OK – brace yourself because this is gross.  But, I can’t resist. . .

A few years ago a good dietitian friend of mine told me that research shows that during their lifetime, most kids eats eat more boogers that broccoli.  So, what does that mean?  If you picked your nose and “consumed it” when you were a kid. . .well, you get the idea.  And, if you have not stopped.  Well, there is no doubt that your broccoli to booger ratio is seriously imbalanced.

Why am I bringing this fact up?  First, if you can get past the gross factor—it’s an interesting statistic and a super fun thing to share at a party.  And, second—I promised to talk about low cal vegetables tonight.  I’m in search of them because I have found that just eating healthy foods is not good enough.  Your pants can still be tight if you don’t watch the amount of calories you consume.  And, last—I had broccoli for lunch.  So, the stuff was just on my mind.  (The broccoli part.  Not the boogers.)

So, I did some research and here are some ideas for getting your veggie servings every day without busting the banks (or your pants):

  • 1 cup of romaine lettuce, 9 calories
  • 1 cup of mushrooms cooked in no calorie cooking spray, 40 calories
    1 cup of radishes, 20 calorie
  • 1 cup of spinach, 40 calories
  • 1 medium tomato, 25 calories
  • 1 cup of zucchini squash, 28 calories
  • 1/2 large cucumber, 20 calories (about 5 ounces)
  • 1 cup of celery, 20 calories
  • 1 cup of cabbage, 32 calories
  • 1 large carrot, 30 calories

And, please.  If you remember anything about this blog entry, remember this:  Not all crunchy greens are created equal OR stay away from things you have to eat off your finger.    Ewwww.

P.S. One great way to get a lot of these vegetables in a tasty way is to throw all of them into a tomato-based soup.  In fact, soup is one of my very favorite ways to eat cabbage—second only to putting lots of sauerkraut on pizza.  Here is a “busting with vegetables” soup that I have made before and I plan to make a giant batch this weekend:

Steph’s O Veggie Soup

6 cups chicken broth
Cooking spray
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 large onion, diced
4 teaspoons garlic (from a jar or substitute four cloves minced garlic)
1/2 cabbage, chopped (or use a bag of slaw, the biggest chunks you can find vs the fine, don’t skip the cabbage for it somehow makes the soup)
1/2 pound frozen green beans
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large zucchini, diced

Bring the broth to a boil in the microwave.

Spray a Dutch oven with cooking spray and heat on MEDIUM HIGH. Add the carrots, onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the zucchini and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to MEDIUM and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the beans are tender. Add the zucchini and cook until the zucchini are tender. Serve and enjoy!