Calorie Counters - Baby Spinach and other veggies

So I HATE VEGGIES!!! It's mostly psychological and if they smell bad (brussel sprouts) or the texture is wrong( lettuce), I psych myself out. I know lettuce doesn't really have a taste, but I tried it on a sandwich & just didn't like the texture. Things like carrots & celery I can eat in soup if they're cooked thoroughly. As for peppers, I can eat them if they're sauted to where they're not crunchy anymore. I know it's messed up, but I've always been like this. Mom said I ate every veggie when I was a baby, but since I was a toddler I don't eat them (cept for the ones mentioned). So this past weekend, someone suggested Baby Spinach. I tried a small piece with some cucumber ranch dressing & it wasn't bad. More soft than crunchy. I'm going to try it on a sandwich too.

I was wondering if anyone had any ideas how I could incorporate it, or other veggies, into foods without psyching myself out with their smell or texture???:?:

It sounds like you like your veggies thoroughly cooked. I generally much prefer my veggies cooked too, but I love veggies. And while I can eat them plain, I prefer them to be incorporated with the rest of the meal to flavor them.

Try making chili or lasagna with diced/chopped veggies (onions/peppers/spinach/carrots/celery/zucchini/green beans -- not all of those at once, but a few). If you make casseroles, you can usually add those veggies. You can add cooked veggies to burritos or fajitas. Pretty much any dish that has a flavorful sauce, and of course, stir fries. If you like omelets or scrambles you can add most of those veggies too (saute the veggies first so they are well cooked).

Of course, chicken or turkey soup is another great way to serve veggies.

Good luck!

There are certain veggies I can't stand (raw, or just in general) and certain veggies I don't mind, I think its really about experimenting and trying out the veggies to find out what your palette likes. For ways to hide veggies you can make loads of cassaroles with veggies in them.

I pretty much saute all my veggies I make as a stand alone (as in, not in a recipe). Yep, I use oil and I just add it up. At least I finally found a way to love bell peppers, right? I saute them in oil and then throw a beaten egg over it all. YUM!!!!

What about beets or squash or shrooms? There are so many veggies to choose from and you don't have to love them all.

You sound like me - I hate the crunch of veggies too. Good lord I couldn't stand salads.... crunchy and cold, like cuddling up with my bony aunt Edna or something. Way too much work to chew, left me hungry and completely unsatisfied.

A lot of that is just psychological you know. You CAN overcome in time but you have to push yourself and eat vegetables as if they're medicine, got it? Medicine!!! I overcome my aversion to veggies by just eating them consistently. I didn't see it as a choice, I saw it as a prescription. Now I love my veggies any way I can get them. Try it..Maybe not raw, but at least learn to incorporate them into your diet. Baby spinach is great because it's soft and if you cook it, it won't get stringy and fibrous like adult spinach will. In fact I prefer to keep most of my veggies as babies and skip out on the full blown versions of them.

Fact: a baby veggie and its adult counterpart have equal nutritional value so you're not losing any nutrition by buying baby bok choy versus big bok choy for example.

Roasting veggies is a great way of using them, I actually prefer roasted veggie salads as opposed to cold crunchy salads. Carrots, mushrooms, peppers, zucchini, eggplant, onions, potatoes, anything you like can be drizzled with a little olive oil, sprinkled with salt/pepper and seasonings of your choice and roasted until tender. Try:

- Roasted carrots with cumin
- Cauliflower roasted with rosemary, garlic, and lemon
- Mushrooms roasted with thyme and garlic
- Tomatoes cut in half and roasted with basil, sprinkled with parmesan cheese
- Zucchini medallions roasted with onions, dill, and parsley.
- Cauliflower roasted with corriander, cumin, chili flakes, and almonds.

Or, any pasta dish you have you can toss in a couple of handfuls of baby spinach and it's like it won't even be there.