Do you get 5-12 servings of fruits and vegetables every day?
I bet you would love to get your family eating more fruits and vegetables (and yourself too!) The latest recommendation is 5 - 12 servings and I am pretty sure MOST people don't eat nearly that!
I have some really sneaky ways to hide fruit and vegetable servings!
I don't find it difficult to personally get my recommended fruits and vegetables. My house is loaded with fresh produce of all descriptions. I have fresh watermelon, honey dew melon, cantaloupe, pears, apples (red delicious and granny smith), naval oranges, tangerines, blueberries, green and red grapes, bananas, a mango, black plums, nectarines, lemons, limes, avocado... and I am probably missing something. I also have several bags of frozen fruits in the freezer (mostly berries). That's just the fruit!
I won't begin to list all the fresh vegetables I have on hand... I know I would miss a lot. Health is not, however, about what I eat today (or what my family eats today). Health is about what we eat consistently over time. Each day of getting an abundance of fresh whole fruits and vegetables adds up to the grand total that will make a difference over the entire course of your life. It will affect how you feel, how you look, how you move, how you respond to viruses, how you fight off things like cancer. It is important that you pay attention to this now. It is not too late to start eating more fruits and vegetables.
As a mom, I found a number of creative ways over the years to get extra servings of vegetables into meals and snacks. You know the obvious ways, i.e. salads, veggie side dishes, and fresh fruit snacks or desserts, but these can get boring or tedious.
Here are 12 ways to make sure you get more fruits and vegetables.
Use grated vegetables in pasta sauces - When I used a canned pasta sauce I always saute onions, garlic, fresh mushrooms, green and red peppers and add the sauce with or with out browned ground beef, but I ALSO grate several large carrots to put in. Carrots give the sauce a real fresh flavored lift and the tomato sauce disguises the carrot flavor. To this day my family does not know I put carrots in their pasta sauce.
Grated vegetables are also good in meat loaf or hamburger patties.
When having spaghetti, grate a zucchini or 2 lengthwise and add it to the long noodles. If you peeled it they may not even know!
Mix grated vegetables (carrots, onions, into salad dressings or sour cream and use as a veggie or corn chip dip.
Smoothies - Using fresh or frozen berries as a base throw in some flax seed oil, a banana, and some melon (water melon, honey dew or cantaloupe) Then for more liquid JUICE 2 large carrots per person, and 1 pear per person, to dump in the blender instead of water!
Add some "super fruit" powder or "green" powder to your smoothies for added wallop. Today it's easy to find organic freeze dried acai powder, goji powder, raspberry powder or any number of high antioxidant pure fruit powders. You can even find a mix of greens and fruits... these powders dramatically increase the power of your smoothie.
Semi-frozen strawberry yogurt- take a cup of frozen strawberries, 1 cup of strawberry yogurt, 2 scoops of protein powder, and 2 tablespoons on flax seed oil. Blend. Add just enough apple or orange juice (or water) so the berries blend) Pour into bowls. This is MUCH more delicious than ice cream and makes a wonderful breakfast for children who don't like to eat in the morning
Make more casseroles- meatless casseroles with cheese and spices are a yummy way to load up on veggies, and their easy too! Chop. Stir. Bake. Serve.
Make it accessible... Veggies always fresh chopped and in serving sizes... with meals I put the large salad out and I get out their favorite salad dressings ad open the top and set it right next to the silverware, I always have fresh home made salsa available and they will often scoop that up as a condiment or side dish.
Make fresh cobblers for dessert instead of pies. Lots of fruit in a very lightly greased baking dish topped with a crumble of equal parts raw oatmeal, almond meal, shaved coconut and a tablespoon of brown sugar. Add a bit of coconut oil to make a crumbly mixture and bake at 350 until fruit is soft and bubbly. If using apples or peaches sprinkle a bit of cinnamon. Berries may require a bit of your choice of sweetener. It is very fast to do something like this up and pop it in the oven after you take the casserole out. It is ready when your meal is done!
Wrap large lettuce leaves around sandwich filling instead of bread.
And don't forget celery or carrot sticks spread with peanut butter. YUM!
The other night my teen age daughter actually ASKED for a vegetarian dinner. I had taken some pita breads, brushed them with olive oil and sprinkled them with garlic powder and sea salt and then baked them until lightly browned at 450 degrees. Then I served some home made salsa, a guacamole made with fresh avocado, juice of one lime, garlic clove crushed, and cilantro, and served both dips with the "chips" and some carrots, celery, cucumbers, broccoli, and cherry tomatoes. The ONLY reason she asked for this is because she LOVES the "homemade nacho chips".
My rule of thumb is.. if I am having something they aren't crazy about, I serve it with something they love!
Happy healthy eating to you, and get your 5-12 a day! Twelveliness is next to healthiness!
Shelley Penney is a retired registered nurse with a continued, insatiable thirst for health and wellness information. Although Shelley hails from traditional medical training, she is always searching for ways in which the natural world of healing herbs, foods and supplements can intersect with traditional medicine and benefit us all.
Visit Shelley on the web www.ShelleyPenney.com
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