Welcome Darlene and Karen!
Darlene, we too like to include lean meat, just not much of it for us.

My goal will be to include more vegetables for me. DD likes veggies and will eat them willingly. I, on the other hand, do. not. like. veggies. :p I love fruit and will eat them all day long, without a problem (I can easily get my 5 servings of produce from fruits, alone). But vegetables? Sigh.

I try to sneak them in to my food whenever I can - ground beef is almost always prepared with onions, carrots, celery, tomato, and maybe green peas and corn (although, according to my dietary guidelines, the starchy vegetables like peas and corn are considered as starch, not veggies).

Last night's dinner included leeks and tomatoes. The night before, I had cauliflower with my dinner. I'd probably get more variety if I ate more stir-frys, but DD doesn't like stir-fry all that much (and it's too much work for me to cook vegetable curries for her and stir-frys for me).

My other goal will be to cut down on the sugar. I am addicted to sugar. I've eliminated the 2nd cup of coffee for the day (have to have sugar in my coffee or tea); I'm trying to eat fruit instead of chocolates and ice cream for dessert; yesterday, at work, I managed to resist the iced cinnamon buns someone brought in (but succumbed today to the peanut butter cookies! :p ) Kicking the sugar habit is going to be a harder struggle for me than eating the veggies.

Bless, Can you narrow down what it is you don't like about the veggies? We finally figured out for DD that she prefers raw veggies or cooked but still super crispy. I have been making her sauteed zucchini with lots of garlic this week and she actually asked me if she could have some after school yesterday! I just cook it for a few minutes rather than till it gets soft. Same thing with snow peas. I just do a fast hot saute in garlic.

I will grill asparagus and red peppers and serve with a balsamic reduction - super easy, just cook balsamic down until it's the consistency of pancake syrup. Takes a while but it's so good and has no fat or sodium. I do sprinkle with freshly grated parmagian but you don't have to. BTW, the balsamic reduction lasts forever in the fridge. I will make a jar of it to keep around.

The fact that they are not sweet?

It's not that I don't eat veggies; I do. Also, my almsgiving meals are all vegetarian. I've even been voluntarily vegetarian for various periods of time, ranging from a few days to several weeks.

It's just that I am just as happy if I don't eat vegetables! I don't necessarily miss them if they are not on my plate. Chicken curry and rice is a complete meal, as far as I am concerned; I don't miss not having a veggie with it. Whereas, if I sat down to eat green beans and rice, I tend to miss the chicken curry!

Having said that, I like green peas, corn, carrots and beets (all sweet and considered "starch"); lentils and beans; cucumber, green beans, long beans, snow peas, okra, cabbage, eggplant, asparagus, leeks and pumpkin. Some of these, like the leeks and eggplant, I like only if they are cooked a certain way.

I will eat broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, bok choy, radish, spinach, celery, tomatoes, zucchini, etc. Although, I must admit, I like my zucchini in the form of zucchini bread, more than sauted as a vegetable.

I just have to work at including more veggies in my meals. I COULD have brought a salad to go with my spaghetti for lunch, today, but I didn't (however, the sauce was made with fresh Roma tomatoes, and the ground beef had onions and celery added, so I can claim at least 1 serving of veggies, can't I?) I'll just have to eat both leeks and cauliflower at dinner, tonight.

"My grocery list includes lean meats as well as fresh fruits and veggies" Hmmmm...

Yesterday, I came home from the store with fresh fruit and veggies. However the store did not have boneless skinless chicken breasts (the kind that were on sale) and I came home with just the pork ribs - definitely NOT lean meat!

Supper today is going to be slow cooked ribs with sauce, boiled potatoes and steamed asparagus - yummmm! Dessert will be a small piece of carrot cake (small for me; DS can have whatever size he wants).

Bless can you go to famous heritage food combinations to create excitement for vegetables? Mixed veg pickle with vinegar dressing, cabbage, cucumber, cabbage or cucumber curry? Eggplant or bean spout sambol, carrots & brussel sprouts with dessicated coconut.

Would you consider adding fruit like diced dates, prunes,ginger, pineapple, apple,banana or orange segments to make vegetables more palatable?

Here's an example of what I mean:

DD came home from campus yesterday, wanted something to eat, and ate the entire container of leftover cauliflower. I came home from work, wanted something to eat, and had a tortilla with chicken curry, followed by a tangerine.

Cyd: Thank you for the suggestions. Too often, I am short on time, so I just tend to do something quick like steam some broccoli or saute a few green beans with garlic. But occasionally, I do mix 2 or 3 kinds of veggies together to create a dish. I've no problems with cooking the veggies - making myself eat them is the problem! I'm afraid that vegetables will be something I'll eat because I should, and not because I want to. :p

Bless, I'll bet the more you eat them and experiment, you might come to like them!

I am planning to incorporate the following veggies in my meals this week:

Leeks (had a serving tonight)
Green beans
Cucumber
Spinach
Cabbage
Zucchini
Tomato
Lettuce
Carrots

It's said to be healthy, you should eat from all the colors of the rainbow. I think I managed it in dinner last night!
We had a salad of red cabbage, avocado and cucumber with rice vinegar and a touch of canola oil.
Then the entree was a stir fry of pork (not too much), red bell pepper, water chestnuts, onion, zucchini, sesame oil, mongolian fire oil, a bit of oyster sauce, a splash of soy sauce, a bit of mae ploy and some chopped garlic. Topped with a sprinkle of chopped cilantro.

It was all so pretty.