Healthy Eating Roadmap

1st, a special announcement….

We’ve been working hard on an eBook we’re creating called Organized Eating. I say we because my fiancé Nate has volunteered to occasionally help write for the blog (this blog!). Nate reads a ton and has a killer memory and therefore probably knows as much about healthy eating as me.  So welcome him aboard as an occasional writer and at the very least contributor/editor/moral supporter!

Anyways, back to Organized Eating….

We’ve been hard at work creating this eBook that has the potential to help a lot of people save time and eat better.  The eBook will be released sometime in the next few months and it will be absolutely free, no e-mail sign-up or anything will be required. Its going to be AWESOME my friends!

While putting together a section of the book about strategic meal planning, we decided to make a list of our ultimate favorite healthy foods.   We posed the question: “If we could eat/drink nothing else for the rest of our lives besides 75 things, what would they be?”  AND…here’s the catch…they must be considered healthy (by someones definition at least).

I have posted the results below and I encourage you to create a list of your own.  Sit down and write it with the people you cook for- trying to shoot for 75 items.  It’s a great list to have on hand as a personal resource; use it as your base of reference when you sit down to plan meals.  Or take it to the grocery store and buy lots of stuff off it -  try to eat it all before anything goes bad (using common sense!).

Here is our list (excluding herbs & seasonings):

1. carrots
2. milk (soy or reg)
3. cantaloupe
4. tuna (troll or pole caught only, from US or B.C.)
5. wild salmon
6. sardines
7. grass-fed beef
8. Sriracha sauce
9. quinoa
10. brown rice
11. tamari
12. chicken
13. lamb
14. romaine lettuce
15. turkey
16. hazelnuts
17. onion
18. eggs
19. yogurt
20. butter
21. extra virgin olive oil
22. cheese
23. parsnips
24. spinach
25. tomatoes
26. strawberries
27. blueberries
28. avocado
29. garlic
30. shallots
31. almonds (and processed for almond butter/milk)
32. banana
33. potato/sweet potatoes
34. chia seeds
35. black beans
36. coconut/coconut water
37. walnuts
38. pinto beans
39. whole oats/oatmeal
40. kale
41. kombucha
42. tea
43. coffee
44. beets
45. oranges
46. grapefruit
47. blackberries
48. raspberries
49. dark chocolate
50. lentils
51. chickpeas
52. pine nuts
53. sweet peppers
54. hot peppers
55. sunflower seeds
56. sun-dried tomatoes
57. pistachios
58. coconut oil
59. whole-wheat bread (esp sprouted!)
60. grapes
61. beer
62. cherries
63. red wine
64. asparagus
65. green beans
66. watermelon
67. artichokes
68. cucumber
69. pears
70. pluots
71. honey
72. squash
73. celery
74. red snapper
75. dates

(notice how we cleverly said the all inclusive “squash” instead of zuke, butternut, or pumpkin.  You can find clever ways to cheat on the 75 things limit too if you want)

I know I’m going to remember some favorites that I left off here, so don’t hold me to this list forever.  You can look at updated versions whenever you want at https://healthyeatingroadmap.com/favoritefoodslist/.  Feel free to try and talk me into adding something to my list if you want, but make sure to also mention what I should remove in the process!  (haha, tricky stuff right!)

###updated 4/22 – since I first ran this piece, I have removed celery and cucumber and added water and broccoli (thanks Jess).

So, are you considering making a list?  Think your family’s input will give you greater confidence to cook for that picky kid/husband/wife of yours?  Do you think it would make meal-planning easier for you?  Tell us in the comments.

It would be really fun if you created your own list and blogged about it!  If you do, give us your link in the comments so we can check it out.

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(photo by Rennett Stowe)