Veggie talk!

Today is National Eat Your Vegetables Day. So what better day to write about this wonderful food group? Veggies are a vital part of our diets. They are rich in vitamins, fiber and other wonderful nutrients. They can help reduce many health risks, clear our skin, help lose weight and so much more! According to USDA choose my plate program, the daily recommend veggie serving is 2 ½ - 3 cups ! This may seem like a lot, but here I am going to show you a few tricks to help incorporate some more veggies in your diet!

REPLACE VEGGIES FOR SNACKS!

One of my favorite things to snack on is carrots. If you do not like to eat them by themselves you can add a serving of hummus to add a little flavor. Other easy snacks that you can make up include: celery and almond butter, broccoli or bell peppers and lite ranch. The options are endless!

ADD VEGGIES INTO YOUR EVERDAY MEALS.

This is an easy way to add veggies into your diet. One thing I like to do is add spinach, onions and peppers into my scrambled egg whites, spaghetti, brown rice, or taco meat! You can still enjoy some of your normal meals, you are just adding those extra veggies into them!

REPLACE SOME OF YOUR CARBS WITH VEGGIES.

This might be my favorite “food hack” in order to get all my veggies in my day. I like to replace veggies into some of my favorite foods including: spaghetti, mashed potatoes, and even pizza. YES I said pizza! I will first start with spaghetti. Instead of using a whole-wheat pasta I like to cook up some spaghetti squash and use that as the noodles. It pairs well with a veggie packed tomato sauce! Right now my favorite vegetable that I like to cook in order to get in my fix for mashed potatoes and pizza I cauliflower! There are so many options that you can make with cauliflower. I will attach some links of some of my favorite recipies that I use.

I hope that this gave you a few ideas on how to add veggies into your diet! Now go and try some of these awesome recipes that I use! ENJOY!!

Mashed Califlower: http://skinnyms.com/garlic-mashed-cauliflower/#_a5y_p=1238895
Spaghetti squash recipies: http://www.popsugar.com/fitness/Spaghetti-Squash-Toppings-35985678
Cauliflower Pizza Crust: http://ifoodreal.com/cauliflower-pizza-crust-recipe/

http://www.choosemyplate.gov/printpages/MyPlateFoodGroups/Vegetables/food-groups.vegetables-amount.pdf