San Diego Nutrition and Health

Carrots are a fabulous source of beta-carotene, a powerful antioxidant as well as an important member of the carentoid family.  The body converts carentoids, beta-carotene being the most common one, into Vitamin A.   

A bag of baby carrots makes an easy and convenient way to eat carrots, but after awhile you may find yourself in a carrot stick rut.  They just aren’t that fabulous anymore.   Here’s a few ideas to add a little spark to your diet and some beta-carotene as well.

Toss shredded carrots with diced or shredded potatoes and make hashbrowns (idea from Whole Food Farmacy).

Add shredded carrots to your peanut butter for a new healthy crunch (idea from Whole Food Farmacy). 

Making spaghetti for dinner?  Why not boost the nutrition of the tomato sauce by adding shredded carrots, onions, or zucchini?  Diced celery is also really good in tomato sauce.  If your family is rather picky and would never go for such a thing, cook the veggies in the tomato sauce until soft and then blend everything in the blender.  Chances are they’ll never know how much good stuff they’re getting, but their body will thank you.

Add chopped carrots to your favorite stir-fry.

Combine shredded cabbage and carrots and make coleslaw. 

The carrot possibilities are many so if you’re in a rut, try something new and then let us know how it went.