So Tuesday, before I posted, I did all sorts of searching for some new, yummy, 30-day-plan-to-lifestyle-kickstart meals. And HUZZAH I found some!!
Here's a quick run-down of the plan/mindset behind everything (which you can find in full detail here) - BASICALLY, you eat HUGE amounts of produce. hahaha Aaaaaand that's about that! No, really, though. I was SUPER skeptical when we were talking about it and planning...the plan hahaha, BUT then I thought about it - what's the recommended daily intake for fruits/vegetables per person per day? Like, oodles, right? 6-7 or something like that? (I really don't know off the top of my head.... Oh, nope! I just looked it up here: 7-8 for females, 8-10 for males (unless over 51 then you just need 7 servings). Alright, fine, so yay. 8 servings.
Yeeeeeaaaaahhhhhh......I LIKE fruit & veggies. I, regularly, do NOT eat 7 servings per day. No way. Maybe 2-3? Maybe? I mean, if I remember to grab an apple out of my fruit bowl and ingest it in a day I'm having a super-good healthy day, right? Now I have to remember to do that SEVEN TIMES????
So, basically, the PLAN teaches you how to make doing that EASY, and in so doing you get better portion control of everything else in your healthy diet!!
For 30 days you eat...LOTS of vegetables, fruit, legumes. White meat/fish once per day, red meat ONLY once a week, and at least once in the week you have a meatless day. GASP HORROR! What about PROTEIN! Um, hi. Chickpeas are one of my "new" FAVOURITE things. Just for an example. :)
At the end of 30 days your body, taste buds, whatever, is adjusted to this fantastic way of eating, and if nothing else you've added a bunch of delicious, vegetable-rich meals into your repertoire, making it easier to stay properly balanced.
OH yeah, and your body's a little busy going WHAT-the-heck-are-you-doing-to-me, and you shed some fat mass. Huzzah bonus!
Okay, so Tuesday, I did up the meal plan and kicked off with a new meal we'd never tried before. DELISH! Loved it! And I'm not going to lie, I was kinda' skeptical about this one.... (sorry the picture's not like, pro-quality. I took it partway through the bowl when I realized just HOW MUCH I was enjoying my dinner)
Recipe from "Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes" (yes, that's right - it's a crockpot meal, so you dump it together HOURS before dinner, smell it all day, and then VOILA delicious dinner! HOORAY!)
Eggplant-Tomato Stew with Garbanzos - garbanzo beans and chickpeas are the same food. Usually they are stocked along with canned beans or in the Mexican foods section of grocery stores.
1 medium eggplant, peeled, if desired, and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1 1/2 cups sliced carrots
1 15oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 15oz can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced celery
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth
1 6oz can Italian-style tomato paste
1/2 tsp dried oregano, crushed
1/2 tsp dried basil, crushed
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 bay leaf
In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker combine all ingredients. Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 8-9 hours or on high-heat setting for 4 to 41/2 hours. Discard bay leaf.
Nutrition facts per serving: 227 Cal, 3g total fat (0g saturated fat), 0mg chol., 1,231mg sodium (depending on your broth - mine would be less 'cause we used Epicure's vegetable soup base), 44g carb, 12g fibre, 13g protein. Daily values, 176% vit A, 38% vit C, 8% calcium, 18% iron.
YUUUUUUMMMMM!! And it made OODLES (6 servings) so...I'm definitely eating it for lunch today.
Bore you with more later! :)
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