my favorite food group is vegetables. i would choose veggies over fruit any day of the week. when my mister and i first started dating, his favorite food group was anything but vegetables. for real. the only vegetable he ate was potatoes {i told him that doesn't count as a vegetable} and an occasional raw carrot. it couldn't be cooked carrots though because he didn't like the texture. i quickly came to the conclusion that the reason he didn't like vegetables was because they hadn't been prepared in a way that he enjoyed.
enter crazy girlfriend lady {that would be me} who pushed him to eat vegetables and now six years later he happily eats most everything and often requests broccoli, brussels sprouts, and green beans; all foods that he used to turn his nose up to. the only thing i haven't been able to get him to eat is a salad, but i'm so proud of his progress that the salad refusal doesn't bother me one bit.
i have had many people ask how i got him to try vegetables that he swore he wouldn't eat again. the answer is simple. i started out slow and tried not to force him. i did what my parents used to do with me and my brother when we were kids. i asked him to try just a bite of roasted broccoli one day and he made a disgusting face, put the piece in his mouth, chewed it to bits, swallowed it and smiled. i knew it killed him to admit that he might actually like something that he was so adamant about hating. after that roasted broccoli day, he was more willing to try other things.
this last summer beets came in our community supported agriculture (csa) share and he flat out stated that he was "not going to eat those things." so, i cooked them up my favorite way and once he realized they weren't steamed and actually smelled delicious he asked for a bite. he loved them. i got my mister to eat beets. if you were to tell me six years ago that this man of mine was going to eat and like beets i would have laughed in your face.
we roast or grill all of our vegetables. i cannot remember the last time i steamed or boiled them. another way we make sure to get enough vegetables is in our daily morning green smoothies. it is the best way for us to get our day started. we are each getting at least one cup of power greens to kick-start our day. we also make a lot of soups. this is another easy way to incorporate healthy foods.
in general, we have tried to be more natural in our home. we eat as much raw/whole food as possible and obtain important nutrients through super food consumption. i can dive into that in future posts as i share some of our favorite recipes and the reasoning behind the choices we are making.
how do you incorporate vegetables into your daily routine? i'm always looking for ideas!
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