31 Days to a Better Body: Day 15 – Veggies (and 10 ways to eat them)
Eat your veggies. Low in calories, high in vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, fiber, yadda yadda yadda.
Confession
I’ve not always been a veggie person. In fact, my love for veggies has recently only developed the last year or two. Before that I was eating them because hey were covered in cheese I knew they were good for me. Once I decided to move beyond choking down steamed broccoli, a whole new world opened up and now I can truthfully say love veggies.
The not so secret to great veggies dishes is to use in season and as fresh as possible veggies. And butter.
10 Ways to Eat More Veggies
1. Steamed – It’s quick and easy but not necessarily my favorite.
2. Roasted – You can roast almost any veggie. Toss veggies with olive oil, coconut oil, or (my favorite) butter. Sprinkle with sea salt and roast. The time and heat varies by type veggie and the result you after after. If you want a softer sweeter veggies then lower heat and longer roasting times work best. If you want your veggies more al dente and caramelized then try higher heat and faster roasting times.
3. Grilled – Love the taste of smokey charred veggies. One of my favorite salads is a grilled beet salad.
4. Sauteed – Oil, onions, garlic and sea salt work well with almost any dark green veggies. My I Can’t Believe They are Collards is one of my very favorite sauteed veggie recipes. I LOVE it.
5. Sauces and Dips – Tomatoe based sauces with pureed or chopped veggies? Curries loaded with veggies? Sundried tomato artichoke or skinny jeans spinach dip? Yes, yes, yes, and YES! Dip raw veggies in the dips and you get a double whammy. Did I just say “double whammy”. I really have become my mother. 😉
6. In place of pasta – 1 cup (And who wants to eat just one cup? Not me!) of whole wheat penne pasta is about 280 calories compared to one cup of squash coming in around 30 calories a cup. Not only is the calorie count lower, but fresh veggies are more nutritious than processed pasta any day.
7. In place of rice – Works great in Mexican or Asian “bowls”. Grill bell peppers, onions, and squash. Then topped it with chicken, avocado, salsa, and some sour cream. Sooo good and soo good for you. Like the pasta, a cup of brown rice is around 200 calories compared to the squash.
8. Smoothies – Throw a handful of green something in your smoothie. Green smoothies are NOT my thing but if it’s yours GO FOR IT!!!!
9. Casseroles – Another easy way to up your veggies intakes. I’m a fan of egg based casseroles to up the protein. (Would that technically be a quiche?)
10. Soups and Salads – Yeah, a total no brainer but an easy way to up your veggie intake. 
Don’t be afraid to try new things when making salads. Get creative and have fun. You never know when you might come up with some amazing combination!
What about you? Do you like your veggies? Any ideas or advice you can add to the list?
Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn
Check out our family’s adventures at New School Nomads as we plan to take a year long road trip through the United States!
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This is awesome, Jenn! I love green smoothies but have not been making them lately, nor enough veggies in any form for that matter. Also: I say “double whammy” often… maybe it’s a midwest thing? Haha!! Kindred spirits, we are. <3
After quite thinking about it for a while, then doing some research, I just bought a juicer! I wanted to increase my veggie intake without having to actually eat more of them. In fact, I just had my very first batch: carrot, celery, apple, beet, lemon, and ginger
I usually try to respond quicker but wanted to say thanks for adding juicing to the list. I totally forgot about that one!!! Thanks Karen!
Oh, my gosh! I’m crazy about veggies! But, I wasn’t this time last year. Last year I was clueless when a neighbor gave me a cabbage. I had no idea what to do with it. The only thing I knew how to cook was broccoli. I realized that if I were to get healthier, I would really need to learn how to cook veggies. And so began my veggie-quest blog where I try new veggies and recipes, take how-to (or how NOT-to — LOL) pictures, and report how my kids and hubby like them. I haven’t been an active blogger this busy summer, but I’m still cooking the veggies (new posts will begin, again, in the Fall).
Blanching — Blanching is a great way to quickly cook something by putting it in boiling water for 2 minutes. It stays crunchy, it’s less bitter, and the colors are brightened. I mostly do this with broccoli but it can be done with green beans and other things. I try to save the water for cooking pasta/rice. Here’s a clip on my kids eating their broccoli. My DH took the video to prove to our families that they like it. It’s kinda goofy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X7wk05BMPs
Here’s a green smoothy (Shrek Shake) recipe my hubby and I have almost daily. http://42veggiequest.blogspot.com/search/label/spinach The trick, for me, is to use soy milk, and my ingredients are almost all frozen.
Ironically, I was having my lunch when I read your post, and I was eating sauteed cabbage, snow peas, and carrots with a onion/mushroom/Marsala sauce I had left over from the other night. I served it with a tilapia filet. YUM. I’m stuffed, and it’s all under 350 calories. And, YES, I cooked it with butter.
I don’t know how I miss responding to this but I wanted to say thank you for all the information and links. That smoothie actually looks doable to me.
And blanching is a great addition to the list! Thank you!!!
I’ve never tried grilling beets before but they sound awesome. I do like slipping beets and spinach in my smoothies. 😉
I forgot about your grilled beets. I need to try them so that I can learn to like beets more. I just posted a gazpacho recipe so I’m on the veggie bandwagon- oh goodness- the fridge is PACKED and I often wish that I didn’t eat protein so that I could just eat through what I’ve got in the fridge. One veggie that is very infrequently used in this country is parsnip- so yummy.
I had grilled beets this summer for the first time and…wow. new love.
LOVE that you mention the “in place of pasta or rice” as it’s amazing once you do this for a long while how you (ok I…WE :)) dont miss the processed white!
LOVE veggies. Great list! I love using veggies in egg/tofu scrambles in the morning. My favorite way to eat veggies is probably roasted though. Can’t wait to roast lots and lots of veggies in the fall!