I took my daughter to Wegman's this evening, and I only shopped in two aisles: the meat aisle and the produce aisle.

That's all we needed. We had food in the house. My husband had stocked the fridge while I'd been out of the country.

But my husband, if left to his own devices, would probably not ever eat another vegetable again. It's not that he hates them. It's more that he just doesn't bond with them. If I stick one in front of him, he'll eat it. If I don't, he won't miss it.

It's like that.

I, on the other hand, have a rare affinity for the things—an affinity that is strengthened by the fact that I am a health writer. I've written I-don't-know-how-many-times that vegetables help reduce risk for cancer and other diseases. If there is a magic anti-aging product, vegetables are it.

Yet people just aren't eating them. The CDC recently issued a report showing that that vegetable consumption has stagnated in recent years—with a startlingly small percentage of people consuming 5 or more servings a day. Pennsylvanians do somewhat better than the national average—but not great.

Roughly 26 percent of Pennsylvanians consume 5 or more fruits and vegetables a day. Yet another 33 percent only get 1 or 2 servings.

I just can't imagine what it's like to share a bathroom in the homes where 2 or fewer veggies are being consumed a day. Holy constipation. Just saying.

While at Wegman's I loaded my cart with apples, pears, oranges, celery, carrots, bell peppers, bananas, cauliflower, baking potatoes, kiwi fruit, and cucumbers. I know that part of the quest to consume more veggies is solved with one simple trick: making sure you have them in your kitchen.

Here's another trick: try to include a fruit or a vegetable (or both) at every meal and snack. This takes a little creativity. Here are some ways to do it at every meal.

Breakfast

* Veggies diced and added to an omelet

* Sliced tomatoes served with your eggs

* Sliced fruit or a piece of whole fruit (orange, apple, pear, peach) served with any breakfast option

* Nonfat Greek yogurt, nonfat ricotta or lowfat cottage cheese with sliced fruit

* Sliced fruit mixed into oatmeal

Lunch

* Lettuce, tomato, cucumber slices, bell pepper slices and other crunchy veggies on your sandwich

* A side salad with any lunch option

* A big lunch salad. Note: I rarely use lettuce in my salads as I noticed that I tended to avoid salads because I didn't want to go through the trouble of washing and drying the lettuce. Now I just make salads with sliced veggies (bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes) and omit the lettuce—and I enjoy eating these salads even more. You might find that the same is true for you.

* An express lunch plate: hard boiled eggs, cheese slices, sliced cucumbers, sliced bell peppers, and sliced avocado

* A soup that contains veggies

* A piece of fruit with any lunch option

Snacks

* Hummus with carrots or celery

* Celery with cream cheese

* Sliced tomatoes with a little salt and pepper

* Raisins

* Any piece of whole fruit

* A fruit smoothie made with nonfat yogurt

Dinner

* A side salad

* A steamed vegetable on the side

* A baked potato on the side

* A vegetable soup as the main course or as a starter

* Vegetables added to casseroles such as lasagna

* Vegetables added to meat dishes. For instance, make meatloaf Florentine or meatballs Florentine

Dessert

* Fruit

* Fruit with whipped cream

* Fruit with a little honey