How can I sneak more fruits and vegetables into my family's diet?

August 24, 2006

SPM Wire – The trick to getting your family to eat more fruits and vegetables is making them more fun and an easy-to-prepare part of daily meals.

"Including a colorful variety of fruits and vegetables in meals and snacks can help crowd out calorie-dense foods that provide too many calories and too few nutrients. That's a big step forward in the fight against obesity," says Elizabeth Pivonka, president of the Produce for Better Health Foundation.

Here are some tips on how to do just that:

•Include a tray of fresh and marinated vegetables with low-fat dips as an appetizer.

•Start the meal with a hearty broth-based vegetable soup.

•Prepare a bowl of fresh fruit, keeping it filled throughout the day for snackers.

•Increase the amount of vegetables and fruits in stuffing recipes – use apples, pears, mushrooms, celery, onions or peppers.

•Bake sliced sweet potatoes with orange segments or apple slices and a little orange juice, brown sugar and a dab of butter.

•Prepare a tasty spinach salad as a side dish. It can be made easily with ready-to-serve baby spinach, sliced mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, sliced red onion and a few toasted walnuts.

•Add a fruit salad with a scoop of sherbet to dessert menus. Frozen berries, cherries, melon balls and peaches make easy additions to fresh fruits. A squeeze of lemon or orange juice keeps colors bright.

For more healthy-eating advice and recipes, visit www.5aday.org.