Start Your Day with Tea
Make a switch from your normal coffee to a nice cup of tea. You can choose black or green tea, both have polyphenols and flavonoids which fight off free radicals.
Barley and Oats Put You Ahead of the Game
Both barley and oats have beta glucans which has antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. They are also high in vitamins A, C, and E which all add up to a healthier you.
- Strawberry Barley Scones with Maple Cream
- Barley and Bean Soup
- Miso barley risotto with Tempeh and Tofu
- Slow Cooker Apple Pie Oatmeal
- Pecan Oatmeal Waffles
- Baked Oatmeal
No Time for a Hot Breakfast? Grab A Yogurt
Your schedule (or your child’s mood) might not always allow for making a hot breakfast. Yogurt has good bacteria that has antioxidant and antimicrobial properties that up you white blood cell count. Make sure to buy yogurt with live cultures. On a dairy-free diet? Try some of the new yogurts that are based on soy or coconut milk.
This is the only ingredient in this article that you don’t want to cook. Heat kills the friendly bacteria before they can work their magic on you.
- Chickpea and Spinach Salad with Yogurt Dressing
- Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip
- Orange Yogurt
- Maple and Cardamom Spiced Pears with Pecans
Vitamin C to the Rescue
Orange and Grapefruit are wonderful ways to get some vitamin C and flavonoids into you and your kids. Both increase immune system. Simply cut them into wedges that are manageable even for little hands. These are perfect snacks to put in a lunch box and you can store the pre-cut wedges in the fridge for a ready to go snack.
- Broiled Grapefruit with Brown Sugar and Ginger
- Grapefruit and Avocado Salad
- Fennel and Orange Salad
- Citrus & Pomegranate Salad with Rose Water-Vanilla Syrup
Hate citrus fruit? Add in some green peppers instead, they are also full of vitamin C.
Eat Your Mushrooms
You may not realize it but mushrooms are a powerhouse of nutrition. They contain beta glucans, selenium, riboflavin and niacin all of which contributes to a healthy immune system and help prevent infections. Include shitake and maitake mushroom in addition to button and portabella.
- Mushroom Bruschetta
- White Truffled Grilled Cheese
- Wild Mushroom Soup
- Warm Maitake Pasta with Citrus Soy Dressing
- Spinach and Shitake Mushroom Soup with Crispy Baked Tofu Croutons Recipe
- Polenta with chard and mushrooms
Color Lunch (or Dinner) Orange
Carrots, sweet potatoes, and winter squash are some of my favorite foods. They are cheap and plentiful through the winter too. It’s an amazing bonus that they are also chock full vitamin A and the antioxidant beta-carotene which boost T-cell count and fights free radicals.
- Butternut Squash and Leek Latkes
- Quinoa, Squash & Leek Pilaf with Runny Eggs
- Moroccan Carrot Soup
- Veggie Mash
- Purple Sweet Potato Chiffon Cake
- Sweet Potato Chips
Don’t Forget to Add Some Green
From a simple spinach salad that contains folate that helps your body create new cells to a simple steamed broccoli which is full of phytonutrients, vitamin A and E, they are all perfect additions to any dinner.
- Detox Green Soup
- Spinach Manicotti
- Boiled Spinach with Soy and Sesame
- General’s Broccoli and Tofu
- Warm Millet and Broccoli
- Broccoli Soup with Sauteed Mushrooms
