When I talk to people about needing to eat more raw fruits, vegetables and greens and how much they will benefit from them they frequently visualize boring meals of carrots, apples, and lettuce.  Fruits and vegetables don’t have to be boring.  We’re just in a rut, eating the same old things every day.  When I was growing up we had a salad every night but it was iceberg lettuce and tomato with a dollop of Miracle Whip salad dressing on top.  Ick!  Our vegetables were either green beans, green peas, or broccoli – all cooked to mush.  Fortunately, I wasn’t a picky eater so I ate it all anyway along with whatever meat was served.

When I first started trying to get more raw produce in my diet I would buy the basics then they would rot in my refrigerator.  I didn’t know how to make a tasty salad and was clueless about dressings.  Then I discovered the main meal salads that were starting to be popular in restaurants and a whole new world opened up.  Unfortunately, I am sensitive to chemicals and a lot of restaurants use chemicals in their seasonings along with preservatives so more often than not I’ll get a headache after eating out.

So that brought me back to my dilemma of needing to prepare better foods at home.  The other day I came across a book titled “Simply Salads” by Jennifer Chandler.  I looked through it and quickly knew I had to buy it.  Every recipe came with a picture (a must-have feature for me) and they were all simple using  just a few ingredients including prepackaged greens.  I was already buying prepackaged organic greens but was making the same old salads all the time. I also made the same old boring dressing all the time.

I sat down after buying the book and planned out a weeks’ worth of menus.  Some of the recipes include meat or fish with the salad and that works for my husband.  I just eat the salad.  Then I plan another vegetable side dish either raw or cooked.  I have tried the menu planning approach before and found that I rarely got past day one and also spent a fortune in the grocery store because there were so many ingredients.  I actually enjoyed the planning and was excited about trying the recipes.  I have now made three of them and they were great!

It doesn’t take as much work as you think to eat healthy.  It just requires getting some education and coaching about what changes to make and how to make them then being willing to be committed and responsible about what goes in your mouth.  You will feel so good once you get started.  Why don’t you try it?