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I'm sure you know by now that 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day are the minimum we should be eating. But knowing and doing are two different things. Sometimes it is just not easy. Period! Just think about how often we're tempted to fill up on junk food.
If your family is anything like mine, they’d rather have a bag of chips or a big bowl of unhealthy cereal instead of an apple or steamed broccoli. So guess what, we gotta get creative. Here's some “sneaky” ideas to get that 5 servings in your family’s diet.
Start the day with a breakfast smoothie. Just throw some fruits, low-fat yogurt and ice in a blender. You can also add a scoop of protein powder for good measure and you have the perfect breakfast ready to go! You can even pour it into one of those fancy cups that keeps things cold and sip it on the way to work. As for the kids, use some frozen yogurt or a scoop of ice cream in the smoothie. They'll think you're letting them have ice cream for breakfast!
Dried fruit makes an excellent snack. Raisins, yogurt-covered fruit, trail mix can be added to your child’s lunch box, or your husband’s briefcase for snacking. If your family eats hot cereal, like oatmeal, you can also add dried fruit to in the morning. Try tossing a few banana chips in their breakfast cereal.
Fruits and veggies on your family’s sandwiches. I'm sure you've seen banana slices on a peanut butter sandwich, but you can also add some sliced apples or strawberry slices to it also. If you're making turkey sandwich's don't skimp on the lettuce, tomato, cucumber and anything else they will eat. (I call em "salad sandwiches"...lol). You can even make a sub shop style vegetable sandwich by combining several different vegetables with some mayo and cheese on bread. Get the kiddoes in on it to make it fun!
Make a pot of vegetable soup or a stew. Make it heavy on veggies and easy on the meat. This is not only good comfort food, but also healthy cold weather food.
Let them drink their fruits and vegetables. I like to keep an assortment of fruit and vegetable juices in the fridge and encourage everyone to drink them "cocktail style". You could start by pouring everybody a glass of his or her favorite juice over ice. Add some straws, berries, cocktail umbrellas and sit together to talk about how everybody’s day went...or whatever!
Have a salad bar at dinner. Set out a variety of chopped vegetables, some cheese and croutons as well as several choices of salad dressing along with the lettuce and let everybody create their own perfect salad. I find, when the kiddoes participate in making their own food, they're more likely to eat it.
Have fruits and vegetables available as snacks. I sometimes cut apples into slices and top them with peanut butter or cheese. Cube cheese and serve with grapes. Cut up some fresh veggies and serve them with ranch dip. And of course there’s ants on a log. Spread some cream cheese or peanut butter on the inside of a stick of celery and sprinkle raisins on it (wow, fruit and vegetable in one snack). All the pretty colors make them more likely to grab it and finish it off.
Try something new. Pick something exotic to get your family’s curiosity. Go to a specialty store or farmers market. We're all super curious which most times outweighs our apprehension to trying something new. You could try artichokes, plantains, papaya, mango, star fruit, or anything else you can find that looks interesting. If you're not sure if you'll like the taste, Google it!
For dessert. Put a small scoop of ice cream or frozen yogurt in a bowl and top it with lots of fresh or frozen fruit. This is super simple and the best of both worlds!
Start “My Veggie Day”. Each family member gets to pick a vegetable one day of the week. They qualify to pick a vegetable as long as they tried each vegetable the week before, otherwise they lose a turn and Mom gets to pick (possible yuck...lol).
No need to try all 10. But if you incorporate a few of these into your breakfast, lunch or dinner routines and you'll have your family eating more fruits and vegetables in no time.
Don't forget:
You'll have to make sure you always have plenty of fresh fruits and veggies available and ready for snacking!
-Kendra 💚
