…won’t kill you- as long as we’re talking about vegetables!
First things first- I made the chocolate oatmeal that I bought from the grocery store a few days ago. It was only a dollar and had five servings. 20 cents for breakfast? I couldn’t resist!
Sadly, I wish I had. These certainly weren’t bad, but they just didn’t compare to my normal oats. I could have easily made these myself, and I would have had a way bigger portion! It sort of tasted like someone just dumped a packet of instant hot chocolate in there. They come in little individual packets that you can supposedly measure the water in as well, so they would be good if you were traveling, I guess. Lesson learned- just because something is cheap does not make it necessary to buy 
After breakfast, I headed to a 9:15 cycling class. My friend actually text messaged me last night and suggest a 5:30 (am!) class, and I agreed to it and set my alarm. However, I woke up at 5:20 with no word from my friend- my phone hadn’t sent the text message! I don’t think she woke up either, so it was all good.
The cycling class was great! The instructor was late, so I was getting worried that I wouldn’t be able to take it, but I really enjoyed the style of the class. It left me good and sweaty- such a good feeling! I also met my goal of taking a group fitness class once a week for this week, too.
I had an apple and peanut flour butter when I got home- that tiny bowl of oats just didn’t cut it!
I bought that plate for a dollar at Target, and when my sister saw it she said, “But nothing you eat will fit on that!” Even my apple was sliding off. Touche, sister, touche.
Before lunch, I got to work on making my dinner.
I’ve got a confession- I don’t really like vegetables. It’s not that I HATE them- but lately, I feel like I’ve been struggling to eat them. I could eat squash until I’m orange in the face (oh wait- I have!) and I can eat potatoes by the ten pound bag, but most of the time, I just can’t get excited about green beans or brussels sprouts.
When I saw Kathleen‘s post last night about sneaky ways to incorporate fruit and veggies into your diet, I jumped all over it. Have I mentioned I’ve considered buying the cookbook ‘Deceptively Delicious’- for myself? I figure I could use all the help I could get
I was missing some ingredients to make her crazy spuffins, so I found another way to sneak some veggies into my day. Without a recipe or any idea what I was doing, I started throwing every vegetable I had in my fridge into my Dutch oven.
I sauteed carrots, kabocha, red bell pepper, eggplant, mushrooms, and celery until it was brown and soft and then dumped in two cans of black beans. A few pulses with my immersion blender later, I had a soup stew stoup! (Thanks, Rachael Ray!)
Not going to lie- this is a great way to force vegetables on someone. If you really blended it up, you wouldn’t even be able to tell there are any in here! I prefer mine chunky, but all the tastes go together surprisingly. It’s also full of Vitamin C, Vitamin A, fiber, iron, and more. Yay for eating your veggies!
For dinner, I topped mine with Greek yogurt and Fritos. Not the healthiest topping, but back off! I’m eating vegetables and loving it! (Where did my picture go?!)
Are you a veggie lover or do you have to force yourself to incorporate them into your meals?
haha, love the small plate! LOL
I need to buy peanut flour! Is it like PB2?
I love vegetables. Celery- blech. brussel sprouts- blech.
Carrots, spinach, cucumber, tomato, sweet potatos, green beans, roasted broccoli, roasted cauliflour, sauteed red and green peppers! SIGN ME UP!
I’d love to hear what you think, if you buy that book! It sounds intriguing!
I’ve never tried PB2, but Emily gives a review here-
http://www.dailygarnish.com/2010/09/powdered-peanut-butter-a-review-taste-test.html
I love roasted brussel sprouts! I think I am addicted. I have already bought huge bags of them twice this month! However, I am struggling with my CSA box. It is filled with leafy green things I cannot recognize and they are already wilting. And I can only eat that much sauteed greens…
I like to make green smoothies if I have a lot of spinach, but that’s the only green I like in my smoothies! I’m not a huge fan of sauteed greens, especially mustard greens. Yuck!
Boo to imposter chocolate flavours in oatmeal! Boo! I love that you’re sneaking (in a way) veggies into your diet. Bravo!
I’m like a kid- I have to sneak them in or I won’t eat them
It depends for me. Sometimes I’ll make myself a huge veggie salad or stir-fry and others all I want is pasta and meatballs. I’m not worried – it all evens out.
Same here- some days my consumption is high, and sometimes it’s low- or non-existent.
i LOVE veggies! i eat like 8 cups at dinner.. its slightly embarrassing!
8 cups?! My god, that is a lot of veggies!
It looks like melted cocoa pebbles. Did it taste like it?
I love veggies. Get them in as much as possible.
Actually, that’s a good analogy. They really did!
Since going (flexible vegan) i’m obsessed with veggies. I love sitting down with a big bowl of random veggies-yes, that may be weird to some people:)
Hey, whatever works!
Sad that the chocolate oats weren’t as filling! I also think that homemade oats are the best…I like to doctor them up according to my preferences!
Your soup sounds like a great way to sneak in veggies. I think it takes a while to get used to eating vegetables regularly…our palates are naturally trained to be more excited about fat, salt, and sugar.
Very true. I definitely can tolerate veggies now- I literally could go months without eating them when I was younger!
That’s so funny, someone else was just telling me about the vegetable puree thing. I’m sort of the same way… there are days I really crave veggies, but given though choice, I would always pick the chocolate cookie or fresh loaf of bread hahaha
I will ALWAYS pick a cookie over veggies
I’m not a HUGE bread person, unless we’re talking about a sweet bread!
I really have to force myself to eat vegetables. I do like certain ones, like sweet potatoes, asparagus and corn (does that even count??). But I have to struggle to eat more than that. Maybe getting the book Deceptively Delicious isn’t a bad idea.
I LOVE sweet potatoes. I have no problem eating a ton of those!
I LOVE vegetables…too many in fact and I think it’s killing my stomach.
Unfortunately, I also love sweets just as much…so it really just balances out or tips dangerously to the sweet side (who am I kidding?)
I sent an email to you with your GC promo code from CSN! Let me know if you didn’t get it
I did get it! Sorry for the late response- I’m bad at checking my email. Thank you so much!!
I’ve tried the SAME oatmeal except for the “regular” flavor and although I don’t really like oatmeal in general, it was still not very good. at all.
I’ve learned my lesson- preflavored oatmeal blows!
I love vegies, as long as they are cooked. I cant handle them raw at all. Maybe its the crunch thing, I dont know. But I love them after they are steamed and seasoned!
Some veggies I prefer raw and some I prefer cooked. It just depends on the veggie
I like vegies, we use a lot of different vegies in Indian cooking.
My favorite way to eat spinach is palak paneer
You know, I have ‘Deceptively Delicious,’ and I love it! I love all of the ideas in it. Pretty much you make fruit/veggie purees and mix them into recipes. You’ll really like it!
I’ve seen it on sale at TJ Maxx- I really need to get it!
I’m never satisfied with chocolate oats…I think I just prefer plain chocolate! I have no problems getting fruits & veggies into my diet – I’m always snacking on them. Carrots & hummus is the BEST snack in my opinion…besides plain dark chocolate.
I do love carrots and hummus, although I never eat them as much as I should
I like veggies, but I’m not a fan of squash OR potatoes! Just thinking about eating too much squash actually makes me a little nauseous. But I love green beans and brussels sprouts! I stumbled upon this recipe http://danicasdaily.com/honey-balsamic-roasted-brussel-sprouts/ a few years ago and it was all good from there!
Oh my god that looks good. Thanks for the link! I’ll try it out soon
I am a veggie lover, for sure.
I envy you!
Too bad about the oatmeal! It looks so promising on the box…
It always does! I’m so easily fooled
i love a huge assortment of veggies… its sad how much i love and crave them! i never thought about spuffins, or thought about putting my muffins on a veggie diet hehe but i love the idea!
mm i also love fruit and nut butter. everytime i have almond butter with banana or apple i get so full and energized! perfect combo <3
I love seeing your sweet potato towers
Way to figure out a way to incorporate the veggies into your diet! It’s okay if you have to trick yourself to do it, at least you are taking care of yourself!
The soup is an excellent way to hide the veggies!
Genius! So glad you are happily digging into a bowl full a veggies. I almost want to tear up a little =) haha! gooooo kate! <3
ps: i want some stoup tooooo!
Haha, you’re like a proud mom!
I don’t LOVE veggies, but I like them. I wish I enjoyed the leafy greens more, since they are so good for you. I agree that roasted brussel sprouts are the bomb – they have to be fresh, though, not frozen.
I will definitely be roasting them soon! Especially with honey- sounds soooo good!
I’m not a veggie lover. In fact, growing up, I refused to eat any veggies (and actually considered corn to be a veggie). It was a big deal when I started eating Ceasar salad… now I actually like some veggies (bell peppers, onion, tomato) but hate most others (asparagus, green beans, broccoli, mushrooms and more). I’ve thought about buying Deceptively Delicious for myself too!
I avoided veggies whenever possible when I was younger too and I remember being proud of eating a salad too! I still hate tomatoes though. There is something about them raw that skeeves me out!
Ohh how I miss RPM class!! I used to go to the 5:30 a few times a week. It was an awesome way to start the morning..and surprisingly I had enough energy for it that early! haha
I’m a morning person for sure, but 5:30 is way too early for me! I want to do it at least once a week when school starts, though. I’d rather get it over with than wait until the evening!
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I love veggies! Personally, I think they taste best when they’re roasted with EVO, salt and pepper.
I never salt my food, but it really makes a difference! I retain water really easily, so I try to stay away from sodium, but a little isn’t going to kill me
I do love vegetables a lot, the taste, the crunch, it is all so delicious to me. We grew up eating a ton of vegetables though, so I think I became accustomed to making sure that 50% of my plate was covered by veggies from a young age.
However, my husband was never a big vegetable fan and it has taken him years to actually start to enjoy veggies more. For him it was finding ways to partner it with things he loves, like eggs and cheese. He loves hodgepodge mixes, so throwing in vegetables started to become easier for him.
That’s the best way to eat them, in my opinion! I can’t even taste them if they’re covered by something I love, like beans… or cheese
I love love LOVE my veggies! It can be so easy to sneak them into foods too! I added shredded zucchini to a white chicken chili I made the other day and you couldn’t even see it, let alone taste it! If you get the chance, you should totally check out my recipe for carrot cake pancakes! Loaded with carrots, coconut, walnuts, and raisins! I love incorporating vegginess into breakfast!
Way to go on the “stoup”!
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