Fresh Market adventure

I finally made it to Fresh Market! I drove to the next city over, which was about 20 minutes away. I think the drive was too long though because my 3 year old fell asleep during the ride. Normally, I would appreciate the nap but he wouldn't wake up! I had to carry him through the store as I shopped. It was a challenge trying to reach products on the shelves while carrying him and a basket. I got a serious workout from it though.

 

The trip was still a success. I found fresh dill which I have been trying to find for a few months now. I bought dandelion greens! I have never had dandelion. I also found some mangos for the kids, chili peppers, quinoa and dried vegetables for a snack. The veggies were so yummy and my son even liked them so I will be back again soon to get some more. I especially loved the green beans. What a great taste and a healthy snack. Can't get any better than that!

So when we arrived home I made a salad with my new dandelion greens. I added spinach, tomatoes, leeks and red onion. I made a simple dressing with oil, white wine vinegar and dill. It was such a wonderful and flavorful meal.

For dinner I made a simple quesadilla with salsa. Nothing special and honestly it was very filling and heavy on my stomach. I have always loved cheeses. I get a thrill out of finding new and different cheese (have you ever had buffalo milk cheese? I have) but I am not sure my body likes it so much anymore. I will be trying harder to cut out cheese from my diet but I can't get rid of it all and I still love my yogurt.

This morning I enjoyed my favorite yogurt with blackberries and sunflower seeds! I LOVE BLACKBERRIES but they have always been a little too costly for me. I found them on sale and stocked up. It's like Christmas, I am so excited.

That's all I have to share for now. Thanks for stopping by my friends. Have a fabulous day!

Progress

I know, I know. I have been slacking on posting updates but honestly, I haven't been eating anything that I haven't already posted.

For instance, my breakfasts and snacks have become Greek yogurt with cut up strawberries or cranberries and sunflower seeds. Lunches are usually a salad of whatever I have in the fridge and dinner has been either another salad, stir-fry or I made stuffed chili peppers again last night. The stuffed peppers didn't turn out too well because I used a crumbing cheese that didn't melt and the whole thing was a weird mess. I ate it anyway.

Kale Chips

Random Salad

Yummy vinager I found to use as my salad dressing

My bedtime snack

Stuffed peppers. Next time I will use mozzerella

I think it is time to mention how I am feeling physically about my new diet changes as it is an important part of this experiment. One thing that I have noticed is that I have to eat breakfast every day. I used to be able to just have coffee and be fine but now I need something on my stomach. This has been the hardest challenge because I LOVE omelets but decided to cut out eggs. I have also noticed that I feel lighter. I don't have the bloated, nasty feeling after my meals that would weigh me down. This has been the best effect so far! However, speaking about being weighed down, I am a little upset that I haven’t seen a change in the number on the scale. I have been exercising regularly and eating this amazing vegetarian diet but the scale isn't moving. I suppose that can be attributed to age. I am now 30 and it isn't as easy as it was when I was a kid to lose weight.

I am running out of ideas of new things to make for myself. I suppose I could spend more time researching new recipes but I don't always have the time to spare. I still haven't made the drive to the next city over to see the Fresh Market.

I am absolutely THRILLED to see my kids making better food choices. My daughter always could survive on fruits and salads and I love seeing the excitement in her eyes when she finds fresh strawberries or bananas to snack on. My 5 year old son is a relatively good eater and enjoys a salad but also loves nasty processed foods. He has been asking me to buy him more kale (to make kale chips), bananas, yogurts and berries. The best results have been my 3 year old son who eats nothing but waffles, sugary oatmeal, french fries and the occasional chicken nugget. I have learned that he likes pumpkin, bananas and hummus! WIN!

I have been morning the loss of my favorite food. My best friend and I are regulars at a local Greek restaurant that makes the most AMAZING dolmades (rice and beef seasoned and wrapped in grape leaves that they serve with this amazing sauce drizzled on top). I haven't had them in a long time and debating if I want to go get some on the first chance after my month long experiment. I was hoping to continue on being a vegetarian after the 30 days has passed but I had only promised myself to stick with it for a month. I suppose I will just have to wait and see how I feel when my month is over.

Well, thank you all for stopping by. I appreciate all my readers. Thank you and have a wonderful day!

Chili Relleno & Pumpkin Cupcakes

So I decided to cut out eggs from my diet, to the best of my ability. I think I would end up eating things that have eggs in the ingredients (noodles etc) but I am going to see if I can keep my foods that I prepare to be egg free. In this new outlook, I needed to find a new breakfast as I LOVE omelets. I had a pretty busy morning so I grabbed a Greek yogurt, cut up a couple strawberries, tossed some sunflower seeds on top and I was good to go. It was wonderful but wasn't very satisfying unfortunately.

 
For lunch, some friends took us to a new authentic Mexican restaurant. I LOVE chili relleno but sometimes it is prepared with meat, so I asked (and even though I speak Spanish and ASKED in Spanish, the waiter still replied in English. Little insulting. My Spanish isn't that bad!). He promised me there was no meat. Chili relleno is stuffed chili peppers with cheese, sometimes meat and sometimes veggies. My peppers were filled with cheese, spices and sauce. They were WONDERFUL! The only upset was that my lunch special also came with a taco (which wasn't mentioned by the waiter or in the menu). Usually I would enjoy the additional surprise but it was a beef taco. I was rather disappointed that I couldn't eat it but my meal was also came with simple spiced rice and fresh salsa with chips.
 
My lunch was very filling. Most likely because of the cheese and I have to admit, I did not like the heavy feeling in my stomach. I love how I feel satisfied but still light after my vegan recipes or even the vegetarian ones.
 
I spent the afternoon glued to my chair and doing homework (and mindlessly surfing the Internet). I took breaks and cut up another pumpkin I had bought and made some more roasted pumpkin seeds. I had to fight my husband for them.
 
I didn't bother eating dinner. I was too full from lunch and the afternoon snack. Still, by the evening I had all this pumpkin and had no idea what to do with it so I made vegan pumpkin cupcakes and pumpkin pie. I have never made either so it was an experiment. The pie was so bad, won’t even go into detail but the cupcakes were the best thing I have ever made in my life! I had bought a spiced cake mix, cut the water and oil in half and instead of egg I used pureed pumpkin and baked as directed. They were so light fluffy and indescribably fantastic!!!! I topped with icing and walnuts and had to stop myself after eating 2.

 
I am proud of myself that I am doing so much more cooking. I hate cooking. Have I mentioned this? I hate doing all the work and after the food is eaten, I have nothing to show for it but I am actually enjoying creating new and healthy things for myself and my family. I am also enjoying not daily going to buy greasy fast food. My wallet is a little fuller as well. I would normally spend between $5-$10 per fast food meal when I can get the ingredients for a vegan meal that would last for 3 days for $8!

Thank you to everyone that has stopped by. Have a fabulous night and remember the clocks change back tonight!