Getting the Green Inside!

Changing your behavior to "think green".

· Eat twice the servings of vegetables as starches per meal (i.e, 2 c vegetables with 1 c pasta/rice/potato) Half of your plate should be veggies.

· Pack a salad each day with lots of color. Incorporate some spinach. Prepare for the entire week on weekend.

· Prepare at least two meatless meals per week. For example, broccoli n cheese sauce over baked potatoes.

· Put garlic cloves in olive oil to be used during cooking process.

· Increase steam, stir-fry, oven roasting methods of cookery in vegetable selections.

· Eat more raw foods or buy fresh foods to cook. Make a Tupperware divided lazy susan of variety of toppings.

· Post picture reminders on refrigerator and in office of favorable vegetables.

· Think veggie first, then add meat to the dish.

· When going out to eat, divide your protein serving in half and add it to your next day’s veggies.

· Plain marinara sauce or vegetable soup would give you extra vegetable boost. Keep these always in the refrigerator. Avoid the creamed sauces, if you have them, prepare with soy milk.

· Eat as much as you want of the zero point veggies on Weight Watchers.

· Increase the normal amount of veggies to broccoli/rice casseroles, Rotini and Brocolli Cheese, Veggie Soups.

· Locate creative new recipes for vegetable combinations your family like to eat.

· Juice your veggies and fruit for drinking. Make various combinations of mixed juice drinks.

· Keep baggies of fresh CHOPPED veggies ready to fix into meals. Clean celery and carrots immediately. Freeze pepper slices for omelets, etc. as needed. Onion chopping or shaving will save time in the process.

· Use olive oil or canola oil in sauté of veggies.

· Place uneaten veggies in soup container to freeze. When full, it is time to make soup.

· Visit the farmer’s market or neighboring farmstands for fresh veggies. Make more frequent stops to use up veggies.

· Use a cover on pans veggies. The cooking time will decrease.

· When you think your veggie is right tenderness, take and submerge veggie into ice cold water to preserve green color (ie., broccoli).



Amounts to Eat:

· Select two veggie servings per night; one salad per day (use spinach more in salad -4 x weekly)

· Select 3-4 servings of crucifers per week: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, bok choy, kale, brussel sprouts

· One daily tomato or choose tomato juice (or V8) to drink. Combine it with fruit in a smoothie. Make some salsa for night snack.

· Keep packets of quick low calorie snacks: sugar snap peas, raw veggies, tomato juice

· Select a variety and cook together in soups, etc./ assemble variety in sandwiches/ meat salad dishes

· Select veggie or bean soup recipes.