I try to think about things like planning out perfectly balanced meals…
(but I’d much rather smooch this one).
I am not exactly the healthiest eater on the planet – I think we’ve established this by now. It’s not that I eat (or even want to eat) tons of junk; it’s more that I tend to be an “eat what’s there” kind of person, even if “what’s there” is “whatever my children left on their plates.” You know my ginger shots? Those are not happening lately. Given our schedules at the moment, the mincing and straining of ginger does not sound like a fun way to spend my three free seconds.
Any nutritional boosts that happen have to be easy ones, and the simplest way for me to do this is to keep a bunch of products on hand that let me up the nutritional value of whatever it is that I’m making with very, very little (preferably no) additional effort.
Some Favorite Easy Upgrades
- Use fairlife instead of ordinary milk. fairlife is ultra-filtered, so it has more calcium and protein than ordinary milk, but less sugar and no lactose, so you get all the benefits of other “boosted” brands, but without any powders or additives – everything in there is real milk. It’s kind of a no-brainer way to make breakfast – or any milk-inclusive recipe, like the oatmeal pictured here – that much healthier.
- Keep flaxseed, hemp seeds, and chia seeds in your refrigerator. All three of these are apparently nutritional miracles (protein, fiber, omega-3s, et cetera), so I just go ahead and toss a handful of whichever one seems fun at the moment into everything from yogurt and smoothies to salads and sauces. I don’t notice a difference in the taste (other than perhaps a hint of nuttiness), and get to feel like I am the kind of person who eats things like flaxseed, which is nice.
- Have a can or two of pumpkin puree in your cupboard. Pumpkin is high in vitamin A, carotenoids, and tons of other very good things with very long names, and the puree is suuuuper easy to sprinkle into your diet: try spreading it on a PB&J or grilled cheese sandwich, or adding some to marinara sauce or pancake batter.
- Add vegetable purees wherever possible. I always try to have a bunch of fresh vegetables around (even the steam-in-bag ones are better than nothing), and then just puree them and throw them into tomato sauces whenever I make pasta. And then I get to watch my children eat vegetables without transforming into a parody of a nagging mother (“You are not getting up from this table without taking another bite of broccoli, mister!”). Which is, I think, a plus for everyone.
Power-Up Oatmeal
What You Need:
- 2 cups fairlife reduced-fat ultra-filtered milk
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats (not instant)
What You Do:
- Steep the cinnamon stick in 1 1/2 cups boiling water for about 7 minutes, or until it looks like tea.
- While the cinnamon stick is steeping, put the oats in a bowl and fill with water until oats are just covered; let soak.
- Add fairlife milk to the water/cinnamon stick mixture and – stirring frequently, so the milk doesn’t burn – bring to a boil.
- Use your fingers or a potato masher to break up the oatmeal (this step may seem odd, but it makes it taste way better), then add it to the water/milk mixture and cook, stirring frequently, about 10-15 minutes or until oatmeal begins to boil.
Serve with fruit and a sprinkle of brown sugar, if desired.
This post was created in collaboration with fairlife.
