As part of my employer's ongoing corporate health and wellness initiative, I attended a lunch-n-learn seminar earlier this week about getting enough vegetables. Actually, I requested the topic because it's an issue I struggle with, and I wondered if our nutritionist lady could help me out.Indeed, she did! Well, first, she kind of freaked me out with the suggestion that people should consume 5-7 servings of vegetables a day. What?! I'm lucky if I get three. 5-7 seems a bit insane. But that's nutritionists for you, telling you the truth whether you like it or not.
She explained a lot about why veggies are good for us (vitamins, fiber, health benefits, etc.) But she also provided some handy tips about how to boost your veggie intake. Here are some of my favorites:
- Toss chopped peppers, onions or broccoli into an omelet. This is good, because breakfast and veggies just don't "go" together for me. But I could eat 'em in eggs!
- Enjoy a grilled tomato and cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread.
- Pair hummus with grape tomatoes, cucumber slices or baby carrots.
- Add cooked peas to mac 'n' cheese, tuna casserole or other dish (we do this all the time).
- Mix and match greens, veggies, fruits, protein, nuts/seeds, cheese and dressing for salad variety and lots of vegetables in one meal.
Do you have any clever or tasty tricks for getting more veggies? I'd love to hear 'em. I have a long way to go ...
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9 comments:
I am with you- the thought of eating veggies makes me think of iceberg lettuce. I found some salad recipes (thanks to using Relishrelish.com, which the babytoolkit folks turned me on to) that I can eat IN BULK. My favorite one is spinach, a granny smith apple, a few golden raisins and a few pine nuts tossed with Good Seasons make your own italian dressing made with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. It takes about 5 minutes to get the salad together and I can add grape tomatoes, cucumbers, tons of other veggies and eat a pile. It tastes so good. I can't deal with a bag of salad + boring ranch anymore- finding some good recipes made a huge difference! I've also hear good things about "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld.
I love apples, esp honey crisp. you can just throw it into your purse! but dont forget. lol.
I like spinach, esp cooked b/c a whole plateful cooks down to a tiny bit. And v-8 helps too.
its hard to get all those veggiges in!
something i was thinking about last night at dinner- whenever I don't have a green vegetable planned, i put about a teaspoon of olive oil in a frying pan with a tablespoon of chopped garlic (i buy garlic in those big jars already chopped). Then I add anything green from the fridge- spinach, asparagus, mushrooms, pea pods, broccoli and sautee a few minutes. When cooked, add a splash of soy sauce. It is suprisingly tasty and goes with anything. Another veggie I made friends with thanks to Relish! was cauliflower. Sprinkle a head of cauliflower with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake until "roasted". I am sure you can find a recipe by googling roasting cauliflower- but it was really so easy- almost a non-recipe! I can only handle stuff that is easy (and tastes better than iceberg or raw, gassy brocoli. ick.)
I like to add veggies to whatever I'm having -- if I make tomato soup, puree some squash or zucchini or broccoli into it. Can't taste it, it makes it nice and thick!
Or if I'm making tacos, burritos, or something like that (I love Mexican food), I will add some chopped peppers and mushrooms to my beans and rice.
It can be really hard to eat veggies on their own...I find it easier to slip them in with whatever else I'm having.
Entree salads with grilled chicken, shrimp, etc,. You can also have 2 veggies with a protein at dinner (i.e. grilled chx breast, corn-on-the-cob, and steamed broccoli,) rather than a rice or potato.
I usually make my lunches for the whole week on Sunday by sauteeing some veggies and combining with rice or couscous and storing in single-serving containers. Then I just grab one and go in the morning. Pre-cut veggies make this even easier. For sauces, I use either balsamic vinaigrette mixed with pasta sauce, or taco seasoning and stewed or diced tomatoes. For protein I add beans or tofu. So easy and you can use whatever you have in the fridge!
I wonder what she thinks of V8? I'm sure as a processed food/drink it is not as healthy, but I think it is a good way to get lots of veggies. Maybe if you make your own in a super duper blender?
I looked up the "nuturionist lady" link that you posted and there is a woman sitting on a ball at her desk. Do any of you do this? I work with all men (only girl out of 10) and I would not hear the end of this but I'm almost willing to give it a try b/c it seems like such an easy thing to do. As for the veggies go, I'm the WORST at this. I loved Dana's idea about the roasted cauliflower and will give it a try. I'm not one for peas/carrots but I do love broccoli and almost all peppers (raw). Thanks for the suggestions!
I've sat on balls of various sizes instead of my desk chair over the years. I was actually thinking about trying it again this week since my back is killing me and I am feeling terribly lazy when sitting. The only thing I don't like about it is that you can't "wheel around"- like to fly over to a file drawer or zoom back to the phone or something.
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