PLEASANT LITTLE SURPRISES

I don't know about you but, for years, whenever I thought of vegan, or even vegetarian, I thought "Blech! Wheat grass drinks and kale smoothies!" I guess it took my joining the Bountiful Sprout, having access to wonderful fresh produce, and connecting with great foodie friends who know what to do with these veggies, for me to finally appreciate just how delicious they can be. Still, no one was more surprised than me when I found myself clicking that button to sign up for an e-course entitled 30 Day Vegan! As I mentioned earlier, I am not turning vegan. I just wanted access to some of Heather's recipes, because everything she cooks and shares on her blog, Beauty That Moves, looks so dang yummy! Well, except maybe those green smoothies. Even if she does serve them in cute little mason jars, they're still green.

Heather's classes are never just about recipes, or cooking with whole foods, though. They're more about nourishing the whole self. So, week one included quite a few "lifestyle" and self-care suggestions to help us do just that. My favorite was reorganizing my pantry and refrigerator, to make room for a few new ingredients I haven't cooked with before, and to make sure everything was properly stored in glass, not plastic. She even gave us a download to make precious little labels for our jars!

Despite having to add a few new ingredients to my repertoire, Heather's recipes are anything but "blech!" Best of all? They're downright easy! Take yesterday, for instance. I had a rough afternoon. Spent the afternoon in the dentist's chair, then had to go to the grocery store, pick up my Bountiful Sprout basket, get some plants at King Feed (which is TBS's new pick up site) and then come home and put all the groceries away and deal with all that produce. By the time I was done, it was already dinner time, and I hadn't even started cooking. I was just about to tell my hubby that I deserved to eat out after all that, but then I remembered one of Heather's recipes that had sounded very quick and yummy. All I had to do was grab an avocado, mash it up with some lime juice, canned white beans, a pinch of sea salt and some freshly ground pepper. Then I heated a couple of the organic whole wheat tortillas I'd just brought home in my TBS basket, spooned in some of the avocado mixture, topped that with salsa, green onion and cilantro, et voila! Easy-Peasy, and good! The tough part now is deciding what to fix tonight. Pad Thai?  Curried Chickpeas? Black Bean Chili? Pasta? So many choices!