No matter what the state of the world, it’s always important to eat fruits and vegetables! They offer tons of nutrients like vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and immunity boosters. It can be tough to keep them in your diet when you out of your normal schedule or are newly having to cook everything, so here are some ideas to help you keep up with your fruit and veggie intake.
- Add Them To Everything!
The best thing about fruit and vegetables is that they pretty much go with everything. Add berries on top of cereal or yogurt, or slice banana over peanut butter on toast for breakfast. You can toss berries, oranges, or grapes into a salad at lunch, or bake apple slices with chicken and sweet potato for an easy tray bake dinner. One of the best recipes for this is the TAPfit lasagne (recipe here).
Vegetables are very versatile and can go with any savory meal. Toss extra veggies into salads, soups, sandwiches, pasta dishes, and even into scrambled eggs. Try out a bunch of new vegetables at once by roasting them in the oven. It’s a great way to meal prep or even have a yummy snack.
- Buy Them Frozen
Right now, it’s important we stay home and only make necessary trips to limit the spread of COVID-19. That may mean only going to the grocery store every once in a while during the outbreak. A great way to keep produce on hand that won’t go bad quickly is to buy frozen. Fun fact- frozen produce is flash frozen at the peak of freshness, so it actually has the most nutrients that any of the produce you can find at the grocery store. And, it’s very easy to add to recipes! Frozen fruit can be used to whip up a tasty smoothie, baked into muffins or a pie, or served over yogurt and granola. Frozen vegetables are very handy to have around and can be quickly steamed, sautéed, or baked to add to many meals.
- Leave Them Ready To Eat, Front and Center
Fruits and vegetables make the perfect snack when paired with things like cheese, peanut butter, hard boiled eggs, or hummus. Try washing and cutting some fruit and vegetables and leaving them in an easy to reach spot in the fridge so it’s one of the first things you see when you open the door. Then, you’ll be more likely to opt for a healthy snack when you’re feeling hungry.
Especially in a time like this, it’s very important that we all stay as healthy as possible. Part of that is getting your fruits and veggies in. Try to eat at least 5 servings of produce throughout the day, whether it’s raw, roasted, sautéed, or baked into something. Every little bit counts.
