How to Get more fruits and vegetables into your diet

Getting the minimum five daily servings of fruits and vegetables is not as daunting as you might think. This Howcast video guide offers several tips on getting more fruits and vegetables into your diet.

You Will Need

* Fruits

* Vegetables

* Imagination

* A willingness to experiment

* Fruits

* Vegetables

* Imagination

* A willingness to experiment

Step 1: Know your serving size

Know what counts as a serving. A medium-size piece of fruit, a cup of salad greens, or a half-cup of cooked or raw vegetables all constitute one serving.



Step 2: Begin at breakfast

Begin at breakfast: Add dried or fresh fruit to cereal or yogurt; put vegetables in an omelet, or make a smoothie. Pack yourself a banana for a mid-day snack.

Step 3: Slice and dice

An assortment of veggies adds flavor and crunch to a green salad, but don't forget fruit. Apples, pears, mangoes, and mandarin oranges are a nice addition to a salad, too.

Step 4: Wrap it

Use romaine or green-leaf lettuce in place of tortillas to make wraps.

Step 5: Puree it

Enrich tomato sauce with pureed vegetables like broccoli, squash, and carrots. Blend pureed cauliflower into your mashed potatoes.

Step 6: Get souped up

Beef up canned soup with extra chopped veggies, either fresh or frozen, and spice it up with nutritious herbs like oregano and parsley.

Step 7: Eat the bowl

Serve one-pot dishes like chili, stew, and baked pasta in hollowed-out bell peppers or baked squash halves. When you finish the filling, eat the bowl!

Step 8: Do the salsa

Enliven a baked potato, an omelet, or a piece of chicken with salsa. A few tablespoons of store-bought salsa counts as a serving of vegetables, but you can also add extra chopped veggies, like onions, mushrooms, and peppers. Fruit salsa is another option; it goes well with chicken, pork, and fish.