So, the last two days haven't been quite so busy. Sunday was a Church of Baseball day (i.e. we had tickets to the Mariners and therefore skipped out on the Church of Presbyterians). We slept pretty late--the one thing a cloudy summer day is good for, IMHO--and I experimented with a smoothie. I used farmers market blueberries and nectarines, strawberries from our Amazon Fresh delivery, vanilla yogurt, a few chunks of ice, and a smidge of maple syrup to up the sweetness, since the nectarines were tart and the strawberries from California. Nothing against CA, but to me strawberries need a little sweetening unless they're local. It was OK. I need to dig out the blender instead of using the food processor, because the nectarines were a little too chunky, and food processor bowls aren't designed for pouring into a glass. I then made some toast with the honey oat bread from the farmers market, because I just don't feel like I've had a meal unless I have something to chew.
There's really no way to stay on this eating plan at Safeco Field. Not in the 300 level, at least. But since the Food Matters plan isn't meant to be absolutist, I got my Polish dog and french fries and enjoyed them thoroughly. Kidd Valley makes some tasty fries.
Last night was my husband's turn to cook dinner, and since the basil from our container garden has grown lavishly this year, he made pasta with chicken and homemade pesto. The basil was tagged as sweet basil, but we think it had to have been mislabeled and was really lemon basil based on the flavor. Very delicate and lemony compared to other homemade pesto I've eaten, but good.
At 10 PM, after I'd finished the laundry and written my 1000 words on my novel for the day, I got back in the kitchen and prepped breakfast for Monday and Tuesday--a whole wheat blend couscous with raisins, almonds, dried cranberries, and a bit of maple syrup--and Monday's dinner of broccoli salad, your basic Southern potluck recipe but with 1/3 the bacon the recipe called for. I knew I wouldn't have time to cook after I got home from work tonight. My critique group meets on Mondays, and this week we met at a member's house instead of our usual Starbucks, so I had to drive farther than normal.
Today was the first day I really got hungry. The breakfast couscous and banana had worn off by 10:30, despite my not eating them till 8:30, so at noon when I stopped for my lunch of weekend leftovers, I was desperate enough to go ahead and buy my one junk food snack for the week, a bag of potato chips. Sigh. I was hoping to hold out till Friday and make it a treat. But now I know to either bring more food or to go to the cafeteria for some fruit or wholegrain cereal or something. Taking food along can be a challenge, since I commute by bus and have limited fridge space at the office. That said, my afternoon snack of a peanut butter sandwich (I used unsweetened peanut butter and whole wheat bread) and a nectarine proved satisfying, and the broccoli salad was delicious at dinner. We had snacks at writers group, reasonably healthy ones, and I ate them...in moderation. What a concept!
I've decided that if I stick with this plan for a month, I'm going to buy myself enough writing and research books to have a full bookshelf devoted to my writing. (I'm about 1/3 of a shelf away, so that's reasonable if I go bargain hunting.) I've been trying to get to that full bookshelf all summer, and I really thought my Powell's run when we were in Portland last week would put me over the top, but I came up just short.
Yes, I'm a geek. I accept that about myself.
Watch this space in the next few days for thoughts on healthy convenience foods and maybe a few more pictures.
A Look Back and A Nod to Others
8 years ago
Hi Susan, I'm really interested in your plan (experiment doesn't sound right) as we've been doing much the same thing for the last year or so. We tend to eat very healthfully at home but simply eat out too often. Even making good choices and eating well I just eat too much when we are out. Add to that the fact that I cook for an extremely active 12 yo boy and my husband who runs 5-6 marathons a year and, yeah my idea of portion control is a little whacked!
ReplyDeleteOne thing that worked well for us was easing into whole grains. While you have a lot of white rice and pasta go ahead a buy a little whole grain (or whole grain blend) pasta and some really good brown rice and start slowly mixing it in. By the time you've gone through most of your costco stock you'll be ready to go half and half (or more) without it seeming odd. I like Bittman's books but you may want to check your library for Lorna Sass cookbooks as well. She has several whole grain cookbooks and I find that her recipes are tasty and fairly simple and spark good ideas.
In the meantime good luck and have fun with it!
Sherri