Incorporating FRUIT in your diet... tips and/or recipes?

Sunshine373

I'm finding it difficult to incorporate fruits into my diet. Veggies, no problem (I love them!) I'm pretty picky when it comes to fruit... I don't like any kind of melon, no cherries, no peaches, I'm allergic to bananas... any ideas OTHER than smoothies? I'm trying to go dairy free as well.

rj0150684

Is there a particular reason you’re trying to get in more fruit? Veggies, especially if you’re eating a variety, have pretty much the same micros for fewer calories. Bell pepper, for example, has 4x your daily vitamin C and something like 2-3x your daily vitamin A. If you really want more fruit, maybe focus on any you do like. If you don’t like melons, cherries, peaches (which I would consider sweeter fruits) maybe go more tart. Apples (especially green), cranberries, citrus, etc.

Diatonic12

This is berry season and they are in abundance right now. I really enjoy overnight oats and I don't even make them overnight to tell you the truth. I add my oats and throw in a small container of washed berries. Add my O Organic Unsweetened Almond-Coconut milk. Done.

Oooo, throw them on top of your salads. If you are adventurous, you can even add them to your omelettes. Ayup. Try it, you might be pleasantly surprised how good it is.

kroe4

Apple slices and peanut butter is my favorite fruit snack!

COGypsy

I'm not a big fruit fan either. I use frozen mixed berries in my smoothies to mask the taste of the supplements I add. They in turn I think cut the taste of the berries. Otherwise I can really only eat fruit with several liberal dashes of salt and tabasco.

justjara123

You could try looking for a fruit that you do like (by trial and error) and/or hide a fruit in a mostly green smoothie! But if you don't like fruit, why force yourself? You can surely find other nutrient sources for what you're missing from fruits.

zyxst

I eat mostly dried fruits (generic Craisins, golden raisins, apricots, figs, apples). The best ways I use to eat them (other than as-is) are to put them in a salad and Greek yogurt. 30 grams of dried fruit is about 1 serving.

And it's okay to only eat fruits you like/tolerate. Also, you might be eating more fruit than you think since many so-called veggies are botanically fruits.

Sunshine373

Thank you, RJ. I'm trying to get more fruits in simply for the "micros" as you said. I do like apples a lot - especially Granny Smith, they're my favorite. But eating them whole or with peanut butter or oatmeal was getting old. I also like Mari22na's comment about putting some on salads - I never thought of that appreciate everyone's input!

teanahk

Toss some strawberries, blueberries or blackberries on top of your spinach salad with a bit of like feta or goat cheese. Delicious with a basic balsamic vinagarette dressing.

Mango, Mandarin orange slices, and dried cranberries are all nice additions to a boring salad.

I really like fruit salad, take a combo of pretty much any fruit you like, chop up in a bowl and let the juices and flavours mingle a bit before you eat it.

hesn92

I’m not a huge fruit person. During the winter I hardly eat any. I eat a lot in the summer, but I love melons and pineapple (those are my fav). I also really love blueberries when they’re in season. I plan on planting a couple blueberry bushes in my yard next year in fact. My favorite way to eat them it to put some in a bowl and then put a dollop of whipped cream on top. I don’t like strawberries unless they are in season and sweet. If they’re not then I have to sprinkle some sugar on them or dip them in Nutella or chocolate. I like grapes but, again only when they’re really good and in season (pretty much anytime I get grapes from the grocery store I don’t like them lol)

sgt1372

I eat a lot of fresh fruit. Eat them raw, don't cook them but do sometimes can them.

I keep them on my kitchen counter where I can easily grab one or in the front of a shelf in the frig (not hidden in a lower bin). This increases the likelihood that I'll eat them; out of sight out of mind.

Oranges, apples, pears, apricots, bananas and blueberries are my favorites. I also eat fresh pineaples when I can buy one for 98 cents at Sprouts like I did the other day and cherries when they are is season as they are now. Love raspberries and blackberries but they usually cost too much and don't keep that long.

Don't like strawberries that much because they rewuire too much prep and do not keep long. Don't like fresh peaches that much either but love them canned/bottled because they taste better to me that way. Plums and grapes aren't high on my list either. They keep well but just don't taste that great to me. I can take 'em or leave' em.

When it comes to grapes, I prefer to drink them fermented out of a bottle.

AwesomeSquirrel

I like to slice apples and then dust with cinnamon when I fancy more of a dessert. But truth be told I usually eat fruit plain, started to incorporate it by:

1) always having a fruit after lunch at the office from the provided fruit basket. Usually a pear since they’re my favourite and most other people seem to avoid them. Today I had an apricot though.

2) ordering a bag of mixed fruit with my groceries which is fairly common where I live. It means that I get fruit without having to make decisions and the eat it = try a variety over time. It probably helps that I don’t actively dislike or have allergies to any fruits though, this might not be great for you.

3) Creating some Raw Food Desserts like coconut balls (containing dates) or these Snickers bites (http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-recipe/snickers-banana-bites/)

I know regularly eat 2-3 different fruits per day and a good variety throughout the week. Good luck!

saragd012

I am probably not a great help, because I love most fruits, except melons. I like to have a serving of fruit as the dessert in my lunches. I usually rotate between strawberries, pineapple, grapes, and mandarin oranges. Sometimes a mixture of berries and pineapple, fruit salads are my favorite when I combine sweet and tart varieties. It helps a lot if you track what's currently in season, I wouldn't bother with most fruit out their peak season, except maybe apples and oranges.

You mentioned smoothies, I really like medjool dates (enough that I cant be trusted with a full container), but I am not crazy for other varieties of dates. I learned this when I tried to buy a much cheaper option and couldn't eat them. They turned out perfectly good in a smoothie though, they add a caramel sweetness without overpowering everything else.

AmyOutOfControl

Here is a few ideas for you.

• Apples warmed in the microwaved with cinnamon and walnut peices (like apple pie without the calories)
• Spinach salad with strawberries, pecans, bacon, and balsamic vinaigrette.
• Blood oranges are less sweet than regular oranges. You could give them a try.
• Do you like pineapple? It is fantastic grilled with season-all sprinkled on it.
• You could blend fruits and freeze the puree in ice-pop molds.
• Grapes are pretty awesome frozen.

apullum

If you're able to get your produce at a farmer's market or otherwise directly from the grower, try that. I know not everyone can do this, but for some produce that freshness really makes a huge difference in flavor. Don't like apples? You might live near an orchard that grows a dozen different varieties, all with different flavors and textures (this was true where I used to live). Don't like berries? Compare a strawberry that was just picked that morning with one from the grocery store (this is me right now). I didn't like melon either until we started getting fresh watermelon in our CSA box.

hesn92

apullum wrote: »

If you're able to get your produce at a farmer's market or otherwise directly from the grower, try that. I know not everyone can do this, but for some produce that freshness really makes a huge difference in flavor. Don't like apples? You might live near an orchard that grows a dozen different varieties, all with different flavors and textures (this was true where I used to live). Don't like berries? Compare a strawberry that was just picked that morning with one from the grocery store (this is me right now). I didn't like melon either until we started getting fresh watermelon in our CSA box.

I agree. I got black grapes from a farmers market one time that tasted like candy they were so delicious. I haven’t been able to score grapes that good since

Dee_D33

Strawberries are my favorite! I sprinkle them with stevia and can eat 300 grams in a sitting, which is less than 100 cal. For apples I dip them in PB2 mixed with water. I put berries on my oatmeal and in my cereal too.

Lounmoun

I like blueberries plain or added to yogurt.
I eat small oranges, apples, peaches or mango for a snack.
I like banana with peanut butter.
I make a strawberry sauce from frozen strawberries to have with pancakes or French toast.
That is pretty much the fruit I eat.

If you prefer vegetables then eat more vegetables.

ladyhusker39

Didn't read all the comments, so this has probably already been suggested but I'm really enjoying fruits in my salads. Today I had grapes, strawberries, blueberries, apple and mandarin oranges (which I mash up to release the juice as a great low cal dressing) in my "big salad" for lunch.

Rocbola

Personally, i love adding fruit to my oatmeal in the morning.
Right now is stone fruit season in the US, have you tried eating fresh ripe peaches or nectarines? That is some good stuff.
Most people seem to like mangoes, pineapples, kiwi, and other tropical fruit.
Don't forget the low sugar fruits like cucumbers and bell peppers.

Elphaba1313

I don't really like fruit so I don't eat it. I don't think (happy to be corrected) that there is anything I'd get from fruit that I don't get from vegetables and the rest of my diet.

Except mangoes. I could eat my weight in mangoes... Mango season I eat fruit.

VUA21

You know tomatoes and bell peppers are fruit, but I wouldn't recommend them for a fruit salad.

So add tomatoes and bell peppers to salads.

cwolfman13

You can get most of what you need nutritionally speaking with veg. Berries and cherries and other fruits are rich in anthocyanins which is a particular antioxidant that is harder to find in veg, but you can get it if you eat red beets, red cabage, red onion, and egg plant.

I'm not a big fruit eater...I eat more in the summer for sure though. I usually stick to apples in the winter and the occasional grapefruit. In the summer I enjoy a variety of berries and cherries and peaches, but I don't eat them in great quantity...usually a serving of fruit in a given day...occasionally 2. I get most of those nutrients with veg.

RodaRose

Eating fruit is not required for health as long as you are eating veggies.

MelanieCN77

I have berries in yoghurt or cottage cheese some mornings. Find the fruit you like and have it in sight and available at all times, and make yourself a little snack rule that you'll have fruit first and then the other thing if you still really want it.

For me it's Pink Lady or Cripp's Pink apples, or Honeycrisp if I'm feeling baller. Pears, cantaloupe, sometimes watermelon, cuties or halos or whatever sweet little tangerines are around. Right now lychees and cherries, peaches. I get a punnet of strawberries every couple of weeks and always have blueberries, I occasionally try black and raspberries but they go bad so fast I'm meh on them.

GrumpyHeadmistress

Sally’s Baking Addiction has some amazing recipes for high fibre and low fat fruit muffins with apples and blackberries in. Arguably you could swap out the fruit for something else if you prefer

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/10/14/sky-high-blackberry-apple-muffins/