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No matter how good we try to eat, everyone could likely benefit from increasing the amount of vegetables in our diet. When we increase our vegetable intake, we receive more vitamins and nutrition in our diet and increasing vegetables can improve our health too. Still, many adults and children do not get enough vegetables in their daily diet.

I know I've had problems getting my children to eat vegetables, so I had to get creative about the ways I got about increasing vegetable intake by my family. Let's look at five of my vegetable tricks to help increase the amount of vegetables my family eats.

Add Vegetable Puree to Stocks

One way to increase vegetables in your diet or the diet of your family without them even knowing, you can puree vegetables into a pulpy liquid in the blender and add them to stocks and soups and stews. I have pureed spinach and broccoli and poured it into the stock for my homemade chili and no one even knows! (shh, don't tell!)

Adding pureed carrots, spinach, broccoli, or other vegetables to the base stock of stews or soups can make them thicker and more nutritious too.

Baby Vegetables and Cheese Dips

My son can't stand eating vegetables, but it seems if I offer cheese dip or hot queso dip, he will dip almost anything in it. He also doesn't seem to mind eating some vegetables with cheese sauce poured over the top of them. Baby carrots, smile bits of celery or other vegetables served before dinner or as snacks using a dip or a sauce that kids or family like can help add more vegetables to your diet.

Stuff Meat Pockets with Vegetables

Pork and beef tenderloin can be hammered out with a tenderizer, stuffed with a vegetable mixture and cheese, rolled up and cooked. My kids and the picky men in the family who like meat will eat the meat and the vegetables without even realizing they've done it. Chicken can be stuffed with vegetables and stuffing. Stuff pork chops with a vegetable stuffing. Then you can serve vegetables on the side too, so that even if all your family does is pick at them, they are still getting vegetables without realizing it.

Drink Fresh Vegetable Juice

Buying a juicer is the best purchase I have ever made. I'm horrible at remembering to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, or forgetting to eat them before they get ruined, so having a juicer is a great way to use vegetables that have begun to go limp, too limp to enjoy eating, but not spoiled. Putting them in a juicer and drinking fresh vegetable juice is yummy. I really enjoy carrot juice the most.

However, getting kids to drink vegetable juice is probably not going to be easy. Therefore, you can add fruit to the juicer and mix in the vegetables with the fruit. Think V8 Splash. Your kids will taste only the fruit juice, but you can hide a full serving of whatever healthy vegetable you want to add to their diets and they'll never know.

Buy Fresh or Frozen Vegetables

I know there is temptation to buy canned or jarred vegetables because they are cheaper and last long, but there's not much point in buying them if your family won't eat them. Fresh vegetables taste so much better than canned ones, and when you cook them or eat the vegetables fresh, you'll get more nutrition from them without the bad preservatives that are used in canning or jarring.

Try tossing fresh vegetables into stir-fries or into the meat juices and fat and tossing them lightly. It's not as healthy as eating raw or steamed vegetables, but if your family doesn't eat them at all, there's no point in serving them.

Adding more vegetables to your diet is important, and these five tips could help you increase your vegetable intake and incorporate more vegetables into your daily diet or routines.

Learn more about this author, Michelle L Devon.
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