Sometimes discussing nutrition and eating habits can be as controversial as talking politics or religion, however usually most people can agree on one thing: eat more vegetables.
Whether you’re meat-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, or on that stupid “cookie diet,” you can never eat enough veg. Here are 6 ways I’ve increased my veg intake, and hopefully it will help you increase yours. To chlorophyll and beyond!
1. Prepare ahead of time.
Schedule 10 minutes a week to chop up your whole veggies, place them in a container, add a little water and seal them in the fridge for an easy, healthy snack. I do this often when I am chopping up veggies for a stew, I make sure to chop a little extra to use in my scramble in the morning or to dip with hummus for lunch the next day.
2. Buy an “out of your comfort zone” cookbook. Try a Raw, Vegan, or Vegetarian cookbook to start experimenting. Surprisingly, (ahem) I didn’t come out of the womb knowing how to cook vegetarian dishes (When I talk about eating/cooking veg with people, the number one excuse is not knowing how to use them as main dishes)–most of what I know has come from books I’ve read, and my creative experiments.
You definitely don’t have to be a vegan or vegetarian to enjoy some really great vegan/veg dishes. I wrote a “Peas and Thank You” Cookbook Review, and have been enjoying this book so much lately. For raw recommendations, anything by Sarma Melngailis or Any Phyo’s are good “un-cook” books (sorry, dad humour…). If you are a little tentative about which book to buy and you’ve never really experimented with vegan cooking–go for one with lots of pictures. I realize that sounds very elementary, but it will be much easier to visualize your level of interest in an unfamiliar dish if there is some good food photography.
3. Blend it up
If you have been reading my blog for a while, it is no secret that I love green smoothies. I like them to be bright green like this Pineapple Cilantro yumminess.
However, if this color intimidates you, “green smoothies” don’t have to look green. Just add a handful of spinach to any fruit smoothie and you will be pleasantly surprised that you can’t see or taste the greens, but you will be reaping the nutritional rewards.
You can find loads of smoothie recipes on my blog here.
4. Start your Garden
Nothing will get you excited about eating vegetables like pulling them out of your own garden. I had my first garden this year when we were in San Jose (oh I miss it terribly) and it was one of my most fulfilling side projects to date. It’s difficult for city-dwellers, but even if “gardening” means having a small pot of basil indoors (or heck, an aloe plant), I promise you will feel more connected to your food and the process it takes to grow.
Plus, it’s a great way to teach kids the importance of eating healthy. Landon didn’t want to have anything to do with vegetables until he realized he could pull up carrots from our garden and eat them.
5. Reduce your processed food intake
Most processed food has so many sweeteners, preservatives, and salt that overstimulate our taste buds–that is how it’s DESIGNED to keep you coming back for more (cough*Pirates Booty*cough). If you rely on packaged food for the bulk of your diet, vegetables will taste bland and boring–especially if they are out of season. A few years ago, I cut out gluten, dairy, and sugar for a short time and I noticed that veggies became so much sweeter and the depth of flavor was astonishing. You don’t have to give up your Diet Coke or Doritos completely, just maybe reduce your intake, start adding in veg, and see what happens. Your gut will thank you.
6. Eat in Season
How pretty are those garden veggies? Thank you Sarah, for sharing your harvest with me!
Food harvested locally and in the proper season is so much more delicious and nutritious than the alternative. Out of season food has to be picked long before it is ripe, then shipped from a faraway land to then sit in your grocery store for a week before you buy it and let it sit in your fridge for who know how long. Think about the energy wasted and the toll on the environment? The sooner you eat your food after it is harvested, the more nutrients it maintains. The closer you are to the growing source of the food you are eating, the kinder you are to the environment (and the more delicious and ripe the food will be).
Anyone hungry for veggies? What do you do to increase your veggie intake?
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Your Picture turned out so pretty of the Veggies. I just got done making mine into Lasagna and I still have some leftover Zucchini so I am making Zucchini brownies too. The kids will never even know it is in there and because Zucchini are so high in water it replace the oil.