I don’t know about you guys but has mealtime been a challenge during the pandemic on ensuring you are getting all of your fruits and vegetables in?
It has been for me since I am not able to get all my fresh fruits and vegetables due to the availability via online grocery shopping. I now purchase mostly frozen fruits and frozen vegetables to ensure I get my daily quota of plants based foods. Below are some ideas on how to incorporate more plant-based foods during the pandemic based on the availability of fresh produce.
Tip 1 – I encourage you to buy frozen fruits of all kinds such as all berries, cherries, mango, pineapples, etc and then purchase frozen riced cauliflower, frozen spinach, broccoli, peas, carrots, etc.
Tip 2 – For breakfast, I used to make an omelet with many fresh vegetables in it like spinach, broccoli, kale, and onions along with w/ a side fresh berries but due to the situation, I have had to make other foods such as smoothies to get my fruits & vegetables in. For my smoothie, I use any shelf-stable nut milk, frozen riced cauliflower (as its color and tasteless), along with any frozen fruits I am in the mood for and some gluten-free oats to help amp up the fiber content.
Tip 3 – I have been utilizing more shelf-stable foods which have led to buying items like canned beans, canned vegetable soup, instant brown rice, quinoa, peanut butter, oatmeal, unsweetened nut milk (shelf-stable or canned), nuts and bananas. Ideas on how to incorporate these foods below:
- Canned beans, such as great northern with some instant brown rice served with some cooked frozen broccoli
- Canned vegetable soup with adding in some frozen spinach and quinoa until its cooked.
- Overnight oats by mixing GF oatmeal, unsweetened almond milk & peanut butter altogether and put into the fridge overnight. Take out in the morning and top with cinnamon, bananas, thawed berries, and nuts of choice.