You Are What You Eat

If that's true, then I'm probably about 75% peanut butter. I eat it every morning—on toast, a bagel, an English muffin. I gladly, gleefully, shamefully admit it.

I'll eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but only as a last resort. I don't particularly care to eat peanuts as a whole. But, if I'm sick, I feel a lot better if I eat a bowl of chicken noodle soup and peanut butter spread on white fluffy bread only. Go figure.

Let's not even explore the rest of my diet.

These days, I'm trying, really trying to eat more vegetables. Mostly because I should. But now I'm cooking and eating more vegetables because my Kate has become a vegetarian. It's thrown my whole menu plan into the can. I never thought that cooking vegetables would be so....time consuming. But it is for me.

I spend a lot longer in the produce section than I used to. I pick things up one at a time wondering how many ways each item can be prepared. I ask myself if she would like them steamed, raw, roasted, sautéed. I wonder if I can hide them under macaroni and cheese.

Then it's time to prepare dinner and satisfy my vegetarian daughter and the three carnivores who sit at the same table. Dinner conversation hasn't been this lively since her brother lived at home.

Last night, I prepared a quasi-Asian dish of spicy chicken (for the meat-eaters), a stir-fry of broccoli, pea pods, bean shoots, and carrots (raw for daughter Amanda, all separated for my dear husband), and a smorgasbord of noodles (chili oil for me, plain for daughter Amanda, and a little garlic and oil for the vegetarian and hubby). I don't even remember how many pots I used.

So, if you're still following along....here are some yummy recipes for you to try (with peanut butter) and some for the vegetarians in your life. Good luck!

Garlicky Green Beans Stir Fry

Spaghetti with Garlic Oil and Chili Peppers

Pesto Pizza

Peanut Butter Cake

Peanut Butter Brownies

Photo: tastespotting.com