100 Days of Real Food weekly challenge update

We finished week 1 (2 fruits and/or vegetables at each meal) on Sunday, and it was a good week!  We received half of a spaghetti squash from a friend on Wednesday (thanks, Kelly!), so we made a chicken/veggie dish with that and several other veggies we already had.  I thought it turned out fairly well considering I wasn't following a recipe!!  I'm not normally that adventurous, but I think it was good for me.

I know it's kind of stretching it, but supreme/deluxe pizza was two of our meals that weekend (Sunday School social night and a birthday party).  Hey, it has several different veggies on it, so it counts, right? :)

Week 2 was this week.  Week 2: “Real” beverages – Beverages will be limited to coffee, tea, water, and milk (only naturally sweetened with a little honey or 100% pure maple syrup). One cup of juice will be allowed throughout the week, and wine (preferably red) will be allowed in moderation (an average of one drink per day).

I'd say week 2 went well!  I drank a lot of water, some milk, and coffee with honey or maple syrup and some half and half.  I almost had coffee at MOPS on Wednesday morning, but changed my mind when I realized what sweetener and creamer options were available.  Daniel said I should start carrying little honey packets in my purse - not a bad idea!  I messed up last night at a party because I had sparkling pink lemonade without even thinking about it.  Oops!  Guess I should have tried the wine... (I'm not a wine person!)  The juice thing wasn't a big deal for us, because the kids don't drink it very often.  They didn't have any this week.  I occasionally buy V-8 Fusion and have a small glass with breakfast, but that wasn't hard for me to give up.  I just had water with lemon instead.

Week 3 starts in a couple days, and it's going to be a little harder for us.  Week 3: Meat – All meat consumed this week will be locally raised (within 100-miles of your hometown). Meat consumption will also be limited to 3 – 4 servings this week, and when it is eaten meat will not be presented as the “focal point” of the meal. Instead meat will be treated as a side item or simply used to help flavor a dish.

We normally have meat at least twice a day, and we always just buy it at the grocery store.  Who knows were those animals were raised?!  I figured the best place to find local meat would be at the farmers' market, so I took the kids this morning!  We bought ground beef, sausage, pork chops, honey, no sugar added grape jelly, eggplant, radishes, cucumber, lettuce and cilantro.  Total spent: $45.  Definitely more expensive than the grocery store, but it's all local, grass-fed, organic, etc. and the prices were too bad (especially the veggies which were all from World Hunger Relief here in Waco - thanks for the tip, Lizzie!).  Plus,the jelly and meat were all from Rockdale, my hubby's hometown!

Our Farmers' Market purchases 

One vendor was giving away free flowers to kids, so Emma and Andrew each got one.  Andrew's was destroyed by the time we got home - no surprise there! Emma's is in my new blue mason jar that I got last night (thanks, Brandi!) on our kitchen table.

If you have any recipes or meal ideas to get it through this week, let me know! :)