how many of us get enough fruits and veggies?

wolfchild59

I do better some days than others. But my diary wouldn't always show where I'm getting my veggies. Like my lunch today is listed simply as the name of the Thai dish I had, but I had the veggie version of it and it was 1/3-1/2 veggies in proportion to the rice noodles and had everything from sweet baby corn to Chinese broccoli to leafy greens to mushrooms and other veggies I can't even name.

jessieinblue

I do I do I get five servings of fruit a day on average, and most days I also have a HUGE raw garden salad. If not, I make sure to get my veggies elsewhere. The only fruit I've tried and don't like is cranberries . . . only vegetables are beets and raw celery.

NoAdditives

ooh, I will have to check out the vitamix. My husband has a juicer, and he likes the drinks he juices with it, but I can just hardly gag them down unless it's mostly all apple!

Juicers throw out all the most beneficial parts of your fruits and vegetables! And all it leaves is essentially sugar water with a couple vitamins. The Vitamix is amazing. You can throw in whole foods (with just the rind cut off) and it purees them so well you'd never know there were apple seeds, orange pith, onion skins, etc. in your soup or smoothie. I have used mine at least once a day since we got it a few weeks ago. It's expensive, but it's worth it. You'll be so much healthier once you're eating tons of fruits and vegetables!

I have heard that the apple seeds are not good for us to ingest (arsenic?)....I guess I could just take them out. I am going to look into it though for sure. I might have to wait for a bit to get one though if they are really expensive.

I know rabbits can't eat them, I think you're right, there is something slightly toxic in them. The Vitamix rep put the whole apple int he smoothie he made, but I always cut out the core because I'm usually giving my daughter some apple slices at the same time.

The basic model is $450, which I know is a big investment for a blender. There are similar blenders that are cheaper, but they all get pretty bad reviews. The Ninja has blades that are incredibly sharp and with that machine you have to take it all apart to wash it. So lots of people cut themselves badly on it. There's one that Montel Williams endorses but it's made in China and the reviews were terrible. It's basically a $200 piece of crap. The Vitamix is made in America, has a 7 year warranty (that really isn't needed, people have had their machines for over 40 years!), and is just the best. And if you clean it immediately you don't even have to wash it. You just fill it halfway with warm water, put in a couple drop of dish soap and turn it on high. It cleans itself! I highly recommend this machine. Save your money and get one as soon as you can. It really will change the way you eat and live! You can make just about everything in it, bread dough, cookie and cake batters, all kinds of things!

morganadk2_deleted

I do, I do! :drinker:

me too :flowerforyou:

Aperyan83

i get my servings in...

jamie1888

We bought the Vitamix a few years ago and LOVE it. However, recently we bought the Magic Bullet (about $40 for the whole set) and find that it works just as well for grinding up fruits and veggies! You can't work in big batches like you do with the Vitamix. However, if you start your soups stocks on the stove, you can use the Magic Bullet to blend or puree whatever fruits and veggies you want to use. Then, just dump them into your pot.

It's very handy to freeze small batches of frozen pureed veggies in the freezer to easily add to recipes/sauces in a pinch. You can add veggies to just about anything. Also, the clean up on the Magic Bullet is MUCH easier because it's a smaller unit and the blade screws off. I also make fresh groud almond and peanut butter in the Bullet!

The Bullet is also very handy because you can blend a single shake or smoothie and drink from the same cup you just blended it in!

pyro13g

oh my goodness...I had no idea the vitamix was $400-500! I guess I'll stick with my regular old blender for smoothies and just eat my vegetables the old fashioned way.

Get a Ninja Prep, only $50.00 or so. The Vitamix at my work doesn't seem to do any better to me. Oh, and you should take that # of servings thing with a grain a salt. One size does not fit all. They should define it in percentage of daily calories/carbs.

lisa4kids

Oh, and you should take that # of servings thing with a grain a salt. One size does not fit all. They should define it in percentage of daily calories/carbs.

That would be a great way to do it. I guess the point I was making is, that I see a lot of diaries that have nothing but carbs and meat, etc...and absolutely NO veggies. I know that some of the prepared meals have vegetables in them, and it doesn't show up on the diary as a veggie, but it just made me really aware that we as humans, are not great about eating them. Believe it or not, I don't eat as many carrots as I'd love to, because they get caught in my throat and it drives me nuts!!! I still have my tonsils and they are somewhat enlarged, but never get infected so I have left them alone in spite of one doc telling me to get them out. I told him I had them in there for 40+ years and they were staying with me till the end!

I will check out the ninja and the bullet. I have a really nice heavy duty blender that might work with some things....is there somewhere I could get recipes or directions for some of these things? I haven't tried chopping vegetables in it yet, but I might do that later and see what happens.