These days I don't find it difficult at all to personally get my recommended fruits and vegetables. My house is loaded with fresh produce of all descriptions. Just in fruits I have fresh watermelon, honey dew melon, cantaloupe, pears, apples (red delicious and granny smith), naval oranges, tangerines, blueberries, green and red grapes, bananas, a mango, black plums, nectarines, lemons, limes, avacado… and I am probably missing something. That's just fresh. I also have several bags of frozen fruits in the freezer (mostly berries).

I won't begin to list all the fresh vegetables I have on hand… I know I would miss a lot.  Health is not, however, about what I eat today (or what my family eats today). health is about what we eat consistently over time. Each day of getting an abundance of fresh whole fruits and vegetables adds up to the grand total that will make a difference over the entire course of your life. It will affect how you feel, how you look, how you move, how you respond to viruses, how you fight off things like cancer. It is important that you pay attention to this now. It is not too late to start eating more fruits and vegetables.

As a mom, I found a number of creative ways over the years to get extra servings of vegetables into meals and snacks. You know the obvious ways, i.e. salads, veggie side dishes, and fresh fruit snacks or desserts, but these can get boring or tedious.

Here are some things that I have found make a big difference.

• Use grated vegetables in pasta sauces – When I used a canned pasta sauce I always saute onions, garlic, fresh mushrooms, green and red peppers and add the sauce with or with out browned ground beef, but I ALSO grate several large carrots to put in. Carrots give the sauce a real fresh flavored lift but the tomato sauce disguises the carrot flavor. To this day my family does not know I put carrots in their pasta sauce.
  
• Grated vegetables are also good in meat loaf or hamburger patties.
• When having spaghetti, grate a zuchini or 2 lengthwise and add it to the long noodles. If you peeled it they may not even know!
• Mix grated vegetables (carrots, onions,  into salad dressings or sour cream and use as a veggie or corn chip dip.
  
• Smoothies – Using fresh or frozen berries as a base throw in some flax seed oil, a banana, and some melon (water melon, honey dew or cantaloupe) Then for more liquid JUICE 2 large carrots per person, and 1 pear per person, to dump in the blender instead of water!
  
• Semi-frozen strawberry yogurt- take a cup of frozen strawberries, 1 cup of strawberry yogurt, 2 scoops of protein powder. (I use URI's Orange Flavored Multi-meal) and 2 tablespoons on flax seed oil. Blend. Add just enough apple or orange juice (or water) so the berries blend) Pour into bowls. This is MUCH more delicious than ice cream and makes a wonderful breakfast for children who don't like to eat in the morning.
  
• Make more casseroles. Tonight I cook chicken breasts. I took 4 large boneless, skinless breasts and chunked them, and baked them in a baking dish for 15 minutes at 375 degrees. The I chopped fresh new carrots, a head of broccoli, a small onion, some green beans, and mushrooms, mixed the whole thing in a bowl with a can of sodium reduced cream of mushroom soup, pored it all over the partially cooked chicken, and stirred it all up. Baked it for another 25 minutes and served it with a large salad of fresh vegetables. I let my family serve themselves but I live with teens. SO….
  
• Make it accessible… Veggies always fresh chopped and in serving sizes… with meals I put the large salad out and I get out their favorite salad dressings ad open the top and set it right next to the silverware, I always have fresh made salsa available and they will often scoop that up as a condiment or side dish.
  
• Make fresh cobblers for dessert instead of pies. Lots of fruit in a very lightly greased baking dish topped with a crumble of equal parts raw oatmeal, almond meal, shaved coconut and a tablespoon of brown sugar. Add a bit of coconut oil to make a crumbly mixture and bake at 350 until fruit is soft and bubbly. If using apples or peaches sprinkle a bit of cinnamon. Berries may require a bit of your choice of sweetener. It is very fast to do something like this up and pop it in the oven after you take the casserole out. It is ready when your meal is done!
  
• Wrap large lettuce leaves around sandwich filling instead of bread.
• And don't forget celery or carrot sticks spread with peanut butter. YUM!

It is good to have the proper tools. I use pampered chef garlic press and veggie peelers, and I have a small electric food chopper, a 7 speed blender, and a Hamilton Beach Juicer, and some good sharp knives. I also have plenty of spices, herbs and seasonings.

The other night my teen age daughter actually ASKED for a vegetarian dinner.  I had taken some pita breads, brushed them with olive oil and sprinkled them with garlic powder and sea salt and then baked them until lightly browned at 450 degrees. Then I served some home made salsa, a guacamole made with fresh avocado, juice of one lime, garlic clove crushed, and cilantro, and served both dips with the "chips" and some carrots, celery, cukes, broccoli, and cherry tomatoes.  The ONLY reason she asked for this is because she LOVES the "homemade nacho chips".

My rule of thumb is.. if having something they aren't crazy about, serve it with something they love!

Happy healthy eating to you, and get your 5-12 a day! Twelveliness is next to healthiness!