Settling in

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I'm not going to say this is easy. But we're on day 11, and it really has been going pretty well. That first week was rough, but now that we have figured out easy lunches and have been doing well with dinners, things are getting easier. It's taking us much less time to prepare food ahead of time and we're becoming excellent kitchen dancers.  Breakfasts are still tough, but more on that in a bit. We even ate at a friend's house last night and both stayed on track. They were kind enough to work within our constraints, which was great. Still, saying no to kefir (even though we've never tried it) and blueberry tea cake was a little sad... BUT, I feel good about it.  So here's what else we've been eating this week:

Lunch yesterday: Leftover Lemon Garlic Crockpot chicken that we've been eating in one way or another all week (chicken salad or just plain), snow peas, tomato and a fruit salad (oh yummy fruit salad!). Outside, with my book (This is easily one of my favorite books of all time).

 

Dinner last night was an amazing chili (of course, made in Jared's most favorite green pot), topped with avocado and a spinach salad with homemade dressing (Tastes like a honey dijon-ish dressing, but WAY better; see below).

I also have this guy growing in my garden:

He's a golden winter squash. And there are a lot more flowers on the squash plants, so I should be golden (haha, no pun intended) this fall! I LOVE squash.

 

Ok, so some talk about breakfast. I have been eating it, but yesterday was hungry by 10am, after eating three hard boiled eggs and a banana. The day before I had some egg muffins, but I'm getting over those. I need to find some new ideas, with protein and veggies. So, I turned to my two favorite standbys for recipe ideas: Pinterest and PaleOMG (she has fabulous recipes, but I'm also pretty sure she's awesome in real life, because honestly, she's hilarious.) Here are some thoughts I might try this coming week:

 

•  Some sort of hash thing. Like this Rutabaga Bacon Breakfast Hash or this Sweet Potato Hash with added turkey or pork..
• Sweet Potato and Apple Breakfast Patties
• The Plantain Mash and Pumpkin Pudding here also look yummy, but probably too sweet for a main dish for breakfast for me. I need more veggies/meat.

I think what I need to do is stop thinking about it as 'breakfast' and more as the first meal of the day. Protein first, then veggies, then some fruit and fat. My goal for next week will be to have 'atypical' breakfast foods for breakfast. Jared's been good with that and has started eating chicken salad or tuna salad or whatnot with his banana.

Anyways, Jared's dressing recipe:

Jared's Awesome Not Honey Dijon Salad Dressing

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon capers

Blend with an immersion blender. This is pretty thick, so you may need to add some extra olive oil.