Sneaky Vegetables: Simple Ways to Add in Goodness

Photo by Jennifer Schmidt on Unsplash

We are always trying to eat more vegetables. Some times, I find it to be tougher than I realize. How am I supposed to eat all that good food?! I would just feel like I’m literally eating all the time. Since this has been a little struggle for me, I’ve adopted some ways to really maximize my vegetable intake, as well as sneaking them in for my family to enjoy!

1. Green Smoothie-One of the best tasting and easiest ways you can do this is with a green smoothie. If you are new to the green smoothie game, than start off a little slower. You don’t want to add a pound of kale and than realize you can not stomach it! Get a good base, I like almond milk (minus the carrageenan).  Than you can add a little bit of a green, protein, and citrus fruits. Citrus fruits help to cut the bitterness of the greens. Bananas are well known to go in smoothies, but they are mostly a carb and lots of sugar, so try and stir clear of those. If I want a “treat” at night though, I will some times make a banana and almond butter smoothie, adding in a little green too!
2. Paleo Pasta-I’m not sure if anyone else really calls it this, but I’m sure I got the name from some one. Instead of making regular pasta that is full of carbs, gluten, and other sugars, we make paleo pasta with spaghetti squash. It tastes amazing and you just added a vegetable to your dinner! Another trick I do with paleo pasta is add a soft green in to the sauce. I usually add spinach, and no one can even taste it!
3. Cauliflower bowls o’ Goodness– We love making bowls. You can just add so many good things in it. We add chopped cauliflower as our base instead of rice. Then we pile on pretty much every thing. Some times we do a pineapple type bowl, or more of a salsa bowl with avocados, but whatever you do, you know you have at least one really great vegetable.
4. Soups-Soups are a really great way to easily exchange the carb for the vegetable. If i’m making a bone broth soup, I love adding some type of “noodle”. I usually like carrot noodles over zucchini noodles, because zucchini does tend to be wetter. The “noodles” give you that sense of fullness and I love watching my son take down all those vegetables without knowing it!
5. Loaded peppers/zucchini bites-we’ve all had a loaded baked potato. Instead of using potatoes, lets trade it out for a veggie. I like using zucchini and peppers because they give you that “bowl” you need to add all the other good stuff, life bacon, chicken, chives, and nuts. They can be used as a main course or as a starter.
6. Pizza-​I love pizza, but the nasty oils, wheat, and cheese combo always seem to send me for a loop. So I found this awesome cauliflower crust from Trader Joe’s, not pizza crust, but it still does the job. Then you add on all the veggie toppings. We always have at least 1 green and then add meat and a great organic, bad- oil- free sauce. It does the trick! 

Sneaking vegetables to your food can actually be a lot of fun, I hope you take the challenge and taste the benefits!