Any tips for adding more vegetables to your meals?

Put more of them on your plate?

Depends on what types of food you are cooking. I like to pretty much chop up peppers and onions and put them in anything.. Spaghetti sauce for example, finely chopped in ground turkey for turkey burger, sauteed in a small amount of olive oil and then wrapped in corn tortilla. Plus I slice tomato and cucumber for sandwiches. Eating a salad is a great way to get all of the veggies you need, if you chop up veggies in all colors of the rainbow and add them, you should be getting plenty.

I find that almost any dinner recipe can at least have celery added, and usually peppers, onions, mushrooms. Good luck!

Now that sounds so interesting ... hummm need to try this !!! Thanks :flowerforyou:

juicer!

Process them--shred, slice, chop--whatever. Mix them in with your protein. Add shredded veggies--like carrot, slaw mix, etc to your wraps or sandwiches. Throw them in your soups. Blend them with anything. Eat salads. Slice them & layer like lasagna in a casserole pan, add feta & bake. Check out recipes on Skinnytaste.com.

It depends on what you normally make. Try a big salad with chicken and lots of different veggies in it. Stock up on carrots and hummus for snacks. Pick a new vegetable to try once a week perhaps and use it a couple times a week in a different recipe. If you're making pasta, add some cooked spinach to it or a handful of basil leaves. Fruit smoothies with some spinach or cucumber or kale are delicious too and great for breakfast. Try honestfare.com there are many recipes there that are delicious and heavy on vegetables!

roasted portobello mushroom
roasted red pepper
part skim cheese melted on top

YUM!

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.

Ziplock makes these great bags called Zip 'n' Steam. I stock up on those. Cut up veggies, toss them in the bag and they are ready for the microwave. I bring the bags to work. I do them at home to add extra veggies to a meal. I add spices. Or pepers and onions give things like green beans a mice mix of flavor. Sometimes a teaspoon of sauce or oil/vinegar is great.

have veggies instead of starches (rice, potatoes, etc) at meals. Have two veggies if younormally have a veggie and a starch.

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!

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.

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