Day 3: Sunday Sept 30

Lotsa Vegetable Chowder

This is from the Forks Over Knives cookbook that my brother so kindly gave me for my birthday! :)

First bite, I thought - ah...something new to add to my comfort food list (and this one isn't bad for me! ;0). Unfortunately, Jesse had the opposite reaction. I think it's the Thyme. We don't use this spice a lot, and this recipe calls for a lot of it! Well...more for me. :)

Speaking of spices - I used dried herbs, so I halved what it called for. Also, as you might have read yesterday - no broccoli, and I didn't have cauliflower 'stalks' saved - so I just used the regular cauliflower florets. Recipe went along as normal. I guess if you don't want to deal with the corn on the cob, you can just use canned corn. :)

Since today's family day this is coming along with me to add to my mom's feast, and the rest is going to the freezer in individual containers so I don't have any crazy last minute nonsense for lunch this week. :)



Day 2: Saturday Sept. 29

DIY Pasta Dish

This is from an Engine 2 challenge going on this weekend - there was a list of recipes to make in 10 minutes, this one sounded good to us. :)

Whole Grain Rotelle Pasta
Saute: onion, peppers (we used green and red), zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms.
The recipe also called for broccoli - but unfortunately ours had gone bad! Well, eating in more often may stop this habit as welll! :)

That's all it called for - easy! :) I just cut the stuff, put it in the pan - start with the onions with a pinch of salt and you can avoid using Pam spray. The salt draws the liquid out of the onions. Once it's all in there, cover, let it simmer med. heat about 10 minutes. Good. :)

I just added a little Bragg's Liquid Aminos on top to add in some more protein (tastes like soy sauce) while cooking. Jesse topped his with crushed red pepper, and I used nutritional yeast (parmesan cheese substitute, provides B12/other nutrients).
I was thinking it might be good with some parsley added - fresh parsley at the end would look pretty. If anyone tries it and puts in other spices - let me know what works! :)

Reminds me of Ghalaba, this dish we get from La Oasis down the street. I'll have to look up how this is made, perhaps I can alter the remaining amount? Keep you posted on that! :)

Day 1: Friday Sept 28

Super Bowlful Chili ~ Homemade Tortilla Chips ~ Fresh Vegetable Salsa

~ Ever since the first gust of colder wind blew in, I've been craving chili. This recipe from Denise Austin is an interesting twist to what I was brought up on - bringing in a variety of vegetables. We usually substitute the ground turkey for vegetarian crumbles, but just omitted it today. Recipe below - Yummy! :)
~ Homemade Tortilla Chips:
            Take corn tortillas, cut into quarters
            Lay out single layer, not overlapping on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
            Sprinkle sea salt on and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, shaking tray every 3-5 min.
            Alternatively, can use tinfoil, spray foil with Pam and spray tortillas with Pam. This is what we usually do. They cook a little faster with the Pam and foil - maybe half the time, so be careful not to burn! :)  We're trying to reduce oils, and using the parchment eliminates the need for the spray. However, we were surprised that they turned out a little tougher this way. Still good, better for you - and SO much cheaper than buying pre-made chips!
~ Fresh Vegetable Salsa - used a recipe in my canning book. Basically, pico de gallo style - tomatoes, peppers, cumin, onion, cilantro, done!

Making Own Food – 66 Day Challenge

September 28 – December 3

This is a blog designed to create accountability for us to reach a very important goal – be in the habit of making our own dinner every night!

The shortened version:

What? Make own dinner every night for 66 days.

Why? Many reasons, see below. Health # 1.

Accountability? Post picture on blog of what we ate. Yell at us if we don't, please!

Reward? If we can make it the whole 66 days – making our food at home – we will go to Holiday Nights at THF. Anyone want to join us? J

The wordier version:

We have fallen back into our old habits of getting dinner on the way home. While our choices are usually at least meat-free, they are still filled with junk, still support 'the man' versus supporting us, still causing us to be in debt, still bad for the environment, still bad for our bodies, still furthering Jesse's diabetes.

Earlier in the summer we were doing good, cooking at home most of the time. Things happened and we were derailed and now it's back to how it used to be – buying junk most of the time.

We just can't afford it – in any means – and can't support this anymore, but the chains are heavy. One of the best things to have in a challenge is support. We joined the Engine2 website- it is part of what is inspiring us to seriously tackle this again. But none of those people know us. Their chastisements and goads are easier to ignore. ;0 So if we don't keep to our bargain – let us have it!

Every night, we are going to post a picture of what we had for dinner. Now – I'm not promising anything fancy. The goal is to just eat at home. While I'd love to make some gourmet meal every night, that is not the reality for me right now. Some days it will be cereal. Probably most days it will be some kind of frozen soup or something I made a week ago, we got tired of and froze. Maybe I'll actually cook cook some days. But – regardless, it will be something we have at home!!

Now – there have to be some caveats.

                * We go over to my parents' house usually once a week. I will bring a dish to share, and this will have to        count as meeting my goal even though I will be eating whatever they have procured as well. Otherwise, it's         just too much hassle. Same of course for holidays! J

                * We will be going out to dinner for Jesse's birthday, and be out of our house that weekend. I'm allowing       one dinner out – the rest we will pre-prep and store in the cooler. I'm nervous about this because it will be a        busy time, and more likely to derail us again! But, I know if we already are thinking about this and prepare                in advance, we can handle it.

                * While we unfortunately have not been very social (in part because we have no money because we leak it   out through fast food purchases!), in the event we are able to go out with people – I will make something to         put in the freezer for the future, or will spend at least 30 minutes clearing the kitchen to help keep us on              track.

Why 66 days you might ask? I just read a very interesting article - http://www.cracked.com/article_20028_5-ways-your-brain-tricks-you-into-sticking-with-bad-habits.html . It is incredibly hilarious, and so true. Anyway, they mentioned that it takes 66 consecutive days before a habit becomes automatic. I've read many things about goal setting and making changes, and this does seem to fit in. It takes 4 consecutive days for you to really decide to pursue this change. 21 days for you to actually commit to the change. I heard previously 90 days for you to own the change – but 66 for it to be automatic makes sense. I suppose then 90 days is automatic, streamlined, and claimed. And then for it to be so engrained where you are shocked should anyone mention your 'old' self, for larger transitions it's actually 18 months.

So 18 months from now – say to me, didn't you always used to eat out on the way home? And I'll say – what, huh, no – that wasn't me….oh wait….

Reward. I struggled with this at first. Historically, I'd celebrate with food and so I'd be tempted to say – let's go out to eat. But that's the whole problem. Rewarding behavior with food, and breaking our streak – I"d be afraid then we'd be right back where we were. Yes, there will be many rewards through this journey – but it would be nice to have something else out there.

SO – I have it now. Perfect timing. Holiday Nights. Yes. I really want to go! If we can make it the whole 66 days – making our food at home – we will go to Holiday Nights. Anyone want to join us? J

Oh yeah – I have to tell you about the pictures attached. This is our 'focus' page – both positive and negative. The positive - All the reasons why I want to work on this goal, and pictures of people that I know are already following our healthy lifestyle changes – so it feels like they're their supporting us on our journey. Probably pretty self-explanatory, so I'll leave it at that. The negative – yeah, it's very gross. I'm only looking at this if we're like driving into McDonald's and I need some final 'discouragement'. I've heard that fast food causes mucus to be formed, so that's why the gross pictures. Bush/Tex Richman represents 'the man' laughing at us plebeians, selling us stuff we don't need, taking our money. When I buy fast food, I'm lining their pockets while making my own life more miserable. A seemingly never ending cycle that I'm trying to finally break! The bowling ball labeled 'plague' is representative of some health concerns I have now – hoping if I fix this addiction this might be improved. And of course the handcuffs, empty wallet. Then there's the grotesque obese McDonald's. Some days, that is how I feel. Since I found this picture, it's started me associating that for me, a Happy Meal will not really make me Happy – it's an illusion, this picture is the real end result.

It is a challenge though – even as I was pasting all these negative images on the page, I found myself craving a McChicken! I kept saying – but it's so good, why am I doing this again… I was looking at the collage of fast food logos and was getting hungry, thinking of all the things I like to get from these places. That night we got Subway on the way home. Yes, Veggie Delites without cheese – but still, just a patch for the problem, a pretense that we're doing what we're supposed to.

It's no longer enough. I'm ready to face reality, acknowledge and accept where I am, be humble and ask for help, and start taking those steps to the life we are hoping to create.

Okay – thank you for listening, and for your support!