I went to the grocery store! I hope I never take it for granted again, because what used to feel like a chore now feels like all the holidays rolled into one when I start unpacking ripe watermelon, leafy greens, pears, asparagus, bright fresh bunches of cilantro, avocados, and all the other fresh produce I miss as we stretch our root vegetables and pantry and freezer staples to make it between trips to the store.
Today I celebrated by cooking a special lunch of falafel (my first time making it at home!) with a spring salad and asparagus, and a dinner of black bean and mango tacos with corn on the cob and fresh watermelon.
All the bright beautiful colors on the table made me think about how many different foods I ate today, and how life-promoting they are.
One thing I love about Michael Greger’s website nutritionfacts.org is all the good news it has on there about foods that I love. Blueberries are high in antioxidants and cardamom is a mood booster and walnuts are helpful for brain function… that kind of stuff. His book How Not to Die and his website are both full of research study results that make me feel great about what I’m eating.
Today I ate even more variety of whole, plant-based foods than normal because I was celebrating that grocery store run in style. I thought it’d be fun to list out the different foods I ate and link to videos from nutritionfacts.org where applicable.
In a time where many of us are worrying about our physical and mental health, this exercise is incredibly fun and uplifting. I highly recommend it for anyone in need of good news!
Breakfast: Chocolate cherry smoothie.
Ingredients:
- Cacao: contains phytonutrients and may lower cholesterol
- Frozen Cherries: anti-inflammatory
- Flax Seeds: anti-inflammatory and may have a role in breast-cancer prevention
- Banana
- Kale: awesome for the immune system
- Soy milk: may benefit breast-cancer survivors
Lunch: Oil-free falafel, lemon dressed mixed greens, oven roasted asparagus
Ingredients:
- Leafy greens: I mean you know these are good for you, but did you know this?
- Chickpeas: Among other things a great prebiotic and promoter of gut health
- Celery: May boost DNA repair
- Cilantro: anti-inflammatory and delicious if you have the right genes
- Asparagus: binds… bile acid? Whaaat? Point is, healthy.
- Tumeric: Look there’s almost 50 videos about turmeric because it’s gotten so much research attention lately for it’s potential health properties…. you’ve got to browse!
Dinner: Mango and black bean tacos with corn on the cob, cashew sour cream, tomatoes and watermelon
Ingredients:
- Mango: antioxidants, enough to make a serving of it in a smoothie more antioxidant packed than many traditional breakfast options
- Black Beans: “deliver ‘potent inhibitory activity’ against human colon, liver, and breast cancer cells”
- Corn: a decent source of fiber (which is only found in plants)
- Cashews: May fight cancer and also taste delicious and add an unprocessed fat to the meal to help with vitamin absorption
- Avocados: let’s just say there’s a lot of reasons to love them. They contain carotenoid phytonutrients which are good for eyesight but also the fat to help your body process them.
- Tomatoes: uh oh, should have cooked them for the lycopene. Think they were cooked for that jarred salsa? I guess they can be the junk food of the meal.
- Watermelon: might reduce muscle soreness after a workout! Also, hydrating and delicious.
After dinner drink:
Belgian Mint Tea
- Mint leaves: May also help with post workout soreness, but probably would be more effective as a smoothie. Still a delicious and relaxing choice for blog-post writing refreshment.
I hope you click through and watch a couple videos so you can see how entertaining and engaging they are. I’ll admit, they’re especially engaging when you’ve just eaten the food being discussed!
You can search the site or browse by topic to feel good about the plants you included in your own dinner, and I highly recommend doing so. It’s fun, delicious, and browsing the site can inspire you to throw a handful of blueberries in the next smoothie you make for your kids and feel extra good about doing so.
Stay well!
PS – still loving my indoor bike trainer! Stay active, too.
