Help me to eat more veg (please)

Lady Lainy · 23-01-2011 09:10PM #1

I didnt grow up eating veggies! So now at 24 i find it really hard to get make my self eat them! My taste buds haven't grown up with them!

What i do love is, potatoes, peas, corn, cauliflower. and i do like the normal salady stuff

Would love any tips and suggestions people have to incorporate more veggies into my diet!

I'm 24....but when it comes to veg...i'm a stubborn child

23-01-2011 10:05PM

Just...eat them

Force yourself. Your body needs them.

If that's too much trouble how about cutting them into small pieces and adding to stews/pasta dishes/pies etc. You can barely notice they are there! Good ones for that are carrots, mushrooms, spinach, onion, garlic, courgette..and lots more!

smiles302 · 23-01-2011 10:05PM

Veg Soup? Pretty much just throw whatever you want into a pot with a veg stock cube and then blitz when cooked.

Or start serving a small amount of broccoli with your cauliflower, try carrot and parsnips mashed up together, or try roosting basically any veg and see if you like it that way.

Normal salad-y stuff includes lettuce, peppers, tomatoes..?

You don't have to like every single veg to be healthy, maybe try a new veg once a week or something?

Oh! Asparagus and green peas are lovely cooked under a salmon fillet when you are baking in. Nom nom nom. Loads of recipes on BBC good food online for ideas.

Lady Lainy · 23-01-2011 10:21PM

yeah salad stuff would be onions, garlic, tomato, lettuce, cucumber, gerkins, peppers.

I already throw peas and corn into my rice and pasta dishes, was thinking of trying diced baby carrots

in the last week i've been making the concious effort to add veg to my meals....and I've been feel healthier and fuller (and lost weight)

Ectoplasm · 24-01-2011 06:02PM

Oh I love veg, but my younger brother is like you - never really ate it, so now he struggles a bit. A few things that he does enjoy are below:

Roasted Veg: Aubergine, courgette, red pepper, red or white onion, carrots, mushrooms, butternut squash. Any combination really, cut into chunks, throw into the oven with a little oil and it's done. The red peppers and onion are a must for me - anything else, it tends to be whatever I have.

Broccolli: Par boil, put into a foil packet (ie tinfoil wrapped up) with some seasoning and throw into the oven - or if you're feeling lazy, just a drop of oil and straight into the oven. No idea why, but it tastes different from just boiling it.

Mushrooms/carrots/courgettes/peppers/onions - chucking them into any stew/bolognese/chilli/casserole is handy enough.

Kebabs - chunks of chicken, beef or other meat type on skewers, pop chunks of veg (or fruit) onto the skewer between the meat. Yum.

Steaming veg is another alternative - it comes out crispier, tastier and as far as I know, keeps more of it's vit and mineral content.

Grill pan if you have one - again, cut into chunks and throw them on.

Chicken or fish - if you're doing them in the oven, throw some veggies in alongside them.

Lots of ways of 'sneaking' veg in, but honestly, the best bet is to try as many as possible. There's bound to be some you like!

metamorphosis · 24-01-2011 06:23PM

Stir frying lots of veg in coconut oil is fair nice

and you can always mask the taste with spices and herbs etc so there's no excuse really. Just be inventive, eating veg doesnt have to be boring.

hcass · 25-01-2011 09:15PM

I was like you, such a fussy eater. Then one day I just copped on and realised what I was missing out on. I forced myself to eat all of the things i thought i hated. It took a while but now I would try ANYTHING. Just keep telling yourself that it's not going to kill you, if you don't like it then forget about it for a while and come back to it again in a few weeks. When I think abut how I was I am so embarrassed now. I was really annoying, "a plain burger please", picking onion out of my spaghetti bolognese. It makes me cringe!

lrushe · 25-01-2011 09:19PM

Have you tried the new Knorr Season and Shake. Throw veggies in the bag, add the seasoning, some water, I add beef pieces or chicken to the Rustic variety but they can be left out if you want to save some precious points, the seasoning adds enough flavour anyway. 50 - 60 mins in the oven cooking in their own juices, v.tasty and v.filling

seabre · 25-01-2011 09:23PM

Best way to Grow a love for Veg is to Grow your own! Nothing like the taste of Home grown Veg - TOTALLY different from shop bought and the satisfaction from eating your own produce is second to none!

You don't need a huge garden either - even a window box will suffice.

Tomatoes do really well in a pot on a window sill or patio - you'll get hooked quickly and so much better than forcing yourself or disguising your veg - give it a go you'll save money too!:D

RobAMerc · 25-01-2011 10:07PM

make some tempura batter - then spend some time battering everything you can think of - cauliflour, peppers, shrooms, bananas etc are all fab ( particularly cauliflour ) and with any batter you've left over whack in a mars bar - feckin georgous.

pecker1992 · 27-01-2011 11:54PM

metamorphosis wrote: »

Stir frying lots of veg in coconut oil is fair nice

and you can always mask the taste with spices and herbs etc so there's no excuse really. Just be inventive, eating veg doesnt have to be boring.

very well said..thats how i increased mine

...once your getting your 5 a day you wont know yourself

..go for things like peppers onions mushrooms garlic diced carrot garden peas...the benefits are too good to be true

eeme · 29-01-2011 12:01AM

Do what most parents do for their kids.. process lots of veggies, any kind at all and add it to your spag bol.. no one ever notices its!

Juice it?

crapple (apple and carrot) tastes just like fruit juice.

blending veggie juices(no matter how potent) with mango masks any yuck taste.

I hate celery juice and not to fond of spinach in my juice but when you blend it with frozen mango or berries you can barely taste it!

Or you can block your nose and skull it!

bambera · 29-01-2011 03:40PM

I make fresh homemade veg lasanga because I'm a terrible one for not incorporating enough veg into my diet. Sauce helps flavour the veg but I only put a small amount of cheese on top though.

Lady Lainy · 30-01-2011 07:51PM

okay so i thru baby carrots into my ww tikka masala tonight....wasn't bad, couldn't really taste them....so I think I'll be adding baby carrots to the LIKE LIST :P

Also made a Quorn Cottage Pie for tomorrows dinner. I figure as my veg intake is low, I should reduce my meat intake a little, to create a bit of balance!

psycho-hope · 30-01-2011 07:59PM

parsnip and carrot are nice mashed with your potatoes or try something like baby sweetcorn they taste kinda sweet so dosent feel like your eating veg:D

Lady Lainy · 30-01-2011 08:05PM

psycho-hope wrote: »

parsnip and carrot are nice mashed with your potatoes or try something like baby sweetcorn they taste kinda sweet so dosent feel like your eating veg:D

I

peas and sweetcorn

I did 70g of brown rice, with 50g of sweet corn, 50g peas, and 4 -5 baby carrots finely chopped up. REALLY bulked up my rice, couldn't even taste the carrots with the ww tikka sauce.

Yipeeeee!

El_Dangeroso · 30-01-2011 08:20PM

Does sweetcorn count as a vegetable? It's a weird one. It's technically a grain. If it's a vegetable then wouldn't corn bread count as one of your 'five a day'?

I do indulge from time to time, one of my 'allowed' deviations, just perks up a salad nicely for me. I like the 'salad crisp' green giant cans.

SkinnyDoll · 06-02-2011 07:46AM

Roast them... spray a shallow tray with a little oil or better still use a non stick one.. and chop up peppers, courgette, throw in some tomatos, onion (the finer you slice the onion the more it will carmelise and the sweeter they will taste!) red onion, mushrooms ANYTHING will roast, parsnips drizzled with a little honey, and if you slice them fine they make a great alternative to crisps, cauliflower =

http://www.ifood.tv/network/roasted_cauliflower_parmesan/recipes

This site is FULL of great recipes!

once you've got your tray full then decide on the flavour, balsamic and olive oil with some garlic - italian (in fact lashings of balsamic will get reduce down to a sweet sticky sauce!) YUM! This is how I use up my left over veg and I would always have some in the fridge to add to some chicken for a wrap for my lunch...

Curry powder is good and great if you're roasting them as a snack (beats crisps anyday), Chinese 5 spice, Chilli

The list is endless... experiment . enjoy... Doll x

ncmc · 08-02-2011 12:39PM

SkinnyDoll wrote: »

Roast them... spray a shallow tray with a little oil or better still use a non stick one.. and chop up peppers, courgette, throw in some tomatos, onion (the finer you slice the onion the more it will carmelise and the sweeter they will taste!) red onion, mushrooms ANYTHING will roast, parsnips drizzled with a little honey, and if you slice them fine they make a great alternative to crisps, cauliflower =

http://www.ifood.tv/network/roasted_cauliflower_parmesan/recipes

This site is FULL of great recipes!

once you've got your tray full then decide on the flavour, balsamic and olive oil with some garlic - italian (in fact lashings of balsamic will get reduce down to a sweet sticky sauce!) YUM! This is how I use up my left over veg and I would always have some in the fridge to add to some chicken for a wrap for my lunch...

Curry powder is good and great if you're roasting them as a snack (beats crisps anyday), Chinese 5 spice, Chilli

The list is endless... experiment . enjoy... Doll x

+1 on roasting your veg, it tastes totally different when you roast it, especially peppers and red onion as they turn lovely and sweet. I do a big batch of mixed peppers, red onion, tomato and mushroom (if I have them) and anything else I have like carrot, parsnip squash etc. I add some garlic and a little chilli and roast with a small amount of olive oil. I keep it in a sealed tupperware container and just have a portion with whatever else I am eating.

I find it easily keeps 3+ days and really fills you up too, so you eat less of the bad stuff

Help me to eat more veg (please)

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