Don't get too creative.

Marybeth found an article about "super foods" and asked for suggestions to use them:

The foods they list are:Avocado, Blueberries, Oats, Salmon, Spinach, Sweet Potatoes and Yogurt.  The article discusses all the wonderful nutrients in those foods.  The one thing the article is lacking are some creative ways to get those foods in on a regular basis, but I suppose they cannot really do it ALL for us, right?  

Creativity is overrated when it comes to eating more of something.  The exception would be if it is a food you dislike and you are looking for a way to disguise it!  

Take oats, for example.  There are, indeed, many creative things you can do with oats.  Oats can go in your meatloaf instead of cracker crumbs.  Oats can be substituted for some of the flour in almost any baked good, from bread to birthday cake.  Oats can thicken soup.  But if you are determined to eat more oats, the easiest thing I can think of to do is to make oatmeal a regular part of your balanced breakfast.  Actually, the easiest thing would be to eat Cheerios, now that I think of it, but oatmeal is cheaper.  While you're at it, have a cup of yogurt.

Blueberries, spinach, and sweet potatoes can all go into many creative recipes.  But if you want to make an effort to make more of each, just buying them and eating them is probably the most effective strategy.  Spinach is just salad, after all, except that when it wilts you can cook it.  Nobody needs to be pushed to eat more blueberries.  Either can be bought fresh or frozen.  I don't tend to make plain baked sweet potatoes much in the summer, but we eat them all winter.  And you can get pretty good frozen sweet potato "fries" at the grocery store now.

Fresh salmon is beautiful, of course, but not always practical for everyone to eat weekly.  The easiest way to eat more salmon is to buy it canned and swap it for tuna, or else find a really good recipe for salmon loaf or salmon patties.    If you're going for oily fish in general, though, sardines are even easier as long as you can train yourself to like them.  Open can, eat with fork.

I guess I could see some creativity helping with avocadoes if you're not a fan.   Avocadoes are ephemeral:  you don't know which day they will ripen.    Buy a lime every time you buy an avocado and you will always be ready for guacamole.  Or put chunks in any salad.  Or slice onto a sandwich.

Simplicity is the way to go whenever you are looking to add new things to your regular menu, I think; the more you get used to an ingredient, the more new and "creative" things you will think of to do with it.

UPDATE.  Check out the Alton Brown Sardine-Avocado Sandwich Diet.

COMMENTS NOTE.  I accidentally deleted the wrong double-post and lost the first two comments, but rescued them from e-mail.  Here they are:

Bethany:  "Very true. Plus the simpler it is, the more likely you are to repeat it. How about blueberries and yogurt on your oatmeal? Yum."

MrsDarwin:  "My favorite application of oatmeal is in oatmeal cookies, but I guess that washes out a lot of the healthy benefits. :)"

Comments

[Erin]

Any other ideas for sardines? I think I would really like them (I love canned smoked oysters), but I'm not sure I can get over the mental image of eating them from the can right off the bat. Have you ever tried incorporating them in a sauce or dressing (besides caesar)?

I think you've mentioned this before, but I also find it hard to incorporate a mentality of eating "more" of anything, even if it is superfood.

[bearing]

Erin: Caesar salad includes anchovies, not sardines! Please don't eat anchovies out of the can, your sodium intake will go through the roof. I usually eat the sardines with crackers or toast. Check out the link I added in the update, too.

Yeah, I did write about the problem with "more" in the post entitled, "The resolution that is least likely to take off excess weight." If you think of it in terms of frequency instead of quantity, it's less troubling. It seems okay to say, "I should try to eat oatmeal more often" but not okay to say "I should try to eat more oatmeal." Every day you have to eat something, after all.

[Erin]

Oh dear, I crack myself up. I read sardines and envisioned anchovies. I was a little befuddled and put a note on my checklist to investigate the nutritional information for anchovies. I couldn't believe that their high sodium level would be justified.

I've got a camping trip next week, sardines and crackers seem like good camping food, I'll put it on my grocery list!

[MelanieB]

I usually keep a bag of frozen blueberries for quick adding to oatmeal for breakfast. Alas, in the first trimester I can't do oatmeal for breakfast, it triggers the nausea for some reason. So much for my favorite breakfast. Now it's eggs, eggs, eggs. I really don't like eggs all that much.

But I can do blueberries in yogurt so long as I throw in some nuts for extra protein. In fact, think I'll do that now.