How to Try New Vegetables When You Hate to Eat Veggies

We all know vegetables are good for us. But do you know the best way to try new vegetables when you hate to eat veggies? Use a cookbook! In this post, I test a new cookbook and share other ways to try new vegetables when you hate to eat veggies.

At some point, we have to decide it’s time to work harder on eating our vegetables.

Vegetables are good for us.

That’s true, but I think it’s a challenge to eat something if you already think you don’t like it. Especially eating 4-5 servings a day.

And, what if you’re not the one who hates to eat the veggies?

What if it’s your spouse, children, or aging parents who don’t like healthy food?

That’s an even bigger challenge. And, it’s a lot to remember. And even more, if you aren’t a professional chef, it’s hard to know which herbs, seasonings go best with the vegetables you/they don’t like.

So I’ve made you a printable list of suggestions of how to prepare vegetables, and it’s available at the end of this post!

You can force yourself to take care of yourself and eat vegetables, but not everyone else. (At least it doesn’t work with my family).

While we’re on the topic of self-care, do you need some help finding time to take better care of yourself? Get your FREE copy of the Self-Care Starter Guide HERE!

The Mission: To Try New Vegetables When You Hate to Eat Veggies

By the way, this is my second article on eating vegetables. If you are looking for a great list of ideas, you may find the help you’re looking for HERE.

In this post, I went on a mission to find a vegetable-focused cookbook.

I found a few good ones, but the one I want to talk about today is our family’s favorite. Okay, the truth is that my family doesn’t know that this is their favorite cookbook.

But, I tried several recipes in just 2-3 weeks and found FOUR new recipes that were approved for ‘regular meal options’.

Now they’re family favorites.

That’s HUGE for our family!!

So, it’s definitely my favorite cookbook!

The Answer – Find An Awesome Cookbook

The name of the cookbook is Joy’s Simple Food Remedies, Tasty Cures for Whatever’s Ailing You.

Now, I’m going to be honest and tell you that I didn’t buy it because I believe that all of these recipes will cure every symptom.

But I do think they’re helpful, and if you make and eat these healthy recipes instead of any junk food you may be eating, there will likely be some benefit.

The reason I bought it was because I saw Joy on the Today Show and she had several dishes that looked absolutely amazing. (We taste with our eyes first!)

Joy talked about how she uses several vegetables, herbs, and seasonings in each recipe.

I thought, what a bonus – more than one veggie in a dish!

Plus, the news anchors seemed like they liked the dishes. And, so I bought it.

Budget Tip: Want to try this recipe book before buying it? Try finding it at the local library.

This Cookbook Has Been A Home Run For My Family!

If you look around on my blog, you’ll see that I don’t promote a lot of items and I only have one other post with a cookbook, and it’s just mentioned in a sentence. It’s not what I usually write about.

But listen, this cookbook has been an amazing tool to help my family not only eat more servings of vegetables but try new and different ones too!

Here are the recipes we have tried and my family’s feedback.

At the time I first tried this, I had a husband, a 24-year-old and a 12-year-old. The 12-year-old is the one who dislikes veggies. I basically gave the cookbook to my husband and children and asked them to choose one recipe they thought they might like.

So consequently, here is what we tried first.

• Greek Chicken Kabobs on page 156 – This one is the one that blew me away. My 12-year-old requests this one weekly now. It technically has fresh herbs, not vegetables, in it (parsley, cilantro, and dill) but these are plants and new flavors to her so I am calling this a big win!
• Pumpkin Turkey Chili on page 194 – To be honest, this is the one that I raised an eyebrow on when I saw it. But, oh my goodness, it’s delicious! We all called the flavors ‘complex’ (yes we watch Chopped on Food Network) and definitely find it delicious. Coincidently, it is in the ‘gas’ section of the recipe book and no one struggled with gas or bloating after we ate it. We put this one on the meal plan weekly as it makes a filling but easy to go to meal.

These Recipes Are Easy to Make

• The Curry Turkey Burgers w Pomegranate Seeds on page 214 is the recipe my husband made. There were several ingredients, but the recipe took him through step by step and while it took him longer to prepare than if I would have made it, he was able to complete it timely. We all liked it and will eat it again, but will likely omit the curry as it is not our family’s favorite flavor. But the rest of it was yummy.
• Finally, the best thing we ate so far was the Roasted Salmon with Artichoke Hearts plus the Lemon-Dill Yogurt Sauce on page 14. This one was embarrassingly simple but this meal was literally one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten. It uses leeks, and I had not eaten, cleaned or cooked with leeks before. I had to watch a Youtube video to see how to clean and slice them. But, oh my goodness such an amazing dinner that night! We ate every crumb (like scraped the pan clean!).

Why This Cookbook is the Best Way to Try New Vegetables When You Hate to Eat Veggies

As I said earlier, I do not write posts to tell people to buy things.

But, this has been a great cookbook for us so I wanted to share it with other people – especially those who are struggling to take better care of themselves, improve their self-care, or need to eat more vegetables.

My Top Reasons

• Great for trying new flavors (flavorful but not overpowering or too spicy…and not too bland)
• Vegetarian options are even tasty
• Fun to try (not frustrating or hard to make)
• Family friendly (eye appealing and not too crazy or spicy)
• Easy to prepare (and doesn’t mess up your whole kitchen)
• Vegetable forward – many recipes combine meat & >1 vegetables in the dish
• Fast (we made most things in 20-30 minutes although the 2nd time was faster)
• Affordable menu options (you won’t break the bank to try these but they taste as you did – that sounds silly but it’s true)

In closing, I hope you continue on your journey to improve your self-care and include eating more vegetables on that journey.

I believe using this cookbook is a great way to get you on your way to try more vegetables and keep you going on a path of wellness. Be sure to get yourself one today!

Download your FREE copy of a list of how to prepare vegetables HERE!

Don’t forget your FREE Self-Care Starter Guide! Get it HERE. 

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Post originally published April 22, 2019.