I’ll be the first to admit that even thought I’m a registered dietitian, I need to eat more veggies. I had way too much pizza on Friday night, and indulged in too much sushi + dessert on Saturday after dinner. Ted and I tend to let our healthy diets go out the door over the weekend and regroup with our “eat more veggies” motto when the week starts up again. While this might not be the best dieting tactic for you, it works for us. I look forward to Saturday night when the kids are asleep and Ted and I share our favorite peanut butter brownie from a local bakery. And oddly enough I KNOW my body looks forward to Monday when I’m eating carrots and cucumber with hummus for a midmorning snack.
I believe to truly enjoy eating we need to be able to balance healthy [cucumber and carrots] and not-so-healthy foods [hello peanut butter brownie]. BUT we live in a world where it’s a heck of a lot easier to get excited about eating that peanut butter brownie. So that’s when me, the registered dietitian, stomps my foot and says, “HEY, eating veggies is exciting too!!” Was that believable? I sure hope so…
So here are my top 7 easy [and oh so delicious] ways to eat more veggies. You excited yet?!
1. Take some time to prep. This step is key in my opinion. Before I took the time to prep fresh vegetables on the weekend, the end of the day would come and I would be too tired to slice and dice them for a meal. It was just one more step in making dinner and I dreaded it! But by taking the time to do the slicing and dicing on the weekend, I can easily add more veggies to breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks without feeling crunched for time!
2. Pack a sandwich with more produce. Meat and cheese are the usual suspects for weekday sandwiches, but to make a healthier sandwich swap I’ve been adding cucumber, lettuce, tomato, broccoli slaw, really any crunchy vegetable I have on hand. BUT I’ll also do this if I follow #1 above. So don’t forget about prepping ahead!
3. Have some dips on hand! While I love dipping my “Everything Crackers” from Trader Joe’s in hummus or Greek yogurt dip, I now make sure I’m dipping some green bell pepper strips or baby carrots along with the crackers.
4. Plan meals around produce. I typically take a general recipe idea and then think about what produce I can add to it for variety and flavor. Example: roasted vegetable pizza. I took my basic pizza recipe and then added roasted vegetables for toppings [roasting the vegetables first, of course].
5. Make a vegetable smoothie! My toddler LOVES them. Me? Not so much. But if you’re the smoothie-loving kind like my son and husband than consider adding spinach or cooked sweet potato to your next smoothie! Need some inspiration? Check out one of these 10 green smoothie recipes! Almost all contain a green vegetable!
6. Add vegetables to family favorites. If your family does tacos every week [we are starting to here], then take your taco filling mix and add some chopped up mushrooms, onions, corn, or tomatoes. Or all 4! At least that’s how I’d like my tacos… but it would probably send Ted and Joey into shock!
7. Try one new veggie a week! Challenge yourself and make a healthy eating goal you can achieve by experimenting with something new from the produce isle each week. What I love about most vegetables is that they are delicious when simply prepared: you’ll likely only need olive oil, salt, and pepper when trying something new. Or ranch dip, if you’ve got a toddler like mine that tries most new foods when ranch dip is involved.
How about you? What’s one thing you do to make sure you are getting more veggies each week?
So many great tips for getting more veggies onto the family table. I always add a can of drained/rinsed black beans to tacos. And now you’ve inspired me to add a veggie to tonight’s meatloaf. Hmmm. Maybe a shredded carrot?!
Carrot or mushroom would be my suggestion!!
Great tips! I always slice up fresh peppers, cucumbers, and carrots for the kids to have with whatever lunch they’re having, and dinner usually has a veggie on the side or mixed in!
Do your kiddos have dippers too?!
adding veggies to my smoothie everyday is my fav tip! thanks for sharing 🙂
Can’t beat the smoothie!!
Your not alone there, I think everyone likes to treat themselves on the weekend with Pizza or take out and then feeling guilty the next day. I know I do! I do enjoy salad on a sandwich listening to that crunch of the cucumber, Is that weird? Dips are a number one way to get eat more veggies in my opinion. Hummus dip with carrot sticks or cucumber and then have a sour cream and chive dip with cucumber very refreshing. Now a fruit smoothie I will have any day but I think I am with you on this one I don’t think I like the sound of a veggie smoothie, but hey it’s a great way to get children to eat more veg. I’m good during the when it comes to veggies especially with dinner and lunch not so much breakfast, but then it’s the weekend and veggies don’t even cross my mind, unless I go out for dinner then I may add veg to my meal.
I love hearing the crunch too Adam! Thanks for sharing your personal experience and tips too!!
Yummmm…My family loves pizza, adding roasted veggies sounds so delicious! Heading over to check out your pizza guide for homemade pizzas so my family and I can try this healthier option out. Can’t wait, seems fun to make and like I already said, looks really delicious!