Unadulterated Fruits & Veggies

jrbowers83

I have a lot of trouble eating raw vegetables and even some fruits. I just don't care for the taste or texture. For instance, I love broccoli...smothered in cheese or butter sauce. But when I try to eat it raw it seems spicy and I just can't manage to swallow it. I do occasionally eat it steamed, and it's okay. With fruit, I really like pears, apples, berries, bananas. But I like to dip or top it with cool whip, jello, sugar, caramel, etc. The thing is that I'm watching my sodium so all of the dips and toppings add alot of cals and sodium, and I find that instead of going for the unadulterated stuff, I just push the fruits and veggies out of my diet altogether. My kids are the same way...my son wouldn't touch cantaloupe, berries, or broccoli until I started offering them with a little Splenda or cheese sauce. What is better, get your veggies and deal with some of the toppings, or forego the toppings and only occasionally eat the fruits and veggies steamed or raw as I should?

candicecumbie

Eat the veggies and try to cut where you can. Such as using reduced fat or fat free cheese. Also look for lite cool whip. It tastes pretty good and is only 25 cal for 2 tbsp.

MattySparky

Can the coolwhip, it's horrible for you... full of fat-adding sugar and not to mention HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP... bad news. I would suggest picking which one you would rather have: The foods you want smothered in crap, or a healthy body. Because unfortunately the two cant co-exist!!

acakeforawife

I think you should keep trying with the veggies! I really think that, for many people (me included!) they are an acquired taste -- but as you slowly clean up your diet, the veggies will start to taste better. Like I don't eat nearly as much processed sugary stuff anymore, and I have actually begun to get to the point where veggies taste sweet to me -- even veggies like broccoli. I can actually taste the natural sugars in there now, and trust me, I NEVER thought that would happen.

So I would say try easing up on the toppings, or try more natural stuff. Like eat your apple with a smidge of peanut butter, and even though it's more calories, you've got a pretty great, balanced snack there. OR integrate the veggies into the meal more, instead of eating them as a side dish -- add the veggies in to pasta sauces or casseroles.

Also, if you ever make smoothies a great trick is to throw a cup of raw spinach into them. Sounds gross but I SWEAR you cannot taste the spinach, not even a little. Then you get a serving of veggies and it still tastes like strawberries!!

Good luck! I think it's really worth persevering on this, especially to set a good example for your little one!

questionablemethods

I think keep doing what you are doing but also keep trying to slowly reduce the sauces, etc that you put on the veggies and fruit. A wee little glaze of olive oil and salt and pepper can go a long way. For example, I was never really thrilled with brussels spouts when they were steamed beyond recognition. So, I tried cooking them differently. I cut them in half, tossed them with a tiny bit of olive oil (1 tsp at most) and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss those in a frying pan cut side down until the cut side gets a little brown. I think they are delicious.

I actually really like steamed broccoli, but I like it a bit more when I toss it with a tiny bit of olive oil and lemon juice.

Do you like hummus? I could eat raw veggies all day long with hummus on them. (Gotta watch the calories in that, but it isn't nearly as bad as ranch dressing or sour cream based dips that I've seen.)

So, basically, what I am trying to say, is you don't have to eat veggies completely plain. But try experimenting with some different ways of cooking them and some different things to flavor them with that are lower in processed junk, sugar and sodium.

Behavior_Modification

Experiment w/ smoothies--you can hide lots of veggies in those w/o tasting them.

click

Two suggestions:

1) Hide the veggies as another commenter suggested by working them into sauces, layered terrines, etc

2) Plan your meals the day before, so that you just go execute them, with very little wiggle room. Put vegetables on the plan. You'll get use to them and taste their natural sweetness when your body stops expecting unnatural, refined sugar. You have to break the expectation your body has.

jrbowers83

Thanks everyone for your responses. You're all saying basically what I've thought, which is to continue getting my veg however I can for now and start weaning myself off all the excess. I absolutely want to be healthy, but trying to go all out everything clean was stressing me out and caused me to go on a 6 week plateau. I like the idea of easing into it. And I definitely want to set better examples for my kids. I already see vast differences between my 6 yo son and 16mo daughter. He is against all that is green, while her fave meal is cherry tomatoes, string cheese, grapes, and edamame. (I just wish I liked it as much as she does. ) But I think for my 6 yo he saw me eating my veggies doused in additives, and my mom did the same to me. It's a vicious cycle that I'd like to work on breaking and eventually get the whole family to eat plenty of fruits and veggies. Thanks guys for all of the healthier dipping ideas. I do really enjoy "chunky" vegetable filled pasta sauces or Chili is a great way to sneak a bunch in too, and I enjoy stir fry but again like to douse it in teriyaki sauce. I do plan my meals in advance to include at least 5 servings of fruits/veg throughout the day, but once the vegetables are on the plate I still can't seem to eat them. I'm gonna keep working on it.

CaitlinEats

Here's the recipe for the smoothie I drink every morning for breakfast--it's delicious and tastes almost like a fruity milkshake! I get most of my fruits and veggies in before work.

4 (or so) cups of fresh spinach (I think I use about half a package of bagged spinach per smoothie)
1 large banana (or add another half banana if you love it)
1 or 1 1/2 cups of frozen mixed berries
water and/or almond milk

I start by stuffing the spinach into the blender, then adding a splash of unsweetened vanilla almond milk (if I have it handy), then pouring in water until I can see it cover about 2 inches of the spinach. I blend all of that on low, sometimes pushing the spinach down, until it is liquid.

I add the banana in chunks and blend until smooth.

Finally, I add the berries and blend until smooth.

Delicious, and I swear you won't taste the spinach! If you do taste it, try adding half a banana or some more almond milk.

click

Hey, re: Stir fry

Stir fry does not have to equal teriyaki. At all. I hate that stuff. Here's how I do my stir fry:

Beef - Vegetable stir-fry
for 2-3 people:

For the beef:
1/4 lb flank steak, cut into strips
Marinate it in 1 garlic clove, minced, 2-3 T soy sauce, 1 T brown rice vinegar, 1 tsp toasted sesame oil, at least 30 minutes at room temp or up to 3 days in fridge.

For the rest & the method:
1/2 T avocado or safflower oil/sunflower oil
1/2 to 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced finely (do NOT crush with a garlic press, it makes a very stringent flavor)
1-2 T soy sauce
1 T brown rice vinegar or seasoned rice vinegar

Mixed vegetables, chopped--here's suggestion, I use whatever I have around and add them in order of cooking time
2 heads bok choy, chopped into 1/2 inch sections (larger on the green leafy part)--you need only slice down the lenth of it, not again
1/2 medium carrot, sliced in half lengthwise and then into 1/2 inch chunks
1/4 red bell pepper, cut into triangles/square chunks about 1x1 inch
1/4 orange bell pepper, cut into triangles/square chunks about 1x1 inch
1/4 yellow onion, cut into chunks 1x1 inch

Start with the oil in a nonstick pan or a wok, or a large sautee pan. Warm it to high heat. Add the garlic and onions, cook until just beginning to change color, but not yet brown. Onions are nearly translucent. Add carrots, cook until brightened. Add beef and reserve the marinade. When beef is nearly cooked, add rest of vegetables and the marinade, along with the additional soy sauce, and vinegar.

If you like it spicy add chili oil to the beef marinade and a little to the stir fry itself.

Top with sliced green onions


Typical Chinese/Asian sauces/seasonings usually include soy sauce, rice vinegar of various types, garlic or ginger, toasted or untoasted sesame oil.