Eating healthy fats, whole grains, fresh vegetables and fruits, and lean proteins is important, most especially if you want to have a well-rounded diet. But, if you’re a picky eater or you know someone who is, getting all the essential nutrients from these foods can be very difficult. On the other hand, if you’re cooking your own meals, skipping out important nutrients is very easy, particularly if you’re not intentionally making a healthy meal choice or not getting healthy foods. So, if you want to ensure that you’re getting enough essential nutrients from the foods you’re eating, it’s recommended reading this particular pies. Below is a list of ways you can take into account when preparing your meals to sneak more nutrients into your diet.
Give Carrot Smoothie A Try
A carrot is a great source of beta-carotene. It’s an antioxidant that the body converts to vitamin A. However, you don’t need to eat kilos of carrots every day to make the most out of their nutrients.
Drinking a glass of carrot juice is a great way to do this. But, if you don’t have a juicer, making it is quite difficult. The good thing is that by simply grating the carrots, you’ll be able to make a delicious and nutritious smoothie.
Make Pasta-Free Zucchini Lasagna
Another great way to sneak nutrients into your diet is to make zucchini lasagna that’s pasta-free. Obviously, you’re familiar that the usual lasagna is a pasta-based dish prepared by layering noodles with meat, sauce, and cheese. Although it looks and tastes delicious, unfortunately, this kind of lasagna contains high carbs. What’s more, it doesn’t automatically come with vegetables.
One good way to enjoy lasagna that’s loaded with nutrients and contains low carb is to replace the traditional lasagna noodles with zucchini strips. Zucchini is actually high in vitamin C and vitamin B.
Add Vegetable To Your Sauce
Adding veggies to your dressings and sauces is a good way if you want to boost your vegetable intake.
When you’re making marinara sauce, for instance, consider adding some herbs and vegetables of your choice, like spinach and other leafy greens, chopped onions, carrots, and bell peppers. Crushing roasted root veggies is also possible to achieve rich and nutritious sauces. You can also make pesto that has roasted beets for a vibrant dish.
Stuff Bell Peppers
To make stuffed bell peppers, you’ll need to stuff halved bell peppers with rice, cooked meats, beans, and seasoning. Then, bake in the oven. But, if you want the bell peppers crisp and raw, add layers of sliced turkey or chicken, cream cheese, and seasoning made for cold dishes.
Bell pepper is a food that’s a good source of various minerals and vitamins, mainly A and C. In fact, you can make stuffed bell peppers more nutritious by adding extra vegetables, like riced cauliflower, onions, or spinach.
Avoid Eating Junk Food
Instead of eating junk food, consider eating their healthy counterparts. For instance, you can change buttered popcorn rich in sodium and fats with air-popped popcorn. You can also prepare your version of trail mix with dried nuts and fruits rather than eating trail mixes available in stores that are loaded with preservatives and refined sugars. Struggling to stay away from junk food? Get your hands on Blendtopia’s frozen smoothie subscription that is convenient, high-quality, nutrient-rich, and tastes amazing today.
Prepare Cauliflower Rice
As the name implies, cauliflower rice is made by pulsing the florets of cauliflower into tiny granules using a food processor. The good thing about it is that you can either use it cooked or raw as an alternative to regular rice.
Cauliflower rice will also serve as a base for other meals, as well as bulk up soups and stews.
This kind of rice is lower in carbohydrates compared to regular rice. In addition to that, cauliflower is rich in potassium, vitamin C, folate, and vitamin K. But, aside from cauliflower, you can also use sweet potatoes, carrots, zucchini, beets, and broccoli.
Replace Your Refined Pasta With Chickpea Pasta
Pasta is one of the foods that have empty calories. So, if you’re looking for a healthier alternative, you can opt for chickpea pasta. Unlike regular pasta, this one isn’t only delicious, but also rich in fiber, protein, as well as other nutrients, like B6.
Use Olives
If you want to sneak extra nutrients into your diet, use olives instead of a salt shaker. Aside from having a salty taste, olives contain sodium and can offer lots of nutrients. They’re also perfect to add to your sauces and salads.
Consider Adding Chia To Your Foods
Chia is packed with omega-3 fatty acids. It will also protect aging joints, as well as the brain and heart. But, other than that, it can also be used for culinary purposes. When you add this food in liquids, it will become gels, and this gelling feature will make it a great addition to a thicken soup. You can even use it to add some moisture to low-fat meatballs, pancakes, and muffins, while obtaining a day-to-day dosage of omega-3 fatty acids.
Add Pumpkin Puree To Your Oatmeal And Smoothie
If you want to increase your vitamin A intake, one great way to achieve it is to add pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin to your pasta sauce, oatmeal, smoothie, and other recipes to make them taste even better. Vitamin A is important so that the immune system can effectively fight off infection and viruses. It may also help in fighting inflammation.
Final Say
There you have it—the ten effective ways on how you can sneak more nutrients into your diet. But, other than that, there are many other ways that you may want to take into consideration, and all you need is to do some more research until you find one that best suits your unique needs. But, the above-mentioned ways are enough to get you started.
In actual fact, you don’t need to spend a lot of money just to have a healthy diet. With discipline and by following the tips discussed above, you’ll be able to enjoy delicious yet nutritious meals, and even beverages, with ease.
