In our Vegetables Overview article, we reviewed the benefits of eating vegetables, but that's only half the battle. Now it’s time to ensure you are fitting in the minimum 5 servings a day as part of a healthy eating pattern. Consider these tips to help you get started (and keep up with) eating those vegetables!
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Add an extra cup of fresh, canned, or frozen vegetables to your soup (both homemade and/or store-bought soups).
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Add two vegetables to your sandwich. Some ideas include adding lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, sprouts, or hummus. Get creative!
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Add vegetables to your morning hot cereal. Possibilities are endless, but a few ideas include adding bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, spinach, collard greens, or corn.
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Use a pureed vegetable soup in place of tomato sauce for your pasta dishes.
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Eat vegetables first at all your meals. Studies have shown this can also help with preventing overeating at meals.
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Leave a display of fresh or fake vegetables on your kitchen counter or dining table to serve as a reminder to eat your vegetables. Vegetables that store well at room temperature include garlic, onions, shallots, hard squashes like winter, acorn, spaghetti, and butternut, potatoes, yams, and tomatoes.
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Use all forms of vegetables—fresh, canned, and frozen. Canned and frozen vegetables often get a bad rap. However, these forms of vegetables still provide great nutrition! When using canned, pick low sodium or no added salt options. Sources vary on how long to rinse canned vegetables for under water. Here’s a tip: drain first, then run under lukewarm water in a colander as you sing the alphabet.
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Include vegetables with a meal or snack time that are consistent. For example, make a goal to always have a vegetable with your afternoon snack and a vegetable daily with your dinner.