Ali Manno’s Vegetarian Family Gets Their Protein From These 3 Grocery Essentials

Plus, she talked about how to make her favorite veggie-packed pierogi bowl.

Reviewed by Dietitian Jessica Ball, M.S., RD

If you’re a fan of The Bachelor or The Bachelorette, you may remember Ali Fedotowsky as a contestant from a couple of seasons. Now married with two children, Ali Manno stays busy not only by being a mom, but also by pursuing interests in her favorite industries, from television to food and drink.

Manno has gone as far as partnering with Mrs. T’s Pierogies, the frozen potato dumpling company, to invite parents like herself to take on the Go-Fun-Me Challenge. In our interview, Manno told EatingWell, “We're encouraging families to make quick dinner recipes and take the time saved to spend quality time with your family.” Plus, the easy sign-up could land you a sizable cash prize.

We talked with Manno about how to sign up for this challenge, and we also got the chance to ask about her family’s favorite ways to spend quality time together. Not to mention, she shared the foods her family loves to eat as part of their vegetarian diet and her go-to workout that exercises and stretches you at the same time.

Related: Kym Johnson Just Told Us the Breakfast Smoothie She Makes Every Morning—Her Kids Love It, Too

EatingWell: Why have you partnered with Mrs. T’s Pierogies?

Manno: If you have not had Mrs. T's Pierogies, get in your car, walk, bus, train or whatever. Go pick them up. They're these pasta- and pillow-like pockets filled with potato, cheese or onion. They're just so good. Kids love them. You can cook them 100 different ways. You can sauté, bake, air fry— it takes no time at all in the air fryer.

EatingWell: How should folks go about signing up for the Go-Fun-Me Challenge?

Manno: What you do is go to mrstspierogies.com/go-fun-me, and you opt in to the challenge. It takes just a minute to do. You’re entered to win $1,000 a month for 12 months. So that's $12,000 that we're going to give away to someone to hopefully use that money to spend time with their family. We want to encourage everybody to go and opt in, because even if you're not the lucky winner, sometimes just doing the act of opting into something can motivate you to go through with it.

EatingWell: What’s you and your family’s favorite way to enjoy Mrs. T’s Pierogies?

Manno: This burrito bowl is so fantastic. You get the Mrs. T's Four Cheese Medley pierogies, saute them up quickly in a pan. Then, throw on pickled onions and roasted corn. Slice up some tomatoes, add a little cheese and top with avocado. It’s fantastic and so easy to make. And I like to get my kids involved in that process. So, my son can slice up an avocado with a butter knife. My daughter is old enough to slice cherry tomatoes in half. Even getting them involved in the process of making dinner is quality time.

Related: Why Cooking & Eating Together Are as Important for Your Health as the Foods You Eat

EatingWell: How else do you and your family like to spend quality time together? 

Manno: We love to paint. The other day, my husband and I did the ‘paint your spouse’ challenge that’s all over the internet. While we were doing it with our friends, our kids were on the ground painting each other, too. Even with just the four of us, there's canvases all over my daughter's room, my son's room and our playroom. It's one of our favorite things to do. I feel like if you want to spend quality time with your family, you have to make it an activity that you personally enjoy. Painting is something I enjoy and they enjoy, so we're more likely to do it more often.

EatingWell: What’s an easy, go-to snack you rely on for busy days?

Manno: My son loves tofu. I know that sounds weird, but I slice that tofu, coat it with olive oil and cornstarch and throw it in the air fryer. He loves that. There’s also pierogies. You can literally just toss them in the air fryer or even in a pot with a little water to steam them. It's so fast and easy, and my kids love picking them up. I mean, we're vegetarian, so we love peanut butter and apples, cucumbers and ranch… there's a few combinations we enjoy.

EatingWell: Being part of a vegetarian family, what’s one food you never leave the store without buying?

Manno: Tofu and beans. People assume that when you're vegetarian, you can't get protein. That could not be farther from the truth. We eat so many black beans in our family. In fact, sometimes I’ll throw black beans in this burrito bowl. Tofu is a huge one for my son. And we love edamame and things like that.

Related: I Haven’t Eaten Meat In 8 Years, and I Couldn’t Have Done It Without This Pantry Staple

EatingWell: Do you have a favorite form of exercise?

Manno: Yes, hot yoga is probably my absolute favorite. I just love the heat. I think one of the biggest mistakes people make when they workout is that they don't stretch afterwards, myself included. It's so hard to remember to stretch. But with hot yoga, you stretch while you're working out, so you get the workout plus the stretching in one. That's really my absolute favorite workout. I have a machine at home called a Tonal. It's amazing. It's the best. More recently, I just started boxing with a one-on-one coach who actually hits me back. And oh my gosh, boxing is a workout. I had no idea how much energy it takes to throw a punch.

Related: 6 Mistakes You're Making When You're Stretching, According to a Yoga Teacher

Read the original article on Eating Well.