Veggies

As many people know, I'm a Weight Watcher member and am working toward my lifetime goal for the third time in my life.  I've achieved it twice before, and since the birth of Gracie almost 2 years ago, I've lost 55 pounds.  About 25 of those fell off in the first year, without much work, but the last 30 and the 10 I still hope to lose were not so easy.

One thing I've changed about my eating habits since Gracie's first birthday has been my vegetable consumption.  Like I've mentioned before, we joined a CSA and had access to farm fresh fruits and veggies from June - October.  That started my weight loss journey off on the right foot, for sure.  In the summer, I have no difficulty eating plenty of veggies.  But over this winter, I've had to re-train my brain when it comes to meals... specifically side dishes.  Usually we're a meat & potato kind of family... meat & rice... or meat & pasta.  But knowing what I know about healthy eating, I've tried to incorporate more vegetables and less carbs into our meals.  So here are a few recipes that work for our whole family (toddler included!).  It's probably important to mention that we eat frozen and fresh vegetables only.  I will occasionally buy canned corn for soups or something.  But otherwise we don't prefer canned veggies.

Steamed Veggies
I think everyone knows how to steam veggies, but if you need help, let me know!  We eat them plain, no seasoning, butter, or cheese.

Fresh Veggies
A tip that my mom (who's lost over 50 pounds on WW) shared with me was to try to add 2 servings of power foods every day, to help you stay full and make healthy choices.  One way I've been doing this for the past couple of months is by having fresh veggies cut and washed in the fridge.  I just have a tub of celery, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and peppers.  I actually look forward to a bowl of cold crisp veggies with roasted red pepper hummus for dipping.  So good!  Seriously tasty!

And here's a kid tip: Gracie really likes "pummus" too (that's hummus) but she doesn't have the right kind of teeth yet to crunch through raw veggies.  I still let her gnaw on them and double dip the hummus as much as she wants.  But I've found that cooking them and refrigerating them helps.  I've tried this with carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower.  Just take the raw veggies and simmer/steam them in some chicken broth (or water) for a bit (10-15 minutes).  Then refrigerate as usual, but don't reheat before serving.  Gracie will dip the softer veggies in hummus and is able to actually enjoy the vegetable AND hummus for a snack.

Roasted veggies
A great way to bring out the flavor of fresh veggies is by roasting them.  This works with all types of veggies, including carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, butternut squash, asparagus, onion, peppers, zucchini, and yellow squash.  Just wash and cut fresh veggies, toss in olive oil and seasoning (garlic and onion powder are always good), spread on a baking sheet or casserole dish.  Bake at 425 for 20 minutes or so.  Turn once during cooking.  Can top with parmesan cheese for a kick.

A tip for butternut squash: cutting it up is a pain it the rear, but one time-saver is to use a vegetable peeler to remove the outer skin.  Then you can slice through the flesh with a sharp knife.

Grilled veggies
This is pretty self-explanatory... throw your veggies on the grill with the meat.  The may require more cooking time than the meat, so start the veggies first.  Ryan and I have a stainless steel grill basket to cook our veggies in.  Prepare the vegetables as you would for roasting them, but cook over the fire instead.

Another grilling option is foil packets.  Again... same prep, but wrap in foil to help steam the veggies as they cook.  Or you can include veggies in your kabobs.  Super, super yummy!  Some of our favorites for kabobs are tomatoes, mushrooms, pineapple, red onion, and red peppers.

Skillet veggies
When I'm in a real pinch, I cook our vegetables on the stove top in a skillet.  This works well for green beans, zucchini, yellow squash, peppers, onions, and mushrooms.  Simply slice up the veggies, place them in the skillet with olive oil (or water) and seasoning (if desired) cook on medium heat.  Use tongs to toss the veggies as they cook to prevent burning.  

Carb-like veggies
We've also taken to subbing vegetables for carbs when we can.  For instance, spaghetti squash instead of pasta.  Gracie likes squash better and Ryan and I could go either way.  It's super simple to cook spaghetti squash.  Just half the squash, place both halves face down in a casserole dish of water (an inch or two deep), roast in the oven uncovered at 425 for about an hour.  Use a fork to scrap the flesh out when done.  Top with spaghetti and meat sauce or whatever you like.

Another recipe using spaghetti squash or cauliflower (squash tastes better, to me) is to make twice baked potatoes out of it.  Only there's no potato, of course.  Just cook spaghetti squash in the oven (or steam the cauliflower).  Once cooked, mix with butter, cheese, sour cream, bacon, or whatever you like and put back in the oven to heat again.  It's not the healthiest recipe, but it does eliminate some of the carbs.

I'd love to hear how you add veggies to your diet!