The Fresh 20, week 2

So, last week, I followed The Fresh 20 vegetarian meal plan.  I was pleasantly surprised that their meals did not have an abundance of cheese.  For this week, I decided to try a combination of the classic (meat (but organic) and gluten free meal plan.  First up, Chicken Tortilla Soup:



Man, organic chicken is expensive.  However, this was one I was able to make up before hand, and then just serve for dinner. 

Audible:  Added a roll.

Day 2:  Turkey meatballs - Not pictured. 

It is really too bad I didn't take a picture.  I think this was one of the best meals.  I made up the meatballs before hand.  It also called for a nice gravy.  I served it with roasted brussell sprouts and mashed potatoes.

Audible:  I baked the meatballs instead of saute.  They would have fallen apart!

Day 3:  The one vegetarian meal.  Tosadas.  I know, what is a tostada?  It is like a taco on a really big tortilla chip.  You lay out all the options:



And then top at will:



The kids are always excited about something like this, but end up putting a few beans and cheese on it.  Eh.  I might do this again. 

Audible:  I added spanish quinoa.

Day 4:  Steamed tilapia over winter greens and tomato couscous



I did two things to trick my kids into eating this meal.  One, I can't stand steamed greens.  I had every intention of making the recipe as written and then when it came down to it...I just couldn't.  YUCK.  So, I had a kale-off.  I made kale the way I like (kale chips) and then kale the way my husband likes (saute).  Both kids were actually really excited about trying both and giving their opinion.  The result?  "I like Mommy's.  No, Daddy's!"  Ok, then it came out that they didn't like either, but they did try it.  The other thing is that I told my kids that this fish was "meat" and I might even said it was "chicken"  Oops.  James ate the whole thing and Andy was eating it, when I let the cat out that it was actually fish.  They thought it was funny and kept eating, but I am not sure if they would eat it again.

Fairly large audible:  Not only did I switch the greens,but instead of steaming the fish, I coated it in cornmeal and oven fried.  Glad I did.

Result of this week.  I learned two things:  My family did not really eat the meat meals much better than the vegetarian ones and these recipes are super super bland.  Have they not heard of cilantro?  All in all, I can see myself buying a meal plan from this company, but I want to check out some other options first.  Also, my CSA was on a break, but they are back, so I have all these peppers to deal with again...