Eat more fruit and veg!

There’s no doubt that fruits and vegetables are healthy for us and should be eaten on a daily basis. But if you’re struggling to find ways of incorporating enough of these healthy ingredients into your diet, then here are 5 easy ways to help you eat more fruits and vegetables!

1. Add chopped fruits to your breakfast cereal

If your usual breakfast consists of a bowl of cereal and a slice of toast, why not add some fruit to the mix? Even if you don’t have time to prepare yourself a mixed bowl of fruit salad, simply chopping some fruit and adding it to your cereal gives you a boost towards your five a day.

Good fruit options to add to cereal include strawberries, bananas, grapes, raspberries or blackberries. Grated apple also works well added to muesli.

2. Make your own tomato and vegetable pasta sauce

For a quick supper, that’s tasty, nutritious and suitable for all the family, why not make your own tomato and vegetable pasta sauce? Mix together a tin of chopped tomatoes, chopped onion, peppers and courgette, cook and then whizz to a smooth consistency in a food processor.

If you’ve got children who aren’t keen on eating their veggies, then this is also a great way of ensuring they get a healthy meal, without any obvious sign of vegetables!

3. Drink pure fruit or vegetable juice

One glass of pure fruit or vegetable juice, which is full of essential vitamins and nutrients, can count towards one of your recommended five a day portions (drinking more than one glass doesn’t count). Try varying the juice and trying new combinations – apple and carrot, anyone?

4. Swap mashed potato for mashed carrot, parsnip or swede

When you’re choosing vegetables to go with a meal, why not have a go at mashing a mix of carrot, parsnip and swede together, instead of potato? Boil the vegetables, then use a masher and a drop of skimmed or semi-skimmed milk to get a smooth consistency. It’s also a delicious alternative topping for Cottage Pie.

5. Make casseroles and stews with lots of added vegetables

Casseroles and stews are fantastic meal ideas for winter days, as they’re warming and filling. They’re also a great way of increasing your vegetable intake, as all sorts of vegetables can be added to the dishes – potatoes, carrots, onions, leeks, beans, peppers, garlic and swede, or whatever you have available.

As an added incentive, casseroles and stews can also be quite cheap to make, so are perfect if you’re on a budget. And if you have a slow cooker, you can add the ingredients in the morning and leave it on low to cook gently throughout the day, and be ready when you get home at night.

1. by crewmom March 23rd, 2011 7:02 am

   Great blog! Love all the info in one place. Question though: the people at my husbands office are all excited by a new diet. Its the nodiet diet. If I understand correctly, you do nothing different except drink liquid protein before bed. Sounds questionable. Have you heard about this diet? Oh and to make it that much more enticing the company has local radio DJs giving testimonials. So it sounds credible. But a little too good to be true. Would love your opinion.

2. by ann diet drops April 7th, 2011 10:37 am

   Way to go for a healthy diet. I always love to eat fruits and vegetables on my plate. I love green mango shake as well. It is tastier and delicious. Thanks for the tips.

3. by BMorris April 13th, 2011 1:50 am

   This is a good way to complete your 5 dailies. The tips are all good. Thanks Delilah for this nice post.

4. by vickie April 15th, 2011 3:38 pm

   Tried emailing you back but got a failed error message. I would love to talk to you and see how we can help each other out. LKet’s set up an appt to talk!

5. by Delilah April 18th, 2011 9:42 am

   Hey! My email adress is dietingdelilah@gmail.com, but now that I have yours I’ll write you an Email and then we can talk. Delilah

6. by Delilah April 19th, 2011 2:33 pm

   Your welcome BMorris! I’m glad I could help.

   Delilah

7. by mynet sohbet May 9th, 2011 9:24 am

   Sounds questionable. Have you heard about this diet? Oh and to make it that much more enticing the company has local radio DJs giving testimonials. So it sounds credible. But a little too good to be true yes he are wonderfull

8. by Lose Weight Fast June 25th, 2011 3:49 pm

   You have a good list there. Another good way to get your fruits and vegetables is green smoothies. They pack a lot of nutrition, taste good and are easy to make.

9. by Personal Trainer Toronto August 9th, 2011 10:48 am

   I really believe that fruits can make your meal even healthy and nutritious. Just for example adding fruit bits on your oatmeal.