“Fourteen Foods That Will Change your Life” this is the title of the book I recently checked out at the library (the library is a great money saving tip that James inspired from James’ Dad). My plan for knowledge I obtained by reading this book was simply interest by no means did I have any further intention with this book.

Apparently, James, even though he did not turn one page of the book felt inspired by the title. One late night last week, after an intense Bikrham yoga practice, James and I were sitting at our table eating dinner. We were both tired from our long days at work, not to mention the brutal sweaty Bikrham yoga torture that we endured for 90 minutes. James pulled his head from his dinner and said, “next week, we are eating nothing but super foods.” We love challenges, and we embraced James plan with excitement!

Here is the list of the 14 super foods: beans, blueberries, broccoli, oats, oranges, pumpkin, salmon, soy, spinach, tea (green or black), tomatoes, walnuts, and yogurt.

Challenge #1: How to create a complete 7-day menu with only 14 foods.

Solution= Creativity!! James and I worked together diligently this past Sunday to create fun menu with new recipes full of super foods!

Challenge #2: Financial implications. Our food budget rose from $100 to $150 dollars; super foods are expensive!

Solution: James bought too much food! We have enough fresh spinach to feed an army! Note to selves, next time do not buy three pounds of spinach.

Challenge #3- Preparation. Our creative menu was fun to plan; however, James spent almost an entire day cooking and prepping our meals for the week.

Solution: Next time try less complication recipes!

Our super food creativity backfired when James spent his entire day prepping foods for the week while I graded papers in our office. Before he began his prep, his enthusiasm for the “super food diet” was intense. He eagerly prepped the menu, he enthusiastically shopped for the foods, and he enjoyably placed the foods in our fridge. However, within two hours all of his happy adjectives fled from his body. When I came down to check on his food prepping progress, I was surprised to find a blasé, uninterested, and unconvinced “super food” supporter. Laid out in front of me was several “pureed” meals (I provied an visual above), and I thought to myself, “where is the baby, last I knew my womb was empty?” James spoke my thoughts, “this is going to be a loooooong week.”

Despite our dietary skepticism for the upcoming week, we did have an amazing revelation: we can make our own salad dressing in less than two minutes. Not only can we make our own salad dressing, we can make a “super food” filled salad dressing. No more sodium, sugar, fat, and empty calorie-filled salad dressings for the Strout family.

If you are interested, here is the salad dressing recipe we are using this week:
Raspberry Vinaigrette:
½-cup raspberries
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1- tablespoon unsweetened apple juice
1-teaspoon canola oil
1-teaspoon honey
Whisk the ingredients together in a small bowl. Toss the dressing with the salad.