{"id":40623,"date":"2015-02-05T02:20:27","date_gmt":"2015-02-05T02:20:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/owegopennysaver.com\/?p=40623"},"modified":"2015-02-09T02:25:32","modified_gmt":"2015-02-09T02:25:32","slug":"when-healthy-food-really-tastes-good-seconds-seem-like-a-sin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/02\/05\/when-healthy-food-really-tastes-good-seconds-seem-like-a-sin\/","title":{"rendered":"When healthy food really tastes good, seconds seem like a sin"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"When<\/a>

Seen here is a bowl of HelloFresh\u2019s\u00a0\u201cSaut\u00e9ed\u00a0Shrimp & Okra over Cheddar Grits.\u201d Photos by Gretchen Balshuweit.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"When<\/a>

Pictured is a plate of HelloFresh\u2019s\u00a0\u201cSeared Steak with Cauliflower Mash & Green Beans.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cEat your vegetables. It\u2019ll put hair on your belly.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was a statement often tossed my way by my grandfather while I was still a young child, likely within the year before he died.<\/p>\n

I remember pondering this statement sitting at the dining table, trying to figure out why on earth I would ever want hair on my belly.<\/p>\n

At the bright age of about four to five years old, I was smart enough to figure out that there was something really strange about this comment. I didn\u2019t want hair to grow on my belly \u2013 not unnaturally so anyway\u00a0\u2013\u00a0but I didn\u2019t really believe that vegetables could do that anyway.<\/p>\n

I eventually made peace with vegetables, but that took years. I just wasn\u2019t a fan of the taste and texture of most vegetables, except corn. Frankly, I didn\u2019t really want to bother eating vegetables for the most part.<\/p>\n

I came around to liking vegetables more when I lived in Germany for a year as a foreign exchange student. I came around to liking them because I was determined to eat whatever I was served without complaining because I figured that would be rude. Of course I didn\u2019t exactly give my mother at home the same courtesy. Sorry Mom!<\/p>\n

Now that I\u2019m living on my own, I haven\u2019t been a vigilant as I should about eating my vegetables. I didn\u2019t know what to do with them. I felt like they needed something, like they just couldn\u2019t taste good on their own.<\/p>\n

This bugged me because every time I would track my calories since I have started trying to lose weight, I would find that it was so easy to use up so many calories simply by trying to make my vegetables taste better. Worse than that though were the sodium counts that I would encounter.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s okay, because I\u2019ve found a new way of cooking and it\u2019s made vegetables exciting.<\/p>\n

Technically, I didn\u2019t find this way of cooking myself, unless you can count seeing an advertisement on Facebook as finding it.<\/p>\n

I decided recently to subscribe to a grocery delivery service where the company sends recipe cards for three dinners, two servings each, complete with all of the ingredients except the most basic staples like olive oil, butter, sugar, salt and pepper.<\/p>\n

Everything comes in a box delivered each week. Spices are included as well as fresh herbs.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve enjoyed it the past couple weeks and I\u2019m in the early part of my third week of service \u2013 and so far, so good.<\/p>\n

What is the company called that offers this service? It\u2019s called HelloFresh.<\/p>\n

I understand there are other similar companies that offer these services, such as Plated and Blue Apron, but I have not tried either of those.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m happy with HelloFresh; in fact, someone not so long ago told me that when I talked about it I had a light in my eye.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

Well, this food is incredibly good. It\u2019s teaching me that I can use vegetables to make my food taste good and that I don\u2019t have to use my food to make my vegetables taste good.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s teaching me that I can be satisfied with a normal serving size and not want seconds. In fact, it\u2019s teaching me that food can be so good that it can almost seem like a sin against one\u2019s tongue to take one too many bites.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m eating food that I would have otherwise refused (such as olives), but I\u2019m enjoying it. I find myself having choices, and I chose now to give vegetables that I\u2019m hesitant about a chance to see if maybe they might taste good if prepared right.<\/p>\n

In fact, it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n

Take for instance okra. I had my first introduction to okra as a child. It came in a can and my mother boiled it. Ack. It oozed through the fork. It was slime. It was the only time in history that I remember my mother giving me permission to discard my food. She joined me in that act as well.<\/p>\n

Apparently, one should not boil canned okra. I\u2019m not sure they should eat it either, but I\u2019m sure there\u2019s someone out there that likes it.<\/p>\n

I had okra just yesterday. HelloFresh okra. It was fresh and it topped a bowl of cheddar grits, and was paired with sizeable shrimp and delicious cherry tomatoes.<\/p>\n

This okra was good. Even fresh okra seems a little slimy when preparing it for cooking; but once cooked properly, this vegetable has a pleasing taste. I did not throw out my okra last night. I ate every bite.<\/p>\n

A 627-calorie dish, this food left me satisfied.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s another new experience for me. I\u2019m not used to feeling satisfied after I eat.<\/p>\n

I thought it was because my appetite was so disordered by obesity that it was impossible to feel full without massively overeating.<\/p>\n

This is not true.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure exactly why one plate of this HelloFresh food seems to satisfy me much quicker than multiple plates of other food, but here are my observations:<\/p>\n

– This food is flavorful. Whether it\u2019s bold flavors, layers of flavor or a medley of flavors, there\u2019s a lot of taste for the tongue to experience.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0This food is made of quality fresh ingredients.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0Dishes are well balanced, with protein, vegetables and a starch, along with healthy fats.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0These meals smell incredible and offer a feast for the nose too.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0The presentation of the meals also offers a feast for the eyes.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0There\u2019s a mixture of textures in each meal.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0There\u2019s so much variety meal to meal that each new meal is an adventure.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0There\u2019s something satisfying about cooking the meal over simply popping it in the microwave.<\/p>\n

It seems that this food provides a pleasurable eating experience, and that, along with all of the things listed above seem to create a sense of satisfaction once the meal is done.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know why it\u2019s any different than other food I\u2019ve had with quality fresh ingredients, but perhaps it\u2019s about each element of what I\u2019ve listed above being present and not just some of those elements.<\/p>\n

Perhaps it\u2019s about food not just tasting good, but amazing perhaps.<\/p>\n

In fact, at least three meals so far have wowed me to the point of jaw-dropping awe since I started my grocery subscription including the okra, shrimp, and tomato topped cheesy grits. I can\u2019t say enough good things about the \u201cBalsamic Chicken with Glazed Carrots & Roasted Potatoes.\u201d It was amazing. Nor can I praise their \u201cSeared Cod with\u00a0Saut\u00e9ed\u00a0Greens and Quinoa\u201d enough. It transcends almost every eating experience I have ever had.<\/p>\n

It was the seared cod dish that truly stunned me most. I wasn\u2019t familiar with the Swiss chard that was served as a side dish and wasn\u2019t sure that I had ever had any. I\u2019m told I had some growing up, but may have thought it was spinach. I used to shun anything that looked like spinach, so I don\u2019t know if I really ever ate more than the tiniest speck of this stuff before this recent meal.<\/p>\n

The Swiss chard was so good that I was amazed.<\/p>\n

I love that this new service that I\u2019ve subscribed too is teaching me about cooking, how to eat well and be satisfied, and to give a chance to food I might otherwise not like because it might just be good if prepared well. I\u2019m learning the lessons that will help me not only love healthy food but to also skip the seconds that I have so often thought I needed. That\u2019s a good thing for my waistline. It may help me find one again.<\/p>\n

If you want to follow my weight-loss journey, read about it occasionally in my column, \u201cHealthy steps\u201d or you can watch my weight-loss journey unfold and show your support by liking the page\u00a0https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GretchenGetFit\u00a0<\/a>on Facebook or following me on Twitter @GretchenGetFit. Contact the writer at\u00a0gbalshuweit@thedailyreview.com.<\/p>\n

Healthy steps is written by Gretchen\u00a0Balshuweit, news editor and now health and wellness page columnist for The Daily Review in Towanda, Pa. as she pursues her own journey to health and wellness in hopes of losing a total of 200-250 pounds of excess weight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cEat your vegetables. It\u2019ll put hair on your belly.\u201d This was a statement often tossed my way by my grandfather while I was still a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen healthy food really tastes good, seconds seem like a sin - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/02\/05\/when-healthy-food-really-tastes-good-seconds-seem-like-a-sin\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When healthy food really tastes good, seconds seem like a sin - Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cEat your vegetables. 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