This was definitely NOT an exciting food day.  I tried some things that I don’t think really worked, and if I had to eat this way every day, I may abandon the whole BLE idea!  But I think this is a good lesson in life.  Some days are better than others and sometimes you just have to get through the day.  For me, I just got through the meals today!

When I got started with BLE I bought a bunch of different plain yogurts to see which ones I liked best.  I’d heard a lot of buzz about Greek yogurt so that was one that I had purchased.  The first time I ate Greek yogurt, I don’t think I was able to finish it.  After being used to yogurts with sugar, Greek yogurt was just – yuck!!  But I wanted to see if there was anything I could do to make it more palatable.

In the quest for eating more whole foods I’ve been finding things in my freezer that have been ignored in the past.  One of those things was some raspberries from our garden.  After thawing out a ziplock of raspberries, I ended up with this sort of puree, though I don’t think it had been blended before it was frozen.  I decided to mix some blueberries with it and got this…

This is what the raspberries looked like in a jar.  It was pretty “soupy” but didn’t taste like any sugar was added.  I also don’t think it was a jam or anything.  The truth is, I don’t remember when it was frozen but I wanted to see if there was a way that I could use it to make the Greek yogurt taste a lot better!

This is the Greek yogurt that I could barely get down.

I took 6 ounces of the berry combination (which was mostly the raspberries) and mixed it with the whole container of yogurt which was I believe was also 6 ounces.

Um, I think it looked better before it was mixed.

I covered it with plastic wrap and popped it into the fridge to cool overnight.  The next morning came and here was my pre-planned food day!

For breakfast I grabbed my yogurt mix, which did look better the next morning and used my Shredded Wheat as a sort of topping on it.

I call these little wheat “bales” because they remind me of bales of straw.  Surprisingly, they don’t taste as blah as what I imagine straw would taste like, but that is probably due to the fact that my dad always ate this while i was growing up, so I learned to like them (but with honey).  Even so, it is one of my go-to breakfast cereals, so using it as a topping for my yogurt mixture seemed like a good idea.

It wasn’t the most glorious breakfast, but it wasn’t awful.  Just not maybe something I would try again.

And this takes us to lunch, another “recipe” I would not do again!  I sautéed peppers, garlic, onions, and carrots together to create a sort of base for the white beans from a can.

When I put the beans on, it was kinda like, “this needs something else”!!

So I went out to my bucket garden on my porch and grabbed a few sprigs of parsley and lemon leaves.

That made it look a lot better, but the honest truth is I had to muscle my way through this food because it just didn’t taste that great.  I think I used too much garlic, and maybe not enough salt.  I don’t really know.  I just know that I would not do this again.

I was glad for the grapes and tomatoes and cheese because I saved them for last and ended my meal with food that was more enjoyable.

Supper found me tired and unmotivated to do anything creative, so I ate the rest of the beans, which was another 6oz, and then just filled out the meal with raw veggies.  While it was mostly the same foods as lunchtime, I tasted a lot better just boring and raw!!

And that wrapped up my day!

And a note about the food being meh…if I was truly hungry, I would be thrilled with this day of food and eat every drop with no complaints whatsoever!!  I think it’s good to know that there will be times on this BLE journey where the food may not be your favorite. But that’s ok. There is always another day. 

On Day 43 I ate a dish of grilled veggies for supper. I’ve had some questions about how I prepared them so I wanted to take a minute and share the process.

The recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks called “7 Secrets”, by Neva Brackett. I’ve made it many times and mostly we’ve eaten it as a burrito wrap. My family still enjoys it that way, but I just eat it without the flour tortilla and it stands perfectly well on its own.  I don’t know if I can share the exact recipe here in the blog, but this post will give you a good idea of how I prepared the basic recipe.

It was part of my supper meal on Day 43.

I discovered mason jar storage a few days ago so I’ve been putting everything i can into mason jars to see how well things hold up.  I already had these onions cut and in the jar, so it was super quick and easy to grab them and throw them into my recipe.

My zucchinis are almost ready to harvest so I hope this is the last one (these are organic) that I’ll have to buy from Costco.  The yellow summer squash is from the garden at the elementary school and I love knowing that my food is coming straight out of a pesticide free garden!

I chopped the squash into 1/4 inch chunks so I could put them through my Vidalia Chopper.

I love this chopper so much.  It always does a perfect job and it is so FAST and EASY!! I’m all about fast and easy when it comes to cooking!

I’m using the larger blade option for this recipe.

It cuts perfect little squares every single time!

I put both types of squash and my red bell peppers through the chopper.  This sight makes me happy because it was effortless to do.  Cutting these by hand would be too much work and I’d never want to make this recipe.  I bought my Vidalia choppers at Target and through eBay.

The next ingredient is the Soy Curls.  I’ve had some questions about how I prepare these.  I always feel like I need to say that I’m not a gourmet cook.  I never really even liked cooking, though I’m enjoying it much more now with Bright Line Eating.  The Soy Curls come in this little bag.  I bought them at our church’s health food store.  I’m sure a google search would bring up other places where they can be purchased from.

They seem to be nothing but soy and they are hard and crisp in the package.

Since they are hard and crisp, they must first be rehydrated with water.  Then I used a veggie chicken style seasoning and some Brewer’s yeast flakes to season them while they soaked up the water.  You can season them to taste, using whatever type of seasonings you prefer.  They are similar to Tofu with no real taste until you season it.

I let those simmer while I prepped my broccoli.

I love seeing all the colors burst and come to life when the veggies all get stirred together!

The soy curls have been simmering, soaking up the water, and the excess water has evaporated off with the steam.  They are nice and chewy now and soft and “meaty” like!

I added the soy curls to the veggies, including the brothy juice.

I mixed it all together and put it in a large glass pyrex dish that was sprayed lightly with Pam. Any type of low pan works well for putting the veggies under the broiler.  I always set a timer when food is under the broiler.  I’m notorious for walking away and having my food burn under that intense heat.  I’ve learned now to set that timer or just stand there and wait for it to be done.

This recipe is great for using up whatever veggies you have in the fridge.  You can basically put whatever you want into it and it always tastes great!

Yum!!!