Month of Memories - December 12th

Today I am remembering the first time I realized I was going to have to start living on salad for a while.  It was last year, probably not too long after the liver/gallbladder cleanses that I did.  I realized pretty quickly that I was going to have to find some way of making it enjoyable to eat the same thing day after day after day for lunch.  I also knew that these salads needed to be really filling, so else by mid-afternoon I was going to be mighty tempted to eat something I shouldn't.  So the first thing to go was the lettuce.  I don't mind lettuce, but it's not the best part of the salad for me, and if a salad was all I was eating, I could waste space on something nothing very filling. :)  I also added walnuts and very often avocado.  Both of these have good fats and added the extra calories I needed.  Plus, they gave it some flavor.  The walnuts are still my favorite part of the salad, if they bite has a walnut in it...it's a good bite. :)  So, here is what my lunch looks like many days:

This is NOT a quick lunch. :)  There is so much chewing involved it easily takes me 30-60 minutes to eat it, depending on how often I get distracted. :)  Let's see, we have:
Broccoli (had to learn to really like that raw, but it's good for fiber)
Carrots
Celery
Red pepper (yummy!)
Green pepper
Cucumber and
Walnut

Sometimes I add craisins, or avocado, as I mentioned.  I have to give big thanks to Philip, who the one who usually makes my salads for me.  If I had to cut all that up during the day when I was trying to feed the kids lunch, it would never happen.  Well, except it did on Thursday.  Last week was really bad for my gallbladder, so I had to eat the salad, so I cut everything while the boys were distracted with Caleb's piano lesson.  Worked out well, too, because they love fresh veggies, especially red and green peppers, so I cut extras for them and they munched away on those at lunch.  Philip and the boys eat the salads with their dinners, so they aren't missing out on all those colorful veggies. :)

Even after God heals my gallbladder, we plan to continue eating these salads regularly because it's so good for the body.  And they really are tasty.  As long as I am not eating them 7 days a week for lunch. :)