10 Easy Ways to Sneak More Fruits and Vegetables into Your Family’s Diet

We all know by now that we should be eating at least five servings of fruits and 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 there. We are constantly tempted to fill up on convenience and junk food. So we’ll 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, 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 some frozen yogurt or a scoop of ice cream in the smoothie. They won’t believe that you are letting them have ice cream for breakfast. Adding spinach, kale or carrots can be a great way to increase the amount of vegetables you’re consuming on a daily basis.

2. Add shaved veggies to a pasta dish. You can add shaved veggies to a pasta dish. Use a vegetable peeler to shave the veggies, then add them in during the last few minutes of cooking. This is a great way to sneak more fruits and vegetables into your family’s diet!

Add shaved veggies to a pasta dish with tomato sauce:

• Shave any type of summer squash or zucchini (or both), using either a mandolin or vegetable peeler.

• Toss with olive oil and season with salt & pepper.

• Add the shaved veggies along with the tomato sauce and cook for an additional three minutes until heated through

3. Add pureed fruit to pancake batter. Instead of adding oil or butter, use pureed fruit instead (it’s a great way to get more whole foods into your diet). You can also use pureed fruits in place of eggs and sugar in recipes. For example, you might be able to replace half the flour in a recipe with mashed pumpkin and spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves; no one would even know they were eating vegetables! Or try using applesauce instead of butter or oil when cooking potatoes—it adds moisture without making them mushy!

4. Use vegetable stock in place of water for cooking rice or couscous. Use vegetable stock in place of water for cooking rice or couscous. Vegetable stock is a good source of vitamins A, C and iron. It can be used as a base for soups, stews and sauces. Add chopped vegetables like spinach, carrots and kale to smoothies.

5. 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 some mayonnaise and cheese on bread. For low carb option try a lettuce wrap.

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

7. Let them drink their fruits and vegetables. Keep an assortment of fruit and vegetable juices in the fridge and encourage everyone to drink them as a snack. Get creative. You could start “family cocktail hour” by pouring everybody a glass of his or her favorite juice over ice. Add some straws, cocktail umbrellas and sit together to talk about how everybody’s day went. Best is if you can make your own juicer, using a juicer.

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

9. Offer fruits and vegetables as snacks. You can cut apples into slices and top them with peanut butter or cheese. Cube cheese and serve with grapes. Cut up some fresh veggies and serve them with ranch dip.

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, otherwise 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.

Fruits and vegetables are healthy for you because they contain vitamins, minerals and fiber—and they’re low in calories too! They’re also good at keeping you full longer—which means fewer snack attacks between meals (and less money spent on those snacks). Additionally, because fruit often contains natural sugars (like fructose), it tends to have less impact on blood sugar levels than other sources of carbohydrates like white bread or pasta does—making it easier for people with diabetes or pre-diabetes type II conditions to control their blood glucose levels by simply eating more whole fruit instead of processed foods full of refined sugars which may cause excessive spikes in blood glucose levels after consuming large amounts over time due to insulin resistance issues aside from just excess weight gain risks anywhere near where insulin resistance takes place like inner thighs thighs arms upper arms etc..

Conclusion

We hope you’re inspired to sneak more fruits and veggies into your family’s diet, and that we were able to give you some good ideas. If you have other tips for us, please share them in the comments below!

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.