Veggie Blues

A few years ago my son Andy was privileged to sing a song on the FlyLady Cd named, UP KIND OF DAY. It is a wonderful CD for children(of all ages) The song is called Veggie Blues.  I will share a little of the lyrics to the song. I was sitting at the table. Just poking at my plate. Wishin that my veggies. Could change to chocolate cake. Yeah, but then I saw something. That chilled me to the bone---My asparagus stared singing  into a microphone and he said.  "Hey, kid you better be careful. The way that you're poking at me. Don't you know that I'm the one who keeps you strong and healthy? Cause when you get your body fueled with fruits and veggies too you're  gonna have the strength to do the things you wanna do." It has more lyric about what the asparagus has to say and what the kid does. It is a really cute song. 
The reason I bring this up is because I have been thinking about veggies and the good they do for us. I was never exposed to different fruit and veggies. I don't remember anything but the basics. Corn, green beans, peas, and potato.  I have been finding and trying new things the past few years and have even changed a few old ways of cooking the veggies. I posted on my blog a photo of my baby crookneck squash. I crave them. The way I had always prepared them was to fry up a lot of bacon and then add onions and the squash. Everything coated in bacon grease.  Now I knew that was not the way to drop the weight by eating my veggies. I started to take the very 97% fat free thin, thin, sandwich ham cut it into slices about the size of bacon. (make sure is smoke cured not honey ham) Then I add the onion and squash.  I don't know if my family has even realized it is not bacon. They love this squash.(tell a man that there is bacon in it and he will eat anything.) Another thing I do that has added to the veggies eaten at our house is I make my own salsa. Tomato, green pepper, and onion.  Nothing else. I make a big amount and then I freeze some of it in ice cube trays. After frozen I put them in a large Ziploc bag. When ever I make anything. I throw a couple of cubes in to add extra veggies. Meatloaf, sauces, soups, eggs, the list is endless.

Yummy

I like to cook a lot of my veggies when using the oven. I throw in covered casserole dishes with Mushrooms, squash, fresh green beans, or carrots. I then store them in the fridge and use them over the next few days. I have added cooked mushrooms and cooked chopped up spaghetti squash to my meatloaf and no one seems to notice.(shush....my secret)  I also will take a huge pan of onions and caramelize them.  It takes a while so I do it while I am cooking a meal. Just cook them low and slow and stir on occasion. I then keep them in the fridge. They really add flavor to about any type of meat by warming them a little and putting them on top.  Your house really does get stinky but it is worth it. I grow parsley and basil that I add to some of the veggies as I am "baking" them. It adds a little different flavor and they look pretty. One thing that I do to keep me from snacking is almost every day I put a little plate with cherry tomato,  sweet peppers, cucumbers, or jhicima on my counter and  eat on them through out the day.  It seems to give me a lot of satisfaction and every time I go in the kitchen there they are saying. "EAT ME!!" Don't be afraid to research recipes and try new foods. There have been some that we have tried once and once only but most of the time we find that we enjoy the different flavors.


 

Five veggies with a ham Sammy. Tomato, Spinach, Carrots, Beets, and green beans.