Wednesday, March 27, 2013

5 Easy Ways To Add More Vegetables to Your Diet


Vegetables are a nutrient packed power house.  If you are looking to change what you eat, feel better, have more energy and lose body fat....then eating more vegetables is the way to go.  They are nutrient dense, low in calories, low in sugars and high in fiber.  Many people just simply don't eat enough vegetables.

1.  Start small.  Anything you were going to eat anyway, see if you can think of a way to sneak in vegetables.  Making macaroni and cheese? Add in some broccoli (recipe).  Making a grilled cheese sandwich?  Add in some spinach.  Scrambled eggs?  Add veggies!  Pizza?  Add veggies!

2.  Snack on vegetables!  I always have vegetables cut and ready to go, so that when we are hungry (like now, right now) you don't have to shy away from the vegetables because they still need to be cut and washed, but that bag of pretzels is waiting and ready to go....no, no.  I pre-cut carrot sticks, red, orange, and yellow pepper slices, and celery in mason jars and have them ready in the fridge.  Make ahead kale chips (recipe), squash chips, carrot chips.  When you are hungry, just grab a single sized portion.  Instant gratification that won't leave you feeling worse off later.


3.  Always add in a side salad.  Some people shy away from salads because they can be time consuming.  All the washing and chopping and having so many ingredients on hand or they are trying to avoid the processed store bought salad dressings.  Salads don't have to be complicated.  Often as a side dish we have the simplest of simple salads. We buy pre-washed organic baby argula and put that on our plates, add a sprinkle of shaved salad blend cheese (a blend of parmesan, asiago and romano), a dash of freshly ground pepper and sprinkle with olive oil.  Salad done and ready.


4.  Drink vegetable smoothies and juices.  Don't have a juicer?  No problem.  It can be done in a blender.  See recipe here for a green juice made in the blender using frozen vegetables.



5.  Make them delicious!  Try new recipes with vegetables you wouldn't have tried.  You might like it.  Our family fell in love with roasted Brussels sprouts and since making them that way, request them once a week.  Who would have thought!  If you give them some attention at the meal, they move from being an afterthought to front and center at the dinner table!


3 comments:

  1. Last August my wife and I bought one of those nuttribullet thingies and have been eating tons of veggies and fruit. Now we mostly use the blender to blend up spinach and other stuff. I prefer blending it because you aren't cooking any nutrients out of it, and with other items, I try and steer clear of anyways. Just eat it. lol. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Great ideas! We're a big fan of smoothies here :)
    Another silly way we get veggies into our diet is with soups. We toss leftover veggies into some broth with a can of beans or leftover pasta and make a meal out of it.
    Also, my kids love a recipe I found in "French Kids Eat Everything" (meant for introducing toddlers to green veggies, but it's popular with my veg-phobic husband as well:

    Superhero Soup (our name, lol)

    1-2 zucchini
    2-3 cups fresh spinach
    butter

    Chop the zucchini and steam in a pot with 1-in of boiling water until fork tender. Toss in the spinach, cover and steam until just wilted. Then use a stick blender to puree (we drain and reserve the water in case we want it smoother). Serve hot with a pat of butter on top.
    *This recipe makes 4 small bowls. If it's going to be all 5 of us at the table, I have to at least double it, because it's a big hit - surprisingly yummy!

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