Vegetables are a great way to provide the necessary vitamins and minerals to your family. However, how many times have you told your children to eat their vegetables? Probably a lot.
Most children seem to have an aversion to vegetables. They will push them around their plate, refuse to eat them and cry. Whether you are trying out vegetable soup recipes or good vegetable grill recipes, children know when you have sneaked healthy vegetables into their meal, and they will probably kick up a fuss.
Vegetables do not have to be the enemy. All you need to do is find a creative way to cook them and your family will love them - guaranteed!
When you stop and think about it, when you were a child and your mother dropped a droopy, soggy, green hunk of broccoli on your plate, would you eat it? Probably not.
There are ways to make your children eat their vegetables. Broccoli, for example, is very high in both vitamins and minerals and there are various ways of preparing it. Good vegetable grill recipes usually turn out great and a lot of kids love these but what if that is not enough and your child still complains? Here are some tips:
Raw - you can put a plateful of raw broccoli in bite size pieces in the refrigerator, arranged around a little dish of salad dressing. Children love to dip their food and serving it in this way is something new for them. Leave the tips of the broccoli on the plate and either encourage your child to eat some or make a game of it. Grilled vegetable recipes are not the only way to prepare veggies.
If all else fails, bribery often works. Tell your child that they will get a special treat if they finish their vegetables. Make sure you have a treat for them afterwards.
Use cheese. Cheese and broccoli go very well together. If you pour a cheese sauce over the broccoli, you are adding texture and changing the flavor. You might find your children eat the broccoli in cheese before whatever else you have served with it.
Lasagna and Pizza - you can add broccoli to lasagna and cover it in cheese and sauce. Your children might not even realize the dish contains broccoli. You could also use a vegetable pizza recipe to make a delicious and nutritious vegetable pizza. Kids think of lasagna and pizza as fun foods and will be more likely to eat them without a fuss and without questioning the contents.
Chop it up - if all else fails, pre cook the broccoli and let it cool a little and put it in a food processor. Chop it up until it is not recognizable and add it to whatever dish you are cooking. Your children will not even know it is there.
Shakes - make a milkshake using ice cream milk and a lot of chocolate syrup. Add the broccoli to the shake as you are blending it. The taste of the chocolate will hide the taste of the broccoli. Just make sure that the ice cream that you use has chunks of something in it that is not hard to find in grocery stores.
There are so many ways that you can get your children to eat their vegetables. It is a very important part of their nutrition.
Many people tend to sit on the fence when it comes to a decision to switch to healthy diet. This is because they believe that they will have to give up their demand for palate to go for low calorie and vegetarian recipes. Well, the good news is that there are actually tasty alternatives, and I am about to give you two examples.
1. Vegetarian Black Bean Burgers
To prepare this dish, you will need:
* 1 can of black beans
* 1/2 of an onion
* 1/2 cup of flour
* 2 slices of bread
* 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
* 1 teaspoon of onion powder
* 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
* salt and pepper
Follow the steps below for cooking:
a) Dice and sauté the onion for 4 to 5 minutes to make it soft.
b) Pour the black beans into a large bowl and mash them until they are almost smooth.
c) Add to the mashed black beans with the sauteed onions, garlic powder, onion powder, and seasoned salt.
d) Crumble up the sliced bread and add them to the mixture.
e) Add the flour to the mixture, a few tablespoons each time. Keep stirring after each addition.
f) Put a small amount of oil into a frying pan, heat it up.
g) Scoop some of the mixture out of the bowl with your hands, and shape it into a pattie that is about 1/2 thick.
h) Fry the patties until they are firm.
Have a try and you will be amazed at the wonderful taste of the burgers.
2. Tofu Scramble
If you have ever tried vegetarian diet, you will know that tofu is always used as a meat substitute. And, the tofu scramble which we are about to try can be served as a wonderful substitute for scrambled eggs.
The following will be needed to prepare this dish:
* 1 block of tofu, drained and press
* 1/2 yellow onion
* 1/2 green pepper
* 1 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1 teaspoon onion powder
* 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
* 1 tablespoon soy sauce
* 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
* 2 teaspoons oil or margarine
Here is how to cook:
a) Cut the tofu into one inch cubes, and crumble it slightly with a fork.
b) Dice the onion and bell pepper.
c) Add some oil or margarine to a skillet, and set the heat to medium-high.
d) Add the onion, green pepper and tofu to the skillet. Cook for 4 or 5 minutes.
e) Add garlic powder, onion powder, parsley, soy sauce, and nutritional yeast to the skillet.
f) Cook the tofu scramble for 6 or 7 minutes, stirring frequently. When it is done, pour onto a plate and enjoy.
You may also add your favorite vegetables to this tofu scramble, just as what you may do with scrambled eggs. Some common choices include tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, and carrots.
If you just give a try to these two recipes, you will be convinced that low calorie and vegetarian recipes do not have to be bland or boring. In fact, there are thousands of vegetarian dishes out there that are tasty, easy to make, and yet good for your health.
Dark chocolate, sometimes refered to as plain chocolate, is manufactured by adding fat and sugar to the cacao bean, without milk being added. Some would say milk contaminates the purity of the cacao bean. Perhaps they are right, I won't argue though! If you are going to eat chocolate, then choose a dark chocolate candy bar or the same in smaller quantity. It is one of the many varieties of chocolate available today, not necessarily everyone's favorite, but definately a healthy choice. You can purchase bars, truffles, drinks, and more. The awesome thing about this is, no matter what form you choose, you can still enjoy the heath benefits of dark chocolate.
There are quite a few different benefits offered by dark chocolate. Not only is it delicious, but for one it can be used to enhance moods. This should be law on Mondays! If you ever feel down in the dumps you can eat some chocolate and it can make you feel better, as proven medically. Just look in the face of a child who's crying and put chocolate on the tongue and you'll see! Chocolate actually contains quite a few different chemicals that are associated with happy emotions. Holidays, like christmas, Easter and Valentines Day are a perfect examples of happy celebrations that include all kinds of chocolate.
Dark chocolate is also full of antioxidants, which can help prevent heart disease, and lower blood pressure, and improve blood flow like the plant phenols(anti-oxidants) from the cocoa plant. I have read that pure dark chocolate has more anti-oxidants than red wine.
Keep in mind that if you want to get the most benefits from your dark chocolate, you should buy it in its pure form because other forms of chocolate have been manufactured with additives that have removed parts of the pure chocolate. You can talk to your doctor for more information on this, but they will definitely agree and tell you that there are many health benefits offered by chocolate, dark and other types.
"Nine out of ten people like chocolate.
The tenth person always lies."
-Artist/cartoonist John Q. Tullius
Just as with wine, which is supposedly healthy to drink a glass of it a day, but not healthy if you splurge with it, the same applies to eating dark chocolate, or any other type of chocolate. A bit of it will be good for you but too much of it will add layers to your waist line! Moderation keeps the smile and the opportunity to have more.