Do you need to sneak in more veggies in your meals? It’s easy to do and has so many benefits! You reduce the “empty calories” of say noodles or oil and make the dish a healthier choice. The substitutions or adds do not alter the taste, and most will not taste the difference - unless you tell them!

I have 11 great ideas to help you incorporate more veggies and make substitutions with fruit to reduce fat and calories and increase flavor!

1.    Mix veggies into a dish to stretch it. Try adding cauliflower into mashed potatoes. Your mind says potatoes, and nobody ever knows its half vegetable. This is a great dish to serve at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

2.    Bake with them veggies and fruit instead of oil and eggs: adding veggies to muffins, cakes and breads. Substitute pumpkin, apple sauce or mashed fruit for eggs and oil. Below I have one of my cupcake/muffin recipe’s. This one uses pumpkin. I also my pumpkin to my Dark Chocolate cupcakes which remain moist and delicious for days! No frosting is needed with muffins this moist and tasty! Apple sauce or crushed pineapple in a white or yellow base recipe also taste divine!

3.    Put veggies/fruit into smoothies - once they are ground up you cannot taste them. Adding 2 cups of spinach for example has zero effect of the taste. The most common way to get anyone to eat more veggies is to throw them into smoothies. Vegetables like spinach or kale can instantly turn a smoothie green, which is a clear tip-off. But you can throw in a cup or two easily!   The fruits or yogurt that will overpower the taste. 

You can also create a smoothie recipe and give it a cute name like the green monster, or the green dream so your family looks forward to the special green drink with the fun name. Because they helped name it, they’ll focus on how yummy it is and feel good that they were part of the secret recipe!

4.    Make it look enticing or attractive!  We all are tempted by sight and smells.   When food looks good our brains are triggered and we want to eat it!

5.    Sometimes, it’s all about the presentation. Is that celery or a log housing delicious peanut butter and raisins? Is that shredded lettuce or a bed for a cute bird made from a boiled egg? Creative poodles made from broccoli and cauliflower? Or a turkey made from fruit!  Family members might be more inclined to eat vegetables when they are presented in a fun way or have a fun name.

6.    Mix veggies in with hamburger meat or buy pre-made veggie burgers. When you dress them the same – lettuce, pickle, tomato, onion, mustard or A1 sauce, your mind doesn’t know the burger is 1/2 or all veggies.  If it looks enticing (#5) the mind can be tricked if you dress it up the same as a regular burger.

7.    Make pancakes or waffles with butternut squash - once the maple syrup is drizzled over them and you serve fruits on the side, your family will gobble it up!  You can secretly declare that they “like squash” and next year, confess what the secret ingredient is.

8.    Make avocado chocolate pudding - OK, avocados are technically a fruit, but they contain lots of great nutrients and most of us think it is a veggie.  Avocados add delicious creaminess to this chocolate pudding, and the sight of chocolate and the taste of chocolate masks the fact that there are avocados in the recipe!  (this is a perfect way to use up avocados that are about to go bad), mix with unsweetened cocoa, sugar, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon, chill for at least half an hour, then surprise the family with a rare dessert treat on a special occasion.

9.  Cut them up fine and add them to your favorite dishes.  Or use them purposefully instead of other ingredients and make a completely veggie filled lasagna.

10.  Substitute wheat pasta with spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles. They also make veggie noodles in tri-color if you family isn’t ready for a complete switch to zoodles. (Ronzoni is a brand I like!)

11.  Add them to casseroles such as veggie lasagna - One dish dinners filled with veggies are a busy persons best friend! The veggies take on the taste of the other ingredients, so it’s easy to hide them inside family favorites and create your own new healthier dishes! Most veggies cook down and disappear into the delicious one-dish-wonder! It’s a great way to ease them into eating more veggies.