Getting Enough Veggies!

smileitsbecky

To be quite honest, I've always hated them! Any tips on getting in enough veggies every day? Recipies, suggestions on how to hide them anything!

ipress1962

Must admit this has always been difficult for me too so I now resort to using supplements. I use a company called Bulk Powders and they have a product called Complete Greens which gives you all five a Day in only nine grams. Admittedly it tastes disgusting but I mix it with fruit and make juices in my NutriBullet. If you can put up with the taste it makes this easy. I'm sure you'll find a supplier of similar products online nearer to you. Good luck with everything else!

Francl27

Surely you don't hate EVERY veggie? How have you tried them? Frozen, canned, roasted, in soups? I used to hate veggies too, but my mom only bought the canned stuff... now I can't say I love them, but I tolerate them, and frankly they are very filling for the calories so I make sure to eat them.

I love Green Giant steamers, even if the sauce stuff is probably not the 'healthiest', I love them roasted, I love mashed cauliflower (or cauliflower anything really), I love making soups... I easily get 5+ servings of veggies a day that way.

Oncebittentwiceshy38

I bought a Nutribullet and really like it. You can throw in some leafy greens with your fruit and don't really taste it.

lawlifehanna

Sneak finely chopped spinach into meatballs, casseroles and marinara sauces. Add grated carrots to casseroles. Make mashed potatoes with half potatoes, half cauliflower. Add chopped onions to practically any sauce. If vegetables are really all gross and disgusting to you, how about fruit? If you absolutely can't stand the idea of veggies being a part of your daily diet for the rest of your life, try making your peace with fruit and making sure you get vitamins from them.

obscuremusicreference

I've been successfully hiding my kale in omelets and mashed potatoes. I think you have to cook the nutrients right out of 'em for the taste thing to work, however.

dukesangel

What about wraps? Lunch for example today was 1/2 turkey burger, spinach, sprouts, avocado, onion, and a little cheese. I got like 2 cups of spinach and 1/2 cup of sprouts in there like it was nothing.

Or put them in your smoothies. You can cover the taste of spinach easily in a smoothie and carrots add a nice sweetness.

Or soups.

mlt2908

I was in the same boat, and there still many many veggies I don't like. Start out small...cut/dice the veggies up small and start adding them to various foods or salads. I used to detest tomatoes as a kid (even though I doused so many things in ketchup) and I started out cutting them into tiny pieces for salads or super thin to add to a sandwich. Now I eat them all the time. This worked for me for raw zucchini as well. Same with mushrooms...now I love them. This trick will NEVER work for me though for peas and green beans!

dawnmcneil10

Cauliflower, onion, zucchini and carrots super finely chopped can all hide very easily in a meatloaf. Sauteed cabbage, carrots, onions with ground pork, garlic powder, soy sauce or balsamic vinegar will give you a chinese egg roll substitute just make sure to top with the crunch of french fried onions or chinese noodles.
Spaghetti sauce is another fantastic way to hide veggies.
Mushrooms are often disliked by many but if you use fresh and chop them small and cook with your ground meat you'll often times never know they exist.

Basically just start trying new things, you're bound to find something you like. I didn't discover until 2 years ago I liked FRESH green beans, hated them as a kid but now I can't do canned. Sweet potatoes were like that too, can't stand them sweet (like with marshmallows) but give them to me just baked and I'm in heaven no butter, no seasonings just plain.

sophomorelove

My favorite salad is thinly sliced cucumbers, radishes, and green onion with sour cream and salt (hard boiled egg optional)

HeidiCooksSupper

In many ways, vegetables are the most important food humans eat. There are so many different ones and different ways to cook them that saying one "hates vegetables" means it's likely the person has only eaten a few of them and those cooked in very limited ways. Get adventurous. Yes, on occasion, your garbage disposal may have a hearty meal but a lot of times you'll find some really yummy foods to enjoy.

I enjoy putting info about cooking in my blog. Maybe you'll find this suggestion for saucing green beans tasty. The easiest way to start is to get a microwave-in-bag frozen package of green beans and follow the directions on it. Then just sauce those green beans. The resulting dish bears NO resemblance to canned or Southern-style green beans, which, to my mind, are disgusting. We all have some veggies we like and others we don't.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/HeidiCooksSupper/view/decadently-sauce-those-veggies-695403

Francl27

HeidiCooksSupper wrote: »

In many ways, vegetables are the most important food humans eat. There are so many different ones and different ways to cook them that saying one "hates vegetables" means it's likely the person has only eaten a few of them and those cooked in very limited ways. Get adventurous. Yes, on occasion, your garbage disposal may have a hearty meal but a lot of times you'll find some really yummy foods to enjoy.

I enjoy putting info about cooking in my blog. Maybe you'll find this suggestion for saucing green beans tasty. The easiest way to start is to get a microwave-in-bag frozen package of green beans and follow the directions on it. Then just sauce those green beans. The resulting dish bears NO resemblance to canned or Southern-style green beans, which, to my mind, are disgusting. We all have some veggies we like and others we don't.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/HeidiCooksSupper/view/decadently-sauce-those-veggies-695403

Ok it's nice and all but 'only adding 40 calories per serving' is a bit of a lot when green beans are only 25 calories a serving, lol.

Personally I love a little bit of butter and parmesan on broccoli and cauliflower.

sardelsa

I love veggies, especially roasted or sauteed in garlic. I also take frozen chopped spinach or kale and add it to omelettes, quesadillas, wraps, stir fry, soups, pasta, rice pilafs, whatever you want. Good way to sneak it in without affecting the flavour too much

samantha1242

You can add them to sauces, soups, chilli, lasagna, casseroles, etc (my favourite to add is bell peppers, brussel sprouts, broccoli and carrots).

You can also bake them into muffins, breads, etc. I always add shredded/grated carrot to my muffins and just reduce the amount of liquid (from milk, etc) in the recipe. Zucchini works well too - especially in chocolate cake or banana bread.

If you have a juicer/blender, you can add them to your juices/smoothies.

Add extra veggies to sandwiches or wraps (if you normally have just lettuce, try adding tomato, cucumber, bell peppers, sprouts, etc).

Try mashed/baked cauliflower. Tastes fantastic (just like mashed potato if made right). Skinnytaste.com has a great recipe with a little bacon on top.

bametels

In addition to many of the ways that others have noted they use veggies, I like to make:

Breakfast
--crustless quiche (whatever veggies and/or cheese and/or veggie sausage/ham, etc.)
--strata (layered and baked whole-wheat bread, eggs/eggbeaters, a variety of veggies, and veggie sausage/ham, etc.
--muffins and breads made with pumpkin, butternut squash, zucchini, and/or carrots, etc.
(these make good snacks too)

Lunch/Dinner
--vegetable fried rice (more veggies than rice and just enough oil to keep it from sticking to the pan),
--whole-wheat pizza with veggies (sometimes using a light Alfredo sauce as an alternative to red sauce and cheese or topped with roasted chard, onion, corn, and feta when I want a change of pace),
--colcannon (an Irish dish made with potatoes and cabbage),
--"lasagna" made without noodles (layers of eggplant, spinach, cheese, and red sauce),
-- "spaghetti" made without noodles (spaghetti squash with a variety of toppings (chicken sausage, red sauce, ricotta, and other veggies mixed in e.g., spinach, onions, mushrooms)
--tuna salad (mix in various veggies depending if I make a hot or cold salad - including peas, mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumbers,onions)
--Indian food - there are many excellent vegetarian dishes in Indian cuisine.

Dessert
--crustless pumpkin pie
--rice pudding with shredded carrots and raisins

The possibilities are limitless!

lyndsayfletch

Do u like fruit? I make green smoothies most days...if I have everything on hand I'll put in spinach, cos lettuce, carrot, Apple, banana and a squeeze of lemon....u don't taste the spinach, lettuce and carrot....it really just tastes like a yummy fruit smoothie!! May be worth a try!!