Sunday, June 29, 2014

My 40 plants food challenge #40plantfoodschallenge

This past week I joined up with Happy Healthy Mama in her #40plantfoodschallenge to see if I could manage to get in 40 different plant foods into my menu during the week. 

I hope you will follow my link and read her original post... good information about why we need variety in our diet and why plant foods are so necessary.


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She defines a plant food as

“ anything that’s a non-processed plant food counts! So nuts, seeds, grains, legumes, beans, fruits, and vegetables all count. “

I know that I do eat a LOT of fruit and vegetables, herbs, seeds, and nuts, so I thought I might hit the 40 mark quite easily… and it turns out, I did.

The fresh green Spring mix that I like to use as a base for my lunch salads actually has 21 different plant ingredients listed on the box… so that helped a lot, but even without some of the, I think I would have achieved the 40 count.

I kept track by listing the ones I ate on Sunday.. and then each day, added only what I ate that day that I had not already eaten earlier in the week…my final count was  
Sunday:
  • lemon
  • blueberries
  • banana
  • white mushrooms
  • white onions
  • cucumber
  • tomatoes
  • red bell pepper
  • green cabbage
  • purple cabbage
  • carrots
  • mixed Spring greens which includes these ingredients:
    • spinach
    • green romaine
    • tango
    • green oak leaf lettuce
    • green chard
    • mizuma
    • red romaine
    • red oak leaf lettuce
    • red chard
    • lolla rosa
    • arugula
    • radicchio
    • brunia
    • perella
    • cocard
    • amaranth
    • little gem
    • beet tops
    • sangria
    • mache
    • kale
  • avocado
  • sweet potato
Day’s count = 33

Monday:
  • navel orange
  • peaches
  • cashew nuts
  • raisins
  • celery
  • green bell pepper
Day’s count = 6

Tuesday:
  • strawberries
  • blackberries
  • garlic
  • snap peas
  • dates
  • hemp seeds
  • green peas
Day’s count = 7

Wednesday:
  • peanuts
  • kiwi
  • basil
  • zucchini
  • white potato
  • tarragon
Day’s count = 6

Thursday:
  • sunflower seeds
Day’s count = 1

Friday:
  • oregano
  • cranberries
  • apple
Day’s count = 3

Saturday:
  • walnuts
  • prunes  
  • almonds
Day’s count = 3

Grant total for the week = 59

Other things that I might normally eat but didn’t this week include: parsley, cilantro, ginger, wheat grass, edamame, thyme, pumpkin, butternut squash, apricots, chia seeds, milled flax seeds, pears.

How about you?

How many plant foods do you eat in a week?

Do you tend to eat the same foods over and over, or do you like a variety?

5 comments:

  1. Interesting challenge. I bet if I made my husband read this he would join you but juice them all. He's on a juicing kick lately.

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  2. That's an interesting thing to think about. I tend to eat the same things day after day unless I eat out. Now I'm going to check the list on the salad mix I eat!

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  3. Now you're going to make me count. :) I am curious to see.

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  4. What an interesting challenge. I change things up week to week, but within any given week, I typically eat the same stuff.

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  5. I got to 57 so we were very close! I also had a salad mix which helps so much with the variety. I'm glad you joined in!

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