Natural-Wellness

In a recent post, I talked about the health benefits of eating a Mediterranean diet. Since then I have been thinking of different easy ways to start including some of the basic concepts in my meal planning. It basically means a shift in the way we think about our diets. If you have another way to improve your diet, please leave a comment.

1. Larger Portions: Now, isn’t that a change? If we plan larger portions of vegetables and fruits, we can reduce the amount of protein and fatty foods that we are eating. The challenge is to make the vegetables appealing and tasty enough that our families will want to eat more of them.
2. Use Olive oil instead of corn oil for sautéing or frying foods. It gives a better taste to most foods and is low in saturated fats and high in Omega 3s.
3. Use Canola oil for baking. Canola oil is also low in unsaturated fats and adds little if any flavoring to baked goods.
4. Bake more fresh bread. The heart of Mediterranean eating is bread. Dig that bread maker out and start making a loaf or two of whole grain bread a week. You can use either olive oil or canola oil instead of butter or margarine to bake it.
5. Use less butter and margarine. My family loves to use dipping sauces made with olive oil instead of butter. Take a little olive oil in the bottom of a plate and add a few herbs and garlic. We like basil, oregano and garlic for a dipping pesto.
6. Eat more fresh vegetables. This is a challenge during the winter when fresh vegetables are at a premium. Try experimenting with some of the winter vegetables such as winter squash, rutabagas, turnips, cabbage, broccoli, etc.
7. Keep a tray of Antipasto handy for between meal or before meal snacking. While a traditional antipasto tray would include meat, try choosing items like olives, mozzarella cheese, provolone cheese, marinated vegetables, cherry tomatoes, toasted Italian bread.
8. Make fresh fruit a dessert. Everyone will be so full from all the vegetables and antipasto that a heavy dessert is not needed and you can sneak in an extra fruit serving by creating simple fruit desserts. Strawberries with a swirl of chocolate syrup, pears with a yogurt dressing, peaches with vanilla yogurt or walk on the wild side and just offer fresh sliced fruit with a small piece of angel food cake.
9. Switch to whole grain breads and pastas. There are now whole grain pastas available at every grocery store. The texture is a little different than the white no nutrition variety but after a initial adjustment period, you will find that the extra flavor makes up for it.
10. Eat Hummus – This is another thing that is now readily available at most grocery stores. Our favorite is a red pepper hummus that goes well on breads, crackers, etc. We use it as an alternative to dips for chips and spreads for crackers. I recently served it at a party and got more compliments on it than any of the more traditional dips.
11. Breakfast: Try fruit and cheese for breakfast. It’s a great way to start the day offering both protein and fruit servings. If you add a piece of whole wheat bread with a little hummus, you have covered almost all your bases.

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