One Step At A Time

New to healthy living or trying to figure out how to get started? It's truly a path....one step at at a time.


I hate food snobs...and health snobs...and diet snobs....and....well, you get the idea.

How often have you picked up a magazine that scolded you for putting *GASP* salad dressing on a salad because you just made it fattening! Those are the things that make failures of people like me. I figure, screw it, if a salad's going to make me fat then I may as well eat what I want. Fries, please! Right?!

I truly doubt anyone lives in a world of all or nothing. Why then, is it so hard to find ways to make gradual changes that you can feel good about?

After less than a year of healthy eating, I've come a long way, baby (okay, I just dated myself). I'd like to share some ways I eased my way into it. I had stuff in the pantry to use up and a family with bad habits to break. I started this path from the VERY beginning.........

Don't worry about being perfect! Focus on lifestyle changes and they will take on a life of their own. Use the familiar to make the unfamiliar less daunting.


Hamburger Helper

• Ditch the ground beef and substitute ground turkey.
• Add a can of peas or green beans to the mix.
• Add a side of corn if it's a tomato sauce based meal.
• Make a side salad – A salad can mean anything, cut up some cucumber & tomato...Poof..it's a salad.

Frozen Pasta & Jarred Sauce

• Grate a carrot, zucchini or both, saute for 3 – 4 minutes then pour the sauce over it.
• Shred a big handful of spinach, saute until wilted, about 3 – 4 minutes. Add sauce.
  
• Do both and your sauce is super healthified..and...you spent less than an extra 10 minutes.

Tacos

• Use ground turkey.
• Shred baby spinach instead of lettuce.
• Add sliced avocado and onion as a topper for extra veggies.

Manwich Night

• Turkey...uh huh..
• Add a can of mashed up pinto beans to pump up the protein AND add fiber.
• Resist fries – if you serve mashed potatoes (even instant) it's more natural to serve a veggie with them.
• Whole wheat buns or pita bread.

Chicken Nuggets and Macaroni & Cheese

• To prepared mac & cheese, add leftover rotisserie or canned chicken (or tuna), a can of peas and a can of lite cream of chicken or mushroom soup. Heat through.

Breakfast For Dinner – Opportunity is Knocking
Here are two completely different ideas:

Scrambled eggs

• Turkey bacon, chopped green onion, grated carrot, spinach, cheddar cheese. Just make sure the veggies are tender before you add the eggs.

Pancakes
The possibilities are endless and easy:

• Whole wheat flour
• Wheat germ
• Blueberries
• Grated Apples and cinnamon

I am certainly not saying this is health food, however, it's completely unrealistic to go from Happy Meals to tofu. You have to start somewhere and this is a place to start.