Two weeks Married & 1 week of no eating out...

So, we are now officially two weeks married. We have had a week of the real life, back to work, Texas heat, trying to unpack, organize, and live together. It has been fun to enjoy homecooked meals with my sweetie. We have taken turns cooking. I have been under the weather all week and Kenda has taken care of me. I guess I over did it with all the traveling this Spring and Summer. When at work the other day, some of the staff said they had not seen me since May, and it is true, with all of the trips and trainings I have not been home much. I hope to have a less hectic schedule this Fall.

You may have read in our previous post that we are not going to eat out for an entire year. Yes, you heard right. We want to do this for a number of reasons, saving money, enjoying each other's company in a quieter setting, and eating more nutritiously. Many have said that we will fail, it can't be done. It is the first week and we did want to mention that there are a few exceptions. 1) If it is a work function to go out to eat, we will attend; 2) If someone else is treating us, we will certainly go out; 3) If we have a gift card from Christmas or getting married for food, we will take advantage of those. However, whenever possible, we will encourage others to come over, or to bring take out over, so we can share fellowship and a great meal at home. Also, we love to be invited over to share fun food and recipes with others. We are entertaining the idea of having themed nights and having folks over, so stay posted...

The following are just a few samples of the many meals we have shared together this week. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised that my bride woke me up today with coffee and freshly made muffins. Well actually she woke me up with a knock on the window because she forgot her keys when she went for a run, I let her in, went back to sleep because I still feel gross, and then was reawakened to the smell of muffins. Of course all these meals are nutritious and Canaan Approved!

This is an organic Quinoa seasoned with Ancient Sea Salt, Cracked Black Pepper, a pinch of garlic, basil, thyme, oregano, and thinly sliced Morningstar California Turkey and Avocado patties. It was light, savory, and suprisingly filling.

We have been eating salads all week. Maybe too many salads for Mark anyways. The veggies were all organic and included: carrots, lettuce, onions, orange and yellow bell peppers, and of course avocado. This photo was taken half way through the meal as we were so hungry. We had sweet potato and buckwheat pasta with sauteed green beans with garlic cloves. It was fantastic!

This is our staple food. Mexican. You can't go wrong. Garlic & chipotle salsa, fresh guacamole, and Mark tried a new bean and cheese enchilada recipe. Yum...

Mark is feeling sick, so I decided to make him some soup. We also had baked sweet potatoes, and cracked black pepper Triscuits for the soup. He loves me.

We have found our Triathlon that we will compete together in. It is the Martindale Triathlon in San Marcos, TX on Saturday, October 30th. Kenda will bike, we will both canoe the San Marcos River, and I will run. It will be fun to train together and then race together. The biggest challenge will probably be finding time to get into sport specific shape for it, plus finding time to paddle together. We certainly encourage any of our friends and family to come out and compete or support us on that day. This is a fantastic opportunity for folks that have been afraid to do a triathlon because of how long the swim is, now you can have that multi-sport experience and don't have to worry about breathing water.

Also, one other thing. In some of my discussions I realized that we have a number of folks check out our blog, but very few comment on it or follow it. So, we urge you to join on us on our adventure together. You can vote to see if we will make the 1 year challenge on our poll, you can ask us questions, or share fun recipes. Stay tuned for more adventures in marriedom.

Love,

Mark & Kenda