“Eat your veggies!”
I'm sure this is something we all heard from our parents growing up, and they weren't wrong!
We all know vegetables are important, yet we still don't incorporate as many veggies as we should into our daily eating habits.
Regardless if you are doing the 800 Gram Challenge or not, I think we can all agree trying to increase your intake of fruits and veggies will not only help you in the gym but improve life outside as well.
If you are struggling finding ways to add those fruits and veggies to your plate we’re here to help. Here are three tips to help you get your daily dose of fruits and veggies!
1. Veggies for Breakfast
Start your day off strong by getting some of those grams first thing in the morning. The thought of adding vegetables to your breakfast can almost seem like a taboo topic for some, but we’ll show you it’s easier than you think.
If you are already making smoothies, here is an easy one for you. Add those greens right into that delicious fruit smoothie. We promise, you won’t be able to taste spinach or other greens if you add things such as berries and maybe a nut butter.
Smoothies aren’t your thing? Like to prep your breakfast ahead of time? This one is perfect for you. Egg muffins. Yes, we said it. Just think of eggs and veggies in the shape of a muffin. Chop up some veggies, put them into a muffin pan, and pour eggs on top of the veggies. Then bake at 350 until cooked thoroughly. Prepping ahead with this recipe can be an easy way for you to guarantee, no matter how crazy your morning is, that you will get those veggies in.
This last idea can feel like it is a bit more time consuming but rest assured we have some time saving tips for you. This is a great way to incorporate extra veggies first thing. No fancy name for this meal, just a simple hash. A hash could include: sweet potatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, onions, greens, plus or minus whatever else you have in the fridge at the time. Top it off with two over medium eggs or if the thought of runny yolks is repulsive to some, non-runny works as well. Not an egg person? Adding some kind of ground meat or protein of your choice is an alternative, which also makes this meal great for weekly meal preps.
Most of us being stuck at home during this time lends to extra time to make a breakfast like this, so what happens when everyone is back to normal schedules? How would you have time to implement this meal idea into your everyday? Pre-cooking the vegetable hash so you only have to heat it up and fry up some eggs quickly can be a solution. Also pre-chopping all veggies to cook day of will save time.
2. re-think Desserts
Dessert doesn’t just have to be sugar filled cakes, or processed sweets. What if we told you, you could enjoy dessert and also make a dent in your overall intake of fruits?
Good old fruit can serve as a tasty dessert. You can dress it up by adding melted dark chocolate, or any other toppings, let your creative juices flow.
Ice cream? Yes, ice cream! Something as simple as blending frozen bananas and a small amount of almond/dairy milk with some added vanilla extract can really fill that craving. You can also add additional berries, cacao nibs/chocolate, and some walnuts. Again, feel free to get creative with this one.
3. Make Veggies enjoyable
Do you scarf down your veggies because they're bland and tasteless? and continue to do so because that's how you think eating veggies is supposed to be?
I have news! It doesn't have to be like that. Properly seasoning veggies with salt and various spices can be a quick and easy way to add flavor.
Sneaking veggies into meat dishes is also a great way to add lots of flavor to veggies. If you're cooking a meat sauce of some sort throw in spinach, mushrooms, onions and garlic; Blend it up and you won't even know they're there!
Preparing tacos or hamburgers? Cut zucchini and squash into small cubes and mix it in with ground meat. This is especially great for getting the little ones to eat veggies.
Last but not least, stews and soups are great way to get lots of vegetables into one meal. Pick a broth, add in meat or legumes for protein, then throw as many veggies in the pot as you can!
Getting your veggies in doesn't have to be dreadful. Use these three tactics to get your daily dose of fruits and veggies in while actually enjoying them!