How To Eat More Vegetables

[caption id="attachment_2323" align="alignleft" width="396" caption="How to Incorperate Healthier Foods"][/caption]

We’ve all seen the food pyramid: Lots of grains at the bottom, fruits and veggies in the middle, and the sugars at the top, which we try our hardest to avoid. However, although we know the correct portions for each food group, that doesn’t mean we always eat that way.  If you need some extra fruits and veggies in your diet, it doesn’t have to be boring or bland! Skip the tasteless green salads, and instead spice up your breakfast with some delicious veggies. Cooking Light offers 12 great ways to add more fruits and vegetables to your diet in an exciting, enjoyable way.

Tip 1: Boost Your Breakfast
The importance of eating breakfast is immeasurable. Not only does it break the fast and jumpstart your metabolism, but it also boosts your performance at work or school, helps with weight maintenance, and for the purposes of Healthy Habit #1, is the perfect time get in an extra fruit or vegetable serving for the day.

•   Stir berries (fresh or frozen), dried fruit, or banana slices into yogurt, cereal, or oatmeal. Our Banana, Wheat Germ, and Oats recipe (shown here) boasts a full serving of fruit plus the benefits of wheat germ. Every 1/2 cup of fruit you add is a serving.

•   Make a smoothie. Combine some low fat milk or yogurt, 1/2 cup frozen berries and a banana for a super easy blended breakfast – and 2 entire fruit servings!

Tip 2. Double the Veggies
In soups, salads, pastas, sandwiches, pizzas, and casseroles, most recipes call for a certain amount of vegetables. Our advice? Double the amount called for in the original recipe. You are already doing the prep work; so a little extra chopping can go a long way for your vegetable intake.

•  Stir extra veggies into soups. Don’t be afraid to steer off the beaten recipe path just a bit. When it comes to something like soups, an overdose of chopped vegetables will not ruin the recipe. It will enhance the flavor, nutritional value, and your daily vegetable tally. A half cup of chopped vegetables and a whole cup of dark leafy greens is another serving. In White Bean Soup with Kale and Chorizo (shown), you can double the amount of kale or add chopped carrots, celery, red bell peppers, zucchini…the possibilities are endless.

•   Pile them on the pizza. Don’t hold back on the veggies!  Add extra veggies to a frozen pizza, order double veggies from delivery, or create your own where the sky is the limit.

Read more at Cooking Light