Veggie Snacks
 

I'm still not getting the 4.5 cups of veggies I'm supposed to have every day. Part of the problem is that I don't think of veggies for snacks. "Snack" to me means a piece of fruit, pb and crackers, cheese, sugar free latte, etc. Today I had a BLT lettuce wrap for a snack and that was great. Tomorrow I'm going to use up some leftover refried beans in another lettuce wrap. If I could keep getting those veggies into my snacks, I might make my quota! Any suggestions for me? What are your favorite veggie snacks? I like my veggies with something else to help them go down, and I'm not crazy about celery.

How about roasting some green beans for a snack? Just Pam a baking sheet lined with parchment or foil, spread out a layer of green beans, spray them with Pam again, and give them a light sprinkle of sea salt. Then roast them for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned at 450*. I like mine slightly crisp. They make a tasty snack when you are craving something salty.
Another snack favorite of mine is baby carrots with a good dijon mustard. I know it sounds weird, but it's good!

I 100% looooooove veggies! Here are some veggie ideas:

- Raw veggies of choice with hummus
- Raw veggies of choice with dip (made with LF sour cream & LF mayo)
- Stir fry made with 1 bag frozen veggies and brown rice
- Tomato & cucumber salad with balsamic vinagrette or oil
- Chop up veggies and put them in things like omelets, quiches, pasta sauce, on pizzas, casseroles, etc.
- SOUP!!!!!!

Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:
· Fat-free cooking spray
· 1 small onion, grated or diced (1 cup frozen works)
· 1 cup celery, chopped into bite-sized pieces
· 6 cups (48 oz) fat-free vegetable broth
· 1 cup carrots, chopped into bite-sized pieces (canned works)
· 1 cup green beans (fresh, frozen, or canned is fine)
· 1 cup chopped tomatoes
· 1 (8.5-oz) can peas (or use 1 cup fresh or frozen)
· 3 (5.5 oz) cans low-sodium V8 juice (about 2 cups)
· 1-2 level tsp of "Bells Seasoning" or to taste (This is found in a
small box in the spice aisle. If you can't find it, you can substitute
with a blend of rosemary, oregano, sage, ginger, marjoram, thyme,
and black pepper)
· Salt and pepper, or to taste
· Bay leaf (optional)
Directions:

Spray large soup kettle with cooking spray. Saute onion and celery for 5 minutes. Add vegetable broth and carrots; bring to a boil. Lower heat; Add green beans, tomatoes, peas, V8 and bay leaf; Simmer for 40 minutes or until vegetables are nice and soft. Season with Bells Seasoning, salt, and pepper to taste.

*Remove bay leaf*

Yields: Approx 8 (1-cup) servings

I wanted a snack about an hour ago and was rooting around in the fridge and spied the asparagus I bought today. (My husband doesn't like them. I don't care for sweet potatoes, so when I eat okra or asparagus, I get him sweet pototoes)

I had enough for a couple of days and they were very skinny aparagus. So I grilled them inside since I didn't feel like firing up the grill outside. I sprayed my grill pan with olive oil pam and then sprayed the asparagus with pam and sprinkled them with Creole seasoning and grilled them for a few minutes on each side til they started getting brown..they were not too crunchy and not too soft..delish!!!!!!!!!! Tomorrow I steam the rest and my husband gets the sweet potato!

UGH I HATE veggies! That's my biggest problem too.. I have to force myself to eat salads, or drink a V8.. My fave veggies have always been potatoes, corn, beets, and carrots.. And aside from the carrots my other faves are banished to the boardwalk!

But those roasted green beans sound soooo good! I also tried the "zucchini puffs" today, and they tasted JUST like fried zucchini mmmmm.. here's the recipe, also posted in the Phase I snacks. I made 1/2 a batch and my family (2 out of 5 are beachers) gobbled them all up!


Zucchini Puffs (Phase I)

2 medium zucchini
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon basil (you could also use garlic powder, lemon pepper, or other herbs/spices)

Slice zucchini into 1/4" rounds. In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Spread each slice with a thin layer of mayonnaise mixture.
Broil for about 60 seconds or until tops are golden brown.
Makes 36.
Approximately 1/2 gram of carbohydrate each.

that sounds so bizarre i am going to have try it :) i really love edamame though...steamed with a bunch of salt on the outer side...they have a ton of protein in them too.

Something else I thought about is bruschetta. There are lots of vegetable based bruschettas out there, such as eggplant, artichoke etc. Just be sure to read the labels for sugar before buying. I like to get 3 or 4 triscuits or Simply Naked pita chips and put bruschetta on top of them.

These are great ideas, thanks y'all.
Cat do you mean the veggie spreads on the triscuits? I've got a jar of Trader Joe's eggplant-garlic spread I could use.
The asparagus really sounds good, that's one of my faves, I could definitely snack on that.
I will definitely be able to get some veggies in when I start making soups in the fall, problem is, I just can't get excited about soup in this heat.
Does edamame count as a veggie?

Here's my veggie plan for today:
breakfast - 2 BLT wraps and a cup of V8
Snack - red peppers and hummus
Lunch - salad with leftover meatloaf on it
Dinner - salad, grilled zucchinis

That should total more than 4.5!

Cat Where do you find the Simply Naked pita chips? They sound good!

I get mine at whole foods as that is the only place close to me that has them. Unfortuneatly I have to drive to New Orleans or Baton Rouge for a whole foods, so I stock up when I go. If you go to their site, they have a store locator tab at the top of the page.

Also...a serving size is 14 chips, but I don't eat that many...maybe 5 or 6..they are pretty big chips and with laughing cow or bruschetta on them, very filling.

Thanks Cat- I just checked their website and it looks like there are a lot of places around here that carry them. I guess that I have just never been on the lookout for them.

What about those fruit juices with veggies in them - they make a light version that I've wanted to try, but at $3.50 a bottle.... AND I don't even know if it's legal!

I really like the veggie and hummus combo. I'm not a huge celery fan, but when I eat it with hummus, I can get 2 or 3 servings of veggies in just lunch alone!

Cat - The chips sound good but I checked out their website and the nutritional facts seem to show that they are made with enriched flour (even the multigrain ones). Am I missing something? Is there a particular one that is whole grain? If so I would love to try them.

I snack on raw zucchini and raw cauliflower a lot. I eat a lot of veggies with lunch and dinner so I usually get mine in pretty easily.

Barb, yeah, they are made with enriched flour. But for me, they don't cause cravings even though it's not whole grain. I kind of do calorie counting within SB and 4 or 5 chips is probably around 60 calories and the bruschetta is around 30 for 2 tablespoons and it really fills me up. On the other hand, whole grain pastas set me off big time with cravings so I have to be very careful with them. Guess it all depends on everyone's body etc on what sets them off. They are a good snack for me, but may not be right for everyone.

Femme - Have you tried the other flavors of Stacy's Pita chips? They are yummy. I used to like the cinn/sugar as a desert - but those are off limits now. ;(

I don't crave chips, but sometimes I want salty/crunchy, and those pita chips with a little hummus hits the spot.