The eating a variety of fruit and veggies challenge

When I have queried healthy eating challenge participants about which weekly challenge was their favorite this one is mentioned most often. In fact my favorite sister-in-law said she didn't even realize she liked so many vegetables until she tried them on this challenge. She has progressed really far in the years since she made that comment and now she is a full fledged green smoothie drinker with her own healthy eating blog! 

If you have ever read any of the blogs or books that tout various super foods you are aware of the power pack of nutrients contained in fruits and vegetables. Yet so many of us eat the same foods day in and day out. And in making these same food choices we also partake of the same nutrients. It's time to step outside our habits and take part in a wider variety of delicious fruits and vegetables. 

I have written before about a surprising experience I had when I prepared an evening snack for some teenagers that came to our home for a church meeting. I had heard some complaints the week before when these same teens were served store bought cake and cookies at an event. So... wanting to give them some healthier fare I served warm artisan whole wheat bread with honey butter (bought at Costco I just re-heated), sliced oranges and assorted veggies served in a cup with hummus. I couldn’t believe my ears when one of the girls asked what a slice of raw red bell pepper was and another exclaimed she had never before seen a snow pea pod.

Yet in my own family I have a nephew that when we reunited after a year apart shared that the last salad he had eaten was when he saw me last. ARRGGHHH! 

I know that on this challenge you have been eating fresh fruits and vegetables. But are you in a rut of always eating romaine in your salads, and always eating apples or oranges for your fruit? 

In a recent study Georgia State University nutrition students challenged fellow students to a “nutrition fear factor” test to encourage them to try new foods.

Alexandra Friel, one of the organizers, said, “Everyone has seen the ‘Fear Factor’ television show, and we all tend to think we are a little braver than we really are. We wanted to put Georgia State students to the test.”

So, she headed to DeKalb Farmers Market (which btw was my favorite place to shop when I lived in Atlanta) with fellow student Rebecca Sterns to select food for the taste test. They choose some that might be familiar, such as kiwi, fresh coconut and raw mushrooms, and some that many students had never seen, let alone tasted. Jackfruit, star fruit, pomegranate and durian were on the menu, as well as baba ghanouj — an eggplant dish.

The results? “Everyone seemed to enjoy the experience of tasting different foods that were interesting and healthy to eat,” said student Lauren Sieber. “The most interesting was the durian. It is by far the worst-smelling fruit in the world, but once you get past the smell, it tastes pretty good.”

Listed below are five foods that you may not have tried and they are just a small sampling of the wonderful variety we can choose from in our diet

• Plantains: A staple of Latin American cuisine, they look like large bananas, but are really a starch vegetable rich in potassium and vitamin C. Try the ripe ones (they will look almost black) for your test. Slice it, sauté with a little butter or margarine and a pinch of brown sugar and salt for side dish or dessert.

• Broccoli rabe: This vegetable, popular in Italy, is also called rapini and has slender stalks with broccoli-like flower buds. It can be bitter, so blanch it, toss with balsamic vinaigrette and serve it as a side dish. It is also good in salads or soups.

• Fresh or Dried figs: If you like Fig Newtons, try a dried fig instead: moist, chewy and flavorful, a perfect snack. There are many varieties. The Southern California Mission fig is one of the most popular. (Note this is one of my favorite snacks when I am craving sweets. Honestly the plain dried fig is as yummy as a fig newton. I buy them at Costco. I also use these to sweeten my green smoothies)

• Carambola: It’s used in Southeast Asia and is also called star fruit because when sliced each piece looks like a star. Choose a sweet variety, like Arkin. Look for one that is shiny and firm to the touch. Kids will like how it looks, and moms will like the extra fiber and vitamins A and C that it delivers.

• Eggplant: If you like hummus, try something new, like baba ghanouj served with pita wedges or flatbread. This Middle Eastern dish is used as a spread or a dip. My neighbor made it for me once and it was so delicious I literally licked the plate. 

YOUR CHALLENGE FOR THIS WEEK IS, EACH DAY EAT A FRUIT OR VEGETABLE THAT YOU DO NOT NORMALLY EAT (to figure out if you “normally eat it” all foods that you have eaten within the last month cannot be used for this challenge. So each day you should be trying a new fruit or vegetable that you have not eaten in the last month nor during this week of the challenge) For every day that you try a new fruit or vegetable this week you earn the 5 bonus points.

Here’s a recipe that might be fun to try and please feel free to share any recipes on the blog that you have found for our more unusual fruits and veggies!

Baba Ghanouj 
Makes 2 cups or 8 (1/4-cup) servings

Hands on: 30 minutes 
Total time: 90 minutes

2 pounds eggplant,
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice,
1 small garlic clove minced,
 2 tablespoons tahini paste (sesame seed paste),
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided 
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, 
2 teaspoons chopped parsley

Grill the eggplant over a hot fire or under the broiler until the skin darkens and wrinkles on all sides, about 15 to 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes. The eggplant should be uniformly soft when pressed with tongs. Transfer to a baking sheet and cool for 5 minutes.

Set a small colander over a bowl or in the sink. Trim the top and bottom off each eggplant. Slit the eggplants lengthwise. Use a spoon to scoop the hot pulp from the skins and place the pulp in the colander. You should have about 2 cups of packed pulp. Discard the skins. Let the pulp drain for 3 minutes.

Transfer pulp to a food processor bowl and add lemon juice, garlic, tahini, 1 tablespoon olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Process until the mixture has a coarse, choppy texture, about 8 one-second pulses. Transfer to a serving dish, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until lightly chilled, about 45 to 60 minutes.

To serve, use a spoon to make a trough in the center of the dip and spoon in a teaspoon of olive oil and sprinkle with parsley.

— From “Perfect Vegetables From the Editors of Cook’s Illustrated” (America’s Test Kitchen, $29.95)

Per serving: 50 calories (percent of calories from fat, 72), 1 gram protein, 3 grams carbohydrates, 1 grams fiber, 4 grams fat (less than 1 gram saturated), no cholesterol, 2 milligrams sodium.

Nutritional bonus points: Don’t let the 72 percent of calories from fat scare you. This is a low-fat, low-calorie dip, and the small amount of fat comes from heart-healthy fats in the olive oil and tahini.

Try a little harder

I know that those of you that have stuck with us on this challenge are developing some new healthy habits. I hope you are feeling more energetic, seeing good results and loving your results. For those of you that have drifted from your focus I would like to re-invite you to make a good effort for the rest of our competition. You still have time to accomplish good things.

One of the things that can rob us of the results we want is not putting our TOTAL effort and focus into what we are doing. This week’s challenge is to commit you to trying a little harder.

#1 If you have been guessing on the portion size in your eating take the time to weigh and measure each item this week

#2 If you are assuming you are drinking enough water specifically track each ounce this week to make sure you are getting the minimum required

#3 If you have been journaling what you eat a day or two after the fact, discipline yourself to enter what you eat BEFORE you eat it for every bite this week

#4 If you have been putting in the hour of time for exercise but not putting your full effort into it try giving an increased effort this week. Try to improve your time, your form, your posture, your effort  etc. 

#5 If you have been overlooking nibbles, bites and sips and not recording them in your food journal or not acknowledging them as a “sweet” treat be exact this week in acknowledging everything you put in your mouth

So our weekly challenge is to try a little harder this week to be a little better. As you do that each day you earn the 5 daily bonus points. Let’s see if we don’t earn better results next week. 

Rewarding without Chocolate

Isn’t there something wonderful about “treating” people? It’s so fun to bring flowers to a co-worker on her birthday, prepare your family’s favorite dinner, bake cookies for your Sunday School class, take your kids out for ice-cream after good report cards. 

However, my daughter that is a dietetics and nutrition professor bristles at the use of food as a reward. She would tell you to serve a variety of healthy foods to your family sometimes including desserts. But she would warn that forcing children to finish their dinner in order to earn dessert breeds a mind set that healthy entrees and salad are something we suffer through in order to “earn” the much more desirable sweet treat for dessert. Using food as a reward or as a punishment can undermine the healthy eating habits that you're trying to teach your family. It also encourages them to eat when they're not hungry to reward themselves. Offering otherwise off-limits food as a reward or special treat is also confusing.

Kaitlyn would also warn not to always default to food as your go to reward for good behavior. Yes we want to acknowledge, celebrate and applaud ourselves and others for accomplishments but food should not be our easy and only reward.

Here is a list of other ways to reward good behavior (many came from Habyts) 

Rewards at home.

1.   Praise. It costs nothing. Zilch. Praise their effort, not the achievement.

2.   Dance- put on some great music and have the whole family take part in a celebration dance

3.  Walk- let the child you are rewarding pick where you will walk and head out together

4.   Hi-5. Acknowledge your child’s achievement with this simple, fun action.

5.   Read a book. Their favorite. And let them choose the time and place.

6.   Stay up late. But not too late! 5-15 minutes extra depending on your child’s accomplishment and whether it’s a school night or not.

7.   Do a puzzle. Together, or as a family. But make sure you finish it!

8.   What’s for dinner? Let them choose, not just for them but the whole family.

9.   Bonus screen time. Just a little extra. 15 mins more to say ‘good job’.

10. Build an obstacle course. Indoor or out. Let your kids turn a part of your house or garden into their own temporary obstacle course..

11.Watch a movie or special t.v.show.  Sit down and watch together as a family.

12. Be the ‘only child’. Send their siblings away to the grandparents, friends or relatives for the day and make your child the center of attention.

13. Take and print photos. Grab a camera and have some photo fun. And when you’re done, get them printed. Creative, fun and cheap!

14. Donate old toys. Gather them up, give them a clean and donate to a children’s ward. Your child will see how their old toys benefit others.

15. Camp out. In the back yard. Let them choose where they pitch the tent.

16. Paint a feature wall. Preferably their room. Let them pick the color.

17. Save the change. Give your child your loose change – every day for a week – providing they save it for a rainy day.

18.Choose the tune. In the car or the house. Whatever they choose, goes.

19. Earn art stuff for creative fun. Great for home or school. And no doubt they probably need them!

20. Surprise treasure hunt. In the house or garden.  Make the clues challenging and the prize worth it- an active toy like a jump rope, hula hoop or Frisbee. 

21. Stickers. Works wonders for young children. 

22. Visit the Grandparents. Usually a win-win scenario for all involved.

23. Day Off Chores. Reward them with a day off from their daily chores.

24.Tie-dye-tastic. Take an old shirt and add a splash of colour. Or a lot!

25.Art session! Grab paints or markers and get creative and messy together

Now I realize you probably don’t all have children at home that you are rewarding but there all also non-food ways you can reward yourself for good behavior. You too can enjoy rewarding yourself by curling up with a good book, experimenting with art supplies, dancing in your kitchen, putting a sticker on your calendar when you have made 100% healthy eating choices all day- getting a pedicure to celebrate a week of good choices etc. 

Your challenge this week is to be mindful not to use food as a reward for yourself, your family, your friends or co-workers. AND TO MAKE A CLEAR CHOICE TO REWARD SOMEONE (yes it can be yourself) with a non-food reward for something wonderful they have done this week. 

A Healthy Gut = a Happy Gut

Hmmmmmmm not sure if any of you ever try to guess what our next challenge will be, but if you do I bet I would have stumped you this week. I am going to challenge you to eat some bugs. You’ll be relieved to know I’m not referring to the creepy crawly, and maybe even leggy and crunchy roaches, ants or crickets-- I’m talking about microscopic bugs—the beneficial bacteria that are naturally present in foods like yogurt or kefir. 

Both Prebiotics(foods with lots of healthy fiber- mostly fruits and vegetables that act as food for human micro flora ) and Probiotics (fermented foods containing beneficial bacteria) are key to your gut health. Recent studies are linking poor gut micro biome (gut) health to maladies such as bloating, ulcers, gallstones, lactose intolerance, diverticulitis, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel disease, celiac disease, constipation, food allergies, acid reflux, depression, low immunity and many other ailments. It seems our gut health is key to our overall health.  A healthy microbiome – in turn protects the gut wall, regulates inflammation, and assists with hormone and neurotransmitter production. We are just beginning to learn how crucial this is to your overall health. 

According to one of my favorite nutrition bloggers Monica Reinagel M.S.,L.D./N. from NutritionDiva.com  “Every traditional cuisine has developed some sort of naturally fermented or cultured food. There’s Japanese miso, Bulgarian yogurt, Polish sauerkraut, Indian lassi, and Korean kim-chee. And each of these plays a central role in that culture’s cuisine … and for good reason. All of these foods contain lactobacillus bacteria, which are extremely beneficial to your health. In the days before antibiotics and other drugs, cultured and fermented foods were critical to staying healthy.”

Monica goes on to explain that “The friendly bacteria found in these foods actually set up housekeeping in your gut, where they do all kinds of good things for you: They help digest your food and produce certain vitamins for you. They keep the lining of your intestines slick and shiny. Most of all, they make it harder for unfriendly bacteria to take hold and make you sick.”

In other words if we have a basic population of beneficial bacteria in our gut our digestive system will work better and our body will be healthier and better able to fight off disease.

Monica goes on to explain that “Unfortunately, the traditional methods of fermenting cabbage in stoneware crocks, or burying salted vegetables in pits in the back yard, or culturing warm goat’s milk on the hearth are just not as common as they used to be. Instead, we have ultra-pasteurized milk that keeps for six weeks. Let me assure you that no beneficial bacteria survive the ultra-pasteurization process.”

Personally I love kimchi (I had a Kimchi taco last week- yum)  and Kefir (Kefir is a fermented milk drink made with grains and is believed to have its origins in the Caucasus Mountains. It is available in health food and many grocery stores and it tastes like a yogurt drink but almost like it has a bit of carbonation. My sons love it) but probably the easiest way to get our daily lactobacillus fix is to eat yogurt regularly 

Which brand of yogurt should you buy? Look for brands that advertise “living cultures” (Recent studies show Stonyfield to be the brand with the most active and live cultures)  but it is not necessary to pay extra for fancy yogurts that promote digestive health. Regular yogurt contains all that you need.

It’s pretty easy to work some yogurt into your daily diet. Besides eating it as a breakfast or snack you can easily add it to smoothies or use it in dips or spreads. 

And I’m a step ahead of you ladies in your day dreaming. Does frozen yogurt (one of my all time favorite treats) contain live active yogurt bacteria and qualify as “eating yogurt’?  Maybe and maybe not. It seems that while the freezing process does NOT kill the yogurt bacteria some frozen yogurts use heat-treated yogurt, which does kill the live and active cultures. The best way to find out is to ask at your local frozen yogurt shop or look for the NYA Live & Active Cultures seal. What you want is live active yogurt bacteria. And remember if you find a frozen yogurt which contains live culture but also has sugar it DOES count as a sugar day! You might enjoy plain or unsweetened yogurt with some fresh fruit or non-caloric sweetener added. 

For every day that you eat at least 1/4 cup of a fermented food (sauerkraut, miso, yogurt, kefir, kim-chee etc.)  containing live and active cultures and/or take a probiotic supplement you earn the daily 5 bonus points. Happy yogurt eating ladies!