Dinner tonight included my favorite easy-to-prepare protein.
Salmon!
I prepared the salmon like I always do and served it along with a side of roasted Brussels sprouts, zucchini and squash.
Dinner was enjoyed with some trivia!
Ryan brought home a bunch of the clues from his Jeopardy calendar and quizzed me while we ate. I didn’t do very well, but I did manage to know the answer to the clue on the top of the pile pictured above! (It’s “lure,” in case you wanted to see if you were right!)
Now it’s time for some vegetable talk!
Green Giant Veg Pledge Reflections
A couple weeks ago I took the Green Giant Veg Pledge! I pledged to add an extra cup of vegetables to my diet for two weeks through a partnership with Green Giant through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program.
I thought it would be easy enough and my strategy was to incorporate more vegetables into my diet during snack times and breakfast since my dinners were already pretty veggie-heavy.
Well, breakfast was a big, fat fail.
In the morning, I love sweet breakfasts like protein pancakes and overnight oats. If I’m in the mood for something savory, I tend to make an egg sandwich, but even then it includes a little sweetness in the form of a smear of jelly on top of the toasted English muffin or bagel. I just don’t crave a veggie-filled omelet most mornings and gravitate toward breakfasts that seem to include fresh fruit or something slightly sweet.
Fortunately I had a major victory in the snacking department when it came to my vegetable consumption!
While I’ve never been one to simply snack on raw vegetables, I loved snacking on leftover roasted vegetables. I topped them with a sprinkle of cheese and microwaved them or stirred them up with hummus for a creamy treat.
Perhaps my favorite way to eat vegetables at snack time was to stuff them inside of a whole wheat tortilla. I then draped a slice of muenster cheese on top of the vegetables (spinach, onion and Brussels sprouts were my favorite) and microwaved everything until I had a hot, simple quesadilla!
Eating vegetables at lunchtime also became more of a priority. I tend to cram in most of my vegetable servings at dinnertime and making a cognizant effort to eat more vegetables at lunch meant including them in my main course.
I chopped up a bunch of celery and carrots to include in chicken salad…
Or I topped a giant bowl of roasted vegetables with dippy eggs…
Eating vegetables at lunchtime also made it easier to snack on vegetables in the afternoon which I found oddly interesting. I think once I had the taste for vegetables in my mouth, I wanted more of them and eating them at snack time around 3 p.m. became standard.
My dinners usually included vegetables before this challenge, but I still made it a priority to sneak in a few servings in my evening meal.
Some of my favorite ways to eat vegetables for dinner include stirring them into a pasta dish, making a batch of healthy risotto or a vegetable-based casserole (I love my squash casserole!) or simply roasting them after tossing them in olive oil and garlic salt.
Overall, I really enjoyed participating in the Veg Pledge.
Having a tangible goal of eating one extra serving of vegetables made it easier for me to feel motivated to include more vegetables in my diet, whereas an ambiguous goal of “eat more vegetables” might easily be overlooked. Baby steps work better for me!
Time to dig into my latest book! I finished The Book Thief earlier this week and have moved on to Delirium. So far, so good.
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Those are great tips for getting more veggies in! I always struggle with eating enough of them. I love the idea of making roasted veggies ahead of time and microwaving them with cheese – I love anything with cheese! Maybe I’ll try a Veg Pledge of my own!
Also, did you like The Book Thief overall? For some reason, I’m having trouble getting into it :/
i did like it! i can see why it might not be for everyone though… there really isn’t a “plot” but it’s more of an ongoing story. if you like WWII books, you might prefer sarah’s key. have you read that one? i LOVED it.
I’m with you on the sweet breakfasts. I love omelets with lots of veggies … but for lunch or dinner, usually not breakfast! 😉
I think we all struggle sometimes to make sure we have veggies at every meal. I always hear my my mom in the back of my mind, “Make sure you have a veggie!”
I’m the same way about getting a taste for veggies, if I include them in breakfast, all I want are veggies all day!
Love that you took this challenge to give us some great recipes!
Love love loved Delirium! Can’t wait to hear what you think! I’m such a sucker for young adult fiction!!! Lucky for you, the sequel came out a month ago, so you won’t have to wait!
OMG I’ve been wanting to read Delirium! Just in the process of finishing my masters so I haven’t had the time to get it lol I’m excited to hear what you think of it!
The meal look delicious. My question is when u mentioned the way u eat u mentioned the word “diet”. R u currently on a diet?
The word diet is simply one you put in your body. Like the USDA reccomneds you include X amount of carbs into your DIET. it does not mean your on “a diet”
ehh, hope that made since.
But yeah a diet just consists of what you eat.
carlee said it perfectly! 🙂 not on a diet, just meant it as my food intake as a whole. 🙂
Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on The Book Thief! You must be getting excited for Insurgent to come out on May 1!
Ahhh veggies. I seem to go in spurts, where some weeks I eat lots and lots of veggies, and then some weeks, after a quick reflection, I’ll realize I had too few of them. The only way I can get veggies in in the mornings is in a smoothie in which I throw in spinach. I’m not a huge fan of snacking on raw veggies either – I seem to need (I mean want!) dip that way, which I sorta feel like is defeating the purpose of eating veggies in the first place lol ;p
i cannot WAIT for insurgent!
All your veggie dishes look sooo yummy! I especially love the veggies topped with an egg! I agree with the breakfast. I also rarely incorporate vegetables into my morning. I just don’t feel like having them that early! Oh well, my lunch and dinner usually compensate 🙂
I have to thank you for making me realize how easy it is to make salmon at home! I always used to be intimidated by it and would only order it at restaurants until I saw your post awhile back about making salmon… It’s now become a weekly staple and I honestly look forward to it every week!! 🙂
i was the same way! it’s crazy how something so simple can be so intimidating!
Delrium is really good! Enjoy. Im currently reading uglies by scott westerfeld which is another 4 book series of dystopian type books
i’ve heard good things about uglies! what do you think so far?
Ive only read 120 pages so far but im definately liking it! I think it will be a winner.
I definitely find it hard to incorporate veggies into breakfast unless I’m adding veggies into an egg scramble or omelet. Lunch is usually veggie-less too unless there is veggies on a sandwich or I am enjoying a salad. I munch on fruit throughout the day and the veggies are generally saved for dinner!
I don’t know if it bothers you or not, but the albumin is showing on your salmon. It is that white goo stuff that comes out of salmon (it is similar to egg white). It is mostly an appearance thing, but also can detract from the moistness of your fish. Cooking the fish at a lower temperature for a bit longer can reduce this effect. I learned about this on a cooking show a few months ago and have been telling everyone I know 🙂
yes!!! it REALLY bothers me, so THANK YOU for this tip! very interesting. it’s so unappetizing to look at. bleh!
Great ideas to getting more veggies in. Sometimes I can overload on veggies for one meal, and that can put me off for a bit. You know the good ol’ fiber belly. How lovely do I sound right now? The only time I ever add veggies to my breakfast is pumpkin to oats (is pumpkin a veggie or fruit?), not sure, anyways or if I ever have a smoothie for breakfast which is rare.
haha – i feel ya on the “is pumpkin a fruit or a veggie?” i think it’s technically a fruit, but i feel like real fruit is sweet!
Well done on the veg pledge! I’m with you on sweet for breakfast! I love veggies, just not for my first meal of the day! Although for an idea, adding Amazing Grass could be useful in your morning smoothies!
I think it’s hard to get veggies in at every meal. I think you did a great job though! It’s easier for me to have veggies at lunch or dinner. 🙂
Salmon is my favorite protein option too…so easy to prepare, you can almost never go wrong with it. Also, snacking on cold roasted veggies is awesome, and I totally agree with you…if I have a smoothie for lunch then I am in sweet mode, but if I have a salad or something savory then veggies are on my mind. Good job with the Veg Pledge…PS I love jeopardy 🙂
I think the easiest way to add veggies is as a snack, since they’re typically included in my lunch/dinner.
Roasted veggies are so yummy! I have to be careful and only roast small batches, because I end up eating them all!!! My intention is always to have leftovers for the next day, but it rarely happens.
Good work on the veg pledge!
The thought of veggies with breakfast makes me feel a little queasy. But, I love them with lunch and dinner!
I make english muffin egg sandwhiches all the time (with jam, no cheese, though that sounds tasty!) and I love to include raw baby spinach leaves in it. Its not a full serving of veg, but not a bad way to sneak some AM green in!
Why don’t you mash strawberries/raspberries/blueberries and mix with a few chia seeds to make a mock jam, then put that in your muffin? Or have a spinach, cucumber and chocolate milk/protein smoothie on the side? Another way would be to grate zucchini, carrots or even winter squash and add them to your protein pancakes or oats, honestly you can’t really taste them (or make the batter into cookies). You could also do a protein pumpkin pie (pumpkin puree, egg, greek yogurt, spices, sugar etc). Other ideas could be to make beetroot or zucchini brownies (if you Google there are a fair few recipes that pop up) Just some random suggestions!
Have you tried pumpkin or squash pancakes/waffles? I made a batch the other weekend and they were so yummy! It’s a great way to get your veggies in the morning. If you like your breakfast a little sweet, add warm spices, like cinnamon, nutmeg or cardamom. Pumpkin pie spice works well, too!
P.S. The extra pumpkin/squash puree makes for a quick soup! Just add chicken or veg stock and heat on a low flame until it thickens. Add your favorite spices and a dollop of plain yogurt on top and enjoy!