Eating with Purpose plus Yummy Teriyaki Veggies and Quesadillas!

This past Monday I had a minor surgery on my leg

which left me down for about a day & 1/2.  Plus I haven't been able to work out which is my mommy de-stress time.  Needless to say, it's been a rough week starting out so far. 

During my pre-admit testing, they did some blood tests and found that I have iron-deficient anemia.  This was kind of a relief since I have been experiencing fatigue and headaches almost every day and not sure why.  The anemia answers that question.  However, I was also pretty bummed because if you know me, you know how excellent my diet is.  I eat tons of fruits and veggies.  I pay close attention to the amount of protein, fat, carbs, fiber, sodium, sugar, and calories I eat on a daily basis.  Almost obsessive to make sure that I get all my daily allowances of each, without going over in calories, sugar, sodium, or fat.  However, I NEVER look at how much iron I'm taking in.  Now that I look back over my food diary from the past month, I hardly went over 30% of my daily iron.  And since I've been paying attention to it the last couple days, I realized how hard it really is to get your daily value of iron (from natural sources anyway). 



I eat very little meat, maybe less than 5% of my diet.  So if you're like me, you need tons of plant-sources to make up for the lack of iron.  Protein is not the problem.  I always get my daily value of protein from legumes, seeds, and veggies. 

Yesterday, I made my way up to 95% of my daily iron and here is what I had to eat in order to get there:

• 2 eggs
• 3.5 c baby spinach
• 2 large mushrooms
• 1 c unsweet plain almond milk
• banana
• 2 T flaxseeds
• 1 T organic PB
• 1 c sliced squash
• 1 medium sliced zucchini
• 3 small red potatoes
• 1/2 c quinoa

These are the foods in my diet yesterday that contributed to my iron %.  So, I am going to keep on top of this.  Plus, they say that in order for iron to be absorbed into your system, you need vitamin C with it.  So I made sure I was well over my daily allowance of vitamin C too....If any of you are like me and don't eat much meat, you may also be anemic.  It is more common for women to be anemic than men (because of monthly cycles). 

So, this all got me thinking about something my daughter's soccer coach says all the time, "kick with purpose!"  In other words, don't just kick the ball to kick the ball.  Kick it with a purpose in mind, such as passing to a team member, kicking it around an opponent, or scoring a goal.  The same should go for our eating.  Eat with purpose!  Many people just eat to eat.  You should think about it as having a goal in mind.  This is exactly why I don't eat fast food, buy chips, processed snacks, or drink fruit juices/soda anymore.  They serve no purpose!  It is literally just wasted calories on something that is not even going to satisfy me. 

Just think about eating with purpose next time you open your fridge or pantry or are at the grocery store.  The food I eat also brightens my skin, strengthens my immune system, makes my hair and nails grow faster, gives me energy, and fights disease. Boo-ya!

Anyway, last night dinner was AWESOME.  Probably not the most kid friendly just because it was huge chunks of veg with quinoa and teriyaki sauce.  But I made it work.  Here is the recipe:

Teriyaki Veggies with Quinoa (adapted from 100 days of real food)

• 2 summer squash, chopped
• 2 zucchini, chopped
• 1 organic green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 c organic quinoa

Marinate veggies in teriyaki sauce (recipe found on 100daysofrealfood.com)
Saute veggies in skillet with sauce over medium heat until veggies are crisp yet tender.  Cook quinoa according to pkg directions.  Serve veg over quinoa.  Yum!!  The kids were not 100% about this, but did eat some of the squash, zucchini, and quinoa (or "baby rice" as they call it).  Plus, a good size serving or organic sliced strawberries on the side!  My goal is that they at least try the dinner, if they don't clean their plate, I'm not offended.  I know they will get more and more used to it as they see it over time.  I am not one for forcing food on my kids because the last thing I need is some traumatic food moment and then they hate green beans for life or something....  I think it's better to lead by example.  They see me and dad eat the food (plus Addy eats most everything I cook) and all I can ask is that they try it to see if they like it. 

Tonight's dinner was equally as good  Quesadillas made with corn tortillas, roasted chicken, cheese, and beans.  This was another recipe I adapted from 100 days of real food.

Chicken, cheese, & bean quesadillas

• Organic corn tortillas
• black beans
• organic shredded cheddar
• roasted chicken (I had some from a whole chicken I slow cooked a couple days ago)
• diced organic tomatoes

Heat skillet over medium heat with olive oil spray.  Put chicken, beans and cheese on top of 1 corn tortilla and place in skillet.  Put other tortilla on top and cook on both sides until they are lightly browned and fillings are sufficiently heated/melted.  Serve with diced tomatoes, salsa, and/or avocado on top. 

I also made roasted green beans with this and they were AWESOME as usual! 

• 1 lb green beans, washed & trimmed
• garlic powder, salt & pepper
• olive oil spray
• Grated parmesan (optional)

Preheat oven to 425.  Line out GB on baking sheet.  Spray with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper, & garlic powder.  Cook for 10 min.  Shake pan to toss.  Cook 5 more min.  Sprinkle with grated parmesan if desired! 

Well, thanks for reading!!!