When I was growing up Mother’s repertoire of vegetables consisted of either fresh or canned.  I don’t think she bought much frozen stuff until later on.  Usually the meat always had it’s typical partner something like chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and corn (I still love to mix these two together!).  Meatloaf with canned potatoes and either green beans or peas, but never LeSueur Peas.  I learned when she came to live with me, she would NOT eat tiny green peas.  Do you remember what potatoes out of the can tasted like? Not a fan. But, back in the day when Mother was cooking for six hungry people, two of which were boy teens, canned was easy and cheap.

Fast forward, I like to include at least two vegetables at every meal. But, sometimes it gets SO BORING.  We are trying to eliminate corn, peas, carrots and potatoes from our diet due to their high glycemic levels. This means I have to be super creative. I have 143 recipes pinned to my Pinterest board so that’s a good start for inspiration.  Martha Stewart has an all vegetable cookbook that I think might be interesting to try.

About two weeks of the month, we’ve been using the meal service from Marley Spoon for inspiration on new recipes.  They deliver an insulated cold box with fresh ingredients and recipe cards enough for 2-4 people (depending on the service you select).  It’s been fun to try new recipes and saves me from having to think of what to cook.  I can pick the weeks I want delivery, skip delivery and cancel anytime. They offer about 6-8 menu choices so I get to pick each week what I would like delivered and the day of the week for it to arrive.  I have three free meal coupons, so if you are interested share your email in the comment section below with your email address and I will send one to you (Note:  I am not compensated, it’s just a benefit they offer their long-time customers).

Here are five recipes to get you started next week for vegetables…

Brussels sprouts and scallions.  You can roast these in the oven, but another option is a cast iron skillet (don’t have one — you can also use a regular frying pan).  Wash and dry your Brussel sprouts (as many as you want for each serving), cut the ends off and slice in half.  Slice a scallion in very thin slices.  Heat your skillet over medium high heat with olive or avocado oil. Once the oil is good and hot, toss in the veggies and give a good seasoning with salt and pepper.  Saute until the onions and sprouts are crispy brown about 10 minutes.

Roasted Sweet Potato and Kale Salad with almonds, dates and pecorino from Marley Spoon.  This was yummy and different.  A lot of people think kale is tough and it can be.  The secret is to cut away the stem and toss it with a wooden spoon several times. The more you handle it, the softer it becomes.

Also from Marley Spooon Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta with red onions and fontina.  We served this with grilled salmon.

A recipe from my Pinterest vegetable board is roasted cauliflower and it’s also on my blog here.  It’s lemony and the parmesan cheese makes it have a crispy finish. Seriously, if cauliflower isn’t your bestie after this, you are not human.

And this recipe you can find here on my blog for Lick the Pan Garlic Butter Mushrooms.  If a steak is in you future, you must have these mushrooms be their date.  Omg.

So, there you go.  I’ve given you a lot of material — butternut squash, kale, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts.

Move over LeSueur lovers.  Now, go forth and wow your family!