I’m on a Highway to Heallllltthhhh

My oldest son is on a health kick. To quote him, “Health is wealth.” He has recently taken me to task about buying food that isn’t healthy: “Mom, why did you buy this? It has ingredients that are banned in the U.K.” or “Don’t buy stuff with palm oil or soybean oil or any kind of oil that isn’t olive or avocado. They used to put that stuff in machines. Do you think it is healthy for your body?” Thus, partially out of fear of a scolding every time I open my mouth to fill it with machine oil or return from the grocery store with banned goods, I decided, with his guidance, to pursue a cleaner diet path this summer.

Recently, I’ve seen quite a few posts about how to use ChatGPT to help make things easier when it comes to making lists, creating lesson plans, etc. While I’m not incredibly keen on a computer making lesson plans for me, if it can generate lists, I’m in. I asked ChatGPT to “create weekly macronutrient meal plan for forty five year old woman.” Well, ask ChatGPT, and you shall receive.

It generated this menu for seven days. It even generated a shopping list of items. I did not ask it for recipes, but maybe I’ll try that next.

From here, I created a shopping list to begin the journey. My son and I decided to go to Wal-Mart (or ze Val-Mahht as my grandpa used to say) because we could not justify the expense at the local grocery store, and I was curious as to whether we would be able to find the items we were looking for at budget-friendly price points. Our list included: bag of avocados, two potatoes, two sweet potatoes, 2lb of frozen salmon, thinly sliced farm raised chicken breast, organic baby carrots, limes, bell peppers, honeycrisp apples, almond butter, broccoli florets, cauliflower florets, lentils, natural almonds, Oikos yogurt, tri-color quinoa, crumble feta, lemon garlic hummus, almond milk, cottage cheese, chicken broth, berries, cherry tomatoes, baby spinach, sparkling water, limes, lemons, and eggs. As we were shopping, my son read all of the ingredients making sure to avoid all soybean, vegetable, and palm oils in addition to any superficial additives. I already had chia seeds, multi-grain bread, protein powder, frozen chicken breasts, and oats in my pantry. For $140.00, the grocery list above is meant to feed three people for about three to four days.

Last night, I used some of the menu ideas from ChatGPT, improvised, and made chicken breasts with tri-colored quinoa, red bell pepper, feta, and baby spinach. It was tasty, and though I do not have all of the ingredients broken down into portions, fats, calories, I felt good about creating something that somewhat prescribed to “eating healthy.” Here is what I did:

Ingredients:

-1.5lb thinly sliced farm-raised chicken breasts

-1 tbsp. olive oil

-Salt and pepper

-1 small red bell pepper

-1/2 cup organic baby spinach

-2 cups salt-free chicken stock

-1/2 cup feta crumbles

-1 cup tri-color organic quinoa

-1/2 lemon

Directions:

1. Prepare quinoa as package directs. Remember to wash it before boiling. Also, use the chicken broth instead of water for extra flavor.
2. While the quinoa is cooking, put 1 tbsp. olive oil in skillet. Heat using low-medium to medium heat, depending on your range. Olive oil has a lower capacity for high temperatures and can burn easily, so watch it.
3. While olive oil is heating, open chicken breasts and lightly season with coarse salt and fresh pepper on one side.
4. When oil is ready, place chicken breasts (seasoned side down) in the skillet. There should be a nice sizzle sound.
5. Lightly season the side of the chicken breasts facing up with salt and pepper.
6. Let breasts cook for approximately 8 minutes (depending on thickness)
7. Keep an eye on quinoa (it cooks for 12-15 minutes, so set a timer)
8. At 8 minutes, flip chicken breasts to other side. Cook for another 8 minutes. Both sides should have a bit of a golden crisp look.
9. When quinoa is done, turn off stove. Fluff it with a fork. Add in chopped red bell pepper, chopped baby spinach, feta crumbles, and about 1-2 tbsp. lemon juice. Stir.
10. Serve. Enjoy!

That was Day 1. Today, I’ve started with a Greek yogurt with 1 tsp. honey and am picking out the three tbsp. of chia seeds out of my teeth as I write this. Will let you know how it goes and, of course, more recipes!