Veggies Galore

One of my big goals this summer was to get my garden up and running. Sadly, it never happened. We need to replace the old fence, completely clean out in between the boxes (and the boxes themselves) and need new soil for six huge boxes. This was not in the budget for this summer. However, it WILL be priority number one come next spring. We have already started taking down the old fence and will be digging up the old fence posts shortly. If we can get it cleaned out this fall, I am hopeful to get most of the boxes planted next spring.

Because honestly, we need to. Since Nate got on board with the veggie eating, our grocery bill has skyrocketed. I am buying double the veggies we did a month ago, not to mention the crazy amount I spend on fruit each week.

Veggies were never eaten in big quantities in our house, as dinner was always a struggle. We aren't big meat eaters - chicken maybe once a week, my cooking skills are limited at best, and we always tended to rely on meals heavy with pasta. It took me 11 months of transitioning to a clean(er) diet to figure dinner out. But now, I think I'm moving in the right direction. I have been trying to live by the rule of 80% - 80% of my diet is clean, unprocessed food. With the exception of the starch that we have with our vegetables (quesadillas, panini bread, pizza dough) and dairy products which I refuse to give up as as a runner (I do eat them in portions now though!), I am now happy to say that our 20% is mostly only dining out meals, and even those choices have changed considerably.  Everything we eat at home is pretty darn healthy. Here are a few of our new favorite cleaned up dinners...

Veggie pizza on the grill! DELICIOUS! We use the multigrain dough from Hannaford.
My side is the spinach side! 

The final product. Spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, green peppers and chia seeds.
Sometimes, I don't use sauce on my half, but put hummus down instead. It's yummy! 

Veggies quesadillas on the panini maker! Spinach, tomatoes, green pepper, mushrooms and avocado! 

I forget to take a picture of these loaded with veggies before I cooked em up!
Paninis on multigrain bread with spinach, tomato avocado and mozzarella. These are super yummy! 

We pair the quesadillas and paninis up with a yummy salad for extra veggies as well! My favorite part about these veggies meals - they are SUPER quick and easy. By the time I get home from school and squeeze my run in, I am ravenous and have little time for meals with long prep/cook times. These 3 meals are done in less than 20 minutes. If you have any super easy meals with tons of veggies, please send them my way! I'm ready and willing to try!