One of the benefits of eating whole foods is that they’re often the easiest to make. I have clients in Louisville, KY that love eating simple and reap the benefits from that whole food diet. Eating simple doesn’t mean eating boring. In fact, you’ll be amazed at just how flavorful the food can be. It doesn’t mean that you can’t use herbs and spices, either. It simply means that you don’t eat complex foods created in the lab by food manufacturers.
Slicing and dicing is part of eating simple.
Eating fresh fruits and vegetables is certainly part of the program. A simple meal can include a huge salad with a variety of vegetables, nuts, herbs, spices and even some fruit. A salad composed of romaine hearts, cherry tomatoes, olives, baked chicken or tuna, hard boiled eggs and green beans cooked until tender, yet crisp and topped with a vinaigrette is simple, well balanced and simply delicious. You can combine dried cranberries with quinoa, thinly sliced Brussels sprouts, pecans and an orange vinaigrette for a delicious and nutritious salad that’s perfect for lunch.
Eating simple can be quite inexpensive.
When you eat simple, you choose fruits and vegetables that are in season. That can cut the cost of meals considerably. To avoid those with pesticides, choose organic versions for food on the Dirty Dozen list. That’s the list of fruit and vegetables shown to have the highest amount of pesticides. They include strawberries, spinach, kale, nectarines, apples, grapes, peaches, cherries, pears, tomatoes, celery and potatoes. This year it’s a baker’s dozen, since it also includes number 13, hot peppers. For all other fruits and vegetables, eating non-organic is safe.
Let’s steam, roast, grill, broil, slow cook or boil the food.
Eating clean and simple means cutting out the breading, pan and deep fat frying. Air frying has become a popular alternative to deep fat frying, but it never should replace the other cooking techniques. It does use only a fraction of the oil used in frying foods, but still creates compounds in the foods, some of which can cause cancer. You’re better keeping it simple by throwing the lean steak on the grill or roasting a chicken.
- When eating simple, always remember portion control, particularly on meat, nuts, cheese and starchy vegetables.
- Eating simple means having snacks readily available for mid morning and mid afternoon. Slice and cube fruits and vegetables and store in the refrigerator as soon as you get home, so they’re ready for those times you need a snack. If you buy nuts, store in individual serving size bags or containers.
- Don’t forget to make soup, especially with leftovers. You can use the left over vegetables at the end of the week to create a delicious soup. The bones from the meat or poultry can be used for bone broth.
- Add a little extra to every salad or meal by sprinkling herbs, ground flax seed, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds or leftover roasted vegetables.