Some Easy Tips to Follow to Meet Your 5 a Day

Some Easy Tips to Follow to Meet Your 5 A Day

Are you one of the thousands of people who don't eat enough fruits and vegetables --that unreachable goal of five servings each day? Stop worrying; you can meet this goal and eat plenty of healthy fruits and vegetables without all the trouble or time spent in preparation. Here's how.

Keep a well-stocked kitchen. It sounds obvious, but keep the right foods on hand and you're more likely to eat them. Choose from fresh fruit and vegetables; fruit canned in its own juice; or no-salt added vegetables; dried fruit; pure fruit and vegetable juice (frozen or canned); and frozen fruit and vegetables. With all these choices, you're bound to have something delicious to eat.

Put produce on the table. If you include a fruit salad with dinner, your family is bound to eat it. The same goes if you add sliced raw veggies to your soup-and-sandwich lunch. If you want to meet your 5 A Day make sure to include it in every meal.

Add produce to your cooking. Add sliced apples to pork roast, sliced mushrooms and zucchini to spaghetti sauces, frozen mixed vegetables to your favorite pasta recipe. Top pound cake with strawberries and add canned fruit to gelatin.

Choose meals that are packed with veggies. Craving soup for dinner? Choose a chunky vegetable stew. Pasta on the menu tonight? Remember that tomato-based spaghetti sauce counts as a vegetable and it is a good source of the phytochemical lycopene. Having pizza for dinner? Buy or make a homemade pizza with added veggies like… mushrooms, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, green peppers and onions.

Make snacking fruitful. Keep baby carrots in a handy spot in the frige. Place a bowl of seasonal fresh fruit on the counter or table visible to the eye. Keep plastic bags of dried fruit in your car's glove compartment, purse, briefcase or desk. Makes for a quick, convenient snack. When you want a snack , you don't want to wash and peel, you want to eat.

When all else fails, drink your produce. Choose 100 percent fruit and vegetable juices that are lower-in sodium. A 12-ounce glass of fruit juice equals two servings of fruit -- an easy and delicious way to add produce to your diet.

Sample menu: A Plethora of Produce
Follow this sample meal plan to increase your fruit and vegetable consumption. See if you can you count all the produce servings in this menu?

Breakfast