Eating More Fruits and Vegetables

Cooking for one or two can be challenging, especially when health and fresh produce are priorities. I'm guilty of throwing up my hands more often than is wise and just calling up someone to go out rather than face the logistical problems of making a balanced meal. But homemaking requires that we make the home the main location of our food preparation. It saves money, helps bring focus to the home, brings us a deeper awareness of what we're consuming, and is fun and delicious.
But you know that. I know that. I know I should cook at home, but I've had to make a conscious decision to do so. Like I described in the Money Saving post, there's noting wrong with going out, but a part of my homemaking education involves learning more about cooking and getting into the habit of creating healthy meals in my own home.

So I decided to attack these specific challenges to cooking before you have a family (cooking for one or two):

1. You know you're supposed to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables, but being one person, it's likely that buying more than one kind of vegetable at the store will result in some going bad before you can eat it.

2. Despite that fact, you don't feel like going to the grocery store every single day to buy infinitesimal amounts of a variety of produce.

2. You are tired at the end of the day and don't always feel like whipping up a serious meal.

My own solutions make sense for me, but of course other people will tackle these challenges differently. All of this may be completely obvious to you, or you may not face these challenges at all. But here's what I came up with:

Eating More Vegetables



My solution to this is roasting. By roasting a variety of vegetables in a larger quantity than you would eat for one dinner, and by adding several different types, you get the benefit of a variety of vitamins and micronutrients rather than just eating broccoli leftovers for four days because a whole head is too much for one dinner. Roasted vegetables keep for several days and are easy to heat up at the end of a long work day.

My Recipe:
Wash and halve a pint or so of grape tomatoes. Drizzle them with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread out on a cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper, and put in an oven preheated to 350F, and cook until dried/browned (about 40 minutes). While they're drying out in the oven, take whatever veggies you have handy and wash, chop, oil, salt, and pepper them. I used halved brussels sprouts, broccoli, and the white part of a leek. Spread these out on another cookie sheet, and roast for about 30 minutes alongside the tomatoes. Take out of the oven and toss all together. A delicious side that keeps for several days and is easy to heat up in the microwave.


Eating More Fruits



Apples and oranges will keep for a long time and are easy to keep around as snacks. But I have a hard time eating strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, kiwis, and raspberries before they go bad. We all know that freezing is a good option for fruits, but I'm guilty of forgetting about them in the back of the freezer, so I wanted to get in the habit of using them for breakfast.

My Recipe:
This is now my quick, high protein, high fiber breakfast that I make every day. It takes less time than brewing a pot of coffee. I put about half a cup of Greek yogurt and a handful of frozen mixed fruit in a blender. Since I don't love the texture of still-frozen fruit, I blend it until completely smooth. Yum!