What to eat

I'm so predictable, aren't I? You knew that if you just waited a few days I'd calm down, and I have.

Even though I am no longer completely freaked out, the message from the book did stick with me and I'm making good strides at incorporating some changes.

(Could that sentence be any more non-committal?)

Seriously, in the last week or so I've struck most of the sugar, cheese, butter, and meat from my diet, and it wasn't as tough as I thought. Except for bacon, the meat was easy to eliminate since I don't it cook much of it anyway. However, I do have to figure out what to do with the two pounds of bacon and three pounds of chicken thighs in my freezer. The butter? Well, insert heavy sigh here. I still indulge occasionally but I'm trying not to make it an automatic part of my meals any more.

More importantly, I've made good strides in adding more vegs to meals. My go-to meals had become increasingly bean-n-grain-centric and that is a really hard habit to break 'cause more vegs => more prep work. It may be a little early to declare Mission Accomplished, but it's been going OK, at least for the past week. Hubby suggested we sign up for a CSA to kind of force us out of our rut and it's been a good move. The one we signed up with is fairly customizable so I won't end up with a box full of celeriac, fennel bulbs and Brussels sprouts. Brussels sprouts aside, I am making an effort to expand my repertoire. For example, this week we got mustard greens, which I've never even had. Now I just have to use them before they turn into green goo in the crisper drawer.

But enough about that -- I am way behind in sharing recipes! Back in March I made Penne w/Butternut Squash & Sweet Italian Sausage and it was really good. Now I would have to cut the sausage way back, but it would be worth trying.

Also, I have another couple of 'post-freak out' recipes that worked out pretty well. I'll post my final versions of them soon.