25 Ways to Eat More Vegetables and Fruits

Fruits and vegetables should be part of any good diet but fitting in all those servings can prove to be a challenge. Here are 25 fun, easy tips to make sure that you get your 5 to 9 a day, every day!



1. Buy fresh fruit and vegetables regularly.  Visit the grocery store at least once a week so you'll always have fresh, healthy food on hand;
2. Keep frozen and canned fruit and vegetables on hand;
3. Mix vegetables such as celery, onion and zucchini into meatloaf, burgers, chili, casseroles and omelettes;
4. Add fruit to your yogurt or cereal;
5. For kids, decorate plates with fruit or vegetables to make a smiley face and include a pure juice carton in their lunchbox;
6. Drink your fruits and veggies - have a glass of fruit juice daily. Freshly squeezed from a juicer is best;
7. Leave a bowl of fresh fruit out where it can be seen. Keep the non-refrigerated and refrigerated fruits and vegetables on a shelf at eye level. You're more likely to eat what you see;
8. Dress up fruits and vegetables to make them appear more appetising. Eat fruit like bananas, pineapples or strawberries with chocolate pudding, or buy a yogurt or cream cheese dip for fruit. Dip vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli and carrots in ranch dressing or vegetable dip, and eat celery with cream cheese;
9. Include berries in your morning pancakes;
10. Add strawberries, apples or oranges to a salad or make a dessert out of bakes apples or pears;
11. Snack on apple slices with peanut butter or caramel dip, chopped carrots and dip, chips and salsa or frozen fruit juice bars;
12. Include a fruit or vegetable in every meal and snack;
13. Blend together fruit for a nutritional breakfast smoothie;
14. Add vegetables and salads to your lunch;
15. Order extra vegetables on pizza;
16. Use extra tomato sauce in pasta dishes;
17. Grill fruit with chicken or eat fruit with ice cream for dessert;
18. Buy pre-cut fruits and vegetables for convenient snacks;
19. Mix one large chopped apple with a pound of lean ground turkey or chicken. Season with sage and rosemary and flatten into healthy breakfast sausage patties;
20. Toss a handful of beans or crunchy sprouts on your salad. Or, if you have a sweet tooth, add chopped apples or raisins;
21. Try veggie instead of meat lasagna;
22. Add frozen broccoli, green beans, corn or peas to pasta;
23. Make some soup. You can stick with the basics like tomato or vegetable soup or be creative and mix up some minestrone or veggie chili;
24. Add lettuce, tomato, onion, sprouts, cucumber, etc. to sandwiches;
25. Choose beans, coleslaw, corn on the cob, or a side salad instead of French fries.