I should practice what I preach...
Until two months ago, silly old me hated these foods. If a meal was being prepped that included them, I'd either skip these ingredients (particularly the avocado or zucchini), or dice it up very, very tiny so that I couldn't take it (often the first). Thinking about it now, I guess I've been no different than my 4-year-old that I complain about, in that he often sees food and immediately says, "Ewww, that's disgusting." (even though he's never had it and then refuses to try it). My response to him is always, "You have to try it before you can say that. If you try it and still don't like it, you don't have to eat it but you have to at least try it." Well, for whatever reason, I've always had the misconception in my head that I had tried these foods (probably when I was much younger), and simply didn't like them. Because I've been so close minded and have refused to try them again, I've been SERIOUSLY missing out! When taking this path to a new, healthier and more active life, I made a commitment to myself that I start being more open to trying new things-both fitness and health related. With the 21 day fix diet, greens play an important role and so I quickly discovered you can only eat so many carrots and cucumbers before you get sick of them. I'm a raw veggie girl, and I needed to expand my horizons and find some other greens to munch on for a snack, and quick. Enter PEPPERS! In particular, RED peppers! I seriously buy SIX red peppers at the start of each week and slice them all up, and we're lucky to make it through Wednesday and not have consumed them all already. They're not just for me, but my husband and two kiddos have decided that they love them, as well. If it weren't so expensive to buy them at the grocery store, I'd definitely buy more and are often checking the ads for sales and raiding the "discount produce" section at the store to find deals. I've also decided to try growing some outside this summer in hopes that we can eat more of them. In addition, I've always had an eversion to zucchini or yellow squash. I just envision it mushy or overcooked, and tasting as such. However, in my first round of the fix, I found a recipe for delicious Taco Zucchini Boats, and because of the "taco" aspect, reminded myself of my trying new things attitude, and gave them a whirl. ::Cue "in heaven" music:: They were SO good! I've made them a few times now, and the zucchini cooks just right so that it isn't mushy, and I devour them. I've also discovered that zucchini and yellow squash, cooked on the grill are equally as delicious. With grilling season descending upon us, I'm very excited to test out some grilled-veggie recipes and post them to the site! Honey...something I'll have if mixed into a recipe, but straight up by itself? Never been my thing...it always tasted too bland to me. Now? My new kick is to toast a multi-grain english muffin and then drizzle some honey on it and BOOM! A DELICIOUS snack or size to a salad for lunch. I also love to drizzle honey into my vanilla shakes with some fresh fruit in the morning, and it's bliss. Honey is something that's really grown on my and I'm kicking myself for not discovering before.
And last but not least, avocados. To my credit, I did experiment a TINY bit with them last summer, with my Mom's homemade guacamole dip, which I've grown to LOVE and crave! But that was the extent of it...to me, the rest of the flavor in the dip was what made it for me, and avocados straight up by themselves were definitely not happening. However, there were recipes for the fix and a family favorite that I even tailored FOR the fix that required them, and I decided to give it a shot, despite my inward cringing at the thought of eating it. W H O knew? I now love it in my salads, and that recipe I tailored to the fix? WHY did I leave the avocado out of it for over a year?!!! It is a PERFECT finishing touch to the Enchilada and Quinoa Casserole! If only I'd tried the recipe as recommended, I'd have known that...duh!!!
