fermented veggies<\/a>, and maybe even a little fruit (like grilled pineapple). Then, on top of the veggies, add two or three ounces of meat or other protein (like fish, egg, cheese, beans or other pulses, baked tofu or tempeh that\u2019s been marinated and saut\u00e9ed). Choose a sauce that compliments the flavors in the meal and then drizzle (or pour, if you a like a lot!) it over everything. Finish up by adding a layer of crunchy ingredients, like nuts or seeds, on top to give the meal some texture. Optionally, you can sprinkle on some fresh herbs or other zesty ingredients (like pickled ginger) to make the flavors pop even more.<\/p>\nOne of the greatest things about a bowl is its versatility. Bowls allow a great deal of flexibility as far ingredients are concerned. It\u2019s easy enough to mix-and-match ingredients, and to substitute one ingredient for another. No spinach? Use Swiss chard or your favorite green. Out of rice? Substitute quinoa. It\u2019s as easy as that! You can serve your bowl hot or cold, simply by varying the ingredients.<\/p>\n
Another wonderful thing about a bowl is that you can put a meal together quickly, and it\u2019s not a lot of trouble to prepare a meal for one when dining alone. It can be very\u00a0easy, and it never has to be boring. Many ingredients can be prepared in advance. For example, you can pre-cook your grains or meat, divide it into portions, and freeze it. When planning your next meal, just take as many portions as you\u2019ll need out of the freezer and defrost them. Similarly, you can hard boil eggs and keep them (unpeeled) in the refrigerator for up to a week.<\/p>\n
Sturdier vegetables like onions, carrots, bell peppers, and cabbage can be sliced, chopped, or shredded ahead of time and stored in air-tight containers in the refrigerator to be used in the next day or two. Fruits that won\u2019t turn brown when exposed to the air can be stored similarly. Try a variety, like cherries, grapes, kiwis, citrus, pineapple, and mango.<\/p>\n
Sauces like store-bought salsa are a cinch. There are also other reasonably healthy commercially prepared sauces available, like Trader Joe\u2019s Teriyaki sauce.\u00a0But, you don\u2019t need to buy any fancy sauces. Most people can whip up a tasty sauce pretty quickly just using ingredients they already have on hand, such as soy sauce or tamari, toasted sesame oil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, prepared horseradish, Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, Sriracha sauce, harissa, peanut butter, honey, garlic, ginger, wasabi, lime and so on.<\/span><\/p>\nAs we\u2019ve seen, a bowl can be very easy to prepare, but you can make it as elaborate as you want. If you\u2019re so inclined, you can create a bowl that\u2019s a gourmet\u2019s delight. More exotic combinations are often inspired by international flavors. In fact, many cultures around the world have their own traditional versions of a bowl. For an example, since ancient times, Koreans have been making a mouthwatering dish called bibimbap<\/em>, which is served as bowl of warm white rice topped with seasoned saut\u00e9ed vegetables. For the sauce, they use a combination of chili paste, soy sauce, and fermented soybean paste. Customarily, the bowl is topped with a bit of sliced beef or an egg (either raw or fried).<\/p>\nBowls rely heavily on plant-based ingredients. Despite all the controversy among the top experts in the field of nutrition today, the one thing they all agree on is that a plant-based diet is ideal. When building bowls, animal products are used in small amounts, if at all. Meat takes a backseat to the veggies and grains, and becomes more like a condiment, adding flavor but not all\u00a0the saturated fat, cholesterol, hormones, and excess protein that\u00a0our bodies turn into fat. (Did you think that only excess carbohydrates turn to fat? Not true! Protein does too, if you eat too much.)<\/p>\n
Plant-based diets are by far less expensive than eating conventional meals where meat takes center stage. Moreover, eating this way fills you up. You can eat a lot more volume because these foods are low in calories. They’re also loaded with fiber, which helps keep you full longer. And, they’re nutrient dense, so you’re getting loads of antioxidants, vitamins, enzymes, pre-biotics, pro-biotics, and more. Plus, when you’re body’s getting all the nutrition\u00a0it needs, you tend not to get as hungry, so you eat less food less often. All of these things translate to savings on your food budget.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, a plant-based diet is by definition alkaline. Alkaline diets have been shown to strengthen our body\u2019s defenses, help cells regenerate and repair, and protect the kidneys. They also improve our energy, digestion, joints, sleep, and resistance to colds, flu, and severe illnesses like autoimmune disease and cancer. You really can\u2019t go wrong by making bowls a central part of your diet.<\/p>\n
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So, what would you like in your bowl? Share your ideas with us in the comments!<\/p>\n
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Legal Disclaimer<\/span><\/strong>
\nThis article is for educational use only and is NOT intended as medical advice. The information presented herein is based on the opinions of the author, unless otherwise noted. Any statements or claims about the possible health benefits conferred by any foods or supplements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and are NOT intended to diagnose, treat, prevent or cure any disease or condition. We encourage you to do your own research and consult a qualified health professional before making any health-related changes.
\nThis article may not be downloaded, reproduced, republished or otherwise copied without express written permission of the author and of Homesteader\u2019s Supply.<\/p>\nAll rights reserved \u00a92016 Anna Paige<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is the first in our series of articles on making healthy eating more affordable. The Internet is flooded with money-saving ideas, but most of them\u00a0focus on the smart shopping aspect. Here, we\u2019re going take a different tack and talk about things you can do to bring down your food costs after you\u2019ve left the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[152,18,151,30,1],"tags":[153,154],"class_list":["post-1563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-budget-friendly","category-how-to","category-real-whole-foods","category-recipes","category-uncategorized","tag-bowls","tag-meal-in-a-bowl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homesteadersupply.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homesteadersupply.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homesteadersupply.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homesteadersupply.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homesteadersupply.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.homesteadersupply.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1563\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homesteadersupply.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homesteadersupply.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homesteadersupply.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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