Some of us love vegetables and find it easy to add extra vegetables to our meals, others struggle either because they don’t like many veggies or they have children who don’t and want to feed everyone the same meals.
Here are some ideas that you may or may not have thought of which may help you get the veggies on your plate without always having the same things.
Hiding vegetables tips
Roast root vegetables like carrots and swede to give them a different taste and make them more like chips.
Make gravy using this recipe adds the onions without it being just another vegetable on the plate with your roast chicken.
Remember tomatoes are good for you! Passata or chopped tomatoes added liberally can add a lot of vegetables to the meal without it seeming any different. So much healthier than a shop-bought jar!
Stuffed vegetables like peppers, flat mushrooms etc. By stuffing a vegetable with mince, rice or whatever you fancy you make the vegetable a part of the meal. It looks nice and doesn’t feel like an extra on the side. Children enjoy making their own food so encourage them to stuff their own!
Grate vegetables and add discretely to a bolognese, chilli or similar kind of dish. Grated carrot, cauliflower or courgette can easily be added and not noticed in the taste. It packs it with some more vegetables and also bulks it out so more for your money too!
More tips to sneak them in
Swap potatoes for other vegetables in chips, butternut squash, for example, make lovely chips.
Try cauliflower rice, if you are someone who likes a curry but doesn’t like many vegetables in it why not have it with cauliflower rice. I don’t like the shop bought cauliflower rice as I find it too coarse and think it tastes like chunks of cauliflower rather than rice. However, I do like it when I make it myself. The pilau cauliflower rice is good.
Add spices or herbs to your vegetables to completely change them. Adding something as simple as garlic to mushrooms or basil to tomatoes can give the meal a bit more flavour. These Mediterranean vegetables are delicious and so easy to make.
Don’t force yourself to eat vegetables or salad you don’t like because you won’t enjoy it. Instead, find different ways of enjoying the ones you do like.
Why you need vegetables to lose weight
Everyone knows vegetables are good for you, don’t they? They are healthy and filling for very few calories!
The best vegetables are those with low-calorie density. Basically, we are talking about healthier vegetables – potatoes don’t count but butternut squash is much healthier for example!
This means if you eat 100g of spinach, for example, it is just 23 calories and obviously, 100g of anything would fill you up significantly. On the other hand, 100g of crisps, which would be just as filling, is around 536 calories!
Find more tips about the best vegetables for weight loss.
Could you grow your own veggies?
Have you ever thought of growing some of your own vegetables? I have written an article to help you with growing from scraps or you could buy a kit? I grew mushrooms once and really enjoyed it, we are currently moving house but I plan to grow more veggies when we have settled in.
Silly Greens is a regular service perfect for growing your own Micro greens, posting greens that grow straight out the box within a few weeks. It’s UK wide and many of the microgreens grown won’t be found in the shops. They grow indoors, under natural light, and unlike any other indoor growing kits or smart gardens, you just need light and water. Micro greens are used in this smashed avocado recipe.
Weight loss and Exercise Support
I have a lot of weight loss guides and support if you want to exercise including if you have a condition like fibromyalgia.
Have a good look around and see how I can help you achieve your weight loss goals. Request my free resources to get you started too!
Would you be willing to write an entry of a few day to day breakfast, lunch, dinner plans? I dont even know where to begin with slimming world, i have the books but i struggle so bad! I never know what to eat for lunch, i work in retail and find it so easy to just grab a sandwich or have a cuppa soup. Youve done amazingly and you look great! Help please?