Whole Foods Lifestyle - Which SuperFoods are missing from your daily menus? And why??

I am having the darndest time getting my pumpkin and/or its sidekicks in! Maybe because they take time to bake, and I am impatient. Usually, I just plum forget!

Other challenges for me:

oranges
beans
broccoli
tomatoes
turkey
pomegranates


And I LOVE these foods. It just seems like I run out of room by the end of the day for them! I understand what Glory said about having to pick and choose which ones you can eat while you are reducing your calories to lose weight. I can't wait for maintenance! Then, I can eat more, though I am pretty full as it is now!

I'm looking at my spreadsheets that go back several weeks. My weakest areas are beans and turkey.

The beans.. I think I just don't remember to add them to dishes like I used to. ... I mean I really have no excuse as they are so versatile. I'm going to try to do better..

I'm not really concerned about the turkey as I am still not really convinced that I should make the effort to try to get it in.

Hope... here are some things you might try with your week areas..

pomegranates... a little juice once a week or so.. just a little.. or stock up your pantry with prunes and have one once in awhile.. as a snack or even cut up and cooked in oatmeal

broccoli I was surprised to see this was a challenge for me. I really thought I was eating it often.
Though frozen broccoli or brussel sprouts can be a convenience I found that in order to get variety I had to visit the market a little more often than I had been. So lately I've been getting more in.. Sometimes rather than eating a dish with it as the main ingredient I toss a little in a soup. I am always making or eating soups.

I'm going to try the pomegranate juice. Thanks!

I have been wanting to make a soup full of SuperFoods. What do you suggest? I was thinking of shredding up roasted turkey breast and making a soup with that, chicken broth, beans, canned stewed tomatoes, and then I get stuck! I don't know what to put in it and I'm not sure what spices I should use. Oh, and maybe some brown rice.

Soup ingredients are endless...but making soup can be intimidating for me!

And can you think of any other one dish meals that can combine some of my 'missing' SuperFoods? Thanks!

Definitely beans. Other than fresh green beans, we never ate them growing up, so I didn't really ever develop a taste for them - it's been a challenge for sure. I'm finding types of beans that I do like now, though - white or cannellini beans over kidney beans, for example, or black beans - so I'm getting there. I don't know that I'll ever LOVE beans, but I'm finding recipes that incorporate them in ways I enjoy :)

Tomatoes should be a pretty easy thing to boost - it's so quick and easy to chop up a tomato into a salad, or add slices to a sandwich. Even just sliced on a plate alongside your entree, sprinkled with a tiny bit of salt and some pepper - yum!

I've found that turkey (or chicken) and oranges go great together in a salad with dark, leafy greens - especially when you add a slightly spicy dressing (Newman's Own Low-Fat Sesame Thai is AWESOME!! :D ). Just another idea for you!

If I was making a soup, what I would do is start by roasting a turkey breast or small chicken - remove the meat from the bones and make a stock with the carcass (add onions, garlic, peppercorns, carrot, etc. for flavour). The next day (after chilling the stock so you can easily remove the fat), I would heat the stock, add some diced carrots, broccoli, cut green beans, and maybe some diced sweet potato - simmer until the veggies are almost tender. I would then add in the shredded meat and some greens (either spinach or chard), some diced tomatoes (fresh or canned), and some pre-cooked barley or brown rice. If you like tofu you could dice some up and add it, too. Season to taste with salt and pepper, perhaps a little hot sauce and maybe a tiny splash of soy - you could also add some minced chives or green onion. Simmer everything until hot and tasty! :)

I'm finding types of beans that I do like now, though - white or cannellini beans over kidney beans

Ditto. I really like cannellini beans! I love lentils also. They're tiny and creamy and not overwhelming.

Tomatoes should be a pretty easy thing to boost - it's so quick and easy to chop up a tomato into a salad, or add slices to a sandwich. Even just sliced on a plate alongside your entree, sprinkled with a tiny bit of salt and some pepper - yum!

I love plain tomatoes with salt and pepper! I have them in the fridge and I love them. I just have to make a concious effort to include them in my menu every day. I tried oven roasting some cherry tomatoes with my asparagus in olive oil, salt & pepper. Now, that was dee-lish!

I've found that turkey (or chicken) and oranges go great together in a salad with dark, leafy greens - especially when you add a slightly spicy dressing (Newman's Own Low-Fat Sesame Thai is AWESOME!! :D ). Just another idea for you!

Okay, I'm really full right now, but this has me drooling a little! I have been using Ken's Lite Asian Sesame dressing. It has a nice kick of ginger to it, and is really good, yet really sweet. I think I'll try the Newman's. Thanks for all of the suggestions!

Susie, that soup has like 8 to 10 SuperFoods in there! Incredible! I have never tried tofu, but will eventually. I will definitely try that soup idea. Thanks!

I am having the darndest time getting my pumpkin and/or its sidekicks in! Maybe because they take time to bake, and I am impatient.

Pumpkin is actually not so hard since orange peppers and carrots count as sidekicks. I find it's pretty easy to throw orange pepper strips on a salad/stir fry or snack on baby carrots. Baked sweet potatoes are my favorite, but an hour is a long time to wait. You can cut them into strips for baked sweet potato fries and that cuts the cooking time down to 20 minutes.

The beans.. I think I just don't remember to add them to dishes like I used to. ... I mean I really have no excuse as they are so versatile. I'm going to try to do better..

I'm not really concerned about the turkey as I am still not really convinced that I should make the effort to try to get it in.

For beans, do you like hummus? Also, since peas, green beans and sugar snap peas count, I find it easier to work these in. I love snacking on sugar snap peas. I also toss chickpeas into soup and mix black beans into stir fries.

Turkey, well, I kinda agree with you. I really added turkey/chicken breast because it helps me meat protein goals, but taste wise it's not huge draw for me.

I have been wanting to make a soup full of SuperFoods. What do you suggest

I make a great, very easy to make chickpea, leek, spinach, zucchini, tomato soup. That's four super foods! Shred in some carrot and serve it with a piece of whole grain bread and it's to 6. I'll PM you the recipe (7 I guess, if you count the olive oil I saute the leeks in!)

Right now, I'm having a hard time with oranges, since they aren't really in season right now. I try to squeeze lemon over fish, but once tangelo season ends I'm pretty much bummed out on oranges until next year.

I also have a hard time with broccoli, since I don't really like it. Once a week, I try to make an effort to eat it, usually steamed as a side dish (always add it to stir fries). I can't eat it raw at all, just can't stand the texture/taste.

From the second book, I eat pomegranates like a fiend when they are in season, I am addicted. When they aren't in season, I don't eat them. Every now and then I buy the pre-seeded variety at Trader Joe's, but at 2.99 for a little package, it's a decadent treat. I don't eat kiwis since I don't like the texture, too seedy and squishy.

I have been trying to add a little dark honey every now and then, but I don't really trust myself with dark chocolate. I wish stores sold tiny 100 calorie squares.

Oh, I also rarely eat apples. They weren't considered a super food in the first book and they always seemed like a pretty blah fruit, I do like a very crisp cameo apple, but I hate mealy apples so I'm pretty picky. In the winter, I do baked apples with blueberrries and walnuts fairly regularly.

Susie, that soup has like 8 to 10 SuperFoods in there! Incredible! I have never tried tofu, but will eventually. I will definitely try that soup idea. Thanks!

:) You're welcome - glad it helped! It's actually got me thinking about making some soup myself, LOL!!

Oh, I want in on the Superfoods diet. I was trying that before and doing pretty good. I have both books.

For pumpkin, I used to make myself a smoothy with 1 cup of skim milk, 1/2 cup of canned pumpkin, and I used to put a kiwi in just for the heck of it, along with cinnamon. It was preety good.

Glory, stir fry is also something that I am REALLY interested in trying, as you can get many SuperFoods into one stir fry dish. You seem to be the Stir Fry Queen!

I bought a nice, sturdy Calphalon wok that I haven't broken in yet. I'm waiting to move into my new abode to try it out. I even bought a stir fry cookbook, that's packed up somewhere. But I'm anxious to try stir frying!

Any suggestions for stir frys that incorporate lots of SuperFoods?

**I know this should probably be on the recipe thread, but I'll ask it anyway!**

Hi buddha belly! Pumpkin smoothie, eh? Sounds oddly enough...good! Well, not odd at all. It sounds like pumpkin pie in a glass! DH would love that. Hey, I'll make it for him/us tomorrow morning! I have all of the ingredients, well except for the kiwi. But I'll try it without. It still sounds good. Does it come out nice and thick? I wonder if I should add yogurt...

Glory, stir fry is also something that I am REALLY interested in trying, as you can get many SuperFoods into one stir fry dish. You seem to be the Stir Fry Queen!

I bought a nice, sturdy Calphalon wok that I haven't broken in yet. I'm waiting to move into my new abode to try it out. I even bought a stir fry cookbook, that's packed up somewhere. But I'm anxious to try stir frying!

Any suggestions for stir frys that incorporate lots of SuperFoods?

**I know this should probably be on the recipe thread, but I'll ask it anyway!**

Oh sure. It takes a little bit of time to season a wok, I bet your wok came with directions. The most important thing is not to scrub it and not to use anything metal in it. When you gently wash it, immediately dry it thoroughly and coat the cooking surface with oil before you store it (I hang mine from a rack).

If you're new to stir frying, I would buy a good stir fry sauce. I like House of Tsang Saigon Sizzle, I also like Kikkomen Black Bean Sauce with Garlic. That takes a little of the hard part out of it.

So, I heat oil in the wok (I bought an olive/canola mix specifically for stir frying, sometimes I add a little sesame oil or a little chili oil). Add onions, garlic, saute until onions are translucent. Then, you have to consider what vegetables take longest to cook. Carrots - take forever, mushrooms cook pretty quickly. If you are using chicken (which I have never cooked from raw, so have no advice) plan accordingly! heh

For tofu, I normally buy House brand tofu "cutlets" they are VERY firm and hold their shape beautifully while stir frying. Tofu in its natural state is pretty noxious, it tastes like...nothing. The beauty of tofu is its sponge-like quality, it really soaks up the flavors of a sauce or marinade. Marinating tofu over night in a spicy/zesty sause is probably a good way to learn to love it. Stick with chicken or lean beef or Morning Star farm fake steak strips though if you don't feel like braving tofu (or just go totally veggie).

So, I normally add: grated ginger, onions, garlic, ****ake mushrooms, pepper (either red orange or yellow, cut into strips), broccoli. Otherwise, I just add whatever sounds exciting, bokchoy or spinach towards the end are good (they wilt down nicely), snow peas, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, baby corn, canned straw mushrooms (or any exotic mushroom), black beans, edamame, sugar snap peas. I've added cubed butternut squash before. Just whatever sounds good.

Stir fry the veggies until tender, add some sauce, serve over brown rice!

Another variation is curry. Start with light coconut milk and a little curry paste(green, red, panang) and then add the vegetables, meat.

Thank...you...glory! I can't wait to get to stir frying! And the curry sounds pretty good too. My mom has some curry seasonings that I might 'borrow'!

I have been trying to add a little dark honey every now and then, but I don't really trust myself with dark chocolate. I wish stores sold tiny 100 calorie squares.

Here in Canada, we have these chocolate bars made by Cadbury called "Cadbury Thins" - they are slim chocolate bars that are only 100 calories each. They come in either milk or dark chocolate, and are really, really good - they're just an individual, reduced portion of the real thing, but still sized in such a way that you feel you're eating a decent-sized chocolate bar. I don't know if they sell them in the US or not, but it might be something to look into :) I still love my Green & Black's chocolate the most, but really like the individual portioning of these bars.

We buy ours from Costco - it's about $10 CDN for a box of 24.

For beans, do you like hummus?
Ah yes hummus… I should eat more of that!

For beans, do you like hummus?
That sounds like something I should try!

I have been wanting to make a soup full of SuperFoods. What do you suggest?

Hope, Sugarlove has some good advice about making your own stock. That is important to the base of a soup.. it can really make or break it. Many soups I eat might seem very strange to you but I can think of one in particular that I make you might like. Chicken soup…

I cook a whole chicken, 2 large whole onions, 2-3 whole carrots, 1 whole bulb of peeled garlic (keep the cloves whole), 1 whole potato, and a few whole turnips together in a mixture of chicken stock, a little salt and water. When the chicken is cooked I remove it to cool but keep cooking the vegetables. After the vegetables are cooked through I put the whole vegetables through a blender with the soup liquid. Return to the pot. Add some parsley, basil, and fresh ground pepper. Cook again.

Meanwhile debone the chicken. And rip it into large strips. Add some raw linguine or rice to some of the soup in a small pan. When it is almost cooked add strips of breast meat back. Garnish with a little more fresh ground pepper just before serving.

I freeze the extra soup base (sans chicken, sans past of course). I freeze a little of the chicken meat separately so its available to add back later. The rest of the chicken I use in a chicken salad or stir fry or whatever. I take the chicken carcass and boil the heck out of it for several hours making a new stock to use next time.. then freeze it.

I realize that I probably am loosing a lot of nutrients by cooking the vegetables for such a long time.. but this is such a hearty soup that my family loves.

I make a lot of other soups that don’t cook the ingredients this long. I use a lot of tofu, soybean paste, chili paste, seaweeds and fresh greens. Let me know if any of that interests you.


EEEgads! I'm going to be late for work! :o

I love plain tomatoes with salt and pepper! I have them in the fridge and I love them. I just have to make a concious effort to include them in my menu every day. I tried oven roasting some cherry tomatoes with my asparagus in olive oil, salt & pepper. Now, that was dee-lish!

Olivia - Do you store your tomatoes in the fridge? I don't know if anyone else has already mentioned this, but tomatoes do better unrefrigerated. I've known this but read an actual explanation the other day and can I remember now - of course not! Maybe I read it in the SuperFoods book? Anyway, your tomatoes will be much tastier and retain their structure better if you leave them on the counter.

I'll be back later to list my SuperFood "challenges."

Wow, thanks Jayde! Yes, the tofu, soybean paste, chili paste, seaweed & fresh greens all sound quite refreshing and would be a welcome change to my same ol same ol food choices.

Breaking Free, I have some tomatoes on the window sill as we 'speak', but the ones that my hubby's friend gave us from his garden, I put in the fridge. They were very ripe and I didn't know if sitting them out would just destroy them or not. It's 100 degrees and humid here! Should they be taken out, even if they are riper than ripe? Will they be okay?

Olivia - Do you store your tomatoes in the fridge? I don't know if anyone else has already mentioned this, but tomatoes do better unrefrigerated.

Sweet potatoes too!

Sweet potatoes too!

Now that, I knew! Do people really refrigerate those?

One thing to do to make sure you are getting enough Super foods and variety is to take a list of superfoods with you when you go to the grocery store.

The thing I'm working on currently is variety with superfoods. Some superfoods are staples in my diet including brown rice, whole wheat, soy, tomatoes, carrots, beans, nuts, olive oil, berries, dark chocolate, garlic, onions, chicken and yogurt. I am lessening the amount of meat we are eating so chicken is becoming less and less but really either we'll eat fish or poultry.

Now that, I knew! Do people really refrigerate those?

Umm, yeah. I also refrigerate onions and potatoes, mostly because it's a convenient place to store them. Should I not be?

I read that if you refrigerate sweet potatoes it changes the taste. I have noticed a difference now that I no longer refrigerate. I still refrigerate onions!

"After purchase, sweet potatoes should be kept in a cool (55°F to 60°F), dry place, such as a cellar, pantry, or garage--never in the refrigerator, where they may develop a hard core and an "off" taste. In fact, when sweet potatoes are stored at low temperatures, their natural sugars turn to starch, which does nothing to enhance their flavor.

Sweet potatoes will keep for a month or longer if stored at 55°F; if kept at normal room temperature, they should be used within a week of purchase."

I'm not a bean person I guess. I eat lentils fairly regularly, though. You know what? I really like chickpeas, but haven't made them a part of my diet and I don't know why! :lol:

I have trouble getting citrus in. I just have never gotten into the habit, wihich is strange since my mom always had a bowl of orange and grapefruit in the fridge. She'd come home from the store and cut them open (like you do a grapefruit for breakfast) and scoop all the fruit into the bowl. It gets nice and juicy and is good. Hmmm, I should do this. :) I don't eat pomegrante, but I do eat prunes. I like to simmer them with a slice of lemon (or orange - duh!) and serve them at breakfast. DH just puts them on his cereal like any othe fruit. I like mine with a spoonful of yogurt.

Umm, yeah. I also refrigerate onions and potatoes, mostly because it's a convenient place to store them. Should I not be?

I'd always heard that storing potatoes in the fridge causes the starch in the potato to convert to sugar. I think the theory for onions is that the extra moisture in the fridge can cause the onion to rot....I keep my onions in a basket, but do sometimes double-wrap a partially used onion and store it in the fridge for a few days. They last OK, but do go kind of weird in the fridge....sort of spongey. I do know that, however you choose to store them, potatoes and onions shouldn't be stored together - when they're near each other, they produce gases that can cause each of them to spoil quickly.

Based on observation (my mom's way of doing things) and experience, you should avoid refrigerating potatoes, onions (although I do refrigerate if I have leftover raw onion), fresh corn on the cob, acorn/butternut, etc. squashes, tomatoes, among other things. Just try not refrigerating things you have been and see how you like them. If you don't like them, go back to the old way.

Here are a few of the SuperFoods I'd like to get more of on a regular basis:
beans
berries (frozen when not in season)
kale/swiss chard/cabbage
honey
wheat germ & ground flaxseed
orange bell pepper (the colored peppers are $$, though)
pumpkin
wild salmon & sidekicks
tea
turkey
walnuts (I eat lots of the sidekicks, though)

I already eat many of these things, just not regularly. I do things sloowly so I'll be phasing them in over time.

Okay, so I looked in my mom's fridge and there are onions in there! But there are also onions in a basket on the kitchen floor. I don't put my onions in the fridge unless I've sliced some of it. Is that okay to do?

Sweet potatoes, I've always kept in a basket out of the fridge. I never heard of their starch turning to sugar in the fridge! But I have made the mistake (several times) of storing potatoes with onions and always wondered why they BOTH went bad so quickly!!!

I learn so much on this site, I swear!

You're fine to put sliced onion in the fridge - that's what I do, too. As I mentioned, it will often go a bit soft or kind of spongey, but it's still fine to use - the texture is just a little different. I just never bother with whole onions because I find they do go bad faster if kept in the fridge.

I put partial onions in the fridge too, but never tomatos, potatos, sweet potatos or whole onions, nor avocado or fruit (unless it's partial/leftover). Oops, I do keep melons in the fridge, but then I usually cut them up as soon as I get home from the store so there's no excuse of needing to cut one up to eat it. I never knew about not storing potatos and onions together - I have, and now I know why they spoiled faster! Does anyone know how far apart they need to be? Like could I have them in side by side baskets in the cupboard (I know they should be in the dark/cool) or should I put them in different places altogether?

Does anyone know how far apart they need to be? Like could I have them in side by side baskets in the cupboard (I know they should be in the dark/cool) or should I put them in different places altogether?

Mine are totally segregated. Onions and garlic are in a basket on the pantry floor... potatoes and sweet potatoes are in covered decorative baskets in a cool corner of my kitchen.

Wow, thanks Jayde! Yes, the tofu, soybean paste, chili paste, seaweed & fresh greens all sound quite refreshing and would be a welcome change to my same ol same ol food choices.

here you go! http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1356367#post1356367