Challenge Day 1

Basket of fresh produce picked from the garden this morning.

Breakfast:

Eggs - the obvious choice for the first day of my challenge. I like mine cooked over-easy.  I'm feeling grateful for having a non-stick pan in which to cook them, especially since I can't use butter. Honestly, I didn't miss the butter one bit this morning! I also enjoyed a few cherry tomatoes and a few slices of cucumber on the side.

We have a variety of chicken breeds in our coop, which gives 

us a nice array of colored eggs to choose from each morning.

Lunch:

I find salads to be the easiest thing to eat for lunch because then I don't have to cook!  Today's salad included mixed salad greens, beet greens, cherry tomatoes, orange snacking peppers, green peppers, cucumbers, and green beans. I also added some leftover roasted chicken from dinner a few nights ago.  Once it was all assembled, I thought it looked a little dry without any dressing.  So, I got creative and blended together a handful of tart blueberries, a few strawberries from our freezer, and  a tablespoon of maple syrup. It was a perfect solution!

This huge salad left me feeling very full and satisfied.

Snacks:

Despite the huge salad I had for lunch, I was hungry a few hours later.  Since I was working in the garden, I picked green beans, wax beans and cherry tomatoes to snack on.  I also had a hard-boiled egg before dinner.

Dinner:

I cooked a large, whole chicken tonight so that I could use leftovers in all of my meals this week.  I seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning.  Normally, I might mix those spices up with some olive oil but since I can't use that ingredient during the challenge, I just left it out.  I also cooked up some green beans and corn on the cob from the garden.  Again, I omitted the butter. Interestingly, I found that I didn't even miss the butter and it allowed me to enjoy the natural flavors of the food a bit more.  My eyes were bigger than my stomach and I only ate half the chicken on my plate. 

It makes me so proud to see a plate full of food that we grew ourselves!

Summary:

I would consider Day 1 to be a huge success! I could happily eat these meals daily but I don't want to get bored by eating the same thing.  So tomorrow, I will try and vary my menu a bit and see how creative I can be in the kitchen!