Results of the Eating the Alphabet Challenge
February 3, 2007 by kate baggott
Filed under Nutrition
Dinner last night was the final meal in our Eating the Alphabet Challenge.
We ate 25 out of 26 letters.
While I could have legitimately, it turns out, called watermelon xigua, I used it for W. And, the Ximenia caffra fruit from South Africa (also known as Large Sour Plum) eluded me. But, I will find it…eventually.
The week was marked with many culinary highs and lows. While it was an interesting and expensive experiment, adding so much extra fiber to my diet too quickly left me feeling rather bloated. Eating produce that was either out of season, picked too green or just not tasty enough didn’t do anything to educate out senses.
There were, however, some hits that will go into regular rotation. In particular, pancakes with quince jelly and powdered sugar. A truly superb combination of sweet and tart.
The second big hit was last night’s root vegetable casserole (recipe to come tomorrow).
We also had one perfect mango to share, an experience that left all of us wanting more mango!
The best part, though, was working with my four year-old on a little book we made with pictures of what we’d eaten together…even if he did reject the jackfruit.
If I were going to do it again, I would spread the new tastes (and their expense) out over a month. Buying everything at once, though, did mean that I planned our meals and cooking time a little more thoroughly than usual. And, we did eat fewer snacks and less junk food.
Plus, I lost a whole kilogram (2.2 pounds) in a week.
Well done! We didn’t get quite that many accomplished, more than 20 though, I think. I’ll have our results up soon! It’s been a fun challenge.
I’ll have to go through and think of what kinds of exotic fruits and veg are considered staples in our house. Mangoes are definitely one, and blood oranges another, in season of course. Often for breakfast, the kid will have a mango smoothie, with mango juice, yogurt or kefir, and frozen mango pieces blended in. It’s his favorite fruit!
Kiwi, pomegranate, parsnips and jicama (lovely in a salad with oranges!) are good stuff around here.
I’m so glad you enjoyed your trip around the alphabet!
Kerri- I can’t wait to see your results.
Christina-A was still for apple and B was still for broccoli. It wasn’t ALL exotic all the time, but it was still an adventure.