How do you work in your 'Five A Day'?

[wovenwonder]

I believe that no matter what your eating plan is -- we should all still work on getting in the Five veggies and Fruits a day. For me it is 5 low carb veggie servings. What are some of the creative ways that you work in your healthy Five a Day? (I need all the help I can get - LOL).



I enjoy making creamy cauliflower soup. I cook off my cauliflower in some chicken broth until fork tender. I only use a small amount of broth -- enough to cover the bottom of the pan and 'steam' the cauliflower until soft.

Then I add some butter, cream cheese, chives, salt and peper, and sometimes a little cheddar cheese. Mix it up with the electric mixer until smooth. If its not quite the soup consistancy that I like then I add a bit of heavy cream.

I like it as is. But it is also great to use as a base for other creamed soups --- cream of Broccoli, cream of Aspargus, Cream of Broccoli and Cauliflower, etc.

 

[nativetxn]

Oh yum, that sounds really good.

 

[glo]

I am not a big veggie eater...so I sneak them in like instead of lettuce, I eat fresh spinach...eggplant is another thing I do it with because I bake it in olive oil with garlic, and mozzerella cheese and eat it as a meal...I love brocilli and eat it raw all the time with dressing...but I do not think I make 5 servings a day

 

[Jenzebelle]

I've been eating as much zucchini as I can stand. And fruit smoothies with skim milk.

I'm not a fruit lover, so it's been a hard thing for me to adjust to.

 

[bicker]

I do at least five per day, every day, and have, almost without fail, for over a year. And these are HMR servings (1 cup of veggies per serving) not USDA servings (1/2 cup of veggies per serving).

How? Myriad ways:

- Grab-and-go: There are always Granny Smith apples in a big bowl on our dinette table -- if the bowl is empty, an emergency run to the supermarket is in order. While not strictly grab-and-go, right now there are fruit cups (packed in juice not syrup) in the fridge; if we don't have those then we have canned pineapple, pears or peaches (packed in juice, not syrup -- "Fruit Naturals").

- High volume: Most of the time there is a big vat of some sort of veggie snack food in the fridge. Most often it is a big vat of three bean salad (85 cal/cup). Summertime it might be cucumber salad, or even just a whole watermelon cut into cubes. This week, it's spaghetti squash with mushroom ragout, which isn't a snack, but a full meal (with parm cheese): two cups is about 200 calories, and is almost three full HMR servings (since mushrooms cook down so much) -- about five USDA servings.

- New Veggies: I just posted a new thread, challenging folks to pick up a new type of exercise this week. Another strategy I had great success with is every so often I challenge myself to pick up a new vegetable that I've never used before and integrate it into my diet permanently. I've added asparagus, spaghetti squash and many others this way. Have you ever made artichokes? broccolini? turnip greens (for the Northerners)? This strategy extends to new preparation methods: You may have steamed zucchini, but have you ever grilled it?