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Wednesday, June 9, 2021

Enjoying Beet Powder


Vegetable powders have been around for a while. They were mostly for the hardcore health nuts. However, lately I am running into more and more mainstream folks who are using them or know someone who is. Earlier this week, I was remembering Jerry Seinfeld's wife and her book that talked about sneaking more veggies into family's meals by cooking and pureeing them first. Well, vegetable powders are the next generation for undercover attempts to get families or selves to eat more vegetables.

About a year ago, I became serious about eating more produce on a daily basis. The official recommendation is 5 or more servings per day. Did you catch that -- or more. So, I figure I can use all the help I can get when it comes to my health, so I'm going for the "or more." 

The problem with adding more fruits and veggies is that I end up eating much more food than I want. This is where veggie powders are very helpful. I don't create new foods to make to eat the veggie powders. I simply add the powders to foods I would ordinarily eat.

I've discussed my use of carrot powder. Mostly I use this in my morning yogurt. I'm currently out of the carrot powder and need to make another batch. In the in-between time, I've been using more of the beet root powder in the last couple of weeks.


I've used the beet powder in my morning yogurt. I mix a rounded half-teaspoon of the beet powder, honey, vanilla extract, and dried fruit into plain yogurt. I can taste the beet in the yogurt if I don't add enough honey.


I like smoothies for snacks and lunch. Here's a current favorite: banana, orange juice, beet powder (a teaspoon), water, and vanilla protein powder. I don't even notice the beet powder in this drink. 


I was in the mood for chocolate pudding the other day. I decided to make it Red Velvet pudding. I added 1 tablespoon of beet powder to a batch that made 4 servings. (I made my own batch with soy milk and the family's with dairy milk.) Anyway, half way through dessert, I asked my husband if he could guess the mystery ingredient. He had no clue. When I told him beet powder, he was really surprised -- said he'd never, ever have guessed.

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. So I aim for 1 serving of beetroot powder every other day, just to be cautious. More on side effects from eating beets, here.

Beets are high in potassium, folate, manganese, beta carotene, and nitric oxide. Beetroot may improve blood pressure, immune response, prevent heart disease, and increase stamina in exercise. [WebMD: Health Benefits of Beetroot]

I am definitely getting more servings of fruits and vegetables in my diet these days. I can't put my finger on exactly how, but I do feel better overall when I'm eating more produce.

I wonder how kale powder (using our surplus garden kale this summer) would taste? Hmmm . . .


8 comments:

  1. You are setting good example for the rest of us with your multiple servings of produce. I've never had beet powder, but I did have beets for supper last night from the garden. They were so good!

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    Replies
    1. Yum! How did you prepare the beets, Live and Learn?
      My beets are still several weeks away from being big enough to pick. But I'm looking for ideas.

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    2. I really like the taste of beets, so we either boil them or roast them with nothing added. I like pickled beets, too, but will take plain over pickled. I don't think that's going to help much when you are looking for ways to fix beets.

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    3. I do like roasted beets, especially when mixed in with other oven-roasted veggies. Thanks, Live and Learn.

      Delete
  2. I've been trying for years to do the 5 or more servings but it's super hard. We are fairly consistent about getting in 4 servings but are hit or miss at 5+. Your veggie powder is a good idea. Btw, I have Jerry Seinfeld's wife's cookbook. I found it for under $5 at TJ Maxx years ago. The concept is good. Some recipes are definitely better than others. Pureed cruciferous veggies in food are still easy to detect, at least for me. Carrots, zucchini, pumpkin, banana, applesauce are tastier if you want to go that route. Pureeing beans such as kidney beans is a good way to disguise them.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Kris,
      For me, adding veggies to foods needs to be easy. I think that's why adding canned pumpkin works so well for me. Have you ever bought baby food to add to baking? I've done that with baby food pureed prunes to sub for fat in chocolate cakes.
      I get what you're saying about being able to taste veggies like cabbage and cauliflower in most dishes. Mac and cheese made with a sharp cheddar might cover a little pureed cauliflower. Pureeing small white beans works in a mock Alfredo sauce.
      I think the key to sneaking in veggies without their detection is to go slow and small -- just try a little of the pureed or dried veggies to begin. With the chocolate pudding that I made this week, at first I added a little over 1 teaspoon of beet powder. After tasting it, I could tell that I could up that to 1 tablespoon.

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  3. Wow again! We eat a lot of veggies but four per day is a lot of veggies. I must not eat very much because that would almost be the only thing I would eat if I had to consume that many. Our family has always been veggie lovers because we ate them when the kids were very young so cabbage and cauliflower are very easy veggies for us. Last night I made orange chicken stir fry with at least 5 different veggies in there and just a little bit of chicken. We could eat a whole cabbage mixed into mashed potatoes and same with a bunch of carrots mashed right into the potatoes. Salads loaded with veggies and pinto beans or some other beans and shredded carrots, cucumbers, red peppers. I have pickled red beets in my refrigerator that mom made just for me. I might have those for supper! I still need to chop up those dried bell peppers into a powder and use that for something. I also found some frozen greens in the freezer that turned into a smoothie this morning. The more I think about it the more I feel like I AM getting my daily veggie intake!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Alice,
      It sounds like you're doing really well with getting lots of produce into your diet! I love the idea of adding some carrots or cabbage to mash into potatoes. That is something I'm going to add to our meal prep. Thank you for that idea!

      Delete

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