When I first started this lifestyle (notice, this is not a diet) I was soooo overwhelmed! I had grown up in a house that where meat, dairy, eggs, sugar were used all the time. Food back then (man, that makes me sound old) was a lot cheaper. Meat didn't cost an arm and a leg. I remember eating halibut all the time. Now it's 10.00 plus per pound! This is what the food pyramid looked like when I was a kid. I'm sure the meat and dairy industry had something to do with it. Yikes!
When I was in high school, I took Home Ec and we learned how to bake goodies and had a restaurant at school where we served all the "wrong" foods that we cooked in class. I loved that class, but it taught me to eat the wrong things, and I was chubby in high school!
It wasn't until after high school that I started to thin out. I had friends that I would go to the gym with, and I tried to eat healthy. Still there was always dating, going out with friends and binging on all the wrong foods for sleepovers and movie nights.
Then I got engaged. I slimmed right down because I wasn't hungry at all! I fit into a size 12 wedding dress with no problems. Okay, now I know what you are thinking, that size 12 is pretty big in our minds these days, but guys I'm 6 feet tall! I'm not a little girl, and never will be. Size 12 for me is awesome! I chunked right back out when I started having a family. I yo yo dieted a lot!
Well, I sure got off on a tangent! I started saying that when I started this, I was overwhelmed with the cooking style of this lifestyle. It can be so overwhelming at times, and sometimes you just want to cook something fast. I also have a ton of recipes on my blog, but really they are time consuming, and working full time at the hospital leaves me tired and I just want to do nothing. Even though I eat right, and have a ton of energy, I just want me time. 12 hour shifts 3 straight days in a row, you understand right?
Anyway...... what I'm getting at is we need to simplify our lives so we can enjoy life. I do batch cooking with beans, rices, oats, and potatoes. I also LOVE mexican food and always have salsa or pico on hand. Instead of cooking all these fabulous meals, why not just throw all this stuff together! Beans go on rice with pico or salsa, beans go on greens with rice and pico, beans go with frozen corn, rice with pico or salsa. Do you see a pattern here? LOL Will I tire of this? I highly doubt it! If I do, then I will have sweet potatoes with cinnamon (which I discovered yesterday for breakfast) OOOOOOO it is soooooo good and....so simple! Find things you love to eat, and repeat.
Summer is here and there is too much to do outside than to be stuck in the kitchen cooking up fancy dishes. It's my goal in the next couple of months to just keep it simple. I won't be posting a ton of recipes this summer, as I'm just going to throw things together.
If you have questions make sure to find me on my facebook page! I love a good discussion!
https://www.facebook.com/A-Plant-Friendly-Diet-For-Better-Health-568024666695752/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel