Trying to eat more fruit and vegetables is on most people’s to-do list these days. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that many of you even made this one of your New Year’s Resolutions (you didn’t, did you?). You probably don’t need me to tell you all the reasons why a diet that includes a rainbow of produce is good for you!
If that’s the case then, just like me, you’ve probably been trucking home loads of lovely produce in support of this simple goal. Carrots and celery, peppers and cucumbers; even turnips, radishes and kohlrabi have all taken up residence in my refrigerator. As for fruit, well, I’ve got apples, bananas, pears, cantaloupe, oranges, grapefruits, persimmons, pineapple, strawberries and kiwis, just to name a few. Really, the choice is endless, isn’t it?
But don’t you find that sometimes that rainbow of goodness just doesn’t get eaten?? Hungry adults and kids will often pass over that melon or cucumber or the grapefruit in the fridge in favour of something else that’s ready to go at snack time. Let’s face it, your kids will never reap the health benefits of that carrot if it’s still lolling about in the bottom of the crisper bin! So here’s the magical tip I’ve discovered: If you want to make all those wonderful veggies and fruits taste terrific and get eaten up, all you have to do is . . . cut them up!!
No, really – I mean it! If you pardon the analogy, it’s sort of like that old baseball movie, “Field of Dreams,” where they said “if you build it, they will come.” I’ve proven it time and time again through my own real-life research in my own house. Everyone will happily eat a ton of veggies and fruit if someone else has already gone to the trouble of cutting it all up and putting it out on a platter or in a bowl. Somehow it really seems to taste better, and it certainly gets devoured!
I just proved it again this morning in my very own kitchen. There was a package of strawberries being ignored in the fridge and a box of kiwis that had been sitting idly on the counter for the past few days. I had even moved a few of those kiwis into the fruit bowl with the bananas, but still . . . no takers. So this morning before my family came down for breakfast I cut them up and filled up a bowl – it took less than 5 minutes.
Before I knew it. . . it was all gone! I did the same thing yesterday when my daughter and her friend were studying for their high school exams. They came down to make some lunch, and I had already put out a platter of baby carrots, celery and cucumber slices. You should have seen how quickly it disappeared! Who says that teenagers don’t like vegetables?
Go ahead and give it a try – let me know if you agree!
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