Huge Problem With Veggies Lately!

The green-smoothie thing has always sounded gag-inducing to me, ha ha. I don't blame you for losing it. Though I know it's really a very healthy way to get veggies.

What about non-green veggies? Tomatoes? Carrots? Cauliflower? Yellow, red, orange peppers? The more colors in your daily food, the more vitamins you get.

I've recently been putting raw baby spinach leaves on turkey or roast beef sandwiches. It adds a lot of crunch and freshness, but the flavor doesn't overpower anything.

My dinner tonight was raw carrots, celery, cherry-tomatoes, and chicken slices dipped in hummus. It was yummy. Peppers of all colors are reallly good in hummus too.

Or spaghetti sauce. You can puree lots of different veggies and add it to spaghetti sauce and it will be barely detectable.

My digestive tract is pretty sensitive too. I've become obsessive about fiber. For the fiber aspect of veggies, you should try to spread it out. And it doesn't have to all come from veggies. Fruits and whole grains are also very high in fiber. You should aim for a minimum of 20 grams of fiber a day. Personally, I like to aim for between 25 and 30, it just works better for me, if you know what I mean.

Google search "My Plate". It's the new diagram that has replaced the Food Pyramid. That should give you a good picture of how your ratios of veggies, fruits, grains, proteins, and dairy should be each day.

Many vegetables, notably broccoli, take on a profoundly different character when cooked. I microwave about 3/4 pound of broccoli in the microwave until tender, in its own moisture, about 8.5 minutes in a loosely covered bowl. It's delicious. I don't much care for it raw...

Brussels sprouts may very well be my favorite food; I would never eat them raw, that's just foul...

:flowerforyou: WHAT I WOULD SUGGEST IS Take organic carrots, brussell sprouts, red beets, apples & kale. juice it up & the sweetness of the carrots & apples covers up the taste of the rest but you have all your vitamins in one glass & it is actually very good! try it & let me know how it is!

Good recommendations here. Also, don't do any veggies before you work out. Have them AFTER. i used to do fruit and veggie smoothie before I worked out and urped horribly. Now I just do a banana and/or a straight up protein drink before the workout and have a fruit/yogurt/spinach smoothie about 30 minutes after. Mix a handful of raw spinach with some frozen berries, greek yogurt, and skim/almond/coconut/other milk of choice. Add more protein with protein powder if you like. Sip at your leisure.

I'm picky. Some veggies can only be raw (carrots, tomatoes, peppers, spinach). Some can only be cooked (broccoli, cauliflower). Some can go either way (green beans, peas).

When I cook veggies, I just steam them in the microwave. I usually get bags of frozen broccoli, cauliflower, green bean, and peas. Pour some in a bowl, frozen. Microwave for 2 minutes. Stir. Microwave to 2 more minutes. Salt and pepper on top. I'm simple.

Raw veggies, I just eat as is, put them in a salad, or use as scoops for hummus.

Tomato goes on sandwiches, and the rest of the tomato gets chowed raw as a side dish.

Tomatoes are my absolute favorite thing in the world. Steamed broccoli is second. Raw sugar snap peas. Steamed cauliflower. Steamed green beans with slivered almonds.

This reminds me of a time this recent year when my middle school kid (boy) had a hankering for a specific dish but he asked a little bit too late. I was preparing spaghetti bake. They absolutely love this dish but that particular day, someone mentioned another dish and he uncharacteristically asked for it. I told him I would be glad to make that for the next night but today I've already started making spaghetti. He looked around the kitchen. There was not a noodle in sight or even a pot of tomato based sauce. He pointed out the obvious that I have not started cooking spaghetti. I pointed to the big pile of veggies I just cut up and said what do you think this is for. Until that moment they had no clue that I add the following to their spaghetti:

Eggplant
Squash
Zucchini
Carrots
Onion
Olives
Mushrooms

All of it is diced in small pieces. I cook it with olive oil and add it to my sauce.

(Spaghetti Bake is a dish that alternates layers of cooked noodles, sauce (mine contains cooked meat), and mozerella cheese placed in the oven at 350 until the cheese is firm and melted).

I've learned to hide veggies.

Another suggestion is to join veggie challenges here and to challenge yourself to one new veggie per week. Cook it in multiple ways. Sometimes I find they my resistance has more to do with not really knowing how to prepare them well.

Soup

As I think I already stated, I love veggies. I have learned that how you eat them is a matter of personal preference. Me, personally, I gag if veggies are cooked soft. Asparagus, in my opinion, is downright disgusting if soft and mushy, and it makes me gag. But fresh or lightly steamed, I can't get enough. You may have to experiment with different veggies to find which ones you like and the way you like them best.

The poster that said she "hides" veggies, good idea. I will grate carrots and put them in hamburger patties or chili. Spinach is great layered into a lasagna. You can dice things up very small and put them in lots of casseroles and soups!

I have two favorite ways to eat veggies. One is stir fried with some olive oil...broccoli, sugar snap peas, mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, green beans, etc. Just can't get enough. My other favorite is broiled, again with some olive oil. I cut up the veggies noted above, or just do green beans, garlic, and onion cleaned up and tossed with olive oil. Stick under the broiler and stir every 5-10 minutes so they don't burn.

Have you tried kale chips? Allrecipes.com has some good recipes. This makes kale crunchy and differently delicious, almost like eating a potato chip.

Kudos to you for making a commitment to eating healthy and looking for ways to like vegetables!

I love veggies but trying to eat them without a lot of fat (bacon grease, country ham, etc) is hard for me. I still saute' them in bacon grease, i just account for it now. I also use olive oil. If we're making a taco soup or chili then I throw veggies into it to 1) get more veggies in and 2) to lower the calorie count and 3) to stretch it a little further.

If you want to try a veggie smoothie in the morning try using canned pumpkin as the veg instead of greens. I make a morning hot beverage - I use ginger breakfast tea - plus some fiber one cereal, some Libby's pure pumpkin, a scoop of banana protein powder plus pumpkin pie spice. and buzz in the blender. Sometimes I add a pinch of cayenne pepper - Tastes like hot pumpkin pie and will have around 20gm protein plus 20gm fiber dopending on how much "solids" you add.

As for other ways to cook veggies - toss any chunked vegg with italian dressing - sprinkle on Mccormicks tuscan or sicilian spice blend and roasts in the oven till fork tender - I use what ever is in season - so you can mix it up - carrots, sweet potatoes, winter squash, beets, pumpkin, etc in the fall/winter. i finish with a sprinkle of fresh grated parmesan cheese for the last 5-10 minutes.
summer veggies don't take as long to cook peppers of all colors, eggplant, summer squash, tomatoes asparagus etc are all treated this way - they can be served hot or cold and go well in pasta salads, soups etc.

If you want to try roasted broccoli, cauliflower or Brussel sprouts try par-cooking them first and then using broiler to brown them - they do not get bitter if the broiler time is short - less than 10 minutes.

Hiding veggies is good as well and adds a ton of flavor to your dishes. I make a large batch of freezer sofrito - just pulse in your blender and then freeze flat in a ziplock bag so you can break off chunks to add to foods. I use a mix of garlic, red bell peppers, sweet onions, cubanelle peppers, fresh cilantro, seeded tomatoes and if you want hot peppers to taste. You can use other mixes as well depending on your preferred flavor profile. I make large batches when the produce is in season so flavor and price are the best. I use it in everything - soups, stews, breads, grains, pasta sauce, meatloaf, burgers etc. Since it is frozen fresh there is no added salt and all the flavor goes in you dish - win - win!

Stick with it - you will get over the smoothie barf and gag - try a different color veg and a different flavor in your smoothie, try warm vs cold, it will help with the mental connection/aversion from the prior experience!

Been there - done that! It can be done!

Does anyone have any ideas or alternatives. I was thinking of trying the green smoothies again. How much greens is enough for one day. Could I cram them all into one meal and not have to worry about it for the rest of the day?

You should be eating nine servings of fruit and vegetables a day from the full rainbow of colours - blue/ purple, red, green, yellow/ orange - so perhaps two greens to get a balance but dropping to one won't kill you for a while, greens are not innately more healthy than other bright/ dark colours.

What don't you like about the green smoothies? Are you only having greens in them no other produce? Two servings of mixed berries completely disguises a serving of green beans and avocado in the blend. Today I had spinach, banana, canned pumpkin and peanut butter, can't taste the spinach whatsoever. Some recipes here that are meant to be good
http://www.marmaladeandmileposts.com/archives/category/food/sane/smoothies

Soups are another good option, if you use frozen veggies you don't need much cooking at all so don't kill the nutrients, can also be blended into tomato pasta sauce.