Sneaky Ways to Increase Vegetable Intake

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By: Dr. Elisha Cook ND

Sneaking vegetables into the diet can be tricky for children and adults alike. For some, the texture of vegetables can be off-putting, and for others, frankly a flavour issue. Whatever your obstacle may be, there may be some surprising ways to increase your vegetable intake without altering the flavour of some of your classic dishes you have grown to love.

In this blog, we have provided not only a list of ways to increase your vegetable intake, but also some recipes to consider trying.

5 Sneaky Ways to Increase Vegetables:

  • Use them as a filler in ground meat recipes: whether it is zucchini, mushrooms, or onions, there are some great vegetables that you can finely chop or grate, and combine with ground meat for such meals as meat balls, meat loaf, or even hamburgers.
  • Apple sauce type pouches: Many stores carry convenient apple sauce pouches for grab on the go snacks. However, if you go to the baby section of your grocery store, you will see some pouches that have vegetables already incorporated. It may be a bit more costly, but if you need that convenience, it may be worth the investment. You can even consider making your own fruit and vegetable sauce and filling reusable pouches to fit your own flavour profile and reduce potential salt intake.
  • Smoothies: Smoothies are a classic and easy way to increase vegetable intake. You can consider using a greens powder to do this, or incorporate spinach into your smoothie. Generally, spinach does not alter the flavour of the smoothie, making it very easy to slip in unnoticed.
  • Oatmeal: A sneaky way to increase vegetable intake with oatmeal is to grate a carrot into it. This may seem strange, but think about it this way, do you enjoy carrot muffins? Likely, the oatmeal will remind you of that by adding in some pairings of apples, cinnamon, and maple syrup to your carrot and oatmeal combination.
  • Substituting vegetables for noodles: Whether it is spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles, you can consider using these as opposed to your classic wheat based noodles. Though it will not provide the same flavour, it will pack a nutritional punch!

Recipes to Increase Vegetable Intake:

Zucchini-Beef Burgers

These burgers are very moist and can be spiced up by adding cheese or other flavours that make your burger king of the grill.

Ingredients:

2 lbs of ground beef or chicken

½ cup grated zucchini

½ cup finely chopped spinach

1 cup of finely chopped mushrooms

¼ cup finely chopped scallions (approximately 1 large one)

2 tsp of Worschestershire sauce

Optional: ½ tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Shape into hamburger patties whether by hand or using a press, shaping them to your desired size. Throw them on the barbeque and cook until cooked all of the way through. Serve your hamburger patty as per your preference.

Apple-Cucumber Sauce

This recipe is super easy and requires minimal ingredients and supplies.

Ingredients:

6 cups of Apples cored, peeled and diced

2 cups of cucumbers pealed, seeds removed, and diced

¼ cup of water

Combine all ingredients in crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours, stirring half way through cooking. When the cooking time is done, mash well and serve as is.  If using in reusable pouches, place in a blender and blend until smooth consistency is reached.

This recipe is completely freezer safe. I generally fill 250ml jars and place in the freezer, pulling them as needed. If filling jars, make sure to leave ½ inch of space at the top to allow for expansion.

Have you benefited from reading this blog? Know someone that would benefit as well? Share, Like, Comment, or Tweet this article, and let me know what you think.

Some of the information provided above may not be appropriate for everyone, please consult with your doctor before trying any of the above. If you are interested in trying any of our services, working with any of our amazing practitioners, or are simply wanting a different approach to your health care needs, contact the Plattsville Natural Health Clinic by calling 226-232-7665 and book your appointment today! 

The 12 Days of Giveaways 2023!

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It’s that time of year at PNHC. We are putting on another year of “The 12 days of Giveaways”. We invite you to participate in these draws whether you are a patient or not of the clinic. Please see below for the details and rules of our giveaways.

The 12 Days of Giveaways: Enter our Facebook contest for the 12 days of giveaways by finding Plattsville Natural Health Clinic (https://www.facebook.com/PlattsvilleNaturalHealthClinic/ ) on Facebook! We will be giving away a gift every day for 12 (Business) days starting Monday December 4, 2023, all you need to do is like the Facebook page, share the post of the day (It will be posted after 9:00am), and comment on the post. All three of these need to be done for a valid entry, and all steps need to be completed before 9:00pm that day.

The dates for this contest are as follows: December 4-8, 2022; December 11-15, 2022; and December 18-19, 2023.

Please note that you must be a resident of Ontario Canada, residing between London Ontario and Guelph Ontario. The winner for the day will be announced at 9:30pm on our Facebook page. It is contestants responsibility to check back to our Facebook page to see if they have one. You must be able to claim your prize by coming directly to Plattsville Natural Health Clinic to pick it up within 3 days of being notified that you have won. You need to contact the clinic regarding your win to confirm that you accept the draw prize. If you do not contact us within 24 hours of being notified of your win, the draw prize will be given to a subsequent winner. The prize is also not transferable or redeemable for the cash equivalent. This contest is not affiliated with Facebook, but is using Facebook as a platform to hold the contest only.

Thank you for the support over this last year and we look forward to providing alternative health care to the Plattsville and surrounding areas for years to come.

From all of us at Plattsville Natural Health Clinic, we want to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Welcome to our new RMT Joshua Morrison!

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We are so excited to welcome Joshua Morrison RMT, PTS, PN1,CMP, CR to the Plattsville Natural Health Clinic (PNHC) team! Josh will be available for all of your massage therapy needs Mondays and Wednesdays from 9am to 3pm. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge in the sports medicine and workplace injury world, with a background heavily influenced in physiotherapy. He also has a keen interest in and a desire to solve complex pain cases.

If you are ready to try registered massage therapy with Josh, email, call or text today to book your appointment! For a more detailed history of Josh’s knowledge base, see his bio below.

Josh Morrison RMT, PTS, PN1, CMP, CR Bio

Josh’s passion for helping individuals pursue better functioning bodies in the athletic and work environment began with his own experiences and struggles in these areas. Having been a New Balance team member, Josh competed in high performance distance running and elite athletic training. Additionally, repetitive factory piece work and long office hours have given Josh first hand knowledge to both the physical demands, as well as the benefits of massage and remedial exercise. These experiences, and his keen interest in the sports field, drove Josh to pursue education in these areas.

In the spring of 2015 Josh completed his schooling for Myomassology and Reflexology, and in the fall of 2016 he completed his schooling to become a personal trainer. He became, and still remains, a member of the Natural Health Practitioners of Canada.

With this training, Josh entered into client care, assisting patients in return to play and work through remedial exercise instruction, in collaboration and under the care of a physiotherapist. Josh further developed his passion by receiving certification as a Rehab U athletic prehab/rehab specialist, YTS Body Weight Training and Exercise Therapy Foot Programming Specialist, and orthopedic massage specialist (for the shoulder, foot and ankle, hip and pelvis, knee, forearm and hand).

Wanting to advance in this field, Josh went on to study massage therapy. In 2023, Josh became a Registered Massage Therapist registered with the CMTO.

Whether it be an athletic lifestyle, work or just day to day life activities, Josh strives to help patients achieve pain relief and have a better functioning body.  Josh finds it very rewarding to be part of his client’s path leading to health and healing.  .   

When he is not with patients, Josh loves to spend time with his family, exploring the outdoors, hiking, backcountry camping, fishing, rocking out to music, playing guitar, or just looking for critters!

Thriving through Halloween

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By Dr. Elisha Cook ND

Halloween can have many mixed emotions for families. There is the excitement of dressing up, imagination, and of course treats. However, there is also the anticipation of behaviour battles and having access to treats in the house. Different struggles can arise for different families, and it is important to keep in mind that your individual situation is different than someone else’s. As a result, you do not need to approach this time of year and holiday the same as other families.

The Candy

As mentioned above, different families will have different struggles during this season. For some, having a child with a food sensitivity can challenge you to wonder, “is this treat really worth them experiencing (insert your child’s symptom)”. For others, the sheer volume is overwhelming and may be too much for their child to be able to handle. Some individuals may not struggle at all in this area.  

For those who struggle with volume or particular treat items, consider a trade or a deal. Go about your festive activities as you normally would, sort through the candy to pull out items your child reacts to or would lack interest in, and offer them a deal. Consider suggesting to them, “If you give us this bag of candy, we will give you this new toy”. In our house, we have done this and our little one has been more than willing to make a trade. The prospect of a new toy is much more enticing than the sugar.

The Environment

Between flashing lights, heavy foot traffic, and spooky items, the various environments of Halloween can be overwhelming for some, including some neurodivergent individuals (individuals with different conditions or states that affect their brain functioning). Individuals who experience this can consider going to quieter neighbourhoods with less foot traffic or homes with fewer decorations. If this is difficult to anticipate or plan for, consider taking quiet breaks every couple of houses to regroup and ground before moving on.

An alternative is to change how you approach Halloween entirely. Attending a Halloween party put on by a local organization may offer a different way to celebrate, have some fun and get some treats. You can even consider holding your own Halloween party, and giving your child a bag of treats at the end (though this requires a bit more planning and potentially resources).

The Aftermath

The time after Halloween can hold the majority of the struggles that parents face. As mentioned above the types of candy and candy itself can pose problems for some. As parents, having access to these treats in the house can be a struggle as temptation has walked in the door, sat down, and offered you a bag of chips as part of your “parent tax”. In addition, if you are a home that participates in giving out treats to trick or treaters, you may be stuck with the left overs. Approaching these treats with moderation can be easy for some individuals, but for others, adopting certain mindsets may be warranted:  

Mindset #1: I do not NEED this treat.

Mindset #2: This belongs to (insert child’s name).

Mindset #3: My goal of (insert goal), is more important to me than this treat.

With the temptation, consider asking yourself these questions:

Question #1: Is this treat worth moving further from my goal?

Question #2: What could I be doing instead of eating this treat?

Question #3: Am I just thirsty?

Question #4: Have I adequately fueled my body prior to eating this treat?

If all else fails, consider if the treats need to leave the house. Do they need to be thrown out, given to an organization, given to a family who would love to have them, etc.? However you celebrate, I hope that the ideas presented might offer an opportunity to manage the highs and lows of the season with greater ease and victories.

Have you benefited from reading this blog? Know someone that would benefit as well? Share, Like, Comment, or Tweet this article, and let me know what you think. Some of the information provided above may not be appropriate for everyone, please consult with your doctor before trying any of the above. If you are interested in trying any of our services, working with any of our amazing practitioners, or are simply wanting a different approach to your health care needs, contact the Plattsville Natural Health Clinic by calling 226-232-7665 and book your appointment today!