How to Get More Greens in your Diet

As you guys know, I’ve been hooked on celery juice for the past few months now. The end of this month marks three months of drinking it (or another green juice—it’s hard to find when traveling) every morning and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon! If you’re curious to why, I wrote a whole post on that here! I won’t bog down this post with all those details and benefits because that would quickly get long!

Another thing that I’ve been working on this year, is getting more greens into my diet. I always thought I ate a good amount, but when I started actually paying attention, I realized I could definitely be eating more each day.

But sometimes a salad or side of sautéed spinach or steamed broccoli just doesn’t sound satisfying. I actually love salads in the summer, but I really struggle to eat them in the winter because I just want something warm and comforting. How about you?

Thankfully, I’ve figured out there’s several ways I can work them into my meals and get more of them without sitting down to a mountain of salad when it’s not really what I want. I’m glad I have too, because adding greens to our diets is so good! It can improve skin health, brain health, digestion and help to detox our livers, you know I’m all about that!

Here are my tips and tricks for getting more greens in! Scroll down to the bottom if you need more ideas for switching up your greens too!

Breakfast

Sometimes eating a bunch of greens at breakfast just feels weird. Like, lettuce… for breakfast?! I feel ya. Again, since it’s been pretty dang cold, I want something that warms me up, which is why I’ve been downing GF oatmeal with fruit for weeks! I do try to switch it up though and here’s how:

Green Smoothies

I’ve LOVE smoothies and despite them making me cold, I still drink them! I love mixing in a big handful of spinach or a teaspoon of spirulina which is a crazy algae superfood. It’s high in Vitamin A and I swear it’s been contributing to my skin’s health!

Make a Veggie Hash

I’ve been dying to do this and will probably save it for a weekend when I have more time. Toss in potatoes, Brussels sprouts, sweet potato, onion, a little garlic (I love garlic, no matter what time of day!), and some spinach or kale. You can also add some Canadian bacon or sausage if you want, but I’m cutting out as much animal protein as possible, so I skip it! You could also do a fried egg on top, or mix in some beans for plant protein.

Quinoa Breakfast Bowls

These were my go-to breakfast during my last trimester with Owen. I’d sauté garlic quinoa, arugula, kale and sweet potato and top with a fried egg. I tweaked a recipe from The Yoga Kitchen (such a pretty cookbook) and it’s a great one! Just remove the egg if you’re vegan or trying to avoid fats in the morning like me!

Add Spinach

If you usually do eggs on toast or an English muffin, swap the carbs for sautéed spinach. This is a great restaurant hack as well!

Lunch & Dinner

I combined this section because I often eat the same type of things for lunch and dinner. So feel free to interchange them!

Eat a Salad

I find that if I eat a big, heavy meal at lunch, it makes my afternoon so tough. I get drowsy and feel sluggish. In the warm months (and sometimes in winter), I opt for a salad with lettuce like romaine or arugula topped with crunchy vegetables, creamy avocado, nuts and a squeeze of lemon juice, salt and pepper. So good and one of the easiest way to get your greens in! Bonus points if you add more raw green veggies like snow peas, broccoli, celery, zucchini or shaved Brussels sprouts.

Mix into Soups

In the winter, I love soup! Whenever I make it for dinner, I make extra so I can have it for lunch for a few days. I made a veggie and lentil minestrone and I added lots of kale into it. If you’re not big on the taste of kale, I find that in soups, you can’t really taste it! The bitterness cooks right out! If you have soup that doesn’t have greens in it. Place some spinach or other green at the bottom of the bowl, then ladle hot soup on top to wilt. Learned that trick from Kelly LeVeque and it’s an easy one and a yummy one!

Make Veggies Half your Plate

And, make at least half of those green! We always have some sort of vegetable and I’m getting better about making at least one of them green. Also, greens doesn’t just mean leafy greens—we also love roasting broccoli, Brussels sprouts or asparagus to go with our dinners.

Side of Greens

If your meal doesn’t include greens, make a side salad, or sauté or steam some greens on the side to get in the last of your daily doses! I did this last week when we had a veggie-packed chili, but no greens. I steamed up some broccoli and just added lemon juice—so good!

Ideas of Greens to Try

Leafy Greens to Try

• spinach
• kale
• chard
• collard greens
• watercress
• romaine
• arugula
• napa cabbage

Green Veggies to Try:

• brussel sprouts
• broccoli
• green beans
• zucchini
• broccolini
• asparagus
• artichokes
• celery
• broccoli rabe

This definitely isn’t all of them, but it’s a good place to start if you’re feeling stuck in a rut! I know I’ll reference this list a lot! Do you guys have any tips for getting in your greens or more veggies throughout the day?!

BTW, gut-healing tips, and 6 tips for keeping your home tidy.