Healthy Eating With Salads

        It is a commonly known fact that the body needs at least 2 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruits on a daily basis. But not everyone likes to eat fruits or vegetables. Many children as well as adults simply disliked these healthier food options. While some children will slowly learn to like fruits and vegetables as they grow older, others will continue to avoid eating them even as adults. Imagine having to cook for a household with mixed preference, it will be such a daily challenge! I have a friend whom I have known for more than 20 years who simply dislikes vegetable. Whenever we dine out, she will request for any vegetable to be excluded from her food or starts to painstakingly picking out the vegetable from her plate.

Learning to eat vegetable may be easier if one is willing to try out different vegetables, one at a time. Also, eating vegetables as a salad accompanied by a delicious dip or sauce can make the whole eating experience much more pleasant.

I have been lucky as I grew up liking to eat vegetables. Of course as a child, I was a little picky, choosing only safe vegetables like cucumber and cabbages. I was also fortunate that my mom would make a delicious sauce when she tried to get us eating raw vegetables. So here I would like to share this family recipe for a salad that has been a long time family recipe. We usually serve this salad with spicy food like curry, but it is just as delicious when eaten with other main dish.

The ingredients are simple and can be easily found at any of your neighborhood supermarkets.

Salad with Peanut Sauce

You will need:
Lettuce, cut into 2-inch length
1 medium sized cucumber, sliced
1 medium sized tomato, sliced
2 Hard boiled eggs, sliced
1 cup of roasted peanuts, grounded
4 tablespoon of chili sauce
2 tablespoon of tomato ketchup
½ cup of hot water

Steps:
Plate the vegetables and hard boiled eggs in a circular pattern, in this recommended order: Lettuce as the bottom first layer, then the cucumber followed by the sliced tomato and lastly the hard boiled eggs on top. Set aside.

Put the grounded peanuts in a deep bowl. Add the hot water and still well, ensuring that all the clumps are dissolved. Then add in the tomato ketchup and chili sauce. Stir until well combined. If you like more heat in the sauce, add more chili sauce. Drizzle the peanut sauce generously on the salad.

The ingredients in this recipe can be easily substituted and varied to suit your personal preference. For example, use baby cucumbers which are juicer and sweeter. Or add in some sliced boiled potatoes to make this salad a light meal.

To make it more appetizing, try serving the sauce separately as a dip instead.

So I hope you will give this recipe a try and enjoy it like I do.

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How To Cut Down On Empty Calories

1. Stop consuming food with obviously high sugar content on a regular basis.

This one's simple right? You obviously know carbonated drink and chocolates contain a lot of sugar. So do a whole lot of desserts which are basically just ice with syrup.

2. Reduce sugar intake gradually.

One of the ways to wean our sweet tooth's craving is to slowly reduce the sugar consumption daily. This ensures that we don't get a deprived mentality and suddenly binge when we get the chance to. For the record, indulging yourself after going cold turkey is just going to send a signal to your body to store up fats in case of deprivation again. Not good.

3. Examine food labels for sugar content.

Sugar is known by brown sugar, palm sugar, cane sugar, corn syrup, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, glucose (dextrose), high-fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, lactose, maltose, molasses, raw sugar, (table) sugar (sucrose), syrup. The food should contain no more than 10% sugar by weight.

4. Have a low-calorie, high nutrition snack handy with you all the time.

So that when you feel a need to munch on something, you wouldn't hurry to the nearest donut store. Having a list of low-calorie, highly nutritious food wouldn't hurt. Plan your meals, it is better to eat smaller and more frequent meals rather than stuff yourself three times a day.

5. Use sweet substitutes for sugar in your food preparations.

Use spices and herbs such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger to enhance the flavor of foods naturally. Or simply eat fruits that are sweet naturally. Spices are a great way to impart rich flavors to your food without adding empty calories to your diet.

6. Be careful of energy bars and drinks which might be a source of high sugars content.

If you are a sports person, beware of over-replenishing what you lost during the workout. Do some research initially and you can use the same post-workout meal for a long time to come. Variations to your post workout meals is a must, spend some time researching nutritious meals you can pack to the gym. This will benefit you in the long run.

In conclusion, even if you're not someone struggling with weight issues, remember that a high sugar intake may lead to other health problems such as suppressing your immune system, contributing to hyperactivity, anxiety and depression. It also increases the risk of coronary heart disease and causes diabetes and osteoporosis.

So there you have it, six simple ways you can cut down on empty calories! If you liked what you've just read in this article, there's plenty more related articles where this came from. All to help you slim down and tone up a great looking body!

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