Do you Eat a VARIETY of Fruits and Veggies?

... or does the prep work keep you in a rut with the same old standbys like apples and bananas?  I LOVE fruits and veggies and a wide variety too.  But I wasn't always good at getting a variety of them into our diet.  I freely admit that spending time in the kitchen preparing/cooking/cleaning up is not my favorite thing... and if we didn't need to eat in order to survive, I wouldn't spend any time in the kitchen at all! But, I have figured out a few ways to get what I NEED without torturing myself too much.

Most of us know that the more variety in the colors of fruits and vegetables we eat, the more variety in nutrients we are feeding our bodies.  When I head to the grocery store I keep that in mind.  I try to buy different fruits and vegetables depending on seasonal availability and rotating a few standard items.  There are some fruits and vegetables I have on hand ALL the time... I try to supplement those. I look for RED berries, GREEN grapes, PURPLE plums, YELLOW peppers, ORANGE melons, BLUE berries, YELLOW mangos, GREEN kiwi, RED radishes, GREEN leafy veggies, ORANGE yams, etc.  And I choose a few of those (and others) to buy for that week.  Making sure my shopping cart looks like a rainbow by the time I am done.

When I get home, I get it all cleaned, cut up, and ready to go for the week.  That means I pluck the grapes off the bunches, wash them and put them in a container so they are easy to grab.  I cut up my melons and berries and put them in a tray so I can grab one container out of the fridge and have a variety of fruit ready to choose from.  I also clean my veggies.  I cut peppers in strips for dipping which makes it super easy when I want to dice a little to toss in an omelet.  I also will look for ready made veggie trays that are already to go so I don't have ANY prep work before we can start to enjoy those.

There are a few little bonuses to all this prep work.

1.  Once I am in the kitchen and in the groove, it really doesn't take all that long to get the work done and I only have to do it once. 

2.  When the kids are looking for a snack after school there is a bounty of ready to eat healthy and nutritious goodies that are much healthier than fish crackers or junk food.

3.  Once the produce is chopped up and ready, and all the beautiful, bright colors on display it makes it easy to crave those juicy fruits and veggies.

Of course, another way to supplement your diet is Shakeology®.  Shakeology® is the most nutrient dense super-food protein shake on the planet.  It contains 70 healthy ingredients and is certified LOW on the Glycemic Index, which is good news for those that may be suffering from Diabetes.