Five Ways To Boost Your Veg Intake
5 ways to boost your veg intake:
This week is National Nutrition Week and what better way to boost your nutritional intake than ensuring you're eating enough veg?! Today I want to share five easy and fun ways to meet the recommended 5 serves of vegetables per day.
Before we get into it, it's important to know what a serve of veggies actually looks like. Put simply, a serve of vegetables is:
1 cup of raw vegetables
1/2 cup of cooked vegetables
ADD THEM INTO SMOOTHIES
Hiding veggies in your smoothies is a fun way to sneak them in. Whether it's the standard leafy greens like spinach and kale, or things like zucchini, cauliflower, beetroot or pumpkin, there's many ways to add them in. My Nourishing Smoothies eBook contains over 55 smoothie recipes, many of which contain hidden veg.
SNACK ON THEM
Vegetables can make a delicious and nutritious snack! Chop up some veggie sticks, add them to a nutritious dip (check out my Basil Pesto & Butter Bean Dip), make some kale chips or sip on a warming vegetable broth (like this mushroom broth). The options are endless! Check out this snacking guide with over 50 snack suggestions, many of which include veggies.
AIM FOR 2 SERVES PER MAIN MEAL
Whether you're enjoying a comforting bowl of pasta or putting together a colourful nourish bowl, it's great to aim for a minimum of 2 serves of vegetables in each meal. It's easier than you may think and helps to increase the variety of foods you consume. You can find plenty of delicious recipes with 2 or more serves of veg here.
HIDE THEM IN SWEETS
Did someone say choc zucchini loaf, carrot cake or sweet potato brownies? There are SO many ways you can hide veggies into your sweets - it boosts the nutrition profile and often enhances the taste. Another thing I love hiding in sweets is beans. Hear me out, they're delicious! Try my Cookie Dough Bites, Choc Black Bean Cake or Blueberry Blondies and you'll see what I mean.
GET CREATIVE WITH YOUR BREAKFASTS
Switch it up between sweet and savoury breakfast options and incorporate veggies when you can. For example, this Red Velvet Overnight Oats recipe tastes like dessert but contains hidden beetroot! Savoury breakfasts are easy to add veg into, whether you're making a omelette, shakshuka or breakfast bowl, change it up and don't be afraid to bulk up the vegetables.
I hope this helps you meet your daily veggie requirements and learn to love veg! Make eating enough vegetables a habit, so it becomes second nature. Get started by consciously adding more veg to meals and doing so with consistency.
If you want to learn more about how to make healthy eating a habit, make sure you sign up to the Habitually Healthy waitlist to be the first to know when the next round is open.
About
With over 5 years of experience in the nutrition and natural health industry, I’ve seen time and time again that health doesn’t have to be hard or complicated. It’s all about coming back to the basics, focusing on eating real foods, building healthy habits and getting our mindset right.
