Hi all. I’m struggling with eating enough green veg. I’ve seen some of the cauli recipes on this forum so I’ll give those a go but is there anything I can do with veg like broccoli, green beans and cabbage/kale? I’ve really only used them as a small accompaniment to main meals and to add a bit of colour to a plate and I’m getting very bored with plain greens so any tips would be wonderful.

Also what do you all put on salad or should that be plain? I’ve discovered Schwarz Lemon Pepper which is lovely but quite high in salt.

Currently just started week 5 with slow weight loss but at least it’s downwards.

many thanks OldBlueJeans (that’s the ones I’d like to get into!)

Stir fry veg, lovely with some chilli if you like spice. Lots of veg work with this – add chopped chicken if you like.

Or add some curry powder and coconut cream to make some curried veg.

Steam veg and serve with flavoured butter (stir herbs through melted butter)

I sear courgette in an almost dry pan and it goes brown and lovely.

By the way, don’t worry too much about the salt. If you reduce carbs you need a little extra.

Any good ideas there you can take and run with?

Stir fries are a great way to use those veggies, also in soup, curries and salad – green beans are great in a mixed bean salad. I started making a quinoa and Spinach bake and you could easily sub the spinach with broccoli, grated courgettes. I tried making kale crisps once but was more effort than it was worth!

thanks so much Igorasusual and Bubblesdevere. I’ve spent so long avoiding fats that my brain needed a reboot to understand that I can use them for cooking. Putting butter on veg has been a definite no-no in the past and I’ve never used coconut cream. I will go out tomorrow and stock up. I love veg curry but it’s always been a rare treat. It’s taking a while to get my head around all of this but most of the time I’m managing OK thanks to all the posts on here. I haven’t eaten bread for four weeks and don’t miss it at all. I also feel much more healthy than I did before I started which is a big bonus in itself regardless of weight loss.

OLD BLUEJEANS! I too have had no bread for four weeks and don’t miss it x its quite liberating isnt it!
Also,like you,it took me a while to realise i could have butter on veg..makes them so yummy!
I’m not a lover of salad dressing/ mayonnaise, except olive oil and lemon juice,but i find a spoon or two of hummus with my salad is nice.
So have you been BSDing for 4 weeks ?i agree that increased feeling of wellbeing is wonderful..better than however many slices of bread we havent eaten!
IGOR thanks for the tip about salt,didnt know we could have a little more on BSD! X

Hi
I like a spoon of Hummus if I don’t have other dressings – and stirred in to things like spinach too

I’ve recently been experimenting with having curry on a bed of spring greens instead of rice or cauli-rice. I really like it – soaps up anything gloopy AND leaves room for a glass of wine

Hi Yowzer49 – thanks for hummus tip. I will make my own from the book recipe and try it. Yes, I have been doing this for 4 weeks and lost 10lbs which is pretty good for me. I do think that my fruit intake is a bit high albeit it’s only berries but I can eat a whole punnet of blueberries in a blink of an eye hence my need to focus on veg and make them appealing enough to eat in larger quantities.

Hi Frog, mmmm – curry on spring greens sounds nice. Wish we had a decent greengrocers/farm shop within shopping distance (actually the nearest one I can think of is 10 miles away and that’s not that good) rather than having to buy huge bags of stuff from the supermarkets. I find that I’ve either got to eat the same thing for days running or buy lots of different veg and throw half of it away because it’s out of date before I use it up and OH is not a huge veg fan unless it’s carrots or broccoli. Maybe I can give him my curry with rice. That might work! I’m off to shop now – coconut cream, tahini paste, chickpeas, butter and loads of veg on the list. Will let you all know how it goes. Quite exciting finding lots of different ways with food and I think I can stick with this way of eating long term.

Hi

I toss cooked green beans in tomato sauce and garlic which is very tasty. I make a batch of tomato sauce and freeze it in portions. It’s really handy as a base for lots of vegetable dishes.

I’ going to try the crispy courgettes tonight for the first time. Hope they’re not soggy!

Hi again, I saw this today and thought it would be nice for you? http://www.yummly.com/recipe/external/Raw-Zucchini-Sushi-Rolls-1262398 You could mix n match on the veggies. There is no rice in it so lower in carbs.

Im back again, I have two of my own recipes on sparkpeople: https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=3124415
and
https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=3124372

You may have to join to see them – but its free and another great resource to stay on track and keep motivated. Bxxxx

Hi Bubbles, what is your user name on SP. Mine is the same as here and I have been doing a blog. Will look at your recipes.

Just looked are you VETKOEK11

thanks Bubblesdevere – those veggie sushi rolls look scrummy and cashew nuts are my daily nuts (I have 8, approx 100cals) so they are always in stock. I’ll have a look at sparkspeople, the more encouragement the better.

thanks also Verano for the tip re tomato sauce and freezing small quantities. That’s easy to do as well.

And some good news today – I am officially overweight instead of obese according to the much maligned BMI scale. I am really pleased with that.

thanks to you all.

Hi OBJ – I’m Vetkoek11 on there 🙂