Please help me incorporate more veg into my diet

[squashyhat]

I am 60, 5' 3" and about a stone and a half overweight with slightly raised cholesterol. I would like to lose weight but my main issue at the moment is trying to eat more veg. There's just DH and me and although I would say we eat well it's not that healthily. We very rarely eat 'meat and two veg' type meals - it's more likely chilli, stir fry, pasta, home made burgers etc - but days can go by without eating veg other than a few salad leaves to go with these type of meals (although we eat a lot of tinned tomatoes in various guises). Apart from being vegetarian, if you eat a lot of vegetables how do you do it?

Have you thought about getting a veg box? Mine forces me to try new things.

I love my veg so this isn’t an issue for me most days, but on a lazy shove it in the oven type day, I use frozen veg to add a bit of healthiness. So for oven chips and whatever I. Would add frozen peas and frozen sweet corn and maybe some oven roasted tomatoes so at least there are three items there. Most beans are also found frozen and are really great, like broad beans. I have a bag of diced frozen peppers which I add to chilli.

You can also bulk cook your roast veg so you have extra to add to lunches or if you have space in the oven, do a try of roast veg or do some stewed fruit.

Don’t be afraid to try new things, even something like sausage and mash with double mash - one being carrot and swede and then some veg.

Veg and chickpea curry is amazing too!

I make myself include a fruit or two or veg with breakfast. Eg grated apple and raspberries on porridge or other cereal.

I didn't eat a lot of vegetables for quite a few years and truth be told, I just didn't like the taste. I was also too tired to cook due to illness. Once I began to feel better, I started to use some frozen vegetables for simplicity sake so I could eat them without thinking about it. Then I moved to making a salad or mixed vegetables which I'd make a batch of and have it in the fridge so I had fresh vegetables at hand.

As my diet improved, and I started to log calories, I began to appreciate and enjoy vegetables a lot more. Now I just love the taste of vegetables.

I think it's easier in winter to eat warm vegetables. Cutting up a bunch of different coloured vegetables and sticking them in the oven for 20 mins or so, or quickly steaming some green vegetables is super easy. This way it doesn't need much thought and you can prep and cook vegetables whilst your main dish is cooking.

Soups are also great for leftover vegetables!

With the meals you currently eat I think that would be easy. Make your own 'Hidden Veg Pasta and Chilli Sauces' surely stir fry is full of veg? Have vegetarian burgers made out of mushrooms or Quinoa etc we wrap our burgers in an iceberg lettuce leaf rather than a bread roll

I make a lovely hidden veg pasta sauce, you would never know it has all this in it: a whole Aubergine, 3 courgettes , 1 large onion, garlic, loads of tomatoes, 1 whole red pepper and 3 large carrots in it. It also freezes really well

The same can be done for chilli and curry sauces

Im vegetarian so I cant understand a chili without veg! Ours is made from: lentils, finely chopped mushrooms, kidney beans, another random beans tin if we have one, chopped tomatoes, fresh chilis, peppers, onion, carrot, corgette, sweetcorn, spinach. Then on the side have salad and extras like fresh chili & red onion to sprinkle on top. veg goes in everything, try things like meat free mondays as then its veg all the way surely?

Oh and humous on the side of a chili for sure!

’Half each of the meals you listed and put veg on the side’

This ^ If that feels like too much, try a third of the plate. Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, spring greens or kale.

I am a very sad person because I get a kick out of getting 3 serves of fruit or veg in at breakfast. So I usually have muesli with chopped banana, berries of some sort and tinned peaches or a handful of dried fruit.

That sets me up very well for the start of the day.

Oh sorry, I see you specified veg rather than fruit.

Great breakfast- omelette with tomatoes, mushrooms and spinach. Another good idea is to use avocado instead of butter in sandwiches. I also like to blend tinned cannellini beans with some lemon juice and a bit of olive oil to use in place of butter also.