Eat Your Veggies with Explore Cuisine and Veestro

Did you know June 17^th is National Eat Your Veggies Day?  

Engchik Eats has got you covered with creative ways you can consume veggies!

Gone are the days of relying on raw, sometimes tasteless, vegetables and sad salads.  

With creative options like Explore Cuisine pasta alternatives, plant-based meal delivery service Veestro and Field Roast grain meats, it is easier and more delicious than ever to hit those daily veggie servings.

Explore Cuisine is a leader in innovative cooking using organic ingredients of the highest quality. All Explore Cuisine products are vegan, gluten-free, non-GMO and jam packed with nutrients.

Original Bean Power: 

One Ingredient.  

ORGANIC BEANS – that's it.  

In only seven minutes, your family can indulge in a delicious, healthy and satisfying meal, power-packed with high protein and high fiber. Varieties include Black Bean Spaghetti, Edamame and Mung Bean Fettuccini, Soybean Spaghetti and more. 

 Italian Signature Selection: Made from organic lentils and chickpeas, these pastas are high in protein and a great source of fiber and iron. Vegan, organic, and gluten free- it's a perfect dish for everyone at the table. 

In just minutes your family will be enjoying fresh pastas made in Italy. Varieties include Red Lentil Penne, Green Lentil Penne, Chickpea Fusilli, Green Lentil Lasagne, and more!

Field Roast, the original maker of grain meats, uses only fresh, natural ingredients – grains, vegetables, legumes and spices – to craft artisan plant-based meat and cheese offerings. Since the company's debut in 1997, Field Roast has been an innovator in the vegan and vegetarian market by creating flavor-rich products rooted in culinary tradition.

Veestro, the leading plant-based meal delivery service, offers convenience without sacrificing nutrition, taste or authenticity. With delicious offerings, think Veggie Burgers, Veggie Lasagna and Veggie Empanadas, you can easily meet your recommended amount of vegetables daily – no chopping, cooking, or cleanup required. All meals are chef created, ready to heat-and-eat, 100% plant-based, made with organic ingredients and preservative free.

Book Review: Big Girl: How I Gave Up Dieting and Got a Life.

I loved this book. It’s the story of Kelsey Miller- a Refinery 29 writer, book author, and an awesome chick on the way to self-acceptance and Intuitive Eating. Happiness and fulfilling life, too, if we may be so bold to say.

She ties together her tale of childhood attempts at acting, family, show tunes, diets that worked, didn’t work, and were just plain upsetting as she carves out the niche that is her New York life as well as calming the voices in her head (that we all have!)

Kelsey has pioneered the Anti-Diet Project and is taking back the beach the way she wants to- as we all should. An interesting point raised in the book was that with every diet- she  can’t wait til it’s over.  

Who doesn’t want the diet to be over so that you can get back to ‘normal’ life. She recounts her life of her dysfunctional family, scary diet coaches, good friends, and food in many forms. This story does not end with her wrapping everything up neatly. Mostly of the time, Kelsey can’t even find the ribbon, let alone wrapping things into a bow. But she is trying.

Kelsey’s story is raw, sad, scary, triumphant, illuminating, joyous, and felt like I had a friend confiding in me. I cried with her losses and identified with her panic attacks and cheered with her successes, and was inspired by her hard work when she really focused.

Author Kelsey Miller, Picture from Amazon.com

From getting those ‘oh, we’re SO happy a girl like You could be a part of this fitness weekend (cue head tilt and quick glance over her bod)!’ Kelsey’s body- to others is plus size, to people who have called her obese, to those whom she is a true friend and family member too-
it’s a grim nod to the fact that so many people judge the book by its cover. Feeling positive about your body is a GREAT THING no matter any person, any gender, any size.

I’m sure many people will identify with her story, her journey, if you will, as she grows up and lives her life according to her rules, not anyone else’s for once.

Isn’t that what it’s all about anyway?