How To Sneak More Vegetables Into Your Diet
Here are 8 of my favorite ways to bulk up my meals with fiber-rich vegetables:
1. Eat at least one salad per day. I eat a salad for lunch or dinner almost every single day. You can have a salad as an appetizer, or simply replace a meal with a salad. Because the bulk of the salad (salad greens and other vegetables) are so low-calorie, you can add some of your favorite, more calorie-dense foods on top: I love eggs, avocado, walnuts, sunflower seeds, cheese, or even small amounts of bacon to add flavor to my salads. The salad itself is usually mixed organic greens (the more variety, the more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants,) green peppers, cucumber, sprouts, carrots, or any other great veggies I have on hand.
2. Quit with the boring sandwiches. If you're going to have a roast beef sandwich, why not make it a roast beef, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, green pepper and sprouts sandwich? It'll be much bigger, much more filling, and much more flavorful! You can even have a vegetarian sandwich. One of my favorites is homemade veggie sandwiches in the panini grill with Swiss cheese. Some great veggies for such sandwiches are cucumbers, green peppers, tomatoes, and mushrooms.
3. Have a veggie pizza. Skip the pepperoni, beef, and Canadian bacon, and throw on the veggies instead. You'll save a lot of calories while feeling more full and more satisfied. Better yet, make a homemade pizza and enjoy extra fiber from the whole wheat pizza crust.
4. Enjoy stir-fry. Stir fried vegetables are healthy and delicious, and are very quick and easy to make. Also, you can get healthy stir fry meals at Thai food restaurants. My husband's very favorite type of food is Thai food (which is common here in WA) because of all of the delicious veggies. One of my favorite meals to make for my family takes probably fewer than 10 minutes to prepare. I just defrost some stir fry veggie mix (from Costco, in the frozen veggies section,) in the fridge. Then I get a wok very hot and add a tablespoon of canola oil. I throw in the veggies and a little chicken breast, and quickly stir fry them. (Teryaki sauce or soy sauce add good flavor.) Sometimes I serve it on brown rice (quick and easy in the rice cooker,) or Japanese noodles. Yum!
5. Buy convenience products. That's right, veggies are now convenient! You can buy a bag of broccoli and cheese (or other varieties) that you just pop into the microwave, open, then pour onto a plate to eat. It couldn't be much easier. And, instead of a tiny serving of junk food, you have a large and filling snack that fuels your muscles and boosts your metabolism.
6. Super Soup. You can buy healthy, low calorie and high fiber soups that can be quickly heated in the microwave. You can also make your own healthy soups by adding vegetables and stock to a slow cooker.
7. Add vegetables to everything. If you're having a chicken taco, add tomatoes, onions, and peppers. If you're cooking lasagna, add some spinach to the recipe. Spaghetti tastes better with added onions, tomatoes, and peppers. If you look, you'll find plenty of opportunities to sneak in the extra veggies. And you'll find that everything you eat is just that much more satisfying.
8. Eat vegetables first. If you crave junk food, try eating a salad or a plate of green beans first. You may just find that the craving goes away. And even if it doesn't, you're likely to eat less of the troublesome food.
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