How is the Fruit and Vegetable Challenge going for you? Here’s hoping you loaded up your kitchen with lots of fresh and frozen produce and you’ve been enjoying a wide variety the past few days!
To encourage you on this journey, I wanted to share a few tricks I’ve learned to help my family get plenty of colorful, nutrient-filled, fruit and vegetable variety. It’s obvious that you should be serving side dishes of fruits and/or vegetables at every meal. But sometimes, that’s still not enough servings each day. We often eat them for snacks, so that gives us bonus fruits and veggies. But how about these ideas to get a wide variety and a large quantity:
1. Make Stir Fry
Our favorite recipe is this one: Easy Noodle Stir Fry. All four of my kids gobble this down, and there are usually three or four different vegetables included.
2. Eat Salads Often
There are so many different variety of greens, and so many fun and delicious add-ins to a salad. Homemade dressing makes salads amazing.
3. Make Smoothies
There’s no limit to what you can toss into a smoothie. (Okay, fine. I wouldn’t blend in a piece of steak. Tuna, maybe. Kidding! I’m talking fruit here.) You can get several servings of fruit and even veggies (by adding spinach or other fresh greens) in a smoothie.
4. Make Soup
Vegetable soup is an obvious way to get several servings in one meal. But any soup can be a great veggie source if you just add them in.
What other ways have you found to get lots of fruit and vegetables servings into one meal?
Bekah says
I’m blessed to live in a place with a fantastic farmers’ market year-round twice a week. On Saturday, we picked up organic mandarins (juiciest I’ve ever had), grapes, kale and purple carrots. Fun! At the grocery store we also bought organic spinach, butternut squash, bananas, kiwis, apples, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, and frozen vegetables and fruits. I would like a garden but don’t have a yard, but I would still say that we are very blessed! Thankfully, my family appreciates most of this good food.
Thank you for the yummy recipes and especially for your godly perspective.
Gina says
We’ve been doing great! I made a broccoli apple salad with homemade mayonnaise dressing(there was celery and dried cranberries in there as well) Sat. night so on Sun. we could have it with our chicken and potatoes (that my husband put in the slow cooker) after church and I have to say it was really nice to just pull out the salad and put it on the table and boom extra fruit and veggies. My husband loved it which is huge because he’s not big on the veggies. My son not so much although he did eat some of it-he said “Mayo does not belong on apples.” Well I’ll keep making it anyway because it was delicious and he’ll learn to like it-ha! Also we were blessed by some people at church with 2 bags of produce so there will be lots more salads and fruit eaten this week-yay! The Lord provides and we are so thankful!
Heather says
The farmers market is a great place to get fresh yummies but also a fun way to introduce new types into our diet. I don’t really have picky eaters but its a great way for me to show them I eat my fruits and veggies.
I got this great recipe from the book Dinner on a dime by Taste of home and its meatloaf with some shredded carrots in it. You really can’t taste them but its a good idea if you have a picky eater. And its yummy! Even the hubs comes back for 2nds!
Megan says
I’ve been increasing my variety, the best way to make it appealing. I made a mango peach smoothie this morning. The peaches were frozen puree from this past summer. I also enjoyed a cantaloupe, devoured over two meals, which was on sale. :)
Allison Morrill says
When my mother-in-law makes veggie tray so actually partially steams the cauliflower and the broccoli. It is amazing how fun it is to use dill dip with steamed veggies and they is easier for the toddlers to chew. We eat tons of spinach because it is a staple here. We eat byrek (http://missionarymomalbania.blogspot.com/2011/12/how-to-make-byrek-homemade-filled-phylo.html) all the time either I make it or someone else. Also, I shred carrot into spaghetti sauce. It adds the sweetness many homemade sauces lack without adding table sugar.
Allison Morrill says
In the summer I make my own smoothie pops (seasonal fruit, good unsweetened yogurt, ripe banana.) The kids love them. We also eat LOTS of watermelon with seed in season. It is so sweet here. When the fruit and veggies taste good, it is easier to want to eat them.
Jen says
For some reason, I always overestimate how many potatoes, carrots, onions and celery I need to go in the crock pot with a roast. I’m always left with a small to medium bowl of the veggies after the meat is gone. Last time it happened, I made a meatloaf a few days later, blended the leftover roast veggies, and replaced some of the filler (bread crumbs, oats, etc. depending on your recipe) and liquid with the veggie mixture. It was awesome, and I got rave reviews from my husband on the flavor of the meatloaf. Now I think I’ll always plan meatloaf a few days after roast on our menu. It was that good.
Kristin says
When I cook ground beef for tacos I add a large softball sized onion (chopped). After the meat and onion have cooked, I add Penzy’s taco seasoning then a can of black beans (drained and rinsed). As a bonus, it stretches my taco meat a little further. Fajitas are are also great for getting veggies. We make ours with chicken, sauteed peppers and onions, avocado and a squeeze of lime. We serve the fajitas with a veggie side and fresh fruit or smoothies.
On Sundays after Mass I love making veggie scrambles (quicker then omelettes). My favorite is Florentine style, eggs, tomatoes, frozen spinach (thawed and drained) and feta cheese. In the summer months, I switch to sauteed onion, zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms or green peppers, and havarti cheese. My husbands favorite is skillet, which involves fried potatoes topped with our favorite sauteed vegguies like, onion, mushrooms, green peppers, and raw veggies like, tomatoes and avocado, with shredded cheese on top. I put the plates under the broiler to melt the cheese. Both dishes served with fruit or smoothies.