LINES WRITTEN BY A GIRL OF VERY LITTLE BRAIN: IN WHICH The Girl Eats Quinoa

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I plan to eat healthier this year. I started this quest by completing Buzzfeed's Clean Eating Challenge. One of my friends from the Hundred Acre Wood, my very own Piglet [now before you get mad, I say this because Piglet is Winnie-the-Pooh's best friend, not because of any other connotation of the word], took the challenge several months ago and liked many of the recipes. You can see her comments about it on Antediluvian Salami. I looked it over and despite being on a website mostly known for funny lists and pictures of cute pandas, the plan looked healthy and achievable.

Essentially, the program asks you to cut out processed foods, keeping the focus on fresh fruits and veggies, lean protein, and gluten-free/low-carb meals for two weeks. It seemed to be a good way to reintroduce nutrients to my system after the holidays but still eat actual food - no juice cleanse for me. Testifying that most of the food was actually edible, my friend decided to do the whole challenge over again with me. Yay for moral support!

Shaved Asparagus Salad with Shallots and Fried Eggs. Yummy but shaving asparagus is a pain in the butt.

So now it's two weeks later. Overall, the challenge went really well. The majority of the meals taste wonderful, and the salad dressings are out of this world for being so simple. I've seen others complain that it's not enough food, but I was never unusually hungry. I cooked a lot of foods I've never made myself: quinoa, fennel, shallots, spinach smoothies, lentils, overnight oats, cauliflower steaks, and chia seed pudding, among others. This was a great introduction to new recipes that I may not have tried on my own. Some I will probably avoid - the lentils didn't excite me and I reaffirmed by hate for Greek yogurt. Nevertheless, I will incorporate several items into my weekly meal plan from here on out, particularly the quinoa, spinach smoothies, and chia seed pudding.

Spinach and Banana Smoothie. Seriously, I wake up craving this deliciousness.

Since I love bread, chips, and other forms of carby goodness, I thought the low-carb and gluten-free aspects of the diet would be the hardest. Actually, I never really found myself craving carbs. The only times I felt really tempted by them was when others would place cupcakes or pizza in front of me and say, "Here!" While I did cheat in a couple of those instances, I stayed fairly true to course and am reassured that I can cut out many carbs at home from now on.

Turkey-Basil Meatballs with Collard Greens. Looks weird but actually quite good and filling.

The lack of my regular beverages killed me, however. I think the hardest part of the whole challenge was cutting out soda, and I definitely cheated a few times here. I know it's horrible, but I love Diet Coke. I'm not a crazy caffeine addict, but once a day I crave a drink with actual flavor. And then there's the alcohol. While I'm home by myself, it's easy to avoid wine and beer, but almost all social events involve drinks. I wouldn't want to be seen as unsociable.

Roasted Chicken Breast with Roasted Fennel and Spinach. Roasted fennel is excellent.

Two non-taste related issues came up as well: time and money. While not difficult recipes, most of these took a lot of time to prepare. Lots of chopping, mixing, and waiting for things to roast. I often spent an hour or two a day preparing food, which is waaay too much for me. While I was lucky and started this while still on my winter break, prepping food for workdays usually meant spending thirty minutes or more the night before getting breakfast, lunch, and a snack ready to go. In addition, healthy food is ridiculously expensive. I knew about the high prices of produce previously - and have even had my students write about this before - but I have never bought produce in such bulk before. It adds up quickly. Plus, some of the "superfoods" cost a pretty penny. A bag of chia seeds is usually seven dollars or more. Granted, they should last me a little while. I will be looking for ways to cut down on both the prep time and the cost in the future.

Greek Salad with Lentils and Lime Vinaigrette. Work lunch.

One challenge down for the year! I found the experience both interesting and informative, and I will definitely try to keep the clean eating idea alive in my cooking for the rest of the year, within realistic limits. I've already got a bunch of bananas and spinach in the freezer waiting to be made into smoothies this week!