Pimp My Food

Side Note: I've been a little bit MIA lately. Mostly just enjoying my cold house and spending time with my hubby, who is actually NOT working crazy hours right now.

I've been trying to cook more lately and make sure the hubby and I are eating a little healthier, so when I came across this pin on my other lover, Pinterest, about Super Foods I've been working on integrating these (along with other healthy foods) into our diets more.

So, I thought I'd share a few tips for how we've integrated these not always super-exciting super-food items, into our normal, not fancy, it-better-take-less-than-30-minutes meals.

Spaghetti - first, we've actually made the switch over to whole wheat pasta. Some people don't like the texture, I honestly can't tell a huge difference and neither can the hubby. Second, I throw in a big handful of spinach during the last minute I'm boiling the noodles. Just an extra way to get some greens into an otherwise "non-green" meal. We've also started subbing lean Jennie-O ground turkey instead of ground beef... In spaghetti. We tried turkey burgers and were not impressed, but you can't tell a difference in the spaghetti sauce!

Brown Rice - Everyone knows brown rice is better for you than white rice, but it's a little... meh. So a little trick I learn on the Nate Berky Show that gives it a little something extra. I actually saute onions in extra virgin olive oil (you can add garlic or pretty much any veggies that sautes well) and then throw that into my "Dressed-Up Rice." You don't even need to season it.

Foil Packets - this is one I give the hubby full credit for. We used tilapia but you can use any fish high in Omega-3 fatty acids (like salmon). In a foil packet, throw in a portion of fish, your fave veggies (we used zuchini, red peppers, asparagus and squash), a clove or two of crushed, fresh garlic, 1/2 cup of white wine (now you're talking my language), then throw on the grill for 15 minutes or so. (OK, so I obviously didn't cook this as evidenced by the vague instructions). But you can totally make it your own!

For snacks, I mean aside from the obvious chips and grapes that are ALWAYS on-hand in our home (get it, anyone?), we've now got pistachios and watermelon to snack on. Both GREAT super-foods!

Now as I slowly get off of and back away from my high horse close out this blog post, I must say that in my cabinet, I currently have Reese's Puff cereal (1, it was on sale; 2, it's now made with whole grains) and a container of Oreos. And to top it off, we're having Digiorno pizza tonight for dinner. It's all about variety, right?

Any other good tips for integrating super-foods into yummy meals?