Tuesday was “Eat the Rainbow” day for the Lindsay’s Elf4Health challenge. In addition, the Holiday Sweat Challenge was offering a bonus point for eating 9 fruits and veggies. As an added incentive, Beer Geek was working in the office, which meant lunch was definitely going to be brussels sprouts. (Yes, I can only eat them when he’s not home…)
[Tweet “Looking to add more fruit and veggies to your diet? I’ve got you covered! #holidaysweat”]
Breakfast: oatmeal with almond butter and berries
Snack: cauliflower with red pepper hummus
Lunch: Brussels sprouts with ham, blue cheese and walnuts (OMG, so good!) and Dr. Praeger’s veggie burger wrapped in lettuce (Just microwave your brussels sprouts for about 3 minutes and then toss them under the broiler with walnuts for a few minutes. Remove from oven and add some blue cheese (and ham or bacon if you like meat). I could eat this every day, but Beer Geek hates the smell LOL.)
Snack: grapes
Dinner: Chicken stuffed with broccoli, salad, and quinoa topped with salsa
1. Make sure you include veggies or fruits in your breakfast
- have a smoothie
- add veggies to an omelet
- add berries or other fruit to your oatmeal or cereal
2. Eat two veggies at your meals
- eat a second veggie instead of a carb
- add veggies to your carb
- have a cooked veggie and a salad
3. Make meat a condiment (or leave it out entirely)
- make a veggie a stir fry
- soup is a great way to combine LOTS of veggies (Here are some of my veggie friendly soups!)
- replace meat with mushrooms or eggplant or some other “meaty” veggie in a standard casserole
4. Sneak in veggies
- Salsa is my most frequently used condiment. I’ll flavor my rice, quinoa, or potato with it. I mix it with a bit of Greek yogurt as a salad dressing, I dip my veggies in it, I add it to soup for a little kick. Seriously, I think we go through a jar every other day.
- Use veggies cut as noodles instead of pasta
- Use cauliflower as rice or pizza crust (here’s a great pizza crust recipe)
5. Have fruit for dessert. I admit it – I’ve got a HUGE sweet tooth! Given a choice, I’d eat chocolate at every meal. Or as the meal.
- Spread a little almond butter on an apple or banana.
- Cook a pear or apple with a little cinnamon and walnuts.
- Must have chocolate? Melt a few chocolate chips and drizzle them over berries or a banana
How do you get more fruits and veggies into your life? All tips welcome!
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Thanks to Jen for hosting WIAW!
Great tips! My lunch always has “sides” of some raw veggies and a piece of fruit. It’s easy enough to throw in the lunch bag and take to work. And I always have frozen spinach and frozen peas at home as they’re easy to throw in almost any meal in case I feel like it’s missing some green.
I actually cut up a head of cauliflower this week and put it in a bowl in the fridge. As you might imagine, I’ve eaten a lot more of it than usual. (And I eat a lot of cauliflower in general…)
All great tips! I’ve been able to meet my 5-7 servings of freggies each day, but haven’t gotten up to 9 any day yet this week. Hopefully I’ll be able to before the end of this week!
One of the tricks for me is to make the veggie serving bigger than a single serving and cut back on some of the other stuff. So, I’ll have a huge pile of brussels sprouts and a scant spoonful of quinoa… Really adds up if you do that consistently.
Thanks for linking to my pizza crust! I hope you liked it! How do you like to eat your brussel sprouts??
It’s the best one I’ve found… I like my brussels roasted, preferably with walnuts and blue cheese. So good.
We do eat the rainbow at our house. I love pretty and colorful food! Good tips.
I am always trying to add more veggies into every meal. Fruits I am bad at. I’ll buy fresh and it always goes bad by the time I get around to eating it.
Good tips. We always eat 2 veggies instead of a carb. And, one of my rules is to eat your colors!
Great suggestions! I’m working to get more veggies back in my diet. I love making green smoothies, they help a lot! I’ll have to check out those soups! #wowlinkup
It’s really not that hard to get the veggies in! I love to start out with a veggie omelet and go with a big salad at lunch.
For me its not that hard getting my vegetables in because I load up when I eat salad. Its definitely a lot harder to get my fruits in because we dont have a lot of good options in my dining hall. I try my best to incorporate it the best i can like adding fruit to my oatmeal or an apple as a snack.
oooh this is one thing I rock!!
I Just snag the raw precut 🙂
Great tips! I am a veggie freak and incorporate them in everything…usually my smoothies. Last night I made a turkey and broccoli rabe pizza!
great tips!
I cut up veggies and put them in my sauces to increase consumption. It is a great way to sneak them in to the kids as well who tend to balk and cry about eating veggies. The older I get though the more I like vegetables and the taste of them. #wowlinkup
Fabulous tips! I always try to eat the rainbow as much as possible. It’s a great way to get all my fruits and veggies in each day #wowlinkup
This post is perfect…I really have to figure out more ways to get more veggies into my diet. Breakfast is definitely a great way to get it started..green smoothies especially.
I love these tips! I use salsa all the time too. And I shred carrots into anything and everything, including my daughter’s sunflower seed butter sandwiches. 🙂