Meat Aversions: Averted (and other notes to M2B'S out there)

Funny story, we were going to the grocery two days after Christmas, and it seemed that the grocery store had been emptied as if an apocalypse were coming. Because it is Kentucky, there could have been a 10% chance of a light snow or slush, and people will empty the store.

So as we were going from isle to isle we were amazed at the things left on the shelves. At first we thought that Kroger switched providers or something and got a new variety of stock. But when we asked about it at the check out line, they said that they had not.

Because the shelves had been emptied of everyone's go-to items, we noticed all of the things we usually never paid any attention to. It was awesome. When we found something called Lintels, quinoa, and barley, Kyle said "Didn't your doctor say to eat lintels?" I said "I don't know, what are lintels?"

So we got the barley, lintels, and some cool fruits we had never heard of, which is always fun, and I am eating one part granola, and one part dried oats for breakfast. The recipes that I have made with barley and lintels are awesome, and we ended up saving a ton on groceries.  It's been great too for my current meat aversions, because lintels pack a ton of protein.

On day one I made  Barley and Lintel veggie skillet, and I accidentally made waaaaay too much, which worked out great. It was surprisingly easy, I was scared it would be as daunting as making your own beans.

For the rest of the week I used the leftovers to top my salad for lunches, and at the end of the week when I still had a lot of leftover, I added them to water with some beef bouillon cubes and made a wonderful beef barley lintel soup, that Kyle loved despite his annoyance with how often I make soup. I had a lot of leftover soup, and split it into multiple containers and froze them for lunches, either for me, or for when we run out of bread or something for Kyle's daily lunch sandwiches that I make.

So the rest of the food that I bought for that week is still there for this week, and we barely needed anything at the grocery, we were able to make our budget a masterpiece this week.

It's not just like eating beans and rice, it is more flavorful and fits into so many recipes, it is classier and super healthy with tons of fiber which has definitely helped me feel better, and we both like it a lot, and its easier and cheaper than beans and rice considering the work that it takes to cook beans raw, and the barley stores much longer than rice, and it gets better by the time you throw it into that soup, the barley is so soft and as it should be. I can't wait to find more recipes.

On tonight's menu, Kyle's favorite, Kentucky Stuffed peppers, from our Home living magazine cook book.

So bottom line, I realized that I was not really exposed to that many foods growing up. We basically made the same things every week, and there are so many other options out there that are cheap, and that are delicious and healthy. Getting something cheaper as your staple like barley and lintels, freed up our grocery budget to get those more expensive things that you always wanted to try, or cant afford very often.

I am sooooo happy the holidays are over, because there are so many sweets everywhere calling my name.

Still having trouble sleeping, and I hurt all over, but eating healthier, and not being afraid of whats in the fridge is a big help. The doctor said that my meat aversions might have been that I wasn't getting enough calcium, so by having cereal in the morning, I am eating fine now, still not a big fan of meat at the moment but it doesn't make me so sick.   So if you found this because you are having horrible meat aversions, eat cereal with milk in the morning, drink the milk if you aren't a fan of milk like me, add a sweetener packet or sugar, or get some yogurt. See if that helps, and in the mean time, get your protein from something like lintels.

And if you know someone who has gestational diabetes, and cannot have sweets, be considerate, and don't give it to them as a Christmas gift, and surround them with sweets. Especially if it is someone who has a bit of sweet tooth.  Fruit is a great thing to tempt a pregnant woman with. I went a little overboard at Christmas and ate a huge bowl of fruit. A little embarrassing to say the least but its better than chowing down on cake.

And for those of you out there unsure if it is safe to sleep on your back while pregnant, because though you read that it is not, everyone says they laid on their back and their baby was fine, I checked with my OBGYN. and she confirmed that you cannot lay on your back. Don't do it, its dangerous. I naturally roll on to my back at night, but I always wake up in terror and notice it, because I am having trouble sleeping anyway, and I switch positions. Maybe little sleep is natures way of keeping you off your back?