I get asked a lot about what good recipes I have, what I eat as a vegetarian (more correctly pescatarian, I eat fish on occasion). I'm always a little dumbfounded, 1. because I have some pretty bad eating habits, and 2. because I am not a great cook, nothing ever stands out in my mind as the "awesome" meal.
I haven't ate meat for over 15 years, this is not a diet for me. It's a way of life, it's what I've done for so long I don't think about it.
It all started back when I went to training for 6 weeks at Uniteds head quarters in Elk Grove, IL. I knew I would be living in a dorm like setting with cafeteria food, while going to class six days a week, leaving little time for working out. I didn't want to pack on the "freshman" 15 (in six weeks) so to speak so I needed a plan. I've never really cared for meat, I'd eat it as a kid because I had too, but I much preferred hamburgers, without the meat. I've never liked pork and well chicken I ate for protein but never craved it, so I decided for six weeks I would become vegetarian, this would keep things pretty simple and limit lunch and dinner to the salad bar and sides. Long story short, I never went back to meat, I didn't miss it.
That being said, present day. My kids at my house eat mostly vegetarian, our main staple in our house is salad for dinner. I've found you can turn any of the favorite classic meals into a salad. Taco, fajita, we do cob, roasted veggies, leftovers thrown on lettuce, you name it, we throw it over lettuce and call it dinner.
I never eat breakfast, I've worked early for so many years I just drink coffee in the am (here's where the bad habits come in), it's not good, I know. Lunch is my go to, my main meal of the day. I love coming home from work sitting down vedging for a bit and eating lunch. I'm a big rice eater, it's in the rice cooker a lot, so a typical lunch for me is rice, tomatoes, cucumbers and salt, all mixed up together. I also roast cauliflower, broccoli and brussel sprouts on a pan everyother night so, often that gets heated up and thrown over rice the next day. All this is good and healthy, but I have a ridiculous sweet tooth.....like GIVE ME sugar. When, I am being good (and it's not a holiday) I eat apples or blueberries to curb it. Unfortunalty Easter was just here, and I have consumed my fair share (and some) of peeps, cad berry eggs, various M&Ms, it's bad. Where I use to fluctuate 5 lbs. This last year (basically the moment I turned 37) I noticed I don't really fluctuate any more, I just add. A very big DANG IT! I know what I need to do to keep the love handles and muffin top off, cut the crap in my eating. So this week I am trying to get back to mindful eating. I know how I feel eating fruits, veggies and rice (the only real grain I eat), much better than my sweet treats!
Since I can't offer much as for recipes I will say a few things, I do enjoy. As a side I often lightly steam up kale, swiss chard and other hearty greens, add a little basil and the flavor is delicious, Lo requests "greens" a lot. (Below is a mix from Costco, I throw out the sauce bag and just steam)
Probably my favorite food to use is spaghetti squash. Basically I treat it as a vehicle for all the other delicious veggies. I like to throw in broccoli, peppers, onions, and tomatoes mix with a little pesto, eat warm at dinner and cold the next day for lunch. Good stuff!
It also helps having a garden, I have my starts going and I get excited to harvest food. My whole goal when I cook is to use foods we like the taste of. I tried to avoid sauces (with the exception of pesto, that I make) and flavor everything with different foods.
Born apetite!
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