This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Tropicana.
It’s funny, if you look at the USDA food pyramid… if you tried to eat as many servings of everything they want you to, it would be really really hard. (Well, at least the pyramid I grew up with. Not sure about the “my pyramid” or whatever the new one is.) NO ONE struggles to eat more bread, pasta, or rice though. And you know I don’t eat that stuff at all when I can help it. For me, Meats/eggs and veggies are at the top of the priority list, and fruit comes next. It’s natural for me now, but a lot of times people ask me how they can squeeze more produce into their diet, especially when they didn’t grow up eating much fresh stuff.
So here are some ideas.
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Start with Breakfast.
I’m not a huge breakfast person, just because I’m not usually hungry when I wake up, but when I do eat breakfast, I make it count. I try to eat a really protein-rich breakfast, whether it’s bacon and eggs, or breakfast sausage and (high protein) grain-free waffles. But it’s really easy to add vegetables by making an omelet or frittata. Just add onions, peppers, mushrooms, or whatever else you like! And waffles or pancakes are great with some fruit on top. Just heat berries with a little vanilla extract and a touch of honey for a great topping that’s healthier than syrup.
Redefine Lunch. - When I was a kid, I remember bringing lots of raw veggies in my lunch box, as opposed to a sandwich. I would have celery filled with cheese or peanut butter, carrots with a dip, raw green beans, broccoli, or whatever else caught my eye in the produce section of the grocery store. No one said lunch has to be a sandwich, wrap, or bowl of soup! But if you like your sandwiches or wraps, add flavor and nutrition by piling on baby spinach, tomato slices, roasted red peppers, olives, or anything else that sounds good. It’s also easy to veg-up soups. Another produce-rich lunch option is OF COURSE the “big-ass salad” (coined by Mark Sisson). Fill a bowl with dark greens and top with anything! Strawberries and bacon, artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes, olives and pepperoncinis, snow peas and water chestnuts, and don’t forget to add chicken, fish, ham, eggs, or another protein.
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Snack Attack.
Vegetables and fruits make fantastic snacks. Recently, I’ve been snacking on carrot sticks with hummus (yeah, I’ve gotten lax on the no-legumes thing). Another of my (weird) favorites is just a big bowl of beets. Either cold, or hot with butter and salt. I also like to blanch fresh green beans, snow peas, or sugar snap peas, and eat them with homemade ranch dip (sour cream with seasonings). Apples are great with a yogurt-almond-butter dip. All of these real food choices are better than those “100 calorie packs” and other convenience snacks that are available.
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Dish up Dinner.
Stop kidding yourself. Roasted potatoes are awesome, but they’re not packing much of a nutritional punch. And macaroni and cheese might be called a vegetable in southern diners, but, well… can you show me the plant it grows on? Make an effort to serve salad with your dinners, and to include one actual vegetable in your meal. Try something you’ve never had before. Or try an old favorite a different way. Pick up something you don’t recognize from the farmer’s market.
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Drinks and Desserts.
Smoothies (and even “Green smoothies” with spinach or kale), juice (veggies and fruit – I know people with juicers that basically throw the whole produce section in there), and healthy desserts. These are all a good way to get in some extra minerals and vitamins from produce!
Do keep in mind that without dietary fat, the minerals and vitamins in fruits and veggies remain “locked away” and are inaccessible to your body. So be sure to cook your omelet in bacon grease, add butter to your veggie soups, douse your salads with olive oil, eat your berries with cream, and roast your broccoli in coconut oil. Fat isn’t fattening. And you need it.
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I wrote this post while participating in the Tropicana Pure Premium/BlogHer program on behalf of Tropicana Pure Premium. I received product information to facilitate my post and monetary compensation for the time to write my post.
Hi! I'm Emily. I'm a Navy wife and stay at home mom of two beautiful children. I cook simple, delicious, grain-free recipes, do crafts, decorate my home on a budget, and keep a happy household. I tandem breastfeed, babywear, cloth diaper, practice elimination communication, homebirth, and co-sleep, but I'm not a hippie.
Without even thinking. Every meal is a fruit and veg for me, then some kind of protein, then some kind of grain/starch thing. But yeah. Gardener’s daughter.
JanPattersonRN recently posted..Babies are born competent
Normally, I plan my routine so I won’t have to reinvent what I like to eat and when to eat it. If you can set a pace, the rest will follow.
I am mostly a vegetarian-I eat salmon for the omega 3 fatty acids and no meat, fowl or other fish. I keep lots of fruits and veggies in the house in various forms (dried, canned, fresh and frozen). I kind of plan it. I have 1-2 snacks a day-usually dried fruit and nut mix, hummos with carrot/celery sticks, whole wheat crackers and cheese, a homemade fruit smoothie or Greek yogurt with some bananas and nuts. I usually drink 1 glass of juice with breakfast. For lunch and dinner, I have a side of salad or frozen/fresh vegetables. I put lots of steamed veggies in my lasagne, top my veggie burgers/chickenless patties with lettuce, onion and tomato and throw mushrooms into my spaghetti sauce. I made homemade minestrone soup with tons of veggies (mixed frozen veggies and kale or spinach). I keep a giant salad (salmon with Romaine lettuce, beans with veggies, lentils with veggies or cabage slaw in a vinaigrette) in my fridge to eat for lunch or as a side dish.
I give the kids V8 Fusion juice. I know it’s not the real deal, but it’s better than no fruits and veggies at all right? My 4th will eat fruit and my 2yo will eat veggies, but not vice versa! Lol
We plant a garden so we can have fresh spinach, peas, carrots. The kids go crazy for vegi’s fresh from the garden.
I plan ahead when I go shopping and make sure that I buy a variety of fruits and vegetables. I like to buy the pre-rinsed bags of salad and cut up vegetables for convenience. I also keep frozen and canned vegetables on hand. If it’s quick and convenient, I’m more likely to cook and eat it.
Rather than just using vegetables and fruit as a side dish, include them in your entrees and salads. For example, a salad is greatly enhanced with a few slices of apple, a skinless wedge of orange, and some cranberries. When I juice oranges, I save the pulp to add to rice and to put over chicken.
Twitter: OliveJohnson
says:
I tweeted!
http://twitter.com/#!/OliveJohnson/status/65140305485242369
Twitter: OliveJohnson
says:
I grow some of the fruits and vegetables that I eat in my backyard! I love salad with some pomegranate, one of the fruits I grow in my backyard. I also grow green beans, which I use a lot in my dishes, as well. My mom brought me up as a vegetarian, so I continue with that now. I make sure that I eat salad before lunch and dinner, and I snack on fruits and vegetables throughout the day! Love them!
Twitter: vsunnn
says:
Here’s my tweet!:
http://twitter.com/#!/vsunnn/status/64862996266090496
Twitter: vsunnn
says:
I have been a vegetarian my entire life, and I recently began living a vegan lifestyle, so there is no way I can live without fruits and veggies! I shop a grocery store that only gets produce from local farmers (surprisingly, their prices are very good!). I pack my lunch the night before. For breakfast, I make a fruit smoothie, using almond milk as the base. I pack celery and carrots with hummus plus a fruit for a snack, and quinoa with steamed vegetables for lunch. For dinner, I normally make a lentil soup with vegetables. I have to know what I will be eating the next day! As a student, it’s always grab & go for me! Thanks for this awesome giveaway!
Twitter: primitivefamily
says:
http://twitter.com/#!/primitivefamily/status/64843388033318913
Mari recently posted..Orange Chicken Recipe
Twitter: primitivefamily
says:
I plan a weekly menu, for dinners I always plan at least one veggie per dinner. I always have lots of fruits and veggies on hand so that is what we snack on often in our house. My daughter loves bananas, and apples and cream cheese. My fiance and I both love blueberries and heavy cream for dessert. Needless to say we never seem to be lacking for fruits and veggies.
Mari recently posted..Orange Chicken Recipe
http://twitter.com/#!/HappyTina0115/status/63440768467075072
I have a menu plan. I make sure my kids eat enough vegetables and fruit. I put veggies and fruit in smoothies too.
Twitter: amiraskitchen
says:
Now that I have little ones I really have been trying to eat better. We order and organic fruit and veggie bin every week. I try to make sure that we eat a good variety of fruits and veggies by ordering new things every week along with our regulars. Also I found this awesome product that encourages kids to eat fruit and veggies called “Today I ate a Rainbow” My two year old boy loves it!! http://www.todayiatearainbow.com/
Lindsay recently posted..Falafel
I am a weird-o when it comes to vegetables. I count potatoes, squash, cauliflower, and corn as carbohydrates. Everything green is a veggie. So a typical dinner plate will have a bean burger, 1/2 sweet potato, broccoli and asparagus. Or spaghetti squash with bean “meat”balls and green beans. I love veggies!!
I’m a southern gal and grew up on the farm. We raised whatever we ate. Used to love all the fresh stuff.
I’m a outhern gal and grew up on the farm. We raised whatever we ate.
I try to keep all the stuff I need for preparing meas on hand even though it’a just the two of us now. Kids are grown and gone
We signed up for a co-op box jam packed full of fruits and veggies. We paid $20 to sign up, and it’s $20 a week to continue with it. Because we try to keep our food bill down without starving ourselves or eating food that’s unhealthy, we strive to eat everything that comes in our box. We had quite an adventure with our box last week when it had an artichoke; neither of us had ever eaten a whole one before! But we searched online, figured out how to eat it, and had a blast. Our co-op box has expanded our hortizons, and our daughters look forward to digging into the fridge for apples, carrots and snowpeas.
We live in an urban area with a small back yard, but have managed to install 3 raised garden beds while maintaining some green grassland.
We love to walk through the garden and eat fresh fruits and vegetables straight from the vines.
Instead of potato chips, I make kale chips for snacks. Carrots taste like candy when they are young and picked fresh. And the strawberries are so irresistible that they get eaten before they ever make it into the house to be washed!
tweet.http://twitter.com/tcarolinep/status/58041134810800128
I plan ahead. And since we love smoothies,I put all veggies and fruit in, kids love it too much to care what’s in there. This trick works great with my picky eaters.
Twitter: sugarconfession
says:
I generally wing it. I hate to waste food, so if I have alot of fresh produce, I will usually eat that for snacks and with meals.
(that pic with the bacon and asparagus and eggs looks SOOO delish!!)
Brenda recently posted..Grain Free Cheesecake Brownies
I don’t tweet very often so I hope this works.
http://twitter.com/#!/bash147
For me, I tend to eat most of my veggies roasted. Broccoli, cauliflower, okra, asparagus, you name it. Roasting just gives a fabulous flavor and wonderful crispness to the veggies. Other than roasting, I do enjoy a BAS quite often.
tweet!!
http://twitter.com/#!/nellybarney/status/57682313504505856
nelly dot barney at yahoo dot com
my husband and i plan ahead! all of our meals and we stock up on a lot of fruit and veggies so we have it ready for we want a snack! we do a fruit smoothie for a drink in the breakfast and leftover smoothie for a snack at lunch. we try to have at least three diff veggies at dinner and mix anything we can into our salads! thanks for the chance!
nelly dot barney at yahoo dot com
tweet
http://twitter.com/#!/ChelleB36/status/57671907427885056
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
Tabathia B recently posted..CSN Stores Giveaway
I wing it, but I try to make sure that the kids eat sliced apples or bananas with breakfast
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
I feel terribly guilty when food goes bad at our house, so the way I eat more veggies is to buy TONS of veggies (and fruit)! It works!
I use a lot of shredded and pureed veggies in sauces and I take Juice Plus. I consider the Juice Plus my insurance that I get enough fruits and veggies.
I subscribe to a CSA that delivers a box of organic produce weekly all year round. I plan my menus around what is in the box, so I use it all up and force myself to try new things.
Rebecca A recently posted..Kombucha Me Baby
Vegetable tip: add shredded carrot to spaghetti sauce and cook 15-20 min. When I make meatloaf, I add a lot of shredded carrot, minced celery, mushroom, or any vege. raw or cooked.
I roast 3 garlic bulbs, and keep them in the frig, so i can serve them as a side with any lunch or dinner. Also, salsa is a vegetable (several vegetables); try to eat that on most everything. Also, i keep sliced onion in saltwater in the frig; serve as a garnish with any luch or dinner
This is so much like the primal blueprint. I love it. The pictures look wonderfully good. My favorite green is spinach, baby spinach, I cannot get enough. I put eggs and spinach in my magic bullet and scramble them. Before eating, I put a nice pat of butter, to make them glisten. Mouth watering. MMMMM.
Liz recently posted..A quick update and an answered prayer! Woo Hoo!
I like to load up on vegetables in the morning for breakfast. I make lacto fermented sauerkraut and beets and put those on my eggs. I also like a bowl of shredded beets and carrots mm with lemon and olive oil!
Carrot and beet sticks are great dipped in things too.
I can’t wait for farmers markets to open here!
I cut up a bunch of vegetables after I bring them home and store them in the fridge. That saves me the inconvenience of having to cut them up when I want a quick meal.
Matt
I just blogged about this myself! http://dallas.todaysmama.com/2011/04/veg-it-up/
I throw it in my go-to dishes.
I hide it in my dishes with purees.
And I slow cook them a LOT.
Arlington Mama recently posted..Rockin What I Got
I eat mostly meats and almost zero fruits (a berries every once in a while) but to get some good veggies when I go to the market I try and pick up vegetables of different colors.
Twitter: mirandabarzey
says:
I live by myself and work several jobs, so I’ve fallen off cooking lately. I try to keep vegetables in my diet by ordering real vegetable sides when going out, eating salads, and making egg muffins with lots of veggies thrown in.
But I clearly need to do better. Thank you for this post. Time to get my butt to the produce aisle!
We just wing it, but a plan would probably work better for us.
Danyelle recently posted..I heart faces- Shadows
i wing it. my body lets me know when i need to eat more veggies. but i love soups so my favorite way is veggie soup with some pasta or whole grains added in.
tweet-http://twitter.com/mami2jcn/status/57442382970503168
We plan ahead and try to incorporate fruits and veggies as much as we can. It’s tough because the kids aren’t overly fond of veggies, but they DO love fruit!
I have a menu plan with general recipes – the type protein and the flavor style, then the veggies vary according to price, availability, season. My focus each meal is “which veggies?” and “which fat and protein?” With that as my focus, I use whatever veggies sound good with the meal (and I’ve broken a lot of my standards with veggies
and what is should be used first before it goes bad. Sometimes I post on my menu board which veggies go with which meal, but usually, this method works. I love my greens now!
JenP recently posted..What Weve Been Eatin lately
We just get most (80%?) of our food from the farmers’ market, even here in upstate NY. We supplement with organic frozen fruits, but we mostly make a strong attempt not to shop otherwise. So: tons of veggies it is!
Does butter count instead of bacon grease? I’m afraid that I’m not that well read on fats, though I should be.
Twitter: JoyfulAbode
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yup butter is great.
Woohoo! I can justify my butter addiction. I love eggs fried in butter.
Oh, feel free not to count me. I was just commenting on the entry and didn’t even realize there was a contest going on.
Lynn recently posted..Point for The Kid
I menu plan, so when I’m working on our menu, I try to schedule a fruit or veggie at every meal. It’s hard because both me and my husband are picky eaters, but we’re getting better at it.