What do you do with frozen veggies?

I usually only use them in soups and stews...

If I steam them, I put a little butter on them...and S&P

Add them to eggs, pasta, or rice side dishes.

I stir fry them in cooking spray with different seasonings or sauces or I use seasonal fresh since the in season fresh vegetables are less expensive and shop the loss leaders for fresh.

I also have to wonder how vegetables can't be worth calories on your calorie budget, OP.

I just toss em into recipes when fresh are out of season or I don't feel like trimming a pound of beans. They may exude a bit more water if you don't thaw and drain first, but I'm making a lot of recipes these days where I'm reducing the oil I use to saute and I find that if I weren't using frozen, I'd be adding small amounts of water anyway, to keep stuff from sticking. (Note: I'm talking about purees, mostly, where fresh or frozen, it's all going into the food processor when it comes out of the pan. For example, a veggie pate that's 12 oz of mushrooms, 8 oz of beans and an onion in 1 tsp oil, then processed with 1/4 cup walnuts, 1/4 water, salt and pepper. Using frozen green beans in that works well and if the saute is a bit too wet, I can keep it cooking another minute or two.)

If you find frozen veg bland, that means you're not seasoning them enough. A little salt, pepper and fat goes a long way. You can also spruce them up with spices, herbs or other aromatics like onions, shallots or garlic.

I cook them in a microwave and then a little salt or seasoning. 5 minutes and done. Those 5 minute bags are cost effective and easy prep.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I throw zero calorie hot sauce on (franks original or Valentina). I put that *kitten* on everything!

n1cholee93 wrote: »

Why cant you roast frozen vegetables? I do all the time and they're fine.

That part.

Francl27 wrote: »

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

I stir fry them in cooking spray with different seasonings or sauces or I use seasonal fresh since the in season fresh vegetables are less expensive and shop the loss leaders for fresh.

I also have to wonder how vegetables can't be worth calories on your calorie budget, OP.

Because I don't like them, lol!

What kind of sauces do you use?

I don't know, even when I season them... I don't enjoy them. It's annoying.

Totally understand. Many years ago, there were very few veggies I liked. I liked potatoes...that was about it. Oh and tomatoes, as long as they were in pizza sauce.

But once my son came along, I made a concerted effort to start eating better. Started cooking green beans like my mom does, and it was really hard to honestly not like them. Fresh supersweet corn? I can eat a whole bowl of the stuff. I swear corn seriously did not taste that good when I was a kid. Cooked carrots - the ones like in a pot roast? HOLY crap. I LOVE them. I don't know what happened to my taste buds, but thank goodness it did. About 10 years ago my son and my BF (at the time) went out to eat at Outback, and trying to be good, I ordered the seasoned veggies with baked chicken. Now, I had never liked broccoli - ever. I could eat carrots (have to cooked though) but never could stand broccoli. Well they brought my plate, and I stuck my fork in the veggies and rather reluctantly put them in my mouth....and WOW. I mean, I said that out loud. I cleaned that plate. And from that point on, I knew that I had conquered the broccoli thing. I can't eat it crunchy though...I like mine cooked just past that crunchy stage. And of course, I need seasoning. Butter doesn't hurt either. LOL.

What do you do with frozen veggies?

I eat them every day!!

I buy the individual servings (steamfresh) and pop them in the microwave at work for lunch. Just about every day I have well-salted brown rice, tinned chicken and those steam fresh veggies for lunch.

Sometimes I mix in a LaZuppa "Just Add Water" Lentil soup for a slightly different flavour.

Occasionally, and only if I've been for a long walk, I'll have a LaZuppa Spiced Red Lentil soup which I'll mix with noodles and my steam fresh veggies.

At dinner, we have another couple servings of mixed veggies, usually frozen then steamed. I usually just add salt because I like the flavour of steamed veggies. And BTW - they're still slightly crunchy, I don't like them boiled soggy.

If I'm doing a slow cooker meal, I'll usually use fresh veggies for most of it, then top it up with some frozen veggies, and on "Day 2" of the slow cooker meal, I'll use frozen veggies to fill it out.

Oh, and soups etc. of course, we have soup for dinner about once a week ... two nights ago it was Tom Yum soup (little bit spicy) and my husband just pours the soup from the bag into a large bowl, dumps in heaps of frozen veggies, and pops the whole thing in the microwave to heat. Same with the packaged Indian meal we had last night ... into a bowl with lots of veggies, heated and served over brown ice. Yummy!

felixpettersson wrote: »

Throw a couple hundred gram of them in a frying pan with a tablespoon of oil or so, and then mix in some sambal oelek, curry powder and half a cube of bouillon. Mix in some lentils for extra protein.

I did something like this yesterday, so thanks for the suggestion. Dumped a frozen bag of cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots into a pan with oil, added some Sriracha sauce, curry powder and turmeric, then splashed in some chicken stock. It was good.

stevencloser wrote: »

Francl27 wrote: »

Ok it's really a problem. I just don't like frozen veggies. At least with fresh, I can roast them or something, but frozen is just so bland... bleh!

So I just don't eat enough veggies because it's just not worth the calories to me (I know, I know) and I'm just so sick of them at this point... Fresh is often too expensive. I typically buy frozen broccoli, peas, corn (for the kids), sugar snap peas the most.

I do mashed cauliflower with frozen cauliflower, I've dumped a few bags and made soup... Sometimes I'll sprinkle some parmesan on broccoli but even then... Any other ideas? I use peas and carrots when I make shepherd's pie. Other than that, I'm pretty stumped.

What? If veggies aren't worth the little calories they contain to you, what is?

I am perplexed by this too OP, since I've seen many of your threads where you talk about your extreme hunger related to your cycle. Vegetables (frozen, fresh or whatever) are a great way to add volume and bulk to a meal without a lot of calories, and surely seem like they would help address your hunger issues.

I too was a picky vegetable eater and have worked to add more to my diet. For frozen veggies - I tend to either buy the bags of mixed vegetables to use in soups, stir fries, and sometimes chicken pot pie or chicken and dumplings in the slow cooker - or I really like a lot of the veggie blends that have sauces with them. I like the Green Giant Steamers that may include squash, zucchini, green beans and carrots in a butter sauce - or there is one I really like with snap peas, carrots, edamame and black beans. A lot of time I will make that to go with a piece of salmon that on nights when I'm just cooking for myself. I also really like the Birdseye Protein Blends that include grains like quinoa and veggies and sauce - I have made those a couple times this week with some shrimp sauteed and served over it.

For those that roast the frozen veggies - has anyone done Brussel sprouts? I'm a relatively new Brussels convert - have had them when they are amazing and have had them when they are just so so. I was thinking cooking them from frozen might be a good way for me to experiment with them, as I've never made them myself.

Machka9 wrote: »

What do you do with frozen veggies?

I eat them every day!!

I buy the individual servings (steamfresh) and pop them in the microwave at work for lunch. Just about every day I have well-salted brown rice, tinned chicken and those steam fresh veggies for lunch.

Sometimes I mix in a LaZuppa "Just Add Water" Lentil soup for a slightly different flavour.

Occasionally, and only if I've been for a long walk, I'll have a LaZuppa Spiced Red Lentil soup which I'll mix with noodles and my steam fresh veggies.

At dinner, we have another couple servings of mixed veggies, usually frozen then steamed. I usually just add salt because I like the flavour of steamed veggies. And BTW - they're still slightly crunchy, I don't like them boiled soggy.

If I'm doing a slow cooker meal, I'll usually use fresh veggies for most of it, then top it up with some frozen veggies, and on "Day 2" of the slow cooker meal, I'll use frozen veggies to fill it out.

Oh, and soups etc. of course, we have soup for dinner about once a week ... two nights ago it was Tom Yum soup (little bit spicy) and my husband just pours the soup from the bag into a large bowl, dumps in heaps of frozen veggies, and pops the whole thing in the microwave to heat. Same with the packaged Indian meal we had last night ... into a bowl with lots of veggies, heated and served over brown ice. Yummy!

I love the steamfresh bags. Relatively quick, super easy.

Some, like frozen broccoli, are a lot mushier than fresh. I limit my frozen veg to those that hold up well. If we have broccoli or brussels sprouts, I use fresh. Generally, I microwave the frozen veg in a covered dish with a couple tablespoons of water. If I want them to have more flavor, I dress them like you would a salad. One of my favorites is to toss green beans in honey mustard and dill relish. Balsamic vinegar is great on veggies. Any salad dressing can be tossed on hot veggies.