[1:59] – My son-in-law got us to try eating vegetables before meals and we’re loving it. Hubby and I fill ramekins with a wide variety; we dubbed them “monkey bowls” because it sounds funny and is easier and less pretentious than “preprandial veg.”
Veggies that work well for this purpose include naturally small things like cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, and roasted Brussels sprouts, as well as things that cut up and keep well, like cucumber, zucchini, and bell peppers. I’m also investing in jars of pickled and fermented veg to add zing and variety. I often include a glob of hummus, a little bunch of sprouts, a few greens I have cut up small with my kitchen scissors, and a splash of something to finish. I keep meaning to learn how to make my own salad dressing, but honestly, Newman’s Own Italian is so delicious and fairly unobjectionable ingredient wise so I have yet to get a round tuit.
I have learned that I have to put less food on our plates, because our little monkey bowls of veg are so filling! Another unexpected thing has been our tendency to expand lunch-time monkey bowls into cereal bowl-sized salads and eat nothing else. For the full-sized salads, I usually add some slices of hard cheese and/or hard boiled egg slices and a handful of our home-made trail mix.
Chrissy’s Trail Mix: Measure and dump into a large bowl, then toss well – 1 cup each of desired nuts plus 1 cup mixed (about 1/2 cup each) of dark chocolate chips and raisins, and 1 cup of mixed seeds. The precise blend varies with what’s available at our store, but most often the nuts I use are almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, and walnuts, while the seeds are sunflower and pepitas (pumpkin). Our preferred dark chocolate chip is Ghiardelli brand, which Consumer Lab found had less cadmium than many other brands. Mixing raw and roasted and salted and unsalted also adds to the variety of flavors and textures. Wasabi peas can add a fun zing and crunch if you like them. And there are lots of dried fruits besides raisins, but if you’re concerned about not eating too much sugar, I suggest you substitute for the raisins, rather than add them to the mix.
- Why eat vegetables first? @ https://community.kewpieshop.com/12109-2/
