5 SIMPLE WAYS TO ADD MORE PLANTS TO YOUR PLATE
Sometimes we, in the wellness community, become so ingrained in our careers, we tend to forget how we got where we are, and how to help others begin their journey. I’m calling myself out here, so we’re going to drill way down to the beginning.
You’ve got kids pulling you in every direction. You’re caring for you parents. You’ve got a spouse who rolls their eyes every time you mention a new diet/lifestyle for the family, and your friends- well, they too, have their own ideas.
However, we can all agree that more plants on plates is probably a good idea. I think we’ve all seen the solid research though a simple Google search and thanks to the American College of Lifestyle Medicine leading the charge in solidifying Lifestyle Medicine as a boarded specialty (that’s right, healthcare providers must take their boards to become a LM provider, just like any other specialty, like, endocrinology, oncology, internal medicine, etc.) the hunt is on even more to find a practitioner who can help round out attention to our wellness by addressing all six pillars of lifestyle medicine.
As an aside, if you are looking for a certified lifestyle provider, you can contact our medical director, Dr. Jim Loomis at the Barnard Medical Clinic. This is not an effort for you to “fire” your existing provider, having a local doc is imperative for acute care. A telehealth or in-person appointment with a LM specialist will address and help you better understand how to prevent and in many cases, reverse chronic issues, such as diabetes (insulin resistance), heart disease, elevated cholesterol, hypertension, obesity, etc., by instilling LM pillars into your lifestyle.
Image from: https://lifestylemedicine.org/
I am a firm believer in the power of Lifestyle Medicine and I focus on nutrition and the importance of a plant-strong diet. Because of the surge of interest in this topic, there has been a rush of information coming through social media channels, TV, print, podcasts, and on and on. It seems that we cannot go a day without seeing something as “plant-based”. Shoot, even Tide Detergent has a commercial that touts they are plant-based! I digress.
Once we found out (for instance) that insulin sensitivity could be increased and this could very likely lead to a reversal of type II diabetes - the floodgates opened! Not to forget all the aforementioned (and more!) COMMON chronic illnesses that can be prevented / reversed; here’s a lot happening in Lifestyle Medicine, particularly in the nutrition pillar.
In 2008 I lost my dad to cancer. Exactly 10 weeks later, I too, was diagnosed with the Big C and it rocked my world. Eventually I launched STL Veg Girl and my mission was, and still is, A Plant on Every Plate. This was very much pre-Lifestyle Medicine, and certainly the idea of plants preventing/curing many chronic ailments as a mostly a mainstream practice was not a thing. In short, I was a weirdo.
I dug and dug around, reading all I could about the power of plants. Reading the science as new studies surfaced — soon people started taking note. They wanted to know what that science looks like on their plate. People began to understand they have more power over their health than they ever thought and they were hungry for the information.
Years of teaching classes, creating programs, holding summits and now even building the nation’s first fully plant-based nutrition and culinary education center, has been nothing short of both painstaking and equally fulfilling. And - although I have built a vast library of resources/recipes to help with my plant on every plate mission, I find there is so much noise out there, and people are generally just too busy to make the transition, no matter how important it is in their lives. With this latest uptick of people also understanding the science and wanting to take control of their health, it’s time to add just a few ways to jump on and begin. I’m making it so simple that we are tip-toeing into the tip-toe. Super-duper beginner, honey!
Here are 5 ways to make a super slow and barely noticeable ways to add more plants to your plate.
Add a handful (3, 4, 5!) of baby spinach to your next soup, chili or stew! Because spinach has so much water in it, it will cook down to nearly nothing! Get your greens and not even know it! Here’s a great recipe!. I’d love for you to graduate to using shredded kale or chard. But, baby steps.
Who doesn’t love pasta? Two tips for you here: buy your favorite pasta and before you pour it all over your noodles, dump the sauce into a blender and add a handful of spinach at a time. Taste after each blend, making sure you cannot detect the flavor and the color remains in it’s original hue. If you, and whoever is sharing a meal with you can handle seeing a few extra greens, coarsely chop up fresh or frozen broccoli and add it to the pasta water for the final 2 minutes of cooking. Raw cruciferous vegetables might create some bloating in someone who is not accustomed to eating them on a regular basis. This slight cooking softens them just a little for easier digestion, but not enough so the nutrients are cooked out. Here’s some information on cutting those little florets for maximum nutrition.
Oh, you have white sauce, or you’re making mac ’n’ cheese?? I’ve got you. Steam some cauliflower. Add your alfredo or cheese sauce to a blender and add the cauliflower in small batches. Taste as you go. Additionally, add chopped cauli to the pasta water and drain with the noodles. Sure, broccoli is also good here, but if we are aiming for mainly undetectable veggies, let’s keep with the same color palate.
Amp up your AM with super oatmeal! Whether you are an overnight oats fan, you’d rather run out the door with 5-minute quick oats, or you slowly stir your old fashioned oats or steel cut oats for 20 minutes, they all offer you a canvas to plant that bowl! If you’re a dairy dreamer and you HAVE to add cows milk, but really are trying to moo-less, go halfsies. 1/2 cow and 1/2 plant milk (you choose, I find oat is thick if that’s something you’d like). Remember— slooooow. Next, add in either fresh (yes!) or dried (watch the added sugars/oils) fruit. Dark berries are preferable, but please add fruit. Like nuts? I’d suggest chopping almonds and pecans. The color melts right in and everyone loves the texture. Want to really amp that bowl? Purchase a bag of ground flaxseed and sprinkle a teaspoon in your morning meal. A real boost of fiber and omega-3 fatty acid will kickstart your day and you will not even know it’s in there. Scout’s honor.
Mashed potatoes? Yes please! I feel you! Next time you go to the store to buy taters to mash, buy an equal amount of cauliflower. Cut your potatoes to a large chop so they cook faster. Chop your cauliflower very small so that it, too, cooks quickly. Begin to cook your potatoes, add equal parts of cauliflower to the cooking water when the potatoes are nearly done. Cook until the cauliflower is fork ready (it will not take as much time as the potatoes). Drain, mash, and (plant-based) milk and what ever magic you do to make your mashed potatoes into something people can not get enough of. If it’s not fully plant-based, no worries. Seriously tip-toeing here.
Snack time! I love a great trail mix (thank you Trader Joe’s!), but man, oh, man those calories can add up in an instant. To get a more satisfying bang for my nutritional buck, and still fit into my jeans, I add plain popcorn to my mix. The extra fiber quickly fills me up and I can step away from the trail a little sooner.
I hope these ideas will help you add a more diverse amount of plants to your plates. I understand that starting with one plant-based meal a week can be tough for some, especially when you are unsure what you are doing! I was there, I totally get it. Ask me sometime about my story on how I navigated this - in short, I: was morning the loss of my dad, was healing from surgery after my cancer surgery, was living in the midst of a full home renovation with no kitchen (and no walls anywhere), held down a full time corporate job, was confused, mad, and frustrated about my health/family/life, but wanted to make a change. The stakes were fully against me and I know at times it feels like they are against you, too. You can push though. You can.
Begin with what you know and swap out one or two ingredients at at time. That’s all I did in the short list above. Small steps to a big change. It doesn’t happen in one day. You deserve grace, take it.
If you would like another resource on beginning slowly, here is one bit of advice I offer to everyone. It seems to really resonate with many. Keep it in your back pocket.
🥦 If you’d like continued support and might find cooking with me from the comfort of you own kitchen fun and really, really educational, I hope you’ll check out our STREAMING PLUS Membership. It’s a streaming membership + live and interactive classes with a support call each month.
You’ve got this.