Ta Da!!

Success!!!

I have had this dish many times in brazil...or at least something similar.  I just had no idea what it was called.  I also could not understand my husband's english when he would try to tell me.  I just kept googling fried spaghetti noodles (that's the best description I could think of) and finally I ran across this!   Aglio e Olio.  But when someone who actually knows what this is says the words properly it sounds nothing like that!!   But finally I had found the recipe, cooked it and was triumphant...the second time at least.  I thought I had failed again when I burned the first batch of garlic and chillies.  But I found a bit more garlic and tried again and I got it right!  It was sooooo good!  My daughter and I savored every bite!  It's amazing how quickly tastes can change....to me this was a perfect dinner....A light garden vegetable salad followed by a simple pasta...and the best part is the aglio e olio only has 5 ingredients!!  Now that's my kind of recipe.    Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come!!

It looked good in the picture...

After hunting for two hours at 5 different grocery stores to find egg noodles I came home and cooked what I imagined would be the best lasagna casserole ever!!  I could not have been more wrong.  Remember I have this aversion to white creamy food and 15 ounces (nothing comes in ounces over here....thank god for my conversion app on my phone!) anyway...430 grams of ricotta cheese is just gross.  Everyone else loved the dinner so I guess you could say it was a success....but I am going to try again with an old favorite from home.  Mueller's lasagna recipe from the back of the box!  Except I have to make it casserole style seeing as I bought 4 bags of egg noodles!  Which is good I guess because they don't have regular lasagna noodles here anyway. Ridiculous! Don't even get me started!

But a great thing did happen at dinner... my daughter and I loved loved loved our salads.  I ripped the greens into smaller pieces, added some croutons, parmesean cheese and more fresh veggies with ranch dressing.  She ate the whole thing without being threatened or bribed!  Hooray!  So I would think that getting to her to eat whole fresh vegetables is healthier than some random frozen peas and green beans hidden in lasagna.   At least that's what the raw food people say!  Maybe that should be our next goal!

Yeah, I'm just kidding about that....

Getting closer....

I ate a salad and I liked it!  Although I could not bring myself to try the ranch dressing....I'm not good with white creamy foods...but I used roasted garlic-parmesean dressing and it was delicious!  I even ate all my vegetables!!  My daughter, a much braver soul, actually tried the ranch dressing and chose it for her salad.  In hindsight I should have torn the greens apart to make them smaller....I think she enjoyed it but the idea of eating leaves did not go over well.  She didn't eat it all but it was a good effort.

The main course.  There is a reason that people use recipes.  In my head a bit of rice, refried beans, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes on a tortilla sounds delicious!  But when I actually make it, it doesn't quite taste like I had imagined.  Something is missing....and I'm sure the recipe writers would know what I did wrong but I don't have a clue.  The good news?  My daughter loved it!  Me? Not so much but it was better than quinoa!  I found a website for parents that has a bunch of kid tested/mother approved recipes and will be sticking to these from now on....except for tomorrow.  I already have the ingredients for sweet potato cakes.... Hang on.....after just grabbing the recipe to check the name it is "sweet potato quinoa cakes".   Nope, sticking to the kids recipes....I think I'm not quite ready for quinoa.

Off to a good start!

Breakfast was a success!  Made a delicious strawberry-banana-blueberry smoothie with vanilla yogurt and milk.  We all enjoyed it!  I realize there are no vegetables in this but just wait....slowly slowly going to start adding some kale and other green leafy vegetables that I have yet to identify.  I have no idea what kale is but I guess I'll find out soon enough.   I need to do my research...flax seed seems to be another popular ingredient in healthy smoothies.  I'm not sure I know what that is either.  Google is my closest friend right now along with the guy in the produce department who must think I'm a complete idiot for asking him to direct me to certain vegetables because I have no idea what some of them look like!

I haven't had a chance to look up any kid recipes for veggie dishes but I went to the grocery store this morning armed with a plan!  I grabbed some baby carrots, radishes, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, cheese, mixed greens, croutons and ranch dressing.   We'll see how this goes followed by a dinner of refried beans, rice, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and salsa all wrapped up in flour tortillas.  For the salad I think I might try to just chop the vegetables nice and small so the tastes and textures will not be too overwhelming.  And who doesn't love a little ranch dressing??  Actually....I've never tried ranch dressing...I like cool ranch doritos... must be similar right?  Fingers crossed!

Not a total failure...

Well...I can't say this lovely quinoa fried rice dish I made for dinner was a hit. My 6 year old finished her bowl only by the promise of new Moshi Monster cards although she did enjoy eating with chopsticks!   I just got some Sriracha sauce from my friend...that made it much better, but still not convinced.  I'm thinking my approach is wrong....I'm getting recipes from adults with much more sophisticated palates.  To me, a big bowl of mac and cheese sounds way better than quinoa!   I think I'll hit the internet and see what veggie recipes I can find for kids...

Maybe tomorrow I should try for some raw veggies with dip? or a small side salad with veggies with a promise of a yummier dinner to follow?  It certainly would be cheaper than bribing her with toys!  But all in all today was a success.  I ate my veggies without complaint...thank god for sriracha!  But I'm still feeling like I shouldn't have to set my mouth on fire to enjoy vegetables.

You can start over right??

So I guess you could say that I have a messed up relationship with food.  I am 39 years old and still do not eat my vegetables.  I love Bikram yoga but hydrate with coffee and diet soda.  I tell my children they need healthy food to grow strong and then feed them candy.  I recently stopped eating meat but then wondering what I should eat for dinner I fill up on Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Cheetos!?!  How can any of this be heatlhy?

Already today I have made a commitment to start this blog and eat my veggies and limit my junk food and then my friend gave me a "100 Grand" candy bar from the US and I scarfed it down in 10 seconds!  Where is my resolve?  They say you can start your day over at any time.  Ready....Set.... Go!

Okay.  Now I have officially started over...I am going to make these next 30 days about changing my habits, my tastebuds, my relationship with food, my mind and my body.   My body is really that last thing I care about here....I need to change my approach to food and eating for myself and my children..... I hope it's not too late.