Finally, Spring arrived and we have had an amazing amount of pollen fall this week. This picture was my attempt to try and sweep the pollen of the deck. Yes, all that yellow dust is pollen. I have lived in several places, and North Carolina is the only place I have seen this visible layer of pollen.

Good news, with the warmer weather, my winter vegetable garden has taken off. I picked the first lot of spinach, which we made into a salad for dinner tonight.

My first head of broccoli is nearly ready, I am thinking I can harvest it over the next day or two.

The cabbages, carrots and cauliflower are coming along. We tried a couple of the carrots but they are still quite small – the rest of these will be ready in the next 3-4 weeks.

Our meal plan this week includes some of our fresh vegetables, which saved us a little money. I did really well this week with staying away from sugar and process foods. I even got outside one lunch, at work, to exercise !!!

DAY	BREAKFAST	DINNER	EXERCISE
Saturday	Granola + Soy Yoghurt + Banana	Beef tips (from meat house) + Spinach salad
Sunday	Whole wheat banana buttermilk Pancakes	Broccoli + Tomato Fettuccine (GF)	Walk 3-4 miles
Monday	Bircher Muesli	“Fried” Rice (Brown rice and vegetables – prepared over the weekend)
Tuesday	Berry + Banana + Spirulina Smoothie	Vegetarian Burgers + Salad	3-4 Mile Walk
Wednesday	Bircher Muesli	Zpizza (Pizza with whole wheat crust and organic ingredients)	20 mins. HIT
Thursday	Granola + Fruit + Soy Yoghurt	Vegetable Pasta Bake (prepared over the weekend)
Friday	Berry + Banana + Spirulina Smoothie	Grilled fish + salad	20 mins. HIT

We are usually spending ~$70 a week only, for our meals. This week we were well under…here is our shopping list:

GROCERY LIST (NEW STOCK)	IN THE CUPBOARD/FRIDGE
Strawberries (TJ) Blueberries (TJ) Bananas (TJ) Baby carrots (TJ) Mushrooms (TJ) Lettuce (TJ) Tomatoes (TJ) Soy Milk (TJ) Low-fat herb cream cheese (TT) Juice (TJ, TT)	Brown Rice (TJ) Gluten Free Pasta (TT) Vegetable Stock (TT) Onions (TJ) Spinach (from the garden) Broccoli (from the garden) Bell Peppers(TJ) Cucumber (TJ) Garlic (TT) Apples (TJ) Butter (TJ) Flour/ WW and GF (TT) Granola (TT or BJ) Oats (BJ) Frozen Peas + Corn (TJ) Vegetable Patties (TJ) Sultanas (TT) Stir Fry Sauce (TT)

NOTE: We shop majority at Trader Joe’s (TJ), Target (TT) with an occasional visit to Whole foods (WF), BJ’s , Harris Teeters (HT), Lowes Food (LF) and Fresh Market (FM).
NOTE: We do not typically use coupons mainly due to time.
NOTE: Items indicated by * are specials for the week we took advantage of.

How are your vegetable gardens going? What meals do you have planned this week? Leave a link in the comments below and I will check them out.