Brussels Sprouts and Bengay

If there's anything lacking in my diet it's vegetables. I don't need to look at the food pyramid or plate (or whatever shape they're now changing it to) to determine that I certainly don't eat enough. So lately I've been trying to incorporate them as much as possible.  You all know I love me a green smoothie, but even I get sick of them after awhile. And salads? If I have to eat one more stinkin' salad I might lose what is left of my mind.

The solution for this, of course, is to add more veggies to my meals.  While these days it's easy to find almost any vegetable you want at any time of year at the grocery store, during winter the assortment of truly fresh, in season ones are few and far between. Therefore, it didn't take me long to exhaust the list of winter vegetables I enjoyed (one can only eat so much kale and butternut squash soup).

So last week I set out to find some delicious, fabulous in-season vegetables.  Unfortunately I didn't find much other than brussel sprouts, cauliflower and something called treviso. Since I've already determined I don't like cauliflower unless it's mashed and mixed with copious amounts of butter and I still have no clue what treviso is, process of elimination gave me brussel sprouts. Fortunately a friend had recently mentioned they were her kids' favorite vegetable, so  after I fell off my chair in shock from the fact that her kids actually have a favorite vegetable I inquired about how she cooked them (figuring a kid-proof recipe would be perfect for me). She surprised me again with a recipe for roasting them that even I could handle ("throw them on a pan with some olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic and toss them in the oven")!  And, after wandering around the Trader Joe's produce section for ten minutes before finally getting up the nerve to ask "which ones are brussel sprouts?" we were on our way!

While I'd love to be able to say that they are now my kids favorite vegetable, too, I'd be lying. They were, however, a big hit with me and The Spicy Chicken.  I actually loved them so much I attempted to eat them with my eggs the following morning. Eww. While they won't be served for breakfast again, they will be permanently added to our dinner winter vegetable repertoire.  Yum!

The one thing I didn't love so much about the brussel sprouts? The smell.  I didn't actually notice it so much while I was cooking or eating them, but when I got home from the gym later that night it nearly took me out.  

Things got incrementally worse when I remembered I'd finally picked up the Salonpas my friend Erika had recommended a few weeks earlier for my back pain.  After my workout I had The Spicy Chicken carefully place each little pain-reducing sticker one on specific spots on my back. Within in a few minutes I was feeling...like throwing up.  

Don't get me wrong - the Salonpas felt awesome, but the Bengay-like smell, coupled with the brussel sprouts was a combination I would not recommend to anyone.
 
Oh, the price we pay for health...