Pinterest vs Reality: Healthy Food Edition

Do you ever have those moments where you feel completely inspired to actually TRY the amazing things you see on Pinterest instead of just pinning it? This past week, that was me! For those of you who don’t know, my husband and I are pescatarian. Being pescatarian means you don’t eat meat but you do eat fish. So I had this bright idea that I was going to try some creative/healthy meatless meals. I won’t profess that I am the best cook but I will say my husband enjoys my cooking and I love trying new things in the kitchen. Not only did I try meals that I thought might be enjoyable to me I tried my hand at some meals I think everyone could enjoy and took notes during the process.

You may be wondering about the title of this blog and here is my explanation. While Pinterest meals look appetizing, appear perfectly plated, and seem time efficient, that isn’t always the case. I’ll explain my findings below:

Meal #1 – Cauliflower Buffalo Wings

The process- I went into this meal with confidence. I mean, how can you mess up Cauliflower right? Wrong! Based on the ingredients I thought it would only take me less than an hour. My total cook time for this meal was about 2 hours. As I began the process, I started feeling frustrated as the directions weren’t clear. Also, I didn’t have all of the proper ingredients. I initially wanted to make these wings vegan, but Kroger wouldn’t allow it. The recipe called for nutritional yeast and chickpea flour…CHICKPEA flour?! Kroger didn’t have those things so I used Coconut Flour and Active Dry Yeast. Before you judge, I now realize that wasn’t the best plan. Other than these minor details, I thought I was doing something. The cauliflower was cooking properly and it actually smelled really good. I was feeling confident until I started putting the buffalo sauce on the “wings”. As soon as I poured the sauce, the breading on the cauliflower immediately started to fall off. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to salvage it and I was ready to take an L. I even tried putting the “wings” back in the oven to see if the coating I layered on would harden. Some of it did, while some of it didn’t. Needlessly to say, this process was way more stressful than I was lead to believe. Plus, I do not ignore the fact that the lack of ingredients may have caused this mess up.

Taste- Surprisingly, I chose to try this meal regardless of the fact that I wanted to dump it in the trash. My husband was on the way home from a meeting and he too was excited to try the “wings”. As I bit down into the wing, it was exactly what I expected. It was very grainy and the coating continued to fall off. According to the instructions, the outside was supposed to taste crunchy while the inside was supposed to have a soft texture. All I could taste were grainy bits and buffalo sauce. My husband however, liked the meal and proceeded to devour his plate. I think he was just being nice, but he claimed it was a good meal.

Overall Grade- I give this meal a solid “D”. The only reason why I didn’t give it a F is because hubby ate it. Also, I could see how it could have some potential if all of the proper ingredients were used. While I don’t think I will try this meal again, I will link it here just in case you want to try your hand at it!

https://pin.it/rn2ynolhevgwk5

Meal #2 -Vegetarian Mushroom Meatballs

The Process- I’m not going to lie, I went into this meal feeling a little defeated after the previous day. However, I stuck with it and made sure I followed the instructions as stated. Looking at the instructions, I knew this meal would take a little extra time for prepping. The recipe called for a 2 hour time frame where it was to be refrigerated before continuing on with the next steps. This time, I throughly read the instructions and did what was required. Basically, you are cooking the mushrooms and adding ingredients such as dry oats and breadcrumbs to make it look like meat. I was seriously impressed with how much the mushroom mixture actually did look like meat. If you didn’t know any better, you might even suspect it was ground beef. It had a really nice smell, and I even added a few extra seasonings for taste. I did have moments where I was worried the “mushroom meat” wouldn’t harden into a meat ball, but it did! By refrigerating the mixture, it turned into a clay. It became very easy to form meatballs. After forming the meatballs, the recipe said you could either bake them or fry them. Because of time, I decided to fry them. This was probably one of the easiest and most rewarding meals I have cooked. While there were lots of details and it took time, it was worth it!

Taste- I paired the meatballs with veggie noodles and Alfredo Sauce/ Marinara Sauce and it was a hit! The “meatballs” had a great flavor and according to my husband, it could easily pass for meat. For me, it didn’t quite taste like meat but it was definitely a healthy alternative. The outside looked and felt like a meatball but the inside was softer and had great flavor.

Overall Grade – I would give this a B+! I would 100% make this meal again as well. The reason why I wouldn’t give it an A is because it didn’t taste as close to meat as I thought it would. Maybe I just had too high of expectations. My husband loved this meal and gave it an A+++. According to him, this meal is requirement in the Cox household!

https://pin.it/isiomfsillejwa

Meal #3 – Cauliflower Pizza

The Process – I honestly was confused about this one, but wanted to give it a try. I didn’t understand how Cauliflower can turn into pizza crust. Like the previous meal, I planned to follow all of the instructions. However, I wasn’t too fond of the Pinterest recipe format, so I actually used a couple of YouTube’s videos that spelled out the instructions more clearly. Everything was turning out great, until I put the Cauliflower pizza crust in the oven. The recipe advised that the crust be laid out on parchment paper instead of directly putting it on the baking pan. I didn’t have parchment paper but I did have wax paper. Looking back, I now realize that may have been my issue. I thought these items were the same. After baking the crust in the oven, I was excited because it actually looked like pizza crust. However, when I tried removing the crust from the wax paper it wouldn’t budge. I was pretty frustrated because I believed this was going to be one of my best meals and everything else had gone smoothly. In the video instructions the individual was able to remove the crust from the parchment paper with ease. This only made me even more frustrated because nothing I was doing seemed to work. Finally, with my husband’s help, I was able to remove the crust from the wax paper. Unfortunately for me, I lost a thin layer of the bottom crust but it still looked okay. Following the rest of the instructions, I added a layer of marinara sauce and cheese. I put it back in the oven until it was warmed and the cheese was melted. While the process had some frustrating moments, it all worked out in the end.

Taste – This was by far the best tasting meal I made out of the three. Even with the Cauliflower crust, it actually tasted like I was eating pizza. The marinara sauce, cheese, and crust blended so well together! I was highly impressed how, with the right ingredients, you could barely tell the crust was actually Cauliflower. I have been craving pizza for awhile, but didn’t want it in a unhealthy way. I’m excited that I found a healthier alternative.

Overall Grade – I would give this meal an A! It was yummy and not too hard to make. My only complaint is, I wish I made more. Between my husband and I, we devoured the pizza in seconds! I have no choice but to make this meal again. And for those looking for a healthy alternative to pizza, you should try it too!

https://pin.it/w3r37w6kgwkfdo

I’m excited that I was able to find these new recipes through Pinterest. While my meals didn’t turn out exactly how they appear on Pinterest, I had fun being creative! Pinterest makes you feel like everything looks perfect, delicious, and well plated, but that isn’t reality. In reality, things might not always look the best, or turn out how you thought, but it never hurts to try and it never hurts to be adventurous. So I encourage anyone looking for healthy meals, or trying to live a healthy lifestyle, to try something new. Plain salads, fruits, and veggies can get boring, so let’s spice up your health life!