10 Ways To Sneak Some Extra Fruits And Vegetables In Your Family’s Diet
Feb 28, 2023
We all know by now that we should be eating at least 7-13 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Knowing and doing are two different things, aren’t they? Sometimes it is just not easy to get them all in there. We are constantly tempted to fill up on convenience and junk food. Many familes would much rather fill up on a bag of chips or a bowl of rice or pasta instead of snacking on an apple or a plate of steamed broccoli. So we’ll have to get creative. Here are a few ideas to “sneak” some extra vegetables and fruits in your family’s diet.
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Start the day with a breakfast smoothie (that is our 'fast food' every single morning). All you have to do is throw some fruits, low-fat or dairy free yogurt and ice in a blender. You may also want to add a scoop of protein powder in there for good measure (we use a delicious plant based powder). Just blend for a few seconds and you have the perfect breakfast ready to go. I like to sip mine in a mason jar on the way to school drop off. To make it even more appealing for your kids, use some frozen berries of choice in the smoothie (and it makes it easy to sneak in some greens too).
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Dried fruit makes an excellent snack any time of the day. Add some small cartons of raisins to your child’s lunch box, pack some yogurt-covered raisins in your husband’s briefcase and keep some trail mix sitting around for snacking. You can also add dried fruit to oatmeal and cereal in the morning. My family loves banana chips as a snack.
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Add some fruits and vegetables to your family’s sandwiches. You can add some banana, sliced apples or strawberry slices to a peanut butter sandwich. Top a turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, cucumber and anything else they will eat. You can even make a sub shop style vegetable sandwich by combining several different vegetables with some pickles on bread (sourdough is best).
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Have a salad bar at dinner. Set out a variety of chopped vegetables, some seeds & nuts, as well as several choices of salad dressing along with the lettuce and let everybody create their own perfect salad (in our house we have a Tower Garden where we grow our own greens so many lettuces to choose from): https://mandi5.towergarden.com/.
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Have a taco bar at dinner. Set out a variety of chopped vegetables, beans, chips, guacomole, salsas, etc. Mexican cheese (or dairy free cheese) is a fun topping and queso for the chips. Have different shell options- crispy, flour, corn, and create fun and exciting tacos. Ask me about our favorite plant based tacos in our home.
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Try this for dessert. Put a small scoop of ice cream or yogurt in a bowl and top it with lots of fresh or frozen fruit. We minimize our dairy where we can, so we have some nondairy options here that we love and we also make healthy dairy free pudding!
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Offer fruits and vegetables as snacks. You can cut apples into slices and top them with peanut or almond butter. 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).
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Try some new fruits and vegetables. Pick something exotic to get your family’s curiosity. With a little luck their curiosity will outweigh their initial apprehension to trying something new. You could try artichokes, plantains, papaya, mango, star fruit, or anything else you can find in the produce department of your local store.
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Make a pot of vegetable soup or a stew that’s heavy on veggies and easy on the meat. Both of these make some great comfort food when the weather gets cold.
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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.
Incorporate a few of these ideas and you will have everyone in your family eating more fruits and vegetables in no time.
If you have a hard time consuming 7-13 servings of fruits and veggies a day, I can also share my secret to my success! Reach out!
About the author
I have been a wellness consultant since 2015, after spending the first 30+ years of my life with very unhealthy habits. The awareness of the change of flooding my body with fruits & vegetables led me to build my health coaching business. I love helping people feel & be the best they can be. Without our health, what do we have? I help men, women & children achieve their goals by coming alongside them, being their cheerleader and motivating them with gentle methods of accountability and consistency! My life experience has helped pave the way with trial and error and speaking from an authentic place. I am a breast cancer survivor/warrior and proud to help anyone who has been diagnosed by helping them come out on the other side with a positive mindset and experience throughout their healing process. Positive mindset and good nutrition are key and as somoene who has been through it, I can share my journey and help you through yours. It is my honor to serve you and be there for you. I typically do 1:1 coaching for 3 months or 6 months, and also have one off sessions as needed, virtual cooking workshops & kitchen cleanouts. Magic starts in the kitchen- we need to take care of our one and only body so lets make the magic happen! Lets link arms and build that healthy lifestyle you deserve; one small achievable step at a time! I am your partner in prevention.