My husband and I have both been complaining about our recent weight gain - I have gained pretty much 25 pounds as I am almost 30 weeks pregnant. Okay, so that kind of weight gain is allowed and even encouraged. This is the most I have weighed in my life!!! It has been extremely hard to cook healthy meals when I have been so busy and so tired. Not only that, my cravings for salty food like FRENCH FRIES have totally gotten the better of me!! Not good. Hubby has gained sympathy weight (isn't that so kind of him to embrace my own weight gain and jump on the weight gain band wagon??) alongside me - although certainly not as much as I have! I think he looks handsome all the time!
So anyways, after giving this much consideration, we have decided to create a little challenge for ourselves:
THE 30 DAY SALAD CHALLENGE!!!
In this challenge, we must eat at least one substantial, meal sized salad per day for 30 days. It does not have to be a green salad either. It can be a warm salad, pasta salad (whole grain pasta of course!), or anything that constitutes a "salad" and is considered healthy, with as many locally grown produce as possible. This is all in an effort to eat healthier food, and in Mark's case, maybe lose a pound or two. In mine, maybe I'll get through this pregnancy without gaining over 35 pounds (fingers crossed!!!!) by eating better (farewell french fries!!!).
This challenge will actually be pretty easy for us as being a teacher, I am off for summer holidays beginning tomorrow and can cook healthy meals! (YIPPEE!) Not only that, I LOVE to visit the many farmer's markets and purchase locally grown food. We also planted our own garden this year which has lettuce, spinach, beans, peas, carrots, zucchini, onions, potatoes, herbs and lots of tomatoes! I cannot wait for everything to be ready for picking!!! Here is a picture of our lovely little herb garden:
I will definitely post a picture of our garden once everything is well established! I can't wait to eat veggies from our garden!
This challenge will actually be pretty easy for us as being a teacher, I am off for summer holidays beginning tomorrow and can cook healthy meals! (YIPPEE!) Not only that, I LOVE to visit the many farmer's markets and purchase locally grown food. We also planted our own garden this year which has lettuce, spinach, beans, peas, carrots, zucchini, onions, potatoes, herbs and lots of tomatoes! I cannot wait for everything to be ready for picking!!! Here is a picture of our lovely little herb garden:
I will definitely post a picture of our garden once everything is well established! I can't wait to eat veggies from our garden!
THE 30 DAY SALAD CHALLENGE begins TODAY! Tonight I plan to make a green salad with grilled chicken, roasted walnuts and strawberries and mint with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. I will be sure to post pictures and all the recipes not only to help me keep busy (2 months off is a VERY long time!!!) but also to document all of the healthy eating we intend to be doing! (Hopefully this also helps us save some money by NOT eating out so much!)
Wish us luck on this wonderful green (and many other colours) adventure!
DAY 1 - Green Salad with Grilled Chicken, Toasted Walnuts, Strawberries & Mint
I love toasted walnuts or almonds and berries in my salads! I buy the Sobeys cooking nuts and then toast them myself (I actually burnt them a bit tonight! Oops!) The green leaf lettuce was topped with sliced strawberries, toasted walnuts and small pieces of mint. The mint gave it a nice, fresh flavor!
Then I grilled some chicken after letting it marinade in some fig balsamic vinaigrette dressing. 
I used this delicious dressing today - Renee's Fieldberry Poppy Seed Vinaigrette - not as healthy as homemade stuff but needed to be used up and was great with the strawberries and walnuts!
VOILA! The finished product:
All in all, a great start to Challenge Day # 1!!
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