient way to take in energy since they get their energy directly from the sun. I love all vegetables (except beets and okra...) but they can be really expensive. I usually only buy bananas, one fruit that is on sale, onions, potatoes, carrots, celery, green onions, kale, sprouts, parsley and cilantro fresh. I buy all other fruits in cans. This can seem "wrong" because so many canned fruits are processed in a ton of sugar. Since this is true, you just need to make sure you buy canned fruit that is in 100% juice or labeled as having no sugar added. If you do happen to have fruit that is packaged in syrup, rinse the fruit really well before serving. This will help to wash off a lot of the extra sugar. For vegetables, I buy frozen. Frozen vegetables are very inexpensive, especially if you buy the store brand instead of a national brand. They are also frozen without any additives at peak freshness so they are as healthy as fresh. I always have a bag of green peppers, peas, corn and green beans in my freezer. I also like to have a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables to be able to make a fast dinner. The stir fry vegetables mixes are really great deals. For less than $2, you can get a large volume of vegetables for less than the cost of one individual item in the mix. I also use canned tomatoes when I do not have a stock of homemade in my freezer (yes, my husband and I process and freeze or can our own tomato sauce and diced tomatoes). With these (or any other canned vegetables you buy) make sure you get something that is labeled as no salt added. If you are not able to find no salt added vegetables, again wash them thoroughly before eating.

A lot of people I know do not like vegetables. If you are one of these people, it is important to "hide" vegetables in your food. I always have carrots, celery, onions, and (frozen) green peppers on hand. I include these (and others) in almost every meal I make. If we are having spaghetti, I make the sauce from scratch with onions, peppers, carrots and celery diced and browned with the meat. If we are having tacos, I include onions, pepper, carrots and corn. These vegetables add very little "bad" flavor but add a lot of nutritional value to your meal.