So, my 30 days have come and gone. There were some good recipes and some bad recipes. And I'll be honest, there were some good days and some bad days. With all that I have going on in my life (don't we all!!), I wanted to quit the challenge on more than one occasion. Yet, it was important to me to persevere, however small a goal it seemed. I think holding through to the end taught me some important lessons.
One lesson I learned was that even when life is crazy, people still want to eat good food. Resorting to take-out or chicken nuggets every now and then is no big deal. But, using those things as staples is not ideal. Having this challenge ahead of me urged me to serve a variety of food to my family and I think they, for the most part, really enjoyed it.
I also learned that I'm glad I have stuck to the old Weight Watchers FlexPoint plan. The newer plans restrict your choices by giving "naughty foods" insanely high point values. With smart points, sugar is "punished" so harshly that it limits some of my favorite things much more than I would like. That's not a recipe for success in my book! And besides, I'm doing just fine with the old plan.
Another lesson I learned was not even food related. It was that follow through is so incredibly rewarding. At the time of this writing I have two blog followers and a handful of other people who stop by to read. This was for them. But it was totally also for me! I proved that I could do it! I issued myself a challenge and I completed it. I've never been one to win the gold medal or first prize trophy. In high school and college, my coaches were always telling me to reach for my personal best. That seemed a little silly to me, but I get it. If I can strive to meet the goals I set for myself while also having grace for my failures, I can become a better version of me. And this simple recipe challenge helped me do that. I set a goal and I did it.
Not only did I learn a few lessons, I also got some really great recipes. I will definitely be adding a good number of these to my regular menu. The Taco Soup was great. The simple Deli Crab Salad was far better than I expected. The Herb-Roasted Green Beans were amazing. And I never thought I'd enjoy a Pumpkin Butter as much as I did.
I won't list them all now because you can read my reviews by clicking the links, but trust me when I say they were mostly good.
Either way, I hope you enjoyed this challenge as much as I did. And I hope it inspires you to challenge yourself to try something you think might be too big or too much for this moment of your busy life. I bet you can do more than you think.
Thanks for reading and I hope to see you back here often and in especially in October for another blog challenge!!
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| Cauliflower Medley |
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| Roasted Red Pepper Dip |
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| Parmesan Chicken Cutlets |
Here are all of the recipes I reviewed. You can click the links from the list, or the links under the pictures in this post.
30 Days 30 Recipes
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