Eating vegetables does not have to be hard or mean more time in the kitchen. These 11 easy ways to eat more vegetables will have you munching in no time.

Rob agreed to do something I have been wanting to try for a long time this past month.


He agreed to try being mostly vegetarian for longer than a week.

Three years ago, we started eating meatless meals twice a week. In January, we tried being meatless for a full week. At the beginning of May, Rob said he wanted to try a full month.

There were a few catalysts for this:

  1. I have been pushing to have fewer meat-based meals.
  2. COVID-19 hit and meat became scarce and money got tight.
  3. We have watched a few documentaries over the years on how plants can more positively impact our bodies than meat.
  4. Rob ended up needing stitches in his fingers (he is ok!) after an incident with a basketball hoop pole and learned that his blood pressure is in the higher range of normal.

When I say that we went “mostly” vegetarian, I mean we ate a dinner with meat once a week. This was simply because we have some meat in the freezer already and do not want it to go to waste.

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The results of a month being vegetarian for a month?

Nothing concrete in terms of a lowered blood pressure or weight loss, but:

  • our grocery budget came down a bit
  • I had a blast experimenting with new recipes (and slipping in a few vegan ones)
  • my mid-day sugar cravings are pretty much gone – This happened in tandem with me turning to tea as a mid-afternoon treat instead of chocolate chips or ice cream.
  • No bloating
  • No heavy and lethargic feelings after meals or the next morning
  • We are both actually eating less, though this could be because we have three kids and there is barely time to feed ourselves.

Ensuring that we get enough protein during the day has been our biggest struggle going vegetarian, but we were finally able to get the hang of it in the last week by being diligent about the types of snacks we eat – think trail mix, yogurt, nut butter, cheese, and hummus – and avoiding empty nutritional value foods like chips and cookies.

If you are ready to start eating more vegetables, but not quite ready to go full vegetarian, there are a few places you can start. This list of 11 easy ways to eat more vegetables will make filling up your day with nutrient dense produce so much more simple and less arduous.

11 Easy Ways To Eat More Vegetables

As you dive into this list, make sure that you are picking the steps that are realistic and sustainable to your current life. The last thing I want is for you to overwhelm yourself with trying to add this in all at once. Pick one for the week and then add in another one for next week.

Make snacking vegetables

There is always a food storage container of washed, peeled, and chopped carrots in the fridge ready to go. If there is time, there are also containers of sliced cucumbers, peppers, and celery.

Having snacking veggies on hand makes us much for likely to grab them for a snack because they are done rather than reaching for a handful of chips.

Experiment with new ways to cook vegetables

I am sure you have your tried and true methods for cooking broccoli or preparing green beans, but there are so many different ways to make them delicious.

Commit to trying a new cooking method for some of your vegetables and you might find you like a different way better. For instance, I now think roasted broccoli is so much better than steamed.

Add a few vegetables to your smoothie

I love making a smoothie for breakfast because I can eat it one handed and throughout the morning of getting the kids ready for the day. With it being my go to, I wanted to find ways to incorporate some vegetables into it.

Shelby from Fit as a Mama Bear introduced the idea of adding carrots to my smoothie and it was delicious! You cannot even taste them. I took that a step further and now a standard smoothie includes a full carrot, half a cucumber, two celery stalks, and two large handfuls of spinach.

Learn more about what you need to know about smoothies and protein powders in this post.

Meal plan your vegetables first

If you are not already meal planning for your week, you are doing yourself and your food budget a disservice.

When you do meal plan, instead of starting with the meat first, start with the vegetables first. This is probably a change in thinking for many, but choosing the vegetables you want to eat first ensures you are getting at least one full serving of veggies on your plate before you pick a meat.

Meal planning will also help you know exactly what you need to buy at the grocery and make sure you actually eat what you purchased instead of having to just throw it all out at the end of the week.

Meal prep a few ingredients

For whatever reason, preparing vegetables can seem more difficult than preparing meat at first. I can say that after of a month of eating mostly vegetables, I love preparing vegetarian meals way more than meat ones. There is nothing to defrost, you do not have to stress about contamination, and you do not have worry about reaching a certain temperature.

Meal prep a few ingredients to help make your meal come together quicker. You could prep a large batch of quinoa or chop your broccoli ahead of time. Get a list of more meal prep ideas that take 20 minutes or less here.

Buy pre-made vegetables

If the work that goes into preparing vegetables is stressing you out, go with the pre-made options. You can buy steam-able bags of vegetables, precut vegetables, precooked vegetables in salad bars, and use meal delivery services to take all the planning and stress out of it.

Whatever you need to do to find a way that works for your family to get more vegetables on the table, do it.

Start Meatless Monday

I do not recommend that you jump into being vegetarian, or seriously increasing your vegetable intake, all at once. This has been a three year process for us with much research, experimenting, and discussion.

Start slow with a Meatless Monday meal. Once you have established a few vegetarian meals that your family enjoys, you can incorporate a second meatless meal during the week.

Get a whole list of 18 Meatless Meal ideas here.

Try a new-to-you vegetable

One issue you may be having with eating more vegetables is that you are tired of the same old ones in your weekly meal rotations.

Break out of your comfort zone and try something new. This could be the exact new life you need to get excited about cooking again and included vegetables in your meals more.

Sneak them into baked goods

Though I am not personally a huge fan of baked goods, I know many people are. You can find a ton of recipes that use vegetables beyond your standard zucchini bread.

Two fo my favorite bloggers for this are Lindsay from The Lean Green Bean and Megan from Skinnyfitalicious.

Keep some vegetables in the freezer

While I am a huge advocate for having fresh vegetables on hand, that may not always be possible. Keeping a few bags of frozen vegetables in your freezer can make meals come together easier, especially at the last minute.

Pick one of these strategies to try this week. Then pick another one for the next week. Before you know it, you are going to be a vegetable-eating fiend!

 

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