Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Putting the Veg in "Vegedible"

All this cloud and rain makes it tough to feel like it's summertime. It's tough on my little business-casual wardrobe too; I could get a  lot more use out of it if I could pull on a skirt a couple times a week.
Beer & a Burger

But despite that, it is only a few days away from that actual, literal first day of summer. I'm going to use these cloudy, cloudy days as time to stock up on vitamins. I'm going to start sticking to our friendly government's recommendations for eating veggies, because I've gotten into a pretty unfortunate habit of eating food that's pale and greasy. Also pizza (ah, pizza). And as good as pale and greasy is (ugh, that even sounds gross), I'm pretty sure this bod would prefer dark green and orange and steamed.

My unofficial personal challenge started yesterday. According to Canada's Food Guide, I should have 7-8 servings of fruits or vegetables every day.

One serving is a bit hard to measure:
  • 1/2 cup of fresh/frozen/canned vegetable or fruit 
  • 1/2 cup of 100% juice 
  • 1 cup of leafy greens/salad 
  • 1 piece of fruit
    Yesterday I went a little overboard with Kale, trying to make up for last time. It was probably 3 cups before steaming. I ate it with salad dressing and it was a bit of a struggle to eat it all. I also cooked up some potato and sweet potato with onions, hashbrown-style. (And let's not talk about the veggie dogs I ate...) I had lentil and veggie soup at work so I'm hopeful that was at least a couple of servings.
    Steamed Greens & Tomato Sauce

    Today, I'm on track, thankfully. Breakfast was not so fruitful (hah!) with just a few tablespoons of apple sauce with my oatmeal. But lunch was delicious! I made a spicy tomato sauce and served it over 2 cups of steamed asparagus and kale, with a toasted tomato-cheddar sandwich on the side. So I'm on the right track at least, even if I can't really calculate these servings completely accurately. There's certainly no harm in overdoing it on veggies, right?

    2 comments:

    1. I don't know, that little lunch in the top photo looks nutritious to me!

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    2. Veggie burger and beer, that's TOTALLY my style and what I'll probably be treating myself to at some point this weekend (though I'd probably choose a different beer - but this is ale country, after all). I love kale and always go overboard with the stuff. I like to saute it with onion and garlic. And I confess, I LOVE raw kale with lemon and olive oil (and salt and pepper). But the kale needs to be finely chopped and left to marinate for a little while. I like what you've got going on here with the marinara - I'm going to have to try this (I often put marinara on my broccoli!).

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