Hmmm, I find that beans do spoil pretty quickly when opened, so I try to use a whole can, or at least in a day or two
Yeah, I was kinda afraid of that. Perhaps in a day or two is not so bad. I will just try to make my menu for a 2 or 3 days using beans. I would think, but not be certain that freezing them would change their consistiency. Perhaps I'll try it. Thanks for the input.
Phantastica, thanks for the info about the stickys. I will defiintely check it out.
I'm another one who tries to eat mostly whole foods, but I can't say I do it all the time. However, now when I eat things that are greasy or fried or anything, I feel ill afterward because my body just isn't used to it anymore. Not that I like feeling ill, but I think it's a good thing
Last night, we did have Subway for dinner (as is our usual for Thursday nights), and I was up this morning in the bathroom getting sick. It certainly has turned me off of Subway for a while--not that I'm sure Subway caused my sickness, but now having experienced it, umm, the second time around, the sub and the sickness are sort of correlated in my head.
I'm really going to have to start searching for spaghetti squash as much as possible--I just can't seem to find it at all lately, and I do miss it. A new Whole Foods just opened up near my office, though, so maybe they will have it (I've already checked Trader Joe's and regular grocery stores--plenty of butternut and acorn squashes around, but non of the spaghetti persuasion). I'm primarily anti-veggie (I know they are healthy, but I just don't care for them--and it's not just the healthy stuff I don't like; I can't stand dark chocolate, either ), so discovering spaghetti squash was a miracle for me
Hi Jilly. I can't understand how you can't find the spaghetti squash. I didn't realize it was that unusual. You really have got to speak to the store managers where you live, ESPECIALLY if it's one of the few veggies that you like.
Now on to your dislike of vegetables. Just curious as to which you have tried and how you prepared them. Have you tried them in stir frys? With lots of garlic and other spices? How bout vegetable soups? How about salads? With grilled chicken perhaps? I just could not survive without vegetables. I could survive without meat, but not veggies. I could even survive without fruit, but not veggies. I guess that's what makes us all different. For the record I despise dark chocolate too. Milk chocolate, now that's another story.
As for your bad tummy and Subway, isn't it amazing how our bodies get accustomed to certain things? I hope you are feeling better.
Last edited by rockinrobin; 02-10-2007 at 02:51 AM.
Jilly, I had to chuckle over your Subway experience even though I know it was no laughing matter. About 50 yr. ago my mom used to fix us tuna and chopped olive (black olive) sandwiches and they were a family favorite. Well, I got the flu after eating one once and to this day I haven't one since. As for spaghetti squash I'm going to try to grow is this summer in our garden.
Jill, spaghetti squash isn't available here lately either, just the hard winter squashes (which I love). Have you tried roasting veggies? I don't care for the "skinnier" ones, like green beans, asparagus, roasted, but yum on things like sweet potato, brussel sprouts, onions, beets, etc. Also you can slice cabbage in thing strips and add it to stir fries, or chop it fine and mix with your salad greens. I love cabbage in things, but plain boiled cabbage - ewwww, nasty.
Carol, where are you located that you can grow spaghetti squash? It takes too long here, though we've tried a couple different times. I have great success with zucchini though - just like everyone else.
Jilly, my OB won't let me eat at Subway because of how common it is to get foodborne illness from lunchmeats in particular. Maybe you discovered that first hand?
Jill, it is nteresting how getting sick after a food can turn you off of it. A few years ago, I was on a store-bought apple pie kick. I loved hot apple pie and would buy them, heat 'em up in the microwave, and enjoy. Then one day, after only having eaten apple pie that day, the GI illness struck. I even called the store to let them know (concerned about the elderly or kids eating tainted pie), but they didn't seem to care.
Since then, I haven't bought a store-bought pie. No matter how tasty they look, I have no appetite for them...the GI bug memories always come back!
Starting the shole foods lifestyle today. I'm like the rest of you I will be adding things every once in a while but I want to stay as close as possible.
Robin --Hello
WaterRat--I may have to try roasting some veggies. I 'm like you ewww on boiled cabbage but I do like it in stir fries or in coleslaw.
Although I've never had a bad experience at Subway, I cannot eat at California Pizza Kitchen. Every time my DH and I have been there, we've developed some really bad intestinal trouble.
This one is weird~a friend said that drinking a glass of red wine will help stave off any kind of food problems. Something in the tannins in red wine counteracts things that are "off" in foods. I don't know if it works or not, but once DH and I ate the same fast food (I know, I know, but this was before my lifestyle change) and I had red wine with mine and he didn't. I thought the taste of the sauce tasted "off". DH got sick, but I didn't. Anyone else ever experienced this or is it just a myth?
Hmm, Allison, that red wine thing is interesting. I certainly can't speak from experience, though, since neither my boyfriend nor I drink any alcohol at all. But maybe they could just take whatever it is in the red wine and pop it into capsule form for those times when you just can't avoid eating out, just to be safe? That might be interesting.
As for me and veggies, I'm pretty sure I've tried them every way I could possibly think of. I've tried them in stiry-fries (which I can't stand without a sauce--just seasonings isn't enough), in soups (which is difficult enough since I also don't like any meats in my soup other than chicken), in salads/raw with dressings/dips, heated under the broiler with some parmesan cheese sprinkled on top, steamed, boiled...I've tried using my toaster oven, my stove top, my crock pot, my microwave, my Foreman grill, my oven...I've tried canned, fresh, and frozen...I just don't like them. Almost everything green tastes like grass to me, and many others make me literally gag (tomatoes--which I think are technically a fruit, but whatever--carrots, peas, green beans, green/red/yellow/orange bell peppers, radishes, mushrooms, celery, zucchini...I'll spare you the extensive list of veggies I've tried ).
I've managed to survive without veggies, though, for almost 25 years now, so I think I'm doing alright. I sometimes hide veggies in other things (like pureed frozen chopped spinach mixed into spaghetti sauce), but there are some days where I literally do not eat a single veggie at all. I do LOVE fruit, though, so I especially eat a lot of that in the summer.
But yeah, about the only veggies I really can handle without gagging are corn (which is really more of a starch), spaghetti squash (with a lot of thick, hearty spaghetti sauce), lettuce on sandwiches and such, a few slices of cucumber (with a dip or dressing), broccoli (again, with a sauce/dip/dressing), onion in small amounts (as a topping or flavoring), and hidden doses of spinach mixed in with other things. <---wow, you have no idea how long I sat here thinking of this list of veggies I actually do like
I avoid salads because I need lots of dressing to choke them down, and I don't like healthier dressings such as vinegarettes, lemon juice, healthy oil-based dressings, etc. If I can't have my full-fat honey mustard dressing or thousand island, then it's likely more of the salad will end up in the trash than in my tummy
I'm sure being such a picky eater is what's lead me to the high weight I reached. I keep trying veggies every once in a while because I know taste buds change, especially as I become more and more accustomed to eating healthier (at Ruby Tuesday this weekend, they had some sort of long green bean dish on the salad bar, so I took a few just to try--I'm sure they were in an oily dressing or whatever, but I just wanted to see if I could stomach the beans).
Anyway, enough of me whining about my vegetable woes...I was away from home all weekend at Jeff's cousins' home (unexpectedly, so no time to pack my own food), so I had an insanely NON-whole foods diet this weekend. Good thing tomorrow is Monday--back on track!
Jilly, I feel for you love. It certainly sounds like you have explored lots of different options. The only thing I want to comment on is the stir frys. I USED to make them with sauces, not anymore. I make a really tasty stir fry using chicken broth, ginger and garlic. No real extrea calories. But the way you talk about gagging and choking stuff down, it kinda sounds like you're just plain out of luck.
Anyway last night I had this big expensive dinner to attend. I kept so in control it absolutely amazed me. It started out with a huge, I mean huge smorgasboard (buffet). I scrounged around and found a raw veggies table and a roasted veggies table. Well that, and a couple of pieces of veggie sushi and I was good to go. The whole point of this was that I discovered a completely forgotten to me veggie that I love. ASPARAGUS. I don't know how I forgot about it. It was with the roasted vegetables and it definitely had some oil on it, but it was really, really good. Their veggies were so good, they kind of had a smoky flavor to them, I'm not quite sure how they achieved that. I just looked it up and each spear has under 4 calories and 1 gm of fiber. It's a great new item for me. Gosh, the strangest things get ne excited these days.
Jilly~so sorry to hear you're not a veggie lover. Last night I made a 4 cheese vegetable lasagna (thank you Cooking Light!!) for dinner. Oh, it was marvelous! The sauce was a creamy spinach sauce and the veggies were broccoli, carrots, green onions and red peppers. If only I could have found some whole wheat lasagna noodles.....
Robin~asparagus is one of the vegetables that I don't particularly like. I'll eat it if it is served, but I rarely make it myself. I refuse to cook Brussels sprouts--those are just disgusting to me. That's probably because I was forced to eat them as a child (my Mom made them a lot as they were my Dad's favorite). I think they are just bitter and gross.
ceejay~how are you doing on the whole foods thing? I sure love it.
I'm new to this forum too, but I seem to be doing the "whole foods" thing on my own anyway. I hope no one minds if I jump in.
I wanted to comment on the questions about beans. I usually cook dry beans in large quantities and then portion them and freeze them. So I can testify that they freeze really well!
I am happy to report that I finally found a spaghetti squash!!! I look every week at my regular grocery store, and this time, they finally had it (not many, but it only takes 1 to feed me for a week!). Good thing they don't go bad right away because I think I've had it since Monday and have yet had time to actually cook it Normally, I'd cook something like that on the weekend so I would have it handy for during the week, but I have to work today (Saturday) and I have to work on Monday even though the office is closed for Presidents' Day. I don't get overtime since I'm salaried, but at least my bosses are cool enough to give me comp time (even though company policy says no comp time), so they said I can take a day sometime and give myself a long weekend since I am missing out on this long weekend.
Oh, and speaking of things that freeze well--GRAPES! I love frozen seedless grapes! I portion my grapes out into the little snack size plastic baggies and toss them in the freezer--excellent snack if you're in a hurry since there is zero preparation required, and they don't make a mess in the car!
), so discovering spaghetti squash was a miracle for me 
Gosh, the strangest things get ne excited these days.
