The FastDay Forum

I am very fortunate that I love all veggies and don't seem to get tired of having the same 7-10 salad veg made into a coleslaw for lunch most days and (more or less) the same 7-10 cooked veg each night.

But I know that many people aren't so keen on veggies, and often don't have anywhere close to the 5 serves a day recommended as a minimum. Lots of reasons for this of course, though I think the main ones are not liking the veg, and not having/making the time to prepare them.

In another thread I have posted a few things I do to make veggies more interesting that are easy, so won't repeat it here, but will see if I can add in a link to that post.

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How do you include veggies in your diet, and what tips do you have for others?

I like vegetables. What I have depends what I see that day in the shop. Today I saw a bag of chopper raw veggies - like cabbage, carrots and things. I am going to have that instead of rice, with our chick pea curry tonight. I will also have a salad to accompany the meal. Other days I can have cooked cauliflower in lieu of rice, as yesterday, we also had tomato and cucumber slices, with the main meal. As for fruit, I thaw frozen berries for my breakfast or (now break -fast). Blueberries, black currants and Sea Buck-thorn berries. I also have a half of a Granny Smith apple: so sour as not to have many carbs. We make it a point of adding veg. to our suppers every day - as a side dish, if not else.

I looooove veggies.... I can't think of any that I don't like.

Most of the time I have them steamed with olive oil poured over, with a fried fish/baked fish the plate is 75% veg. I don't eat any land or feathered creatures.

My absolute faves are:
Kale chips(oil covered with salt & pepper and roasted at home)
BBQ corn, BBQ asparagus, BBQ anything.....
Fried brussel sprouts and onion.
Any vegie soup. I made dairy free cream of celery once - it was fab.
Got the details from here: http://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/201 ... lery-soup/

I love veggies, too, for the most part, but I do get sloppy sometimes. I have salad a lot, and I used to do a lot of stir fries (I need to do that more) and soup is also a great way to get vegetables. I have no problem just sautéing up some spinach or broccoli, either. If I go to a lot of trouble to make one dish - say pasta (with some, but not a lot of veg) or chicken, I don't always bother with a side dish. This is the trouble with cooking for one. If I were feeding someone else, I would never do that.

Since coming back to the US, I realize I am eating way too much hummus. Not that I think its bad for me, but it probably accounts for at least half my calories! haha.

I love vegetables and I ate them almost every day. Sometimes I would like to add butter or olive oil to veg, and it's delicious to put some vegetables to porridge (for me). My grandma would use tasty accompaniments like chili, soy sauce, parmesan, miso paste, bacon, pesto to make the veg more palatable. So I keep this til now.

Hi @coherwa and welcome! Please start an "introduce yourself" thread and tell us about your IF plans and anything about yourself and your weight (loss) journey that you are happy to share. Best wishes.

Hi @Sassy1

Loving the sound of your 7 veg coleslaw - I need veggie ideas, can you share what goes into yours?

I have a food processor which pretty much solely gets used for making coleslaw lol, but I make the same old white cabbage / onion / carrot and sometimes chopped apple mix in mine - still tasty but I sure could use some fresh ideas!

I'm happy Autumn is here too as I love making veggie and bean-rich soups as the weather turns cooler

Hi @floo76

My coleslaw is just an extension of the one you make, I just add as many salad veg as I have. I make a batch that lasts for 4-5 lunches, because it takes so long to prepare (I have to manually cut everything, I don't have a mechanical device that would work).

I start with white and red cabbage, and iceberg lettuce, thinly sliced, then add grated carrot, diced cucumber, diced red capsicum, coarsely chopped snow peas, baby spinach leaves and finely chopped fresh coriander and fresh mint leaves. I used to also add grated raw beetroot and thinly sliced celery but FODMAP does not allow these. I then add quinoa, a few pumpkin and sunflower seeds, and a few walnuts. I also used to have sultanas, but again FODMAP doesn't allow, so I may have a few grapes or blueberries for sweetness. Apple is nice added too, as you do, but again, not FODMAP allowed. I usually have about 3 cupfuls per meal, mixed with a small amount of some good quality mayonnaise. I then top with either tinned tuna or tinned salmon, one sliced tomato, 1/4 avocado and a small amount of feta cheese. And a drizzle of balsamic. Around 500 cals, depending on actual quantities. Takes me well over 1/2 hour to eat it. As mentioned, I have never tired of it. I have it every day except when I eat out or am away from home.

Thanks for asking!

Oh thanks @Sassy1 for sharing, sounds delicious! Must be more adventurous with my coleslaw. BTW I bought my food processor second hand on gumtree and it's done me sterling service, wasn't willing pay a fortune for one of these new expensive models

Not too sure what FODMAPS is exactly but have heard of it I think before - is it the one that involves trying to eat foods that don't trigger histamine reactions?

I used to have problems with eczema and inflammation generally (not really any more thankfully!) and think I must have come across it in my online searches back then.

Don't know if this will apply for you but made the most awesome beef chilli con carne last night in my instant pot folllowing a new recipe I found, so that's for dinner tonight along with rice and veggies, corn on the cob and brussel sprouts and carrots, nom nom

Hi @floo76

Your chilli con carne meals sounds delicious! I love meals like that but I rarely make casseroles and the like...

I probably do have a food processor somewhere, but I am not sure whether it has attachments that would shred/ chop the veg in the way I would like. Should look I guess! (I don't tend to end up using the electric/ mechanical devices. OH bought me a very expensive mixer (I didn't ask for it) and I hardly ever use it - on the rare occasions I make a batter or a cake, I prefer to mix by hand...)

FODMAPS are a group of various types of sugars found in fruit, vegetables and grains that have been found to be associated with IBS symptoms. There are about 5-6 different sugar groups (I think I have given a more detailed explanation in the challenge thread??) and the idea is to elimate all possible foods that could cause a problem and then reintroduce one at a time to identify which are the culprits for you. Trouble is, it is hard to ensure you are excluding them all unless you only eat at home. Try as I might, when I go out, no options seem to be FODMAP free. I am aware of the major culprits for me (onions and apples) but unless I can exclude everything, I can't find out if mushrooms, celery, cauliflower, etc (all veg I would usually have) also cause a problem. I would hope not... I think lactose is also a problem for me, but I love yoghurt and can't find a lactose free yoghurt that isn't sweetened. I no doubt will not give up the problem foods for good, but at least can be aware of them and avoid them if I want.

A vegetable salad will be ideal for me.