Ideas to add more veggies to your diet....

SparkPoints: (27,817)
Fitness Minutes: (18,577)
Posts: 740
7/17/11 10:24 P

Yes, frozen vegetables are great.

Edited by: GETIT2GETHER at: 7/17/2011 (22:25)

SparkPoints: (10,579)
Fitness Minutes: (6,022)
Posts: 464
7/17/11 9:17 P

Fresh veggies with dips are really good. Right now I'm having baby organic carrots with a roasted red pepper hummus. It's full of protein and the good fats.

SparkPoints: (18,670)
Fitness Minutes: (6,087)
Posts: 1,173
7/17/11 8:43 P

Like StarDust, I use frozen veggies - so convenient! I put them in everything - frozen spinach and peas into vegetable/bean soup, frozen peppers and onions into omelets or pasta sauce, frozen broccoli/cauliflower and soy crumbles mixed together for stirfry!

SparkPoints: (1,242)
Fitness Minutes: (1,345)
Posts: 44
7/17/11 7:58 P

I just made brown rice mixed with shimp and as far the veggies i added broccoli and mixed veggies so rice to veggies was about 1/2 to 1/2. Very low fat and healthy carbs great fiber. I make a big portion and take it with me for lunch for the week

SparkPoints: (14,279)
Fitness Minutes: (5,817)
Posts: 331
7/17/11 7:11 P

I just found out about "cauliflower rice" and hear that it subs really well in fried rice. I have to try this.

SparkPoints: (7,083)
Fitness Minutes: (5,407)
Posts: 54
7/17/11 7:00 P

I hate vegetables, but surprising to me, I like salads! I watched a friend make this beautiful salad with everything in it, and it wasn't all dressing, all healthy stuff. I tried it, and the things I didn't like so much combined with the stuff that was okay, which made everything wonderful. I've also been replacing my lettuce with fresh spinach, pretty good

Posts: 799
7/17/11 6:54 P

Add carrots to zucchini muffins....

SparkPoints: (1,839)
Fitness Minutes: (680)
Posts: 42
7/17/11 6:42 P

juicing is a great way to get more veggies - also grate carrots and/or zucchini to put into ground beef for burgers, chili or spaghetti - grated apples and carrots are great in tuna salad - add tomatoes, broccoli and/or peppers to eggs for a veggie fritata

Posts: 1,288
7/17/11 6:11 P

I'm going through my 'poor college kid' phase. I still eat those terrible boxed dinners, but I add frozen vegetables to things like ramen, pasta roni. That's one way to get some nutrients.

Posts: 564
7/17/11 3:39 P

This will sound weird but I like to snack on frozen vegetables in front of the tv. They're very chewy. Stringbeans, whole or Italian cut, are the best. Frozen peas or succotash are also great but then you're getting into some calories.

I try to add fresh vegs when I'm cooking, but it's definitely easier to keep a bunch of frozen on hand.

Also bought a nice salad spinner/salad bowl set and I make us a big salad every weekend which lasts us into the week.

Edited by: KDYLOSE at: 7/17/2011 (15:41)

SparkPoints: (40,216)
Fitness Minutes: (63)
Posts: 1,586
7/17/11 3:22 P

My lovely husband Keith has been shoving more and more vegetables into me! He is juicing
them with fruits to make the ones I don't like more palatable. Mark you when you have them as juices you normally can't taste the veg. You could get your children to have more veg by being sneaky. Today Keith did spinach, tomatoes, cabbage, carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, broccoli, cucumber, grapes, plums, oranges, cantaloupe melon. If you bought one
of these drinks at some fancy restaurant or deli it would be so expensive, but if you buy them in the market, it is so cheap. You can vary the juices each day. Bye now

Posts: 2,269
7/17/11 2:26 P

Lots of great Ideas! I am practicing adding veggies to everything so it's great to get all these creative idea's to be sure I am getting a good amount.

I just made some awesome cucumber salad and cut up a bulk of celery and set them in water in an old wonton container for quick munching. I also bought baby carrots and grape tomatoes at the farmers market today for snacking as well.

Tonight we are grilling tuna steak with grilled zucchini, yellow squash, purple and yellow onion, mini red potato, garlic bulbs and mushrooms!

The additional side will be cucumber salad and a regular garden salad, so far so good = P

Posts: 77
7/17/11 2:20 P

all these ideas about keeping frozen veggies to throw into pasta, chili, meatloaf, etc, are great! We're having pasta sometime this week so I'll have to stop and pick up some peas or spinach (or chard, do they sell frozen chard?) and mushrooms to add to the premade tomato sauce & turkey meatballs.

SparkPoints: (24,983)
Fitness Minutes: (42,783)
Posts: 990
7/17/11 1:44 P

A bag of frozen peas and spinach is my best friend. Any time I'm making any type of pasta I can just pour a cup of peas or spinach in.

Posts: 2,855
7/17/11 1:38 P

I am a veggie hater-but I'm getting better. My veggie repertoire consists of Lettuce, tomatoes, raw carrots (don't like cooked), cooked broccoli (don't like raw) or celery. I have been trying different ways of using veggies and have come to like asparagus, onions cooked in things and I found a love for stir fry. I pureed some carrots in water and added it to my spaghetti sauce the last time I made it and it was delicious. I use the frozen, chopped onion so I don't have to smell it. All of these ideas are awesome. I'm going to use the puree idea much more often in more recipes. Thanks for the ideas!

SparkPoints: (5,688)
Fitness Minutes: (11,748)
Posts: 15
7/17/11 12:28 P

Its a simple one, but soup is great,t and there is so many different combos you can go on for ever and never have two quite the same.

Posts: 73
7/17/11 12:05 P

I started with meatloaf and chili. I don't have kids, but my husband hates most veggies, so I just slowly started sneaking in more veggies into meatloaf (or turkeyloaf as we've been making recently) and chili and he actually likes it more! Who knew that onion added flavor :)
Our chili definitely has more veggies in it than meat now.

You'd be amazed how many random veggies you have on hand that you can food process and add to meatloaf or burgers. I've added onions (duh) carrots, zucchini, cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, you name it.

Posts: 94
7/17/11 11:47 A

I made chili (I know... who makes chili in the summer) and I shredded carrots into it to "hide" the extra veggies. I have a cookbook that I picked up at a garage sale that shows how to use different veggie purees in common recipes to sneak in extra servings of vegetables.

Posts: 2,596
7/17/11 11:26 A

I like green smoothies. This morning I had: one cup of vanilla almond milk, 1 cup of chard, 1/2 cup of spinach, 1 frozen banana, 2 large dates, 2 tsp. of chia seeds, 2 tsp. of flax seed ground, 2 tsp of hemp seed. Taste wonderful.

Edited by: DOLLIE6 at: 7/17/2011 (11:29)

Posts: 1,132
7/17/11 11:21 A

I have cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and baby cut carrots at work. I eat them all afternoon. I also buy a bag of "rainbow salad" everyweek.. It contains broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and red cabbage.. it is prefect to add to a salad for crunch but also to a frozen meal (or any meal that needs to be heated) as a cooked veggie! :)

SparkPoints: (19,746)
Fitness Minutes: (14,870)
Posts: 430
7/17/11 9:45 A

How about stir fry. Lots of veggies and a little chicken for protein.

Posts: 895
7/17/11 8:56 A

I have a salad with every meal and I alway have a bag of vege for munching through the day

SparkPoints: (3,013)
Fitness Minutes: (1,112)
Posts: 16
7/17/11 8:39 A

I love making a "green smoothie" every morning for breakfast. First, I chop up one apple (minus the core) and toss it in the blender (sometimes I need to add some water to get it to chop smoothly). Then, I add about 2 cups of raw baby spinach. Last, I throw in half or a whole frozen banana. The banana and apple are so sweet that the spinach flavor disappears.

Of course, you have to get over the bright green color, but for me this is the quickest and easiest way to get down a couple cups of greens.

SparkPoints: (5,122)
Fitness Minutes: (2,315)
Posts: 507
7/17/11 7:21 A

Plan your protein but don't plan for any grain-carbs. That way you will have to find veg-carbs to fill the void. (ie, a stir fry of chicken breast and vegies). Use grain-carbs as a garnish or treat. If you do use grain-carbs, make them really worthwhile, like quinoa, even brown rice. After a while you'll be getting tons of veg, and a slice of bread will seem ridiculous.

SparkPoints: (142,280)
Fitness Minutes: (131,902)
Posts: 8,771
7/17/11 2:25 A

When I cook pasta I add peas or whatever vegetable I have at home. I love eating hot salsa with my meals. Yes, I add salsa to my meat when I make hamburgers. I eat the vegetable like I love to eat and also cook a cock pot of beans and add vegetable.

SparkPoints: (23,741)
Fitness Minutes: (20,535)
Posts: 611
7/17/11 1:52 A

Great topic for me. Some super suggestions!
I've not eaten meat for years, but that doesn't mean that I am a vegetable lover. I'm learning though. I stole an idea from one of the recipes here ish and put a lot of kale in my first crock pot of brown bean soup ( and old old fave), I also doubled the amount of carrots I put in! oooooooooooooooooh so good that sorta bitter taste adds when there is no added salt. Onions, too-- lots of potasium in them, so they're not just for flavor.

I just learned that my favorite spring salad has a lot of sodium in it so I'm trying the romaine version-- this means it is not as easy as when i buy a huge organic spring greens mix and just grab and grab to go with everything.

I have to be careful about fruit, but am really enjoying my homemade smoothie-- Clean and Fresh blueberries and strawberries, then pull them out to add to whichever yogurt I'm allowed (somedays nonfat, sometimes I need to get the low fat kind in). I've been trying to figure out if I could put something more veggie in there, but am just not sure.

Will see will see.

cheers,
dDawn

Posts: 10,511
7/16/11 10:57 P

I've loved mushrooms and onions on hamburgers for ages. So nowadays, when I make meatloaf, meatballs or meat sauce of any kind, I am apt to mince (in the food chopper thingy) up several mushrooms and add them to the sauce ... they blend right in, add a little lighter consistency and actually an extra jolt of protein.

Of course, I also add in things like grated carrots ... your mileage may vary.

I will also second (third?) everyone recommendations to always keep either fresh chopped veggies and fruit at hand, or to have the frozen variety available in your freezer so that you don't have to think about any of the "gotta do's" of washing, chopping and otherwise prepping your veggies for the upcoming meal.

SparkPoints: (2,898)
Fitness Minutes: (1,393)
Posts: 96
7/16/11 9:40 P

I was just thinking about this today. I recently found out that if you use a box of cake mix and a 15 oz. can of pumpkin, and 1/4 cup water, you can make a cake. Simple. There's pumpkin in every bite, but you can't taste it :)

SparkPoints: (4,940)
Fitness Minutes: (1,933)
Posts: 22
7/16/11 9:34 P

I bought a couple of cook books that show how to add extra veggies into everyday cooking.
For ex. I made choc chip cookies with chick peas, and made fluffy scrambled eggs with cauliflower. you just need to cook your veggies and puree them ahead of time and have them ready for when you cook and add them in as a filler.
They also said that cauliflower is good to add into mashed potatoes and mac and cheese and the best part is that you don't even know they are there. :)

Posts: 139
7/16/11 8:54 P

Last night while dining at a local Mediterranean restaurant I discovered a way to make ordinary green beans taste marvelous. This Greek dish, called Fassolakia, is green beans stewed in tomato sauce with garlic, onions, peppercorns, parsley and basil. It was so delicious that I, a confirmed meat and potatoes lover, would have been very happy to have been served a large bowl of nothing but those beans. Consider me a green bean fan for life. I've looked at various recipes on the web and most seem to call for potatoes. I'll just leave those out.

Posts: 3
7/16/11 8:47 P

I enjoy finding new recipes for veggies at www.whfoods.org. Not only do they have great recipes, they also have a list of their favorite "healthy foods" and the nutritional value of each food. You can also pick which veggies you want in a certain recipe, and which ones you want to leave out.

SparkPoints: (2,323)
Fitness Minutes: (50)
Posts: 949
7/16/11 8:09 P

I put them in because I adore my farmers markets.

I discover new veggies, or new varieties of old veggies (I have a passel of orange beets in my fridge as I type), and I just have to try them. When I am uncertain, I ask the seller how they prepare them, and adapt to my needs accordingly.

But then again, I love to cook.

Posts: 1,416
7/16/11 7:56 P

This is a topic on which I could write a book!

These days I always have a "pickled" salad of chopped (bite sized!) veggies (any kind!) marinating in vinegar (usually balsamic with salt/pepper/stevia). I make a big container of it every 2-3 days and grab a bowl between meals or have as a side with a meal. Makes a complete meal with some tuna or chicken mixed in.

The other biggies for me is using a spiral slicer (I use a World Cuisine brand spiral slicer) to turn zucchini and summer squash into noodles...and grating raw cauliflower in the food processor to use in place of rice.

thawed, frozen cauliflower makes awesome mock potato salad.

grated veggies (zucchini, carrots) and spinach/chopped greens can pretty much be tossed into anything....eggs, spaghetti sauce, meatloaf/balls

stir fries!! meat and asst veggies...a fast, easy, veggie filled meal. Use grated cauli as the base and you get even more veg!

try cooking vegetables in new ways. I've decided most anything tastes better roasted or grilled. Have you tried grilled carrots? They're amazing! Grated cabbage (think bagged cole slaw without dressing) stir fried in a wok til soft and carmelized is one of my favorites. Use a wok! Fresh veggies always taste better than frozen...frozen is always better than canned.

And don't forget that veggies can be a great snack all on their own. I love a plate of sliced tomatoes, even better with some avocado, with just a little salt and pepper. Red/orange/yellow pepper slices with a little salt make a great on-the-go snack. Or cucumbers (love those little seedless cucumbers!) and tomatoes with a splash of balsamic vinegar...divine.

SparkPoints: (12,813)
Fitness Minutes: (9,724)
Posts: 225
7/16/11 5:35 P

Although it may cost a little more, I find I am more apt to put veggies into sandwiches, salads, or just about anything else if they are pre-washed, -chopped, -sliced, etc. Also, like others have mentioned baby carrots and cherry tomatoes are a staple at my house, even the kids love them.

SparkPoints: (549)
Fitness Minutes: (1,299)
Posts: 8
7/16/11 4:50 P

Juice them! I freshly juice then drink a cocktail of veggies and fruit every morning to make sure I get my daily amount!!! Carrots, celery, sweet potatoes, apples, and strawberry's are great together. Then I also add them to meals so I make sure I am getting my suggested servings plus a little extra.

SparkPoints: (1,025)
Fitness Minutes: (2,655)
Posts: 15
7/16/11 3:34 P

Hi,
Everytime I cook pasta, I wash and tear up greens (beetgreens, spinach, chard) for the last 2-3 minutes of the cooking time. Then when I put it all in the colander, its all ready to go. With O.oil and a bit of parmesan its delicious.
I serve most hot food on a bed of lettuce of greens I place on the plate first.
I eat parsley (reg and flat leaf) as a green vegetable, not as a garnish. It is deliious in everything. I cannot get enough of it and it is extremely high in vitamin c.
I eat boxed lettuce in the car as a compulsive snack for long drives instead of chips too.
I chop raw veg into salad size and keep it in a container for when I am too lazy to prep it.
Eat mediterranean and middle eastern food more. They make a feast out of their veg, and add bean and tahini based sauces...Barbecue eggplant, corn and mushrooms to bring out flavour. It is irrestible over a grill. When in doubt add a tablespoon of your favorite cheese or sauce to a giant platter of hot veg. You cannot go wrong.

SparkPoints: (5,151)
Fitness Minutes: (5,905)
Posts: 44
7/16/11 2:12 P

I mix chopped broccoli with cooked brown rice and onion as a side dish. I also use fresh vegetables as much as possible - much more appetizing. I like the puree idea! Only problem is - I'll know it.

Posts: 14
7/16/11 2:04 P

puree! puree! puree! and add 2 ur fav dish! sneak 'em in! kids will never kn0w!

SparkPoints: (12,653)
Fitness Minutes: (1,345)
Posts: 60
7/16/11 1:50 P

Great topic! As a "meataholic" (forget the cookies, anything animal-protein has been my binge food of choice), getting more vegetables into my routine has been a major goal of my nutritional recovery. Tricks I do:

* When I make brown rice in my little rice cooker, I often throw in vegetables to cook with the rice. Even firm ones like baby carrots will get quite soft, and soft ones like eggplant will almost puree into the rice--and I like that.
* Salads, salads, salads. Especially in the heat of the summer, a cool refreshing bowl of salad is a wonderful thing. Plus eating a big bowl of something is great for mollifying my inner binge-monster. I often take my portion of steak or chicken breast, cooked on my George Foreman grill, and slice it up and put it on top of my salad for that chichi restaurant effect.
* I have not quite weaned myself off the urge to snack while working at the computer (I know, bad sparkie! :-D ), so I buy those bags of gourmet salad greens and snack on them instead of chips.

Posts: 453
7/16/11 1:47 P

Sneak them into your sauces....

really easy to chop things like beans, carrots, peppers, etc and throw them in a spaghetti sauce.

Also I try to keep baby carrots, celery, radishes, cucumbers on hand to have as a snack or a side instead of chips or whatever.

Edited by: RAD062010 at: 7/16/2011 (15:29)

Posts: 506
7/16/11 1:41 P

I try to mix up my vegetables so I don't get bored with them...stirfrys are the ultimate plate of veggies! Other than that, make your own little snack packs of different vegetables, so you can choose what you like-that way it doesn't feel like you're worrying over them!

Posts: 49
7/16/11 1:13 P

Add cut veggies (peppers, cucumbers, carrots) as a side to a sandwich.
I also take celery with peanut butter for a snack.

Posts: 380
7/16/11 12:50 P

One of the things we do is add wilted kale, swiss chard or spinach to casseroles. We found a recipe on spark recipes- I think- that was a chicken enchilada casserole with swiss chard- even the kids gobbled it up!

Posts: 2,910
7/16/11 12:49 P

I use V8 juice in broths and veggies to add extra veggies to things. I put it in spaghetti sauce and almost anything else I can bulk up and kind of hide from the kids. It's not that they don't like veggies, they will eat anything I make, but when I'm not home due to working late, knowing that those things are in the fridge assures me that they are getting a little extra veggies.
I also make a huge salad with things that won't go soft (like tomatoes) and all of us will grab some of that when we want a snack. It doesn't take any time at all to just grab a bowl.
One other thing is keeping grape or cherry tomatoes on the table and we all grab them as we go by just to pop in our mouth. Again, that keeps everyone from opening the cupboard and getting something else.

SparkPoints: (38,541)
Fitness Minutes: (51,613)
Posts: 371
7/16/11 12:23 P

We eat corn on the cob with dinner all the time during the summer. It tastes great grilled!

SparkPoints: (57,388)
Fitness Minutes: (41,531)
Posts: 1,731
7/16/11 12:20 P

You can use lettuce leaves or romaine as a wrap for a tasty snack or a quick lunch, add sliced veggies to your sandwiches, or mix in finely chopped veggies to beans or meat for a veggie-packed burger.

Posts: 4,152
7/16/11 12:16 P

I add veggies to just about everything. I ate egg whites for breakfast today. I added spinach. I sliced a tomato on the side and ate a banana. For lunch I will have small baby red potatoes with sliced yams. Yummy. Dinner will be a mixed veggie casserole, fresh salsa and a salad that has 1/2 an avocado, chopped tomatoes and cucumbers. For a snack I'll have mixed berries and a pear. I love fresh fruit and veggies in the summer. If I can't have fresh I'll use frozen. Veggies are so low calorie

SparkPoints: (13,220)
Fitness Minutes: (8,750)
Posts: 549
7/16/11 11:40 A

I am a carrot lover so they are my snacks and the is usually what I have for dessert also...kind of cleanses my taste buds so that if I am hungry for salt(my downfall) they curb that for me..

Posts: 333
7/16/11 10:57 A

cucumbers (an anti-inflammatory veggie) with Tuscan seasoning from Costco - yum, yum

Posts: 2,269
7/16/11 10:50 A

I would like to increase my veggie intake and others may be trying as well. So I thought it would be fun to hear everyone's ideas of how they sneak more veggies in their everyday meals.

A few Ideas that I have and that I have recently tried or done in the past are:

1.) I always buy the birds eye brand frozen pepper and onion mix for a quick way to add veggies to my spaghetti meals. I also add fresh spinach, garlic, fresh onion ( I cook the onion with the ground chicken or turkey for added flavor ) and fresh or canned tomatoes.

2.) I add beans, carrots, peas and onions to rice dishes

3.) I try to make a vegetable with my eggs, I do my eggs over easy so I need "dippy" side items. I recently tried asparagus and yellow squash and they both paired very well with the eggs.

There are many more ways I'm sure so I would love to hear everyone's ideas!