Tonight, I again failed to plan ahead for dinner (geez, this is really going to take some work!) - BUT - I totally pulled together a healthy meal in a matter of about 15 minutes.

I had some sprouted brown rice in the fridge that I had made on Sunday ( I usually eat a 1/2 cup brown rice with veggies for lunch each day), some salmon in the freezer and some bell peppers.  Throw in some freshly grated ginger, tamari and some freshly ground salt and pepper and BA-BAM - dinner.  I really, really wanted some broccoli with this, however, when I picked up my CSA yesterday, they were out of broccoli.  :(  And I didn't get to the store today.  :(  So, no broccoli with my stir-fry.  It was greatly missed, but the meal was still satisfying.   I did throw in a small handful of grated zucchini that caught my eye when I was perusing the freezer.  Loving the fact that we had a great crop of zucchini this year!  I thought, hey, I can throw this in with the rice and the kids won't even know it's there.  And it worked.  :)

The best part about this meal was that they ate it - and liked it.  I was totally preparing myself for the "ugh" or "gross" I usually hear when I make something healthy.  I heard no complaints, except for my daughter saying the bell peppers made it too spicy.  LOL  No, honey, the reason it had some zing was because Mommy went a little crazy with the ginger.  Sorry.

I'm kind of freaking out about starting the challenge on Monday because I'm going to be in NYC all weekend and won't have time to be totally prepared.  Well, I'm prepared, but my family is not.  And this is why  -  SUGAR.   They love it.  They consume it every day even when I ask them not to.  I try to keep it out of the house but it's in practically everything!  No processed sugar for a month is going to be a huge obstacle.  But I am not going to back down.  Who knows, my daughter may learn to love honey by the end of the month.    Here's some of what Andrew over at Eating Rules has to say about the white stuff:

“Sugar”

Usually, the term “sugar” refers to bleached table sugar, those fine-white granulated crystals that come from sugar cane or sugar beets. The bleaching is done with sulfur dioxide, an ingredient that hopefully isn’t in your pantry.
The terms “sugar,” “granulated sugar,” “cane sugar,” “pure cane sugar,” “beet sugar,” and “table sugar” all refer to the bleached stuff.  So if you just see any of those on the ingredient list, it’s probably that (though the only way to know for sure is to ask the company).
Verdict?  Regular sugar doesn’t pass the kitchen test.

I haven't bought table sugar in over 6 months.  The fam has been eating turbinado, demerera or muscovado (basically raw brown sugars) without complaint.  Here's what Andrew has to say about acceptable sugars during the program:

 I’ve been getting a lot of questions about sugar and sweeteners, and whether or not they pass the Kitchen Test. In the past years of the challenge, the consensus seemed to be that date sugar, evaporated cane juice, raw/unfiltered honey, and maple syrup would all be acceptable sweeteners. An approximation of Turbinado and Muscovado sugars could probably be made at home, too, though the current industrial process to make them is probably a little bit different than what you’d be able to do at home.

Consensus for my house - none of them currently like maple syrup or raw honey.  This is going to be fun.  And don't forget the processed sugar detox that their bodies will go through.  I remember being a little out of sorts for the first few days post-sugar. But, like anything else in life, we will take this one day at a time.  I'm determined to help my family "unlearn" their love of processed foods.  Their health and their future are way too important to me to let them continue eating what they currently eat.