My spinach pasta dish with onions, carrots, tomatoes, celery
Sometimes you’re really on a roll with healthy living and you come across some issues.
Here are three dilemmas that recently could have stood in the way of a healthy meal, but I conquered with creativity!
1. You’re at your favorite grocery store, but you have several other errands to run, maybe even a meeting and you won’t be home for several hours. You forgot your cooler, it’s a warm day, so it’s not a good idea to buy something fresh. What do you do?
Seaweed is the answer! Go right to the Asian section and buy packaged nori, which is filled with plenty of nutrients and very tasty. Try to get “dried” instead of “toasted” because it has more nutrients. Seaweed, alone, makes a great salad. Yum!
Also whenever the greens at the grocery store look a little limp or shabby, I’ll go straight for the packaged seaweed.
2. You ran out of your favorite salad dressing or vinegar.
For an amazing salad dressing that doesn’t require vinegar, take an avocado and blend with a banana. It will be a guacamole consistency and it’s fantastic on greens or sprouts! It’s sweet and filling. You may even want to add a clove of garlic to give it a little kick. I’ve been doing this for years.
3. It’s Friday night. Or any night that you don’t feel like cooking and you don’t feel like running to the store.
We always keep a box of pasta in the house. There are healthier versions of pasta like spinach or rice pasta; or Dreamfields (a “right-carb” pasta). Stir-fry some vegetables, throw in with the pasta — and you have a quick, easy meal.
Bon appetite!
Very clever ideas. I’m definitely going to try the avo and banana one! I must say that I haven’t seen the seaweed here but that might just be because I’ve never looked for it.
Where do you live Caroline? Most supermarkets have ethnic sections and if you go to the Asian section you will find it. Let me know if you do 🙂
I’m in South Africa and maybe the larger supermarkets have such sections. I simply haven’t looked before
South Africa — how wonderful! It’s amazing we can all read each others blogs and support each other from all over the world 🙂
I like your avocado and banana idea, I should try it sometime. I’ve been using spinach pasta since forever. As a kid I liked the color (Look, it’s green!), now I’m just a bit of a health nut.
Me too! For about three years when I was a raw foodist I gave up pasta. Two words “never again.” 🙂
Thanks for the suggestions 🙂
My human mommy will look for the spinach pasta next time she’s at the store . . . not that it does me much good. 😉