5 Delicious Ways to Add More Vegetables to Your Diet

These days, the decision to add more vegetables to your diet is a necessity one for healthier living. Vegetables are rich in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, beef up the immune system, and the fiber in them encourages a regular and healthy bowel and helps you lose weight by making you feel fuller. No wonder so many people are looking for ways to add more vegetables to the diet. But with our busy to-go lifestyles, getting enough vegetables in your diet can be challenging. According to the new food guide pyramid, an active adult needs between 5-7 servings of fruits and vegetables every day, which means that culinary creativity is a must! Here are five ways to add healthy vegetables to your diet.

Smooth it Over: Want a recipe for a delicious smoothie? Just take 1c soy milk, 1/2c ice, 1 container of flavored yogurt, and add a sweet vegetable: shredded carrot, beet, celery, sweet potato, cool cucumber, or pumpkin to blender. The mixture is a delicious veggie and fruit rich drink that can really give you energy. With this method, it is easy to add more vegetables to your diet because the delicious drink will soothe morning hunger while helping fulfill daily veggie requirements. No time to add whole veggies and wait for the chop?

Bake it In: Very few people have not heard of carrot cake or zucchini bread, but other delicious dishes can be discovered by adding veggies. Make a fiber-rich wheat roll even better by adding diced celery and dried tomato to the dough. Add carrot shavings to your bran muffins. Add green bean paste to your corn bread. Cook a delicious mashed potato roll and substitute turnip for half of the potato mix. You won't much notice the changes, but your body will appreciate the extra vitamins.

Pasta Perfection: The most common way to eat spaghetti is in a red or white sauce with meatballs. Next time, try substituting the meat with pumpkin, squash, and peas or adding steamed veggies to the recipe. Squash is a wonderful source of vitamin A and fiber. Some varieties of squash contain phytonutrients (a cancer figther), b vitamins, and even potassium. When you add vegetables to the diet like squash instead of meat, you are also adding fewer calories and fat than a hunk of ground beef.

Snack Away: One of the most popular ways to add more vegetables to your diet is to graze. Snacking on raw veggies is great exercise for the teeth and can encourage healthier eating habits by taking the place of less healthy chips and crackers. A great way to add variety is try new vegetables that aren't necessarily known for finger food fortuity. Try snow peas, squash, raw potato (with the skin), and even strip-cut onion in addition to popular raw veggies like celery and carrots. Experiment with dip varieties, and even cream cheese. Your snack may just add years to your life! If you don't like eating raw veggies, consider changing their shape. Purchase veggie crackers and spread a thin layer of cream cheese with juilenne strips of veggies carefully lain across. The benefit is a delicious alternative to plain vegetables and is a wonderful way to add more vegetables to your diet.

Soup for Breakfast: They say that people who eat breakfast are typically healthier, happier, and weigh less. That's why eating a bowl of vegetable soup every morning for breakfast might be one of the easiest ways to add more vegetables to your diet. When considering breakfast foods, cereals typically come to mind, but this need not be the rule for everyone. Some people have discovered that eating a hearty breakfast of vegetable or bean soup actually helped them feel fuller longer and was a great way to wake up in the morning. Some who have had to cut back on the coffee swear by a diet richer in veggies to keep a person feeling alert and satisfied.

Whatever method you use to add more vegetables to your diet, enjoy yourself. Find the most delicious method and stick with it. You'll find yourself looking and feeling better as well as hopefully looking for even more ways to add more vegetables to your diet.