It’s a miracle.

I’ve learned to like broccoli.

I never thought it would happen. I couldn’t stand the stench of it. If one of my college roommates or an co-worker made it, I had to leave the room. People have said that I hadn’t had it prepared in a way that I’d like it. Some say to try it with cheese sauce. No no no! I would never want to ruin cheese that way! Even with the cheese, the smell of the broccoli would just make me gag. I found later, that the only time I could really eat it is if it was chopped up really small into a stir fry. Even then I’d pick most of it out.

But when I was a kid:

• I didn’t like seafood (or even had much of it) – but I do now.
• I didn’t like mushrooms (the ones we had were canned!) – but I do now (if they are fresh!)
• I didn’t like green beans (also canned) – but I do now (if they are fresh or frozen.)

And now… broccoli!

Here’s how. Because I never make it, my husband begged me to make him some after he put a package of the frozen stuff in my cart at Costco.

“That’s a lot of broccoli!” I said.

“Yeah.” he said with a smile.

That week, I got an email in my inbox with a recipe for Garlic Parmesan Roasted Broccoli from Damn Delicious. I was cooking some steaks for us that night and decided to thaw out a portion of broccoli to roast for him. I had some tomatoes I wanted to eat that I knew he wouldn’t want anyway. When it came out of the oven, it didn’t smell bad nor stink up my house. Because I learned I liked broccolini when it was roasted, I took a little taste of the roasted broccoli. “Not bad!” I thought. It was good enough for me to even pop a whole piece into my mouth!

So the next time I made that recipe, I made enough for both of us. And I ate up all of my broccoli on my plate! Yes, moms across America would be so proud. I truly believe that it’s the roasting that mellows out that strong broccoli aroma.

So look what I bought for the first time ever at the Farmer’s Market last weekend!

The whole time I was chopping this, I kept singing Dana Carvey’s “Choppin’ Broccoli.” I couldn’t help myself. I made it for the girls when they came over on Thursday, alongside this Garlic & Herb Chicken from Kalyn’s Kitchen. I had this vision of pouring my beloved Roasted Tomato Dressing over the chicken. I had made some of that the night before.

The dressing was fabulous, but didn’t work quite so well over the chicken. Maybe it was a bit a bit overpowering? Maybe I should have warmed the dressing? What’s strange is that I did like dipping cold pieces of chicken into the dressing later. Hmmm…

So here were my leftovers:

So I put some into a Power Bowl for my Friday lunch!

• red kale
• chopped roasted garlic roasted parmesan broccoli!
• chopped tomatoes
• onion
• sliced chicken breast
• sprinkling of shredded mozzarella
• about four teaspoons of the roasted tomato dressing

I warmed it up in the microwave at work and this was an out-of-this-world bowl of leftovers! One of my best bowls yet!

~

So what about this week?

Food

We’re changing things up a bit this week! Rob isn’t always in the mood for what I have planned for dinner. And unless I make two separate meals for each of us, I never get to eat chicken or fish. This week, we are on our own. We might try to do one meal at home together on the weekend.

Dinners:

• Monday – Pan-Roasted Chicken with Harissa Chickpeas Instead of buying harissa, I made my own Quick Harissa.
• Tuesday – Southwestern Black Bean Spaghetti with Skinny Avocado Crema – I still haven’t used the black bean pasta because I kept picturing the recipes with avocado or tomatoes or curry to fail with Rob. Now I can give it a shot and he can have a taste!
  
• Wednesday –  Crockpot Chicken with Brussels Sprouts or this one. Thoughts? I’m thinking the second, because I’m not good at gauging how many spices to add when I can’t taste as I go.
  Thursday –  Leftovers. Doing another paint and sip class!
• Friday – Halloween – Probably my least favorite day of the year. I have no idea what we are doing.
• Saturday – I’m think of this Apple Cider Pulled Pork for our “together” meal.
• Sunday – TBD – The Packers have a Bye. What’s a girl to do?!

Lunch:

• Leftovers
• Snacks – Honeycrisp apples, nuts or string cheese and dark chocolate

Breakfasts:

• Magic Smoothies
• Overnight Oats
• 90 second breakfast sandwiches

Fitness _ TBD

• Monday – Walk 1 hour OR Run 1 mile OR HIIT Run/Walk OR 30 min on recumbent bike.
• Tuesday – Walk 1 hour OR Run 1 mile OR HIIT Run/Walk OR 30 min on recumbent bike.
  
• Wednesday – Walk 1 hour OR Run 1 mile OR HIIT Run/Walk OR 30 min on recumbent bike.
• Thursday – REST
  
• Friday – REST
• Saturday – Walk 1 hour OR Run 1 mile OR HIIT Run/Walk OR 30 min on recumbent bike.
• Sunday – Walk 1 hour OR Run 1 mile OR HIIT Run/Walk OR 30 min on recumbent bike.
  

What foods have you learned to like?

Cheers~
Carrie