With winter fast approaching, now is the time to up our vitamin and mineral intake to give our immune system the support it needs! Eating more vitamins and minerals is really simple when you know how. Even if you aren’t a fan of fruits and vegetables, we have plenty of different tricks to get you feeling happier and healthier this winter. So, let’s find out how!
Hide Veggies In Food
The first thing you can do to eat more vegetables is to hide them in different foods. This way, you won’t be able to see them and you will barely taste them. Whether it is you who doesn’t like vegetables or perhaps your children, this is a great way to incorporate them into your diet. When you do your food shop, try to buy vegetables that are lots of different colours, as this is a good way to make sure you are eating a wide variety of vitamins.
Now, onto the hidden veggie recipes! One of the easiest ways to add veggies to a meal is to cook them into a sauce and then blend them. This can work really well in pasta sauces and curry sauces especially! Chop your veggies up small (courgettes, carrots, broccoli, beetroot and spinach work well) and then cook them down in a sauce until they are really soft. Then, blend the sauce with a stick blender or in a food processor until completely smooth. You will never know that the veggies are in the sauce (especially when well seasoned) and this is a great way to include more veggies without having to eat them if you really don’t like them!
Take Multivitamins
Another good way to eat more vitamins and minerals is to take multivitamins. If you struggle to eat enough fruits and vegetables, or if you have a busy schedule and don’t have time to make sure you are consuming everything you need to, multivitamins are a great alternative. This way, you can relax knowing that you are giving your body everything it needs.
It is always best to take your multivitamin after you’ve eaten, as this helps to absorb all of the vitamins and minerals. If you are especially deficient in one area, your doctor might suggest that you take specialist vitamins, such as magnesium supplements. For most people, however, multivitamins would provide the right amount of vitamins that the body needs!
Try Different Textures
Another way to help you eat more vitamins and nutrients is to experiment with different textures of vegetables. Growing up, you might have had a bad experience with bland and soggy broccoli or raw crunchy carrots that has caused your dislike to carry on to adulthood. So, something you can do is to experiment with different textures.
Rather than boiling your carrots, try roasting them with garlic and rosemary for 40 minutes. If you aren’t a fan of boring suede or butternut squash, mash them together with thyme, salt, pepper and a small amount of butter. Instead of just adding chickpeas to anything random, roast them in the oven for half an hour and they will turn lovely and crispy. Cook down spinach and peas with chilli, garlic and mint. There are so many different directions you can go in so experiment and you might just find one of your new favourite foods!
Bake Them Into Things!
Our final tip to help you eat more veggies is to bake them into things! There are some absolutely delicious recipes out there that contain vegetables and before you doubt them, seriously, give them a try. Vegetables add an amazing texture to baking recipes, so you will be so surprised at how amazing these recipes are.
Chocolate and beetroot cake, carrot cake muffins, courgette and lemon cake and pumpkin coat cookies are all delicious and will help you to eat some more veggies! A good tip is to try to use sugar alternatives and low-fat butter alternatives to help keep these bakes nice and healthy without compromising on the taste.
Final Thoughts
Consuming enough vitamins and minerals is key all year round, but especially in the winter. It doesn’t matter if you dislike vegetables with these tips, as they are designed to help people who aren’t necessarily their biggest fans. Be brave and experiment with different things and you are likely to surprise yourself!