Key Point: Eating more vegetables requires some planning.
Wow! Who knew how challenging it would be eat more vegetables!! March is National Nutrition Month, and I decided I would work on practicing what I preach. The first week I was making sure to eat more vegetables. For me, this is a no brainer in the summer when the farmers’ markets are brimming with tempting produce. But I found it to require real planning in an extra cold winter in New Hampshire.
Friday – For lunch I had leftover stewed tomatoes and roasted potatoes, so that was easy! At dinner we were scrounging a bit and settled on bacon and eggs – but added a big green salad for veggies.
Saturday – At lunch I put some lettuce on my sandwich and had some raw carrots and cucumbers. For dinner I made a big pot of Spanish seasoned lentils (with tomatoes, onions, and carrots). I added a handful of baby spinach leaves to each bowl.
Sunday – Similar lunch to Saturday and another veggie rich entrée for dinner. Shrimp with sugar snap peas is a quick and nutritious dinner option. You can find the recipe with a photo on my website.
Monday – For lunch I brought a salad with lettuce, baby spinach, red onions, red peppers, and carrots. I added a foil pack of tuna to this – delicious! Dinner was round two of the Spanish lentils.
Tuesday – I can learn from failure, right? I did not have a plan for lunch, multiple snafus occurred in the early part of the day and I ended up ravenous at a fast food restaurant. NO VEGGIES! (Of course I could have chosen a salad, but being so hungry I did not take time for a thoughtful choice.) At dinner I used some frozen green beans w/almonds and had a BIG serving of those to make up.
Wednesday – The last of the Spanish lentils was my veggie rich lunch entrée. At dinner I fixed a casserole with tomatoes and onions in it, but never got around to cooking the peas I had planned to serve.
Thursday – I brought a half a red pepper to eat with my leftovers. I hadn’t even cleaned the seeds out at home; but it tasted great with my leftover casserole from Wednesday. At dinner I took all the raw carrots in the frig, cut them up and steamed them, and added a little butter and dried dill weed. I served them with frozen shepherd’s pie (including corn!).
SO, based on this week’s experience, here are my top three tips:
- Stuff your lunch with veggies.
- Keep a variety of frozen veggies on hand.
- Include veggies in your entrees.
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© 2019 Kathleen Searles, MS, RDN, CSSD, LD