Any devious ideas for hiding veggies?

punkpink

FelinePrincess wrote: »

Hi,

I don't think there is already a thread on this but if there is could someone please point me in the right direction.

I thought it was be useful if we had a thread of tips for little changes you can make to 'normal' meals to make them a little bit healthier without people noticing!


I currently do the following:

Use oatbran instead of breadcrumbs in burgers - it's a good source of fibre among other things, plus it saves the hassle of making breadcrumbs!

I never use butter/marge on beans on toast/cheese on toast/filled jacket pots - it's not noticeable and adding extra fat to meals where it's not needed seems pointless to me!

Would welcome more suggestions if anyone has any

Not sure if its the kind of thing you were after, but i am forever adding frozen peas/borad beans to my meals (like shepherds pie, s/s chicken etc.) because fresh veg just doesn't get eaten on the plates! It also helps to bulk them out!

ETA: i also, when i buy brocolli or other 'stalked' veg, i chop the stalks up as i use them and have a pot in the freezer for them. i add them along with anything else i can get away with too!

babyshoes

I grated an overgrown courgette into bolognese last night, more to use the blasted thing up than to make it healthier - they go too watery to eat as a veg on their own. It practically disappeared apart from the odd shred of green skin. If you needed to hide veg, you would need to peel it first. Carrots also work well, especially if your sauce is reasonably tomato-ey.

Others have suggested using a stronger cheese so you need less.

I try to make more veg when I am serving less carbs and meat so the plate still looks full. Not dealing with kids though - OH is fussy, but does eat veg, thankfully!

adelight

A big handful of spinach is virtually undetectable in a fruit smoothie. If you have someone who isn't into veg but likes smoothies/milkshakes, gradually add extra greens to the smoothies and they won't notice. I love green smoothies but OH thinks they look gross, little does he know those banana & berry smoothies also contain a handful of spinach, handful lettuce and 1/4 cucumber too! It works with juice too, and if you don't have a juicer just blend something like cucumber, celery and spinach with apple juice and leave the pulp to drain in a jelly bag or push through a seive. If there's suitable reduced fruit at market/supermarket I will buy in bulk and make a few litres to put in the freezer.
I love the super healthy recipes on blogs like http://mamainthekitchen.com/2010/04/26/transitioning-into-raw-breakfast/ some of them are very cheap and easy, others inspire healthy dishes of my own

Whenever a recipe requires cream cheese or ricotta, use quark instead. It's the same texture and taste but 0g fat and loads of protein. You can use it to make a super healthy carbonara sauce by mixing it with milk and ham.
Top pasta cakes with cottage cheese and grill, it's just like mozarella but healthier. Works well on gourmet pizza too.

maman

punkpink wrote: »

ETA: i also, when i buy brocolli or other 'stalked' veg, i chop the stalks up as i use them and have a pot in the freezer for them. i add them along with anything else i can get away with too!

Thanks for adding that punkpink, I hate throwing the stalks away. In fact I break off as much as I can in the shop:o I'll start a bag asap.

I always add in any veg I can to bolognese, chilli or curry. Carrots and onions are cheap enough and if I have mushrooms, celery, peppers etc they go in too.

I'd add to the thing about butter in jackets. I don't bother in any 'wet' sandwich. So if I'm spreading Marmite or mayo or if it's got something in like tomato or cucumber then I just use plain bread.

I cook up plenty of 'spare' veg whenever I can as I adore bubble & squeak. And I've stopped buying prepared stir-fry veg. I just buy a 50p bag of beansprouts and then raid my cupboards, fridge and freezer for bits of things that I really don't miss (cabbage leaves, half a carrot, few florets off cauli and broccoli). And I make my own sauce/marinade which is much cheaper and healthier than shop-bought. Same goes for passata and herbs rather than using jars of pasta sauce.

Hope this is the sort of thing you were interested in.

punkpink

maman wrote: »

Thanks for adding that punkpink, I hate throwing the stalks away. In fact I break off as much as I can in the shop:o I'll start a bag asap.

I always add in any veg I can to bolognese, chilli or curry. Carrots and onions are cheap enough and if I have mushrooms, celery, peppers etc they go in too.

I'd add to the thing about butter in jackets. I don't bother in any 'wet' sandwich. So if I'm spreading Marmite or mayo or if it's got something in like tomato or cucumber then I just use plain bread.

I cook up plenty of 'spare' veg whenever I can as I adore bubble & squeak. And I've stopped buying prepared stir-fry veg. I just buy a 50p bag of beansprouts and then raid my cupboards, fridge and freezer for bits of things that I really don't miss (cabbage leaves, half a carrot, few florets off cauli and broccoli). And I make my own sauce/marinade which is much cheaper and healthier than shop-bought. Same goes for passata and herbs rather than using jars of pasta sauce.

Hope this is the sort of thing you were interested in.

You are very welcome, i started doing it for exactly the same reasons you said and i got fed up of throwing it away! I must admit i wasn't overly keen on boiling/steaming it but it is delicious served this way and has lots of flavour!

I can't really comment on the butter thing...i do not eat it! But i guess that saves money

Oh and i would like to add, i now look for brocolli with larger stalks, on the thought that the stalks last longer than the florettes, i find for two of us its hard to use a whole brocolli head, but if you get a smaller head with a large (ish) stalk, then you can freeze that hand have it with lots of other meals and saves buying fresh.

squeaky

A thread that is similar and full of ideas is Some cheap meal ideas for fussy / awkward bloke?

HTH

ladymarmalade

I swap cream for creme fraiche in lots of recipes...as I am not a fan of cream anyway.

I never use butter....don't see the point of having bakery bread buthchers meats if it's all going to taste of butter anyway....it makes me feel sick if there's too much.

I use olive oil for virtually all my cooking

I don't have any processed food.....do everything from scratch...the best way to avoid salk and sugar in my opinion!

lostinrates

don't disguise those broccoli stalks, they are sweet, a lovely texture when cooked just al dente and delicious...I love broccoli and they are the best part.

I used to take care of kids a lot as student and one of my best skills was being able to hide veg in almost anything. A mirepoix (carrot.onion, celery) mixture can be food processed and adds taste as well as health....and kids always say its tastier until they realise there is veg in it. I've got children who have trained their parents not to insist or even serve veg to eat five a day by blending and incorporating, then getting them cooking themselves then slowly hiding less and less.

Stwed or baked fruit with a little yogurt are a good breakfast or pudding, and stewed fruit is great with porridge too.


I also like to cook from scrtach and hole that as its a bit more effort than !!!!!, !!!!! ping you're burning a few more calories prepping it, so can possibly indulge in a small slurp of cream/bit of cheese/whatever to even the balance a bit.....lol.

valk_scot

I cut the amount of oil or fat used in just about any recipe (except baking) by at least three quarters. There's no need for three or four tablespoons of oil to fry a few onions to go in mince, for example. Also once you've browned the mince, tip it into a sieve and let it drain for a couple of minutes, to let the fat from the mince drain out too.

I don't use salt in cooking. Or put it out on the table. My family are perfectly used to not having a lot of salt in their food and often find other folk's cooking very salty. People get used to using far too much salt, all the time, but it's equally easy to get used to food without it. Try cutting down gradually on added salt. There's plenty in most ingredients ie tinned tomatoes to add savour to food.

I can't belive that anybody would butter a sandwich and then add mayo. Really? I don't use butter if I'm going to put jam or marmalade on bread. Or on baked potatoes if they're being served with coleslaw or beans.

I stick to the recommended proportions of meat, carbs and veg in a meal. 1/4 of the plate should be protein food, 1/4 carbohydrate and 1/2 vegetables, prefereably two different ones. Or if having two or more courses you can balance it across the whole meal. What you shouldn't do is end up eating a stodgy main course ie lasagne, then follow it by sponge pud.

And portion sizes are also important when planning healthy budget meals. The recommended adult portion size for meat for example is 4 oz, or just over 100g. That's one chop or two sausages or a small chicken breast. Eating too much is a waste of money and also positively unhealthy if you eat a lot of red or processed meat over the course of a week.

oldtractor

add lentils and or barley to stews spag bol etc.
make home made soup with lots of veg.
leave out salt.
make smoothies with tonnes of fruit!
replace some meat with pulses.
for sandwich fillings blitz tinned chickpeas with a little olive oil,add oven roasted veg.
make HM pizzas using wholemeal flour and top with lots of roast veg and a sprinkle of herbs and tinned toms.