Four weeks ago the hubby & I decided that we needed to start a more focused and healthy eating plan. We don't eat unhealthily: I personally cook 90% of our meals, breakfast, home lunch & dinner for all 5 of us. Every day. We eat veggies and fruit, avoid meals in a box and frozen complete meals, and totally abstain from fatty, calorie-packed, single-dish casseroles or crock-pot meals. Even then, we both know we have room to improve. So I ran out and bought 10 lbs of chicken, practically the only affordable meat at this moment in time, but also fabulously lean & versatile, several heads of fresh broccoli, and zucchini. And had it for four nights straight. By the fifth night even I, as much as I love weird, bland, and repetitive food, had had enough. Everyone was crying.
So I got creative, meaning I totally copied someone's recipes, and mixed it up a bit. What? Shrimp? Only for the parents in this house, much to the kids' dismay. But delicious with asparagus! Pork? Oh, right, the other white meat. Duh! How could I have forgotten?! Salmon, cod, trout, & tilapia? More please! We avoid beef at our house, not only because of price, but because it puts some of our digestive systems into paralysis. Armed with some internet recipes and some great clean-eating books (more on that later) I was ready again to tackle the new eating plan.
Two weeks of recipe-booking got me thinking outside the box and inside my own reality. I have to buy what I can afford and what my family will willingly subject themselves to. Pork in mandarin clove sauce? Good idea but no one ate the sauce. I hate waste.
So on my second week of intense food prepping I had an epiphany at hour 3 while sliding chicken breasts, pork, & turkey sausage into baggies for the freezer: why not add some marinade so it can have some flavor? Genius! So I rooted around my over-crowded refrigerator (which is inordinately full of sauces and condiments that I can't bear to throw away after using 1 tsp for some recipe) and got clever. Teriyaki, soy sauce, bottled ginger, garlic, Italian salad dressing, Sweet Baby Ray's, lemon juice, olive oil, dijon mustard, fish sauce & oyster sauce made for some really interesting flavors that I am super excited to try! Finally! I stuck them in my freezer, which is also over-crowded, and the theory is that as they defrost they'll get yummy too! Score 1 for the home team!
Now I might just be excited to pull out that bag of chicken at 4:47...
Remember that healthy eating takes small steps. Get creative, get excited, get interested in your food and make it the perfect compliment to the exercising you're doing to improve your overall fitness.
Have a really yummy dinner!
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