I’m still struggling with what to write. I’ve been meaning to put together Jerry’s and my recent dinners, but I wanted to wait until I had more photos. I’m starting to forget what some of these recipes are so I’ll keep posting them.
The main goal (our two-week challenge) was to eat more vegetables, but it turned into eating mostly whole foods. We both really enjoyed doing it! Interestingly, when we eat foods that our bodies enjoy, we feel better both physically and mentally. And this is only two weeks!
I made most of the recipes from the How Not to Die and How Not to Diet cookbooks. I don’t think there was anything we didn’t like; both cookbooks were great. Keep in mind, I know nothing about food photography, so my photos aren’t very appealing, hahaha. There are actually some that I’m not even going to post because it will make people never want to try things like black lentil and black bean soup!
Anyway, here are some of the ways we get more veggies…
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| Sweet Potato Waffles (I found that if I served this in a ramekin and dipped the waffles in as I ate them rather than pouring them over the top, I used much less syrup; I only used the ones pictured half the syrup) |
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| I didn’t mean to include this, but I did eat these Asian pears before they went bad! Ha ha. |
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| Sweet Potato Taco Bowl (brown rice, sweet potatoes, corn, black beans, seasonings) |
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| Millet “risotto” with mushrooms, spinach, and white beans (we didn’t like this dish just because we didn’t like the taste of millet itself; this dish would have been nice with a different grain) |
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| I forget what it was called – I think it was some kind of stew – but it had barley, mushrooms, peppers, onions, carrots and chickpeas. |
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| Lentil and Quinoa Chili |
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| I actually forgot what it was, but it reminded me of a broccoli/cheese/rice casserole. This is good! |
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| Sweet Potato Shawarma Bowl (quinoa served with seasoned sweet potatoes and cauliflower; topped with lettuce, onions, gherkins and homemade tahini sauce. |
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| Stew with butternut squash, red beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers and onions. There’s also quinoa underneath 😉 |
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| This was our “junk food” dinner – tofu baked in Sriracha marinade and baby potatoes with “chili cheese” dressing. |
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| I forgot what this is called again. But it has sweet potatoes, broccoli, peas, peppers, and raisins (raisins sound weird to me, which is why I picked it out of the book). I can’t remember what grain was underneath, but it was probably brown rice. This is so great! |
Well, that was the beginning of a year where Jerry and I were growing up and eating vegetables. I really hope this challenge helps Jerry like vegetables more and he finds that he does like sweet potatoes, mushrooms, and cauliflower (when prepared in a certain way). He even admitted that the cucumber in the shawarma bowl actually worked well. He never liked cucumbers because he said they were overpowering and all you could taste was cucumbers. I happen to love them. I think I’ll make some hummus today and snack on cucumbers and hummus – sounds delicious.
Now, I’m going to write down my meal plan for this week. I used to hate meal planning, but this veggie challenge has made me excited about meal planning again. I’m going to try kale again this week – it’s been years since I’ve tried it – and I’m hoping I’ll like it even more this time. When cooking with vegetables, I usually choose spinach or kale. Yesterday, Jerry and I decided to eat (mostly) whole foods for another two weeks. After two weeks of eating well, we were both sick from not eating well.
By all means, if you have a favorite recipe that uses lots of veggies, please share!
