[elainevdw]

Originally Posted by Lauxa

* they don't keep very long in the refrigerator

My 3-day raw trial gave me a great idea: green smoothies! I never used to be able to finish a bag of spinach before it went bad. Now I just throw a banana, some frozen berries (which keep forever), and 2+ cups spinach in the blender with some water, and I'm suddenly drinking my leftovers. And, it tastes like berries -- I swear I couldn't tell the spinach was in there. Though spinach-apple-avo smoothies are really tasty, too!

Also, I love my frozen veggies. They last for months in the freezer, and if you're lazy one day, you can bust out a box of Mac 'n Cheese (or a can of Campbell's stew or whatever) and throw in a bag of mixed, frozen veggies to it. Voila! An instant serving of vegetables.

* I have trouble remembering what's in season. If I buy out-of-season, they are very expensive. If I buy what's cheap without a plan they end up going bad.

Find a local grocery store with a relatively intelligent produce staff. Raley's is pretty good. Ask them what's in season. In the summer, go to farmer's markets. Also, look up local produce delivery services in your area, like Planet Organics in the Bay Area. They'll deliver local, in-season produce to your door.

* green salads can get boring

Try sauteed kale, or marinated cucumbers, or carmelized beets! Planet Organics has a lot of simple veggie recipes that are super tasty.

* they take a long time to wash, chop, and prepare

Invest in good kitchen tools. I never ate salad because I hated washing and chopping it just to have it end up watery and soggy and gross. I spent $25 on a salad spinner, and by god, it makes salads easier! I want to get a mandolin slicer one of these days, too, to make it easier to slice stuff like beets for my favorite beet recipe, or cucumbers for hummus sandwiches, or carrots to make them fun to dip.

You can also get prepared veggies, either fresh or frozen. They're a little more expensive, but if you really, really hate dicing onions, get the little baggies of frozen, diced onions. No more crying, and they dethaw really quickly when you're cooking with them.

* I usually need to eat something else as well to fill me up (a protein or carb), so when I'm short on time the veggie gets skipped

Add chicken, beans, or nuts to a salad. Or, add frozen veggies and spices to your rice cooker, and serve some sort of protein over the top of it. Another thing, though, is that if you eat enough veggies, heck yeah you're going to be full. While half a turkey sandwich might fill you up, it might take a salad the size of your head to fill you up as much as the sandwich. But, as long as you don't drench it in too much dressing, it won't be more calories than the sandwich.

* I'm not sure how to work them into breakfast

Veggie smoothies! Seriously, they're very tasty! Or, have leftovers for breakfast. I wouldn't add celery to your Cheerios, but there's no rule that says you have to eat American "breakfast foods" for breakfast. Try lunch for breakfast, or dinner for breakfast... usually less sugary, too.

* my 3-year-old usually won't eat them

I don't have kids, so I don't have a lot of advice here. Maybe blogs like Vegan Lunchbox would have ideas your kids would like. It sounds like most kids just like fun foods, like ants on a log (celery with PB and raisins) or carrots cut into flower shapes (they make kitchen tools that do this, I think). I think I read somewhere that if you constantly offer your kids different foods, like veggies, they'll probably reject them 3 or 4 times, but after a while, they'll try them, and maybe even like them and request them again. So diligence might be the key, though some kids just plain don't like the taste or this or that.

Anyway, I hope that helps. Eating more veggies is a goal of mine, too.