Healthy Eating Tip

Even the most healthy of eaters can't love every single veggie. You could cover the broccoli you despise with melted cheese to make those florets more palatable, but of course that's not a superhealthy option. Here's a healthy trick to help those unfavorite veggies go down: mix them with veggies you love.

If it's mashed potatoes you crave, add chopped kale to your bowl, or grill peppers or zucchini with your beloved onions. If you're a huge pasta fan, toss mushrooms into the tomato sauce, or mix steamed carrots with cubes of sweet potato. When you eat veggies you don't care for with ones you can't live without, you can just focus on the flavors you love while still reaping the nutritional benefits from those unwanted veggies.

Source: Flickr User VirtualErn

The average woman requires 1,000-1,300 mg of calcium a day; and, while a serving of milk, cheese, or yogurt are easy ways to digest calcium, what if you are vegan or lactose-intolerant? Here are some unexpected plant-based foods that will help you load up on your calcium intake.

1. Curly Kale – About 3/4 cup of cooked curly kale offers 143 mg calcium.
2. Okra – Stir fry about eight okra for a dose of 88 mg calcium.
3. Red Kidney Beans – Add 1/2 cup of beans to a salad for 150 mg calcium.
4. Almonds – 12 whole almonds equates 62 mg calcium.
5. Tahini Paste – Spread one heaped teaspoon over toast like peanut butter for 129 mg calcium.
6. Apricots – Eat four small apricots for a midmorning snack to get 117 mg calcium.
7. Figs – Instead of dessert, indulge on four figs for a heaping 506 mg calcium.

If you are curious about your own daily calcium intake, try using the calcium calculator.

The other day I popped into Trader Joe's for the usual essentials, and I immediately zeroed in on a new product — prewashed, precut kale in a bag — heavenly!

I'm not a big pre-packaged kind of girl, but Trader Joe's always offers a variety of bagged lettuces, and veggies, sliced, diced, washed, and ready for eating. What's great about kale is you can do so much with it and it is full of powerful immune-boosting antioxidants. What I do now is take the entire bag of kale and make delicious baked kale chips. Buying washed and already cut vegetables is a great way to cut your cooking and prep time in half. Even if you can't find the kinds of vegetables you want already bagged and ready to go (or maybe the bagged versions aren't fresh where you live), set aside 20 minutes, once or twice a week to wash, cut, peel, and store a variety of veggies. The next time you need a snack, you can grab some cut up peppers over a handful of cookies!

Another helpful time-saving tip is to stock up on canned legumes like chickpeas, kidney beans, and lentils and different bean-based soups. Beans come packed with protein, magnesium, potassium, foliate, and fiber; they fill you up quickly; require little preparation to use; and you can instantly add them to various recipes to make a dish more hearty. Here are some filling bean recipes to get you started.

Source: aMichiganMom

Except for weekends, breakfast is often the meal that either gets ignored or rushed through — does grabbing a banana as you head out the door sound familiar? With such busy schedules nowadays, breakfast often becomes an afterthought, when it really should be a top priority in morning routines.

We always hear that breakfast is the most important meal of the day — but why is this true? In a way, breakfast is "breaking the fast" because after sleeping for eight hours and being without food during the night, our brain and muscles need energy and fuel to function. And the glucose in food (as well as the vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, and protein) is how we get this energy. With this rush of nutrients and glucose to our brains, we are better able to concentrate, focus, be productive, and be in better spirits — no waking up on the wrong side of the bed!

Here are some tips to help you get the most out of breakfast time.

On days when I'm craving some comfort food, you can find me in my kitchen making nachos or this mouth-watering snack — vegetarian chili cheese fries. Even if you love the real deal — fries piled high with beef-based chili — my recipe below won't disappoint. I might add that it's much lower in calories than traditional chili cheese fry dishes because it's made without meat and is substituted with much healthier ingredients.

Here's the full recipe!

There's nothing quite like a few slices of delicious cheesy pizza to ring in the weekend. But because I'm unable to eat food products that contain gluten, pizza night usually consists of me making my own mini pizzas at home rather than hanging out at the local pizzeria. What's great about making your own pizzas is that you can add all of your favorite toppings and decide how healthy/unhealthy you want your pizza to be.

To build my own tasty masterpiece, I use whole grain gluten free bread or gluten free pizza crust. And to prevent any food hangovers the next day, I strive to make my mini pizzas somewhat healthy and nutritious just like my healthy nachos recipe. Because do we really want to scarf down 710 calories thanks to one tiny six-inch pizza? I think not!

Keep reading to check out my favorite healthy pizza recipe.

Oh nachos, why do you have to be so delicious? I really do love a good plate of nachos — especially when they come loaded with all the good stuff like cheese, guacamole, sour cream, salsa, and jalapeños. Not exactly the healthiest guilty pleasure, but they sure are tasty. With Spring right around the corner, I'm trying to get my body back to pre-Winter shape by amping up my workouts and cutting back on my junk food favorites.

Rather than kiss nachos goodbye for the next four months, I've decided to tweak my recipe by cutting out the fat and calories and adding in some wholesome goodness.

Keep reading to see what I've come up with for my new and improved nacho dish.

In my world B.Y.O.B. stands for "bring your own broccoli." That's just one of our simple tips for handling the foodiness of the holiday season. Watch and learn how you can enjoy your seasonal indulgences and still mind your health.

There are few people that seem to limit themselves to one helping of a Thanksgiving Day feast. There's usually a second dip into the sweet potatoes or another scoop of stuffing before the last pigskin is retired for the night. Whether it's a second slice of pumpkin pie or a loaded up turkey sandwich, we've got a few pointers that can help you keep your calorie intake down for the big turkey day. Now that's something you can be thankful for!

• Go on a run or do some exercise before sitting down for the feast. You may be less likely to load up when you've already proved you're working against it.
• Make sure you eat a healthy breakfast to get your day off on the right foot.
• Drink water before the meal so your stomach isn't completely empty.
• Place the food around the plate instead of piling it up. There will be less room for large servings if the meal is spread out.

Ready for the rest of the pointers?

Of course you know that a healthy salad is a great workday lunch option . . . but time constraints and lack of available ingredients usually keep me from throwing one together at home to bring to the office. So I do what many urban office-dwellers do: pick up a veggie-filled salad from one of the many lunch establishments near the office. Eight dollars later I'm satisfied, but broke. This all changed yesterday, during a trip to Trader Joe's, where I finally caved and bought a handful of their prepared salads, a reduced-fat tuna Niçoise, an especially delicious Italian-style salad featuring white beans and shaved Parmesan, and a goat cheese and walnut option that's on deck for tomorrow. Each of my Trader Joe's salads sells for between $3 and $5, far more wallet-friendly than any deli on the block.

Since the FDA requires that all packaged and prepared foods carry nutrition labels, you can check out the ingredients and nutritional data for each salad (just make sure to factor in the dressing if it isn't included.) Check out what to look for in a premade salad after the break.