I'm several days behind in posting. I'll try to condense and sum up...
On The Menu (Which ended up being what we actually ate):
Breakfast: the usuals - Cereal, toast with fruit
Lunch: typically leftovers from the night before with salad
Dinner: Split Pea Soup, Veggie Burgers, Pad Thai, Jane's Jammin' Burritos
My Thoughts:
Surprisingly we stuck to the menu pretty well. I mean, I looked at the actual menu for those days, adjusted a little based on our schedule and the groceries I had on hand and then planned accordingly. We ate what I'd planned for the most part. The veggie burgers were a last minute time saver on a stressful day. Just some MorningStar Farms Grillers Prime frozen patties that I'd picked up a few weeks ago. I've always been a fan of their black bean burgers and these were just as tasty. The kids liked them and probably wouldn't have known they weren't 'real' burgers if I hadn't told them.
The Pad Thai turned out to be a little bit different. I went to the store on an evening run to get a few things and somewhere between the car and the store I lost my grocery list. Tried to remember everything I needed but completely forgot the veggies for this. Several of the reviews I read said that this dish turned out to be a big disappointment so I changed out a few things - I used Brown Rice Noodles instead of the traditional rice noodles because they cook like traditional white pasta. I also bought a jar of Annie Chun's Pad Thai sauce at Sprouts, which probably wasn't as healthy as the E2 version but it saved me a lot of time and was actually very good. Not too spicy so the kids liked it. I just poured it over our noodles and served it with a side of steamed brussel sprouts.
Tonight I'm making the 'jammin' burritos' and they sound like they should be pretty good - What doesn't taste good with some black beans, salsa, and guacamole slathered all over it, right?
So I think this is the end for us. 18 days is a decent run. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving with second Thanksgiving on Saturday and I think it's just going to be too hard to try to get back on the wagon. There are several reasons I think this was not the best time to try this: 1. I've got lots of small children, some of whom are picky eaters to begin with. I'm tired of the littles not eating the meals I prepare because they don't like them and then snacking all day long and I let them because I want them to eat something. 2. This time of year is SO crazy. We eat out quite a bit, way more than I did growing up and that's only going to compound with the hectic days to come. We were out running errands on Monday trying to hit the grocery store before the deluge of Turkey Day shoppers and while we were out it made since for us to stop and get lunch out. After half an hour of debating we finally just ended up at Chick-fil-a. They had a play ground so the kids could run off some energy instead of doing it in the store while I was shopping.And 3. There are so many things we get to have this time of year that we don't get any other time of the year. It's part of they I enjoy this season. So many experiences that come from what we consume and who we consume it with. I don't want to stress over "Is this vegan?" every time.
I'll try to post either later today or tomorrow a kind of summary, answer the questions I've been asked, and share some of my favorite recipes. It's been a learning experience & I've tried things I've never had before. But now, I think I'm ready for a plate of Yucatan Taco Stand chicken nachos....
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