Getting in Your 5 a Day-- At Least

So in the last couple of years, the USDA has changed its recommendations for fruit and vegetables to say that we should each eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Personally I see that as a minimum, and think that with busy lives, sometimes it's hard to meet.

One of my answers comes at breakfast. I try to give two of the servings at breakfast, which really gets us off to a good start. One serving is generally some sort of fruit. We are a big fruit family, so that's never an issue. A few weeks ago, it occurred to me that I should really be sneaking in something else to hit that 2nd serving, especially since coffee isn't considered a vegetable and I'm the only one who drinks it anyway....

My answer is veggie eggs. Now, I cook breakfast every morning, simply because we all seem to do better with a good start to the day that isn't carb and sugar laden. M gets in less trouble at school, and my hubby and I find ourselves being able to make it to lunch better without feeling that urge to hunt down a candy bar or french fries. The great thing about veggie eggs is that I started gradually, mixing a tiny bit of spinach with the eggs, to get everyone used to it. Now the eggs are almost the backdrop, and everyone is a fan.


My Ultimate Veggie Eggs
4-5 eggs
3/4 cup frozen spinach
1/4 cup chopped onion
3-4 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
6-7 grape tomatoes, sliced thinly
salt
pepper
olive oil

Heat your skillet on the stove, adding in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once the olive oil is hot, add the garlic and onion. Cook, stirring often, so that the garlic doesn't get burnt, until the onions are turning translucent. Add in the spinach, still frozen. Cook the veggies until the spinach is starting to thaw. Add the sliced tomatoes and pepper the whole mixture. In a small bowl, crack your eggs and scramble them. (You don't have to do this, but to me it's a lot easier than scrambling in an already busy pan.) Pour eggs into the pan, and cook until everything is just starting to look done. TURN THE HEAT OFF AND REMOVE. If you're not a scrambled egg person, that's really the secret to good eggs. Now, take a pinch of sea salt in your hand and crush it up, sprinkling over the eggs. Serve immediately.


We like spinach the best, however, I have also used frozen broccoli and even frozen stir-fried veggies in pinch. If we have salsa, my husband loves salsa on top. Do I feel guilty using frozen veggies? No. Frozen veggies are frozen straight from the field, so they maintain a lot of nutrients that your local grocer's fresh veggies have lost through traveling 2000 miles to get to you. And hey, at least my kids are consuming extra veggies.