You know you need to eat more fruits and vegetables, but how do you make it happen without overhauling your entire diet? It’s really quite easy for anyone to do. Follow a few of the following ideas to incorporate more produce into your daily diet.
20 Easy Ideas
1. Add fruit to the top of your morning cereal. Blueberries and bananas are a good place to start. They are packed with nutrients.
2. Instead of cereal for breakfast, mix some of your favorite fruit with plain yogurt. For a crunch, add walnuts. Whatever fruit is in season will work.
3. Blend together a smoothie of your favorite fruits with a little orange juice as a meal replacement. Pour whatever is left from the blender into a plastic cup, cover with plastic and freeze. Eat these for dessert instead of ice cream. For extra smoothie nutrition, blend in a carrot, and for a kick, add a clove of garlic. It’s really not overwhelming, and garlic is very good for you.
4. Make your English muffin something you feel good about eating. Top it with peanut butter and sliced banana. Besides making the muffin more filling, you’re adding vitamin C, potassium, more fiber and much more.
5. Whatever green salad you make, add sections of mandarin oranges or a cut nectarine or apple. Raisins and blueberries also are sweet additions with lots of nutrients.
6. Stir-fry is popular. Instead of serving with rice or potatoes, serve it atop a bed of spinach or romaine lettuce. You’ve just made an entrée salad, and think of the Vitamin A you get with it.
7. Liven up cottage cheese. It’s on many diet can-do lists. Add some color, texture and nutrients with grapes, blueberries, grape tomatoes, peppers, walnuts or cucumbers.
8. Reach into your refrigerator for a handful of grape tomatoes when you’re hungry and meal-time is still a ways off. They pop when you bite into them, and they are more than just juicy. They are filled with vitamins A and C and the phytonutrient lycopene.
9. If you’re grilling, think of other things you can wrap in foil and add while the coals are still hot. Try sweet potatoes, sweet corn or sweet onions. They caramelize in the heat and taste great with meat or served as leftovers in a salad or reheated.
10. Omelets make a great quick meal. Why not make them nutritious with broccoli florets, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach, bell peppers… You get the picture.
11. Examine your sandwiches. Couldn’t you add just a little more? How great it could be with a little added lettuce, tomatoes, bell pepper, cucumber or whatever else you have in that vegetable tray.
12. What is dinner without meat and two sides? Try making both of the sides vegetables.
13. Recreate spaghetti sauce. Before you heat that jar of sauce, think of what cut-up squash, zucchini, carrots or extra tomatoes could add to the sauce. Vitamins, for one.
14. Add more toppings to your pizza. Even if it comes with mushrooms, add more. Experiment with shaved carrots or squash. You’ll make it a heartier meal.
15. Brighten the dinner plate with an edible garnish. No, not parsley sprigs. Be creative. Shave some carrots; chop some colorful peppers; sprinkle around some grape tomatoes; use your imagination.
16. Serve hors d’oeuvres to your family. Come around with a plate of cut vegetables and dip. Start a new vegetable habit.
17. Increase vegetable portion sizes. If a spoonful of green beans is good, two spoonfuls would be doubly delicious. While you’re at it, experiment with different herbs and spices you could add on top to make the vegetables a new experience.
18. Fill ice cube trays with your favorite juice and freeze. They make great treats when you want something a little sweet but you know better than to open a candy bar.
19. Freeze grapes. Yes, before they get moldy in the refrigerator because you don’t eat them fast enough, separate them, wash them and freeze them. Then you have another frozen snack to choose from as you pursue the freezer for something good.
20. Visit the salad bar at your grocery store with an eye for what you can buy cut up to add to any meal throughout the week. In other words, think beyond salads at your local salad bar.
