I'll admit it took me several years as a kid to grow to really start liking veggies. Fruits were never a problem.
Safe to say veggies are fillings and help to curb processed foods with high fat contents, salt, sugars, etc like crackers/chips/bars/etc.
What is your go to method (provided you aren't a vegetarian) to get the full servings for the day?
Do you go out of your way to include veggies in each meal? Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner/Snacks?
Or do you go the cheaters way like I do with fruits and make smoothies and get all 3 servings in one go?
What are you favorite recipes that combine multiple veggies? That's been the hardest for me. Getting all veggies in in a day.
I'm an avid juicer. Most of the recipes I use call for both fruits and veggies, so they usually get knocked out simultaneously. I have tons of recipes, but many of my fave recipes involve kale. Kale is especially good with acidic fruits like oranges and pineapples because the acidic content really sets off and compliments the taste of the kale.
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I detest them and avoid them whenever possible.
Spinach is somewhat edible provided its on a pizza smothered with cheese. Potatoes are good too, that's about it for me. Carnivore.
I love all veggies (I can't think of one offhand that I dislike). I don't eat much meat so veggies make up quite a big portion of my daily food intake. Love fruits too.
The suggestions already given are great - I also do the frozen fruit/veggies to throw into smoothies and make plenty of salad ahead of time to use for a few days worth so I don't have to individually cut everything up separate.
I have a juicer but I sometimes to go to this one organic juicebar at lunchtime that serves all these great juiced veggie drinks that they make for you while you wait - sometimes it saves the hassle of cutting things up and the clean up.
You can also look into trying different recipes One of my faves is a spinach salad with spicy mushrooms on top and sliced strawberries - drizzled over with a fig balsamic vinaigrette. It's amazing. You can also toss spinach and other veggies into an omelet or scrambled into eggs. If you BBQ - make chunky veggie skewers alternated with your fave meat or seafood. If all else fails - try indian or thai restaurants - they tend to use a lot of veggies in their dishes and the spices/sauces might make them more palatable.
I steam a lot of things as well - I find it keeps the flavour and colour and makes veggies much tastier - the broccoli is greener, the asparagus is crisper and it's great to steam things like butternut squash (if you add a bit of butter and brown sugar to this, it tastes just like a dessert!).
My favorite is wilted lettuce, but I eat a lot of salad. I also stock celery in the fridge for a go to snack.
For breakfast I eat a large navel orange, some strawberries, banana and porridge. I then consider what I want for dinner in veggie wise. I snack on yoghurt and a piece of fruit during work break.
I usually mix my meals up as meat & vegetable combinations. I eat a lot of fruit, apples, bananas, pears, peaches, grapes, & strawberries especially. Eating raw uncooked veggies usually burns more calories than you intake, therefore is an excellent way for someone to lose weight if they so desire. I have the other problem, trying to keep my weight on, as I run, bicycle, work out, & swim so much.
I often eat rice & veggie combo meals. I have a flat grill on my stove and love to grill the veggies & the rice. They are hot & crunchy! I also like to eat lots of greens such as turnip greens, spinach and I love broccoli that is nice & crunchy. Not too mention nice crunchy pole beans. Of course I don't mind frying some veggies too, fried green tomatoes, fried pickles, fried okra, & fried squash. Yummy!
I read an excellent article in Smithsonian Magazine on how the human body has evolved with the advances of humans. Cooking food is part of the human digestive process, doing much of the work for your body. Cooked food takes much less energy to process and has allowed the human brain to grow and consume a large portion of our calorie intake. It is amazing how much energy the human brain burns. That is why eating uncooked food can help burn off the fat. Go for a few weeks on a diet of uncooked and unprocessed foods, let your body do the work and see that fat come off. The article also stated that a human can literally starve to death eating their fill for uncooked food, so use good sense. Once you've attained the weight you need, then even things out. Also, with fruits & vegetables, ALWAYS, wash them yourself. Do not trust that you bought them pre-packaged or bagged at the grocery store. I purchase a lot of fruit & veggies at farmer's markets, too. I always make sure I thoroughly wash them. Organic food has been shown in studies to have more surface bacteria. All you need to to do is do a good washing and you should be good. Don't mess around with getting ecoli poisoning.
"An apple a day, keeps the doctor away."
— Benjamin Franklin
PS. get naked with your mate and feed each other grapes & strawberries. OR watermelon slices , letting the sweet juices drip all over the fun parts and lick it up.
Here in New Zealand we're lucky with the variety of fruit and veges available all year round. I have fruit trees and vegetable garden so its not a problem to obtain you can't beat the freshness and no other lil buggers have handled it.
I love veges except brussel sprouts evil and vile things eeeek blah. Everything else is fair game. Best way I like to eat a variety apart from salads are stir fry, easy to prepare and dinner is done within 20min. Fruit yep can do the famous fruit or savoury muffins great for a breakfast on the go or as a snack throughout the day ... that's if you bake ... do you bake?
There are lots of recipes out there its just a matter of experimenting giving it ago. If you want to make it fun try a food tasting dinner, where your invited guess bring along a dish with say the same ingredient used etc Soups are great way of getting them in you hot or cold.
Thank god for the ability to cook, and grow my own food ... fresh is best!
I have a couple smoothies a day, plus i have veggies in stirfry or steamed with every meal. In japan our breakfast isnt like american breakfast so i even get veggies at breakfast. Plus those amazing fruit and veggies in a portable squeeze pouch. those things are amazing if im in a hurry!
my newest :)
Just a note on juicing fruit, it's actually pretty bad for you. For example, to get a glass of apple juice from a juicer takes like 5 apples, and what the juicer does is take out the fibre and you're left with the sugar - fructose. So it's a high insulin intake, sugar of five apples to be exact. But if you were to eat the whole apple, then you're not going to eat 5 apples. Plus the fibre will protect the bodies organs from insulin.
I find it difficult to get all the servings of fruits and vegetables I should have. I am on a doctor recommended low fiber diet due to colon cancer (survivor and cancer free so far) and other digestive track problems.
I always have a banana for breakfast with a glass of 1% milk. I have some other fruits during the day but I must have something that is a binder such as low fat cottage cheese. I could eat a pound of Swiss cheese in one sitting and it would not have any binding effect on me.
However I did like the reminder to steam cook vegetables. I also will be taking some other suggestions from this forum question.
Thank you all.
Great advice from everyone here. Just as an additional note, homemade soup (infinite variety!) is a great way of upping your veggie intake in the cold winter months.
I put onions, various bell peppers, black olives and mushrooms in my scrambled eggs for breakfast. Sometimes I add a bit of tomato sauce and shredded cheese as a topping. I call it Pizza Omelette. Sometimes I do a breakfast smoothie: Strawberries, blueberries, a small peach, a green apple, half a banana, and a handful of spinach. Or oatmeal with honey, cinnamon, pecans and dried cranberries. I like to add fresh fruit to oatmeal. Strawberries, blueberries and peaches work well.
For lunch I have a big green salad with grilled chicken. Or a turkey sandwich with sprouts, tomato and avocado and a bowl of veggie soup: Vegetable stock, 2 cans red kidney beans, 1 cup each: zucchini, carrots, celery, onion, bell peppers, corn, peas, potatoes, green beans etc. If you put enough veggies in it, and season it with herbs, you don't need meat or pasta as fillers.
As a snack I cut up a raw veggie plate and nosh on it while I'm writing: Broccoli, carrots, celery, cucumber, red bell pepper, mushrooms, and a pickle. (Pickles will kill your hunger, so they make good snacks.)
For dinner I always do at least two to three servings of veggies I like: Corn on the cob, carrots, green beans, peas, potatoes, squash etc. as sides to go with whatever main dish.
Desserts: Fruit salad, frozen mangoes, a fruit smoothie or baked apples.
I load up in the morning with fruit... blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, bananas, and craisins or dried apricots, either plain or mixed with low-fat granola, nuts and yogurt. Also drink o.j. every morning.
For lunch... a spinach salad or mixed greens, apple (organic!) Don't buy non-organic apples! In season: peaches, pears, plums... easy to take to work! I also cut and pack broccoli, carrot and celery sticks, and red peppers to munch on
Dinner... I steam or stir-fry mixed veggies: broccoli, onions, carrots, red peppers, spinach... Always have a bag of grated cabbage on hand for cole-slaw. I also love to make soups loaded with veggies. Sweet potatoes and butternut squash is also loaded with vitamin A.
I usually get 5-7 servings of veggies a day.
lately Ive been stocking frozen spinach. Handfuls in my eggs are delicious and really up my veggie intake.
