Here are 10 new ways to get your family to eat more Fruits & Vegetables

Of course, we all know that we are suppose to be eating 5-9 servings of fruits a vegetables every day. However, knowing and doing are two  totally different things. I know, its not always easy getting them all in everyday, but you must try. We are all tempted by the easy to reach junk food that just seams to be starring you in the face at home and at work. If your family is anything like the typical American family, they’d much rather munch on a bag of Cheetos or a bowl of popcorn, than a plate of apples, or a plate of steamed Brussel sprouts. We’ll just have to get creative then wont we? Here are 10 ideas for you to implement today.

1. Make a smoothie for breakfast.
Simply add fruit for flavor, and a few vegetables for nutrients, some water, low-fat yogurt, and ice in a blender. You can also add a scoop of your favorite protein powder (Elite Fitness has its own protein powder for this). Next, Blend for less than a minute and bam, you have a delicious and healthy smoothie that you can drink on your way to work, or at work if you are not hungry right away. Your kids will love it because they will think that they are having fro-yo or ice-cream for breakfast.

2. Ever think about dried fruit?
There are so many options when it comes to this awesome snack. You can add a baggy of raisons to your kids school lunch, a cup of yogurt with dried apricots to your husbands briefcase, and keep a stash of trail mix handy so you don’t enter the starvation phase. I personally love dried mangos.

3. You can add some fruits and vegetables to sandwiches.
Bananas, apples, celery, and carrots pair great with a sandwich. Maybe even slices of bananas in the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. For the adults, turkey on whole grain, with spinach, tomato, and a pickle on the side is heaven. You can even experiment with making sub style sandwiches that have tons of vegetables. Careful with the mayonnaise though, I prefer mustard.

4. Have the salad bar at dinner.
Place a variety of chopped vegetables with some cheese,, and croutons on the kitchen counter. Get the kids involved. Use spinach instead of lettuce. Spinach is were all the nutrients are, lettuce is made up of mostly water. Don’t worry about the kids not liking spinach, if they see you eat it and enjoying it then they will too.

5. Drinking fruits and vegetables is the way to go.
If you keep an assortment of these in your fridge, then encourage everyone to take turns creating their own mix (remember, fruit has all the sweetness, so balance it out with the vegetables), you can call it ‘Family cocktail time.” Be creative and add some cocktail umbrellas, some wacky colorful straws and sit around talking to each other about how your guys day was.

6. OK, here is a fun one.
Grab a bowl of ice-cream or frozen yogurt for dessert and add tons of fresh frozen fruit. Things like berries, mangos, kiwi, bananas should do the trick.

7. Fruits and vegetables for snacks.
celery with peanut butter and raisons on top. Sliced apples with peanut butter or cheese. Cubed cheese with grapes. Cut Veggies with a dip. And even a charcuterie board full of fruits, meats, crackers, cheese, and veggies- make a picnic out of it.

8. Have an experiment day!
A day where you pick out some new and interesting fruits & vegetables that you never had before. With some luck, you might find something that your family actually likes. Going to the grocery store together just for this experience will be fun.

9. Make a soup or a stew full of veggies and some meats.
It can be a great comfort food when its cold. 

10. You can start a “My Veggie Day” with a calendar on the fridge.
Each family member gets to pick one for the day as long as they have tried it before. If they cant think of anything, then they lose a turn and Mom gets to pick.

Add any of these ideas, but one at a time (does not have to be in order). This will insure that you have plenty of ideas for a long time. Trying to do them all at the same time with be overwhelming. Also, you will run out of ideas, and then get bored fast. One or two at a time until it becomes a habit.

Leave a comment in the comment section below to let us know which one of these ten worked well for you and your family.

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