3 Ways to Eat More Veggies

by Kaileigh Gaffney on September 24, 2021 0 comments

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Kaileigh is smiling behind a bunch of kale leaves.

If you saw the meal plan I posted this week on Instagram, you saw that it was all about eating more veggies! I noticed that I haven’t been eating enough vegetables lately and wanted to change that. That’s why I am focusing on incorporating more this week and wanted to give you some tips to help you do the same!

Though I am vegetarian, I honestly don’t always incorporate enough vegetables into my diet. It’s so easy for me to reach for crackers, chips, or bread instead. Sometimes I catch myself not eating enough veggies, but by meal planning with a theme for the week (aka. planning with intent), I actually have to intentionally figure out what veggies I’m going to incorporate each day. This helps me actually include them and be more mindful of how many I’m eating!

I am not very motivated by eating just plain veggies. Props to you if you are! I am envious. I love including vegetables in my main dishes so they are naturally combined. Way more motivating for me!

Hands holding green onion, carrot, and zucchini.

Here are my top 3 tips for eating more veggies:

1. Meal plan with intent

Plan your meals around veggies! I like to think of the base meal I want to make (e.g., enchiladas, pasta, veggie burgers, etc.) and then think about what veggies would pair well with it. Then I load those veggies up! For example, if I wanted to make enchiladas, instead of just making cheese enchiladas, I may saute onions, sweet potatoes, red bell pepper, and spinach together and fill the enchiladas with that mixture as well. When it’s all combined, I don’t notice each individual vegetable as much and have no problem eating them!

Just a little toddler side note: With our toddler, who can be a picky eater, if the vegetable is not cut up very finely so that it is incognito, he most likely will pick it out of his food and not eat it. Sometimes I choose to just keep exposing the vegetable to him this way (aka. give him exactly what we’re eating) and other times I may “deconstruct” the dish so each vegetable is on the side and expose him to the vegetables that way.

2. Decide to add ONE vegetable to each meal in your day

Notice I used the word “decide”? I have to intentionally choose to add more veggies to my meals for me to actually do it. By only committing to one vegetable per meal, it is more doable. For example, I like to add sauteed spinach or zucchini to my fried eggs and toast in the morning.

3. Cut your veggies up and put them on display in your fridge!

When the veggies are unwashed and hidden away in the drawer in my fridge, they are honestly out of sight out of mind for me. This not only leads to a less nutritious diet but also a lot of food waste…which also leads to money down the drain. It’s a ripple effect. On the other hand, if I wash and cut the vegetables so they are easily accessible for me and the family, we are all more likely to reach for them. When your veggies are washed and ready to go, it also means that dinner will be much faster and easier to prepare!

Take some time over the weekend or soon after your grocery haul to wash and cut your vegetables. This doesn’t have to take a long time…since us mamas don’t have a long time to do anything really! Set a 10 minute timer and see what you can get done in that amount of time. When the timer goes off, that’s it – don’t do anymore. Just these 10 minutes will make a huge difference!

*A little trick: Store vegetables like sliced carrots, celery, cucumber, and zucchini in a jar with water to keep them fresh longer and so they are an easy grab-and-go snack!

I hope these tips help you incorporate more vegetables into your family’s meals. Healthier kids and in turn, healthier families, start one meal at a time!

If you try out any of my tips, let me know in the comments below or by tagging me on Instagram @supermom.eats! I can’t wait to hear from you. 🙂