Any tips for adding more vegetables to your meals?

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  • chefcarrie
    chefcarrie Posts: 1 Member
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    Other than always including one or more with every meal, try adding them to your side dishes, rice, quinoa etc. Makes the starches taste better and you can cut out any oil or butter you use. Also make veggie and fruit salsa to go with your meals - low fat , high nutrition!
  • ChelseaRW
    ChelseaRW Posts: 366 Member
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    Eat Clean! (basically this means eating minimally processed food, mostly made of vegies, lowfat dairy, lean meat, and whole grains).

    Throughout the summer I get a bag of fresh seasonal veggies from the local CSA (which supports local farmers), and then I get creative trying to use it before it goes bad. I put veggies in everything. I heat huge salads for lunch. I make a big batch of veggie soup that i snack on all week. I even put spinach in smoothies. I've gotten very good at using every scrap of vegetable before it goes bad! I peruse "eating clean websites", blogs, and Clean Eating magazine. Try some of these:

    cleaneatingmag.com
    thegraciouspantry.com
    eatcleandiet.com
    ohsheglows.com
    foodformyfamily.com

    Also, feel free to check out my food diary for ideas if you want. Good luck!

    OP-you just gotta choose to do it, soups are an easy way to get them in, and the above post was wonderful! I just started attemping clean eating and appreciate these sites as well. They really give creative recipes for veggies!
  • Sparksfly
    Sparksfly Posts: 470 Member
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    I blend raw spinach into my protein shakes.

    Can't even taste it!
  • courtclerkkris
    courtclerkkris Posts: 173 Member
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    Adding veggies is easy. Fill some celery with natural peanut butter and you have a great healthy protein and veggie. Throw some green, red or yellow peppers, spinach, onion, in with your eggs in the morning--yumm yumm. Layer some spinach in your lasagana when you make it. Throw some peppers and onions in your skillet and saute before adding spaghetti sauce. Top a sandwich with spinach instead of iceburg lettuce. Roasted veggies are VERY delicious. About any veggie can be thrown into a soup when making it. Sliced avocado is great on a burger or sandwich. Cauliflower can easily be substituted for potatoes and now can be substituted for pizza crust! I always have fresh, washed and cut veggies in the fridge and can throw together a small side salad to add to a meal at the drop of a hat. There are tons of ways these are just the ones that come to my mind at this very moment.
  • genxrider
    genxrider Posts: 107 Member
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    I always keep a tupperware container of cut-up veggies in the fridge and my favorite hummous on hand for dipping; a mixture of baby carrots, grape tomatoes, celery, and broccoli. It is handy and the hummous makes it yummy. Mentally it also reminds me of eating french fries and dipping them into ketchup, so it sort of tricks myself into thinking I'm having fast food.

    This. :)
  • JamesonsMommy
    JamesonsMommy Posts: 771 Member
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    The biggest tip I have is to wash, cut, and organize all the veggies that can be pre-cut right when you get home from the store. That way you have sticks of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery... etc. whenever you open the fridge door. I eat way more raw veggies for snacks if they're like this than if I have to take out a whole head of something to wash and cut while I'm hungry.

    If you use predominately frozen, pop a 1/2 cup of one or two veggies (or veggie mixes) in the microwave and add to any gravy or sauce you might already be having.

    Add raw baby spinach or frozen chopped spinach to marinara or cream sauce. Add an extra serving of raw to your sandwiches

    Puree things like cauliflower, carrots, and other mild-tasting veggies and add them to soups, marinara, and other sauces.

    You can hide raw kale and other dark greens in fruit smoothies. Freeze bananas for smoothies for an ice-creamy/shake texture. Frozen fruit is best for smoothies I think because you don't need ice and the nutrients are more concentrated. Also, flash-frozen things can have more nutrients than fresh-- especially if the fresh stuff you have is a few days old.

    If you're getting bored, make it a point to find a fun veggie side dish recipe on the internet for each dinner.

    I always find myself snacking more on the weekends so I always make sure i have all kinds of washed, chopped veggies n hand :) I HATE baby carrots and pre packaged veggies so I peel everything and my "little helper" washes them again for me.. lol I love raw veggies :)
  • wanderlust3
    wanderlust3 Posts: 26
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    bump to read later

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