10 Ways To Sneak Extra Fruits & Vegetables In Your Family's Diet

We all know by now that we should be eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables, heavy on the vegetables, each day. But knowing and doing are two different things, aren’t they? Sometimes it is just not easy to get them all in. We are constantly tempted to fill up on convenience and junk food. If your family is anything like mine, they’d much rather fill up on a bag of chips or a bowl of rice or pasta instead of trying an apple or a plate of steamed broccoli. Getting family members (sneakily at first) to eat healthier will help your commitment to your healthier lifestyle. So to make it a family affair, you may have to get creative. Here are a few ideas to “sneak” some extra vegetables and fruits in your family’s diet.

1. Start the day with a breakfast smoothie. All you have to do is throw some fruits and a veggie or two, low-fat yogurt and ice in a blender. You may also want to add a scoop of protein powder in there for good measure. Just blend for a few seconds and you have the perfect breakfast ready to go. I like to sip mine in a thermal cup on the way to work. To make it even more appealing for your kids, use frozen yogurt in the smoothie. They won’t believe that you are letting them have’ ice cream’ for breakfast.

2. Fresh fruit makes an excellent snack any time of the day. Add banana, apple, or some grapes 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 fruit to oatmeal and cereal in the morning. My family loves fresh banana or banana chips in their breakfast cereal.

3. 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 a tasty sauce on bread.

4. Have a salad bar at dinner. Set out a variety of chopped vegetables as well as several choices of salad dressing along with the lettuce and let everybody create their own perfect salad.

5. Let your family drink their fruits and vegetables. Juice an assortment of fruits and vegetables and encourage everyone to drink them as a snack. Get creative. You could start “family mocktail hour” by pouring everybody a glass of his or her favorite juice recipe over ice. Add some straws, cocktail umbrellas and sit together to talk about how everybody’s day went.

6. Try this for dessert. Put a small scoop of 'nice cream' or frozen yogurt in a bowl and top it with lots of fresh or frozen fruit.

7. Offer fruits and vegetables as snacks. You can cut apples into slices and top them with peanut butter and serve with grapes. Cut up some fresh veggies and serve them with dip. And of course there’s ants on a log. Spread some peanut butter on the inside of a stick of celery and sprinkle raisins on it (wow, fruit and vegetable in one snack).

8. 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.

9. 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. Some people even like to serve cold vegetable soup in the summer as a meal starter.

10. 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. If not, 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.

Here is another tip: Now that everyone in the family has gotten a taste for it, make sure you always have plenty of fresh fruits and veggies available and ready to snack on.

As an additional bit of information, dried fruits are not good for us as they have a lot of sugar. Additionally, fresh fruit & vegetables is always better than store bought juice. Even if you juice your own fruit juice, it should only be a small part of the calories your family takes in. Juicing your own vegetables is fine.

If you would like to learn more about how to build a strong body, mind and spirit email me at coachannie61@gmail.com to set up a time to chat. It’s hard to make changes on your own and it's my specialty. I have been trained to help you achieve your health goals. The call is free - If it doesn’t hurt and might help, why not! Looking forward to hearing from you. Until then join my Facebook page to learn more about what I do. Wishing you Health & Happiness

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DISCLAIMER:

This information is not presented by a medical practitioner and is for educational and informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read.