We all know the importance of eating enough vegetables! Mom was right – they are incredibly good for you. Most vegetables are loaded with vitamins, fiber, and other nutrients that offer unbeatable benefits, like enhanced overall health, decreased inflammation, improved blood pressure, reduced risks of all types of diseases, weight control, and so much more. However, the sad reality is that the majority of us don’t eat enough. In fact, studies show that 90% of Americans don’t consume the recommended 2-3 servings a day.
Just like the statistics show, it can be tough to incorporate not just one, but two to three servings of vegetables into your meals each day! And, cooking vegetables the same ordinary way gets old very fast. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to not only make getting your veggies in each day easier, but to also help you not get sick of them.
So, read on for 10 easy ways to eat more vegetables!
Blend Them Into Smoothies
Smoothies are the perfect way to consume lots of veggies at one time! Not to mention, they’re super delicious, highly refreshing, and very nourishing. By having just one smoothie a day, either for breakfast or a quick snack, you can easily increase your veggie intake.
Fortunately, with just a quick Google search for delicious smoothie recipes, you’ll find tons of great recipes that contain nourishing fruits and veggies. For example, you could get your leafy greens in with an appetizing kiwi and kale smoothie, or try something different, like blueberry zucchini and avocado pineapple smoothies. The possibilities are endless! So, find some recipes that sound tasty to you and drink more smoothies!
Replace Wraps and Buns With Veggies
Rather than using your standard, highly modified and not-so-good for you buns, tortilla shells, and flour wraps, an easy way to increase your veggie intake is by using vegetables instead. Trust us, with the right selection of veggies and choice of seasonings, it not only tastes just as great, but will also leave you feeling a whole lot more energized than all of the carbs in your typical bun would. For example, you can try replacing your burger bun with lettuce, portobello mushrooms, grilled eggplant slices, or roasted sweet potato slices.
Replace Noodles With Veggies
Veggie noodles are becoming increasingly popular, and for good reason! Not only are they very delicious and easy to make, but they are also the perfect way to enjoy all of your favorite pasta dishes without ingesting lots of carbs. And, if properly prepared, you can barely tell the difference!
The most common vegetables used for veggie noodles are carrots, butternut squash, zucchini, and sweet potato. However, a quick Google search will populate tons of different veggie noodle recipes for you to try. Using squash instead of lasagna noodles or zucchini noodles for your standard chicken alfredo are just a few of the many ideas. Fortunately, there are lots of very convenient and useful gadgets out there, like a spiralizer, that can instantly turn nearly any type of vegetable into noodles. Or, if you aren’t in the mood to prepare them yourself, more and more already-prepared veggie noodles are making their way into grocery stores. So, order yourself a spiralizer or head to the grocery store to cut down on the prep time, and start substituting your typical pasta dishes for nutritious veggie pastas!
Add As Many Side Salads As You Can
Another easy way to incorporate more vegetables into your meals is to add a side salad whenever possible. If you eat a side salad at lunch and dinner, that’s at least two more servings of vegetables each day. Creating your own salad from scratch is always an option, but in our modern, busy world, it helps that there’s tons of pre-made salad options available at most grocery stores. So, start adding more salads to your meals!
Snack On Veggies Instead of Chips
We know, we know, it can be difficult to replace the chips and other not-so-healthy snacks for veggies. But, occasionally swapping the snacks for veggies is a great way to increase your veggie intake. Fortunately, there’s lots of snacks that are actually delicious! You can try…
- Avocado toast
- Sweet potato chips
- Veggie chips, like kale or cauliflower chips
- Carrots or cucumbers with hummus
- Beet and carrot veggie applesauce
Thanks to our awesome friend Google, there’s lots of other ideas online! Just search for “healthy veggie snacks” and start saving some ideas!
Eat More Veggie Soups
With a delicious vegetable soup, it’s easy to get your 2-3 servings of veggies in at one sitting. Vegetables, like onions, carrots, mushrooms, potatoes, and peppers, are perfect to add to your soup, or they can be pureed and combined to make the base of your soup. The possibilities are endless, so use your creativity, gather some inspiration with the tons of soup recipes online, and start making more soups! Plus, now that fall is here and cold weather is approaching, it’s the perfect time to start making more soup.
Always Include Veggies at Dinner
From here on out, make a rule for yourself or your family that dinner will always include some form of veggie. Whether it’s broccoli, a salad, roasted carrots, or an Italian dish made with veggie noodles, always include some veggies at dinner. Even if you splurge on a pizza, just make sure it’s topped with some spinach, or onions and peppers.
Don’t Store Your Veggies In Your Fridge Drawers
Instead of storing your veggies in your fridge drawers, where they are out of sight and out of mind, put them front and center, right on the shelves in your fridge. That way, they’re much harder to be ignored and forgotten about!
Meal Prep Lots of Veggies Over the Weekend
If you’re like the majority, your busy schedule makes it hard to prepare fresh vegetables every day. So, a more realistic and easy way to increase your veggie intake is to include preparing veggies for the week in your weekend meal prep plans. Over the weekend, wash, trim, chop, roast, and do everything else you need to prepare yourself and your family delicious veggies for the entire week. That way, after a long day when you don’t feel like doing any additional work for dinner, the veggies will already be prepped and ready for you to just grab and go.
Heal Your Body From the Inside Out With A Personalized Nutrition Plan!
It’s no secret that the food we eat has a direct impact on our health. So, it’s important to know specifically what foods and nutrients our body needs. That’s why our clinical nutrition services are here to help. With our Functional Nutrition Program, Dr. Naylor provides comprehensive, individualized nutrition and supplement plans to optimize your health based on a scientific and objective blood test. It’s the perfect way to heal your body from the inside out and truly feel your best. Contact us today to learn more about our Functional Nutrition Program or to schedule your health consultation!