If only this were as good for me as broccoli
Even though we have made great strides so far, some of these weekly challenges won’t be a walk in the park. We each have our pitfalls:
I love sugar. Finding a way to satisfy my sweet tooth within these challenges will be difficult for me. Also, I will need to become even more organized with planning certain dinners ahead. Our schedule has us out doing activities some late afternoons into evening. I will need to have a functional plan to keep us out of fast food restaurants.
My husband’s pitfalls are moderation and portion control. If he likes it, he will eat it, all of it.
My oldest daughter is awesome. What can I say? She will try any food at least once and even if she didn’t like it, if I encourage her, she will try it several times. (This is the real key to getting your kids to eat stuff they don’t like). She is not a picky eater. So, I’ll have to think on her pitfall…maybe her love of dairy & grains to the point that she will have an unbalanced diet if left unchecked.
My youngest daughter loves junk food of all kinds. She will sometimes only eat healthy food so that she can have that piece of candy or a cookie. She is also not as open as her older sister to trying new things.
Next week is Challenge #1. The challenge is to eat at least 2 fruits or vegetables with each meal.
Dinner — Between salads, pastas, stir fries, soups and pizzas, this usually isn’t a problem for us at dinner. In fact, I counted 12 different vegetables and fruits in our stir fry and salad last night. The challenge will be the temptation of eating out on busy evenings. Why is it so hard to find an inexpensive restaurant that serves actual produce?
Lunch — We usually manage 2, but much more simply, such as a side of carrot sticks and cut up fresh fruit.
Breakfast — this is where fruits & vegetables are a rarity. Occasionally, we will get some produce at breakfast as a side of fruit, in a (banana or carrot) muffin or in an omelet. But usually it’s cereal or pancakes and milk. We really need work here. Smoothies are an easy way to get some good fruit or veggies in, but maybe I can come up with at least one creative idea. Let’s see how this week goes.
How do you get more fruits and vegetables into your meals, especially breakfast?
everyday real food 
Veggies in eggs for breakfast really are a great way to start the day with a punch. Sometimes it is tiring to fix up a big egg breakfast in the wee hours of morning though. Here are some suggestions:
Make an egg casserole, cut into individual servings, wrap each in saran wrap, place all in freezer bag and freeze. When ready to serve, unwrap from plastic wrap and microwave for about 1 minute.
Egg “muffins” (made in muffin pan with or w/o a pie crust): Make like a casserole but you cook them in a muffin tin. Then follow the same directions as above. When I have made these, I used a premade roll pie crust and cut into the bottom of the pan, but I don’t know that this is really necessary. Just an added starch that we don’t need.
Another great and easy way to get fruit into the morning is yogurt with fruit. I like to add granola to my yogurt. If you make homemade granola, you can add some dried fruit.
Hope that’s helpful.
Those are great ideas for do ahead. I got rid of our microwave though, so will have to figure out times & temps for warming in the oven. I have found if I pop most things in while the oven is warming itself, it only takes a few minutes. Last week, I purchased the ingredients to make my own granola, but haven’t done it yet, hopefully this week! The girls love it, but it’s so expensive to buy already made. Unfortunately, dried fruit & fruit juice don’t count for this week’s challenge, but they are not no-nos, so we will still be enjoying. I am definitely going to try the egg muffins too! Thanks for the ideas!
Definitely vegetables in eggs. Whenever we have spinach in the house Jason will add some to some scrambled eggs. They hardly affect the taste. Of course I love mushrooms, zucchini and some other veggies. However, I too often opt for cereal.
I have a baked oatmeal recipe we got from our bed and breakfast in Lancaster, PA. You can add fruit and nuts, but adjust the sugar and fat as you need to. It has a great texture – between an oatmeal cookie and a traditional bowl of oatmeal. I need to make this soon! It sounds good! Her notes are at the bottom.:
Baked Oatmeal
6 C oatmeal
2/3 C brown sugar
1/2 C oil
4 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 C milk
2 tsp vanilla
1-2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 peaches, chopped
Whisk eggs, then add all ingredients, folding in peaches last. Bake in a lightly greased 9 x 13 inch pan at 350° for 30 – 40 minutes till starting to brown and all moisture is absorbed. Keeps in refrigerator for 7 to 10 days.
Notes: for the oil, I used 1/4 C canola oil and 1/4 C butter; I also added a dash of cardamom spice; the original recipe called for twice as much brown sugar, I deliberately toned it down but you can play with the sweetness to your taste; I added peaches, but almost any fruit will go well: apple, plum, strawberry, banana, blueberry….
Servings 12.
Oh, Jen, that does sound good. I will certainly give that a try! It even has my favorite spice — cardamom.
I like to serve it with some brown sugar, nuts, milk and stuff on the side so everyone can doctor it up however they like it. I’ve used frozen blueberries mixed with fresh apples and it was great.