Vegetables.

billieljaime wrote: »

the choo choo train spoon rides ends at some point my son is 12 and hates veg every night at dinner i put them on his plate he is expected to choke them down before he gets anything else. Once the veg and milk is consumed then he may have the protein and carbs, startches. This is not me be mean, this is me being a grown up and a parent and making sure he is getting nutritional balance because he is a child and if he had his way he would eat huge portions of meat, drink soda pop with a side of bread or potatoes for dinner.

If I can tell my 12 year old to eat his veg and he can choke them down I am sure a grown up can to, honestly give me a break here.

No whining. NO BREAKS!

But there are so many vegetables! You can't possibly have tried them all, in all sorts of preparations...

My advice? Learn how to roast, grill and saute.

I've never been a big veggie eater but I agree with others who said there have to be a few you would like or could tolerate at minimum. I don't have a very broad spectrum of experience because I've been guilty of saying "I don't like that" when I've never tried it before just because it looks gross to me. My favorites would be broccoli and tomatoes. I eat broccoli sometimes every day during the week and prefer it steamed. I can get in a good amount of veggies by making vegetable soup also. I find that even though I don't like a lof of the veggies individually, I do like them all together in a soup. Who knew?! I have found that other than tomatoes I like my veggies cooked or at least steamed. Not a big fan of raw veggies but eating them cooked is better than not at all. Force yourself to try something at least 3 separate times before you decide you "don't like it" I actually read that tip in regards to how to handle introducing foods to a baby but I think it's a good rule of thumb in general. Tastes change over time also so revisit things you didn't think you liked before. When I was a kid I LOVED peas and now I don't care for them other than in my veg soup but in the past I didn't care for carrots and now I don't mind them.

I thought I hated spinach until I had the raw greens rather than overcooked mush.
Same for broccoli, I absolutely love it raw or steamed.

Also, tastes change every 7 years or so, keep trying things, there's different preparations and variety of everything so really do say you don't like an entire food group is so....asinine.

Except brussels sprouts. I try those again every couple years. Still gross.

rabbitjb wrote: »

Missjulesdid wrote: »

put small cut vegetables when you cook rice. For extra flavor I toast the dry rice with tumeric, chili powder and cumin first. Over time use more vegetables and less rice. After the rice/vegetables are cooked, you can fry in a bit of olive oil. I currently use about twice the vegetables as I did when I took this picture. I also use purple cabbage and sometimes greens.

oo that looks nice - what's the red vegetable though?

Lol, they're carrots. I live in a place where most of what we have available for purchase is seasonal, locally grown produce.. some times the carrots are red, sometimes purple, sometimes yellow or even orange and sometimes there aren't any carrots available at all! Just depends on the farmer. I buy my vegetables here and the only things imported are the bananas!:

Keep trying them. Try them roasted, sautéed, diced, pureed, mixed with other yummy things. Just keep trying them every which way. There will eventually be a preparation you actually like.

+1 on trying a bunch of different kinds and experimenting with preparation. Roasted, steamed, raw, etc. Fried with olive oil or butter and onion or garlic. Stick them in a casserole or a stew. Sprinkle on your favorite spice or some salad dressing.

I really, really hate prepping them so I often buy frozen, especially in the winter when fresh produce around here isn't that great (once you've shipped it across the country or world, it's not always in the best condition). You can also buy many things fresh but already prepped - broccoli florets, cubed butternut squash.

Don't believe you HAVE to eat raw massaged kale with a chia/flax dressing because it's a superfood (unless you like it, and maybe you will). There's so many varieties of vegetables out there and even if you don't like one, you might like a different one or even the same one prepared differently.

Then just eat the vegetables you do like. My personal favorites are cabbage, broccoli, zucchini, bell peppers, and asparagus. There's a lot of ways to cook vegetables that make them delicious. I tend to stir fry my cabbage with eggs and maybe some salt/soy sauce for example. Or grill slices of zucchini with salt and pepper.

I hate carrots though...