It's been a while since I posted in this space, but here I am again with some of my more recent food musings. E and I recently embarked on a 30-day whole eating challenge. A week of indulging in wine & gluten free desserts in San Francisco followed by a week of lax eating on a family visit followed by yet another week of indulgences for my birthday in August had left me feeling like my pants were all too tight. It was time to do something to get back on track.
We considered the Whole30 format, but ultimately went with something a little less restrictive. I just can't bring myself to care about whether or not the turkey sausage I enjoyed at brunch with my mother-in-law had a smidge of sugar in it or not. My rules were: no grains, no dairy, no desserts (other than fresh fruit), no alcohol. We continued to avoid unhealthy processed oils but probably ate them while eating out. I also did not knowingly ingest soy, but, again, we did eat out a few times and I didn't interrogate our servers. When eating out, I stuck to meats, veggies, eggs. Oh, and contrary to Whole30 rules, we did eat white potatoes when they were provided in our CSA box.
The potatoes relate to something I have learned about myself during dietary experiments over the past few years: I need to eat reasonable amounts of carbohydrates. Very low-carb paleo is awesome for losing weight, but in the long term it is not a great strategy for me. As part of this challenge, I focused on eating nourishing sources of carbs like sweet potatoes, white potatoes, plantains, carrots, beets and fruit.
The challenge would have lasted through this Tuesday, but we ended up cutting it short when, last Sunday, we unexpectedly had to put one of our cats to sleep. After that experience, frankly, we both wanted a bloody mary. Since then, we've reintroduced some foods that we had been avoiding. For me, this means very dark chocolate, red wine, and a bit of dairy (mainly grass fed butter and goat or sheep cheese).
I think the challenge served its intended purpose as a general reset for sweets and alcohol consumption. I finally learned the lesson that gluten-free baked goods should be a very occasional indulgence. I had developed this attitude of scarcity-- that they were so unusual to find that I should buy and consume them when available. Well, newsflash: gluten-free diets have hit the mainstream and treats are not hard to find. I need to save them for occasions which actually warrant a splurge.
In terms of physical results, I didn't weigh myself before starting, but certainly was feeling like I had put on some pounds. By the end of the challenge, my clothes were fitting better and I was feeling good. I weighed myself this past Tuesday and was very surprised to find that I am the same weight as I was when we went to Puerto Rico last fall, which was probably my lowest ever. I know weight is only a crude measure of health, but it was reassuring to find that I could eat nourishing carbs with nearly every meal and still be at a level where I feel healthy.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Sunday Cook-Off
I've never been a football fan. I can't even fake it on Super Bowl Sunday! I'm feeling like I might be coming down with a cold, so instead of going to a party with E, I'm going to stay home and do a little bulk cooking for the week.
In general, my weekly meal planning strategy is to cook as much as possible Sunday through Wednesday, and then ride the leftovers through the end of the week. This is a good fit for my energy levels: normally by Thursday, I'd be thinking about take-out if I didn't have a good stash of food in the fridge.
One of the easiest and most versatile things to make ahead is make a big beef roast. On a weekday, I would do this in the slow cooker, but since I have a little more time today, I'm doing it in the oven in my beloved Le Creuset dutch oven. This way, I can make a more flavorful roast by browning the meat and then sauteing some onions and garlic before putting it all in the oven. I'm loosely following a recipe from the Perfect Health Diet, although my roast is smaller (3.5 lbs). We usually eat pot roast as-is, but that recipe provides some interesting ideas for preparing leftovers with different flavor profiles. We have potatoes, rosemary, and cabbage in the house, so maybe I'll give the Italian one a shot later this week.
To go with the pot roast tonight, I'm going to make a parsnip and carrot puree. I've never made this particular combo before, but in general I've found that veggie purees are easy to prepare and forgiving as leftovers.
Nearly every weekday, I make scrambled eggs for breakfast for the two of us. I eat mine right away, and E takes hers to work to reheat. I don't mind this task, but once in a while it's nice to take a break from the routine and have something pre-made that doesn't produce dirty dishes. If I'm thinking ahead, I can make a batch of egg muffins on the weekend. I usually improvise the preparation, but here's a basic recipe if you'd like to try them out. Today, I browned half a pound of italian sausage and wilted some spinach to put in each muffin. I used 10 jumbo eggs for 12 muffins, but the cups wound up overflowing a bit. Probably 9 would have been perfect. These silicone-coated muffin cups are wonderful for egg muffins- no sticky mess in your pan, unless you overfill them as I did!
In general, my weekly meal planning strategy is to cook as much as possible Sunday through Wednesday, and then ride the leftovers through the end of the week. This is a good fit for my energy levels: normally by Thursday, I'd be thinking about take-out if I didn't have a good stash of food in the fridge.
One of the easiest and most versatile things to make ahead is make a big beef roast. On a weekday, I would do this in the slow cooker, but since I have a little more time today, I'm doing it in the oven in my beloved Le Creuset dutch oven. This way, I can make a more flavorful roast by browning the meat and then sauteing some onions and garlic before putting it all in the oven. I'm loosely following a recipe from the Perfect Health Diet, although my roast is smaller (3.5 lbs). We usually eat pot roast as-is, but that recipe provides some interesting ideas for preparing leftovers with different flavor profiles. We have potatoes, rosemary, and cabbage in the house, so maybe I'll give the Italian one a shot later this week.
To go with the pot roast tonight, I'm going to make a parsnip and carrot puree. I've never made this particular combo before, but in general I've found that veggie purees are easy to prepare and forgiving as leftovers.
Nearly every weekday, I make scrambled eggs for breakfast for the two of us. I eat mine right away, and E takes hers to work to reheat. I don't mind this task, but once in a while it's nice to take a break from the routine and have something pre-made that doesn't produce dirty dishes. If I'm thinking ahead, I can make a batch of egg muffins on the weekend. I usually improvise the preparation, but here's a basic recipe if you'd like to try them out. Today, I browned half a pound of italian sausage and wilted some spinach to put in each muffin. I used 10 jumbo eggs for 12 muffins, but the cups wound up overflowing a bit. Probably 9 would have been perfect. These silicone-coated muffin cups are wonderful for egg muffins- no sticky mess in your pan, unless you overfill them as I did!
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Link roundup!
I thought I'd try something a little bit different for this post. Through Twitter, Facebook, and other bloggers, I find lots of interesting articles and posts out there on the web every day. It finally occurred to me to share these in a more structured way, instead of haphazardly re-tweeting! Here goes attempt numero uno:
A lot of people seem stymied by lunches. Around our house, the meal plan is designed to produce leftovers from dinner to be eaten the following day, so lunch is never trickier than grabbing a box or two from the fridge. On the other hand, I know folks who can't stand eating leftovers day after day. This post from Nom Nom Paleo has lots of great ideas for simple packed lunches.
I keep hearing that it is possible to make multiple batches of broth from the same bones. This has always sounded kind of messy and unpalatable to me, however. Until this post, that is! It never occurred to me that the later batches of broth could actually be stronger/better, but I guess it seems conceivable as described in the post. Since I have a giant bag of chicken bones in the freezer, I will have to give this method a shot and let you all know.
Should obese people be shamed? I'm pretty sure not. As always, the Atlantic is willing to go out on a limb... chainsaw in tow.
Ever curious about what other folks eat? The folks over at Robb Wolf's website are compiling responses and photos from readers (and paleo eaters) around the world. This is actually quite interesting! You may see a future post here along these lines.
A lot of people seem stymied by lunches. Around our house, the meal plan is designed to produce leftovers from dinner to be eaten the following day, so lunch is never trickier than grabbing a box or two from the fridge. On the other hand, I know folks who can't stand eating leftovers day after day. This post from Nom Nom Paleo has lots of great ideas for simple packed lunches.
I keep hearing that it is possible to make multiple batches of broth from the same bones. This has always sounded kind of messy and unpalatable to me, however. Until this post, that is! It never occurred to me that the later batches of broth could actually be stronger/better, but I guess it seems conceivable as described in the post. Since I have a giant bag of chicken bones in the freezer, I will have to give this method a shot and let you all know.
Should obese people be shamed? I'm pretty sure not. As always, the Atlantic is willing to go out on a limb... chainsaw in tow.
Ever curious about what other folks eat? The folks over at Robb Wolf's website are compiling responses and photos from readers (and paleo eaters) around the world. This is actually quite interesting! You may see a future post here along these lines.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Tailoring a Nutrition Challenge
Many of my favorite paleo and primal bloggers have taken on nutrition challenges in the new year, hoping to reset their eating habits after some holiday indulgences. The Whole 30 and 21-Day Sugar Detox seem to be the most popular regimens. E and I discussed it, but ultimately decided not to launch one of these challenges January 1st, for a few reasons.
First of all, the timing wouldn't have been great. We celebrated Christmas with my family the first weekend of January, and we are going on a long weekend getaway to celebrate E's birthday this coming weekend. While part of the purpose of a nutrition challenge can be to learn that skipping dessert on a special occasion won't kill you, we felt there there was really no need to set ourselves up for an extra hardship by undertaking a challenge that would fall over those two weekends.
Another issue is that neither of us is really interested in doing another Whole 30. We completed one this past fall, and I will admit it was a valuable learning experience. By not drinking alcohol for a month, I discovered how awesome my sleep patterns were without it. I also connected the dots between sugar and dairy consumption and my skin health. Still, though, I thought some aspects of the program were unnecessarily restrictive. I'll never forget the day we spent 20 minutes in the meat department at the co-op, reading the ingredients on every package of bacon hoping to find one without any sugar in it. While I did complete the challenge successfully, I still don't buy the idea that the miniscule amount of sugar used to cure bacon is going to set off sugar cravings.
I was interested to learn from this podcast that the 21-Day Sugar Detox is a little more pragmatic in its approach. Foods containing small amounts of sugar, like bacon, are not necessarily considered off-limits, and a limited amount of kombucha tea is permitted for its health benefits. For these reasons, I considered trying this challenge as an alternative to the Whole 30.
In the end, though, E and I decided not to go that route, either. After a year of mostly paleo eating, we really don't need the food lists and helpful tips. We came to the conclusion that we both know what we need to do to dial in our eating habits. For me, that means taking a break from the less healthy parts of my day-to-day consumption-- my weekend wine and few ounces of dark chocolate per week will be off-limits for this exercise-- plus, of course, skipping my rare dalliances with dairy, corn, rice, and sugar.
To address the issue with timing, we're going to start next Tuesday, after we return from our long weekend. We'll get three full weeks of clean eating under our belts, then wrap it up before Valentine's Day.
First of all, the timing wouldn't have been great. We celebrated Christmas with my family the first weekend of January, and we are going on a long weekend getaway to celebrate E's birthday this coming weekend. While part of the purpose of a nutrition challenge can be to learn that skipping dessert on a special occasion won't kill you, we felt there there was really no need to set ourselves up for an extra hardship by undertaking a challenge that would fall over those two weekends.
Another issue is that neither of us is really interested in doing another Whole 30. We completed one this past fall, and I will admit it was a valuable learning experience. By not drinking alcohol for a month, I discovered how awesome my sleep patterns were without it. I also connected the dots between sugar and dairy consumption and my skin health. Still, though, I thought some aspects of the program were unnecessarily restrictive. I'll never forget the day we spent 20 minutes in the meat department at the co-op, reading the ingredients on every package of bacon hoping to find one without any sugar in it. While I did complete the challenge successfully, I still don't buy the idea that the miniscule amount of sugar used to cure bacon is going to set off sugar cravings.
I was interested to learn from this podcast that the 21-Day Sugar Detox is a little more pragmatic in its approach. Foods containing small amounts of sugar, like bacon, are not necessarily considered off-limits, and a limited amount of kombucha tea is permitted for its health benefits. For these reasons, I considered trying this challenge as an alternative to the Whole 30.
In the end, though, E and I decided not to go that route, either. After a year of mostly paleo eating, we really don't need the food lists and helpful tips. We came to the conclusion that we both know what we need to do to dial in our eating habits. For me, that means taking a break from the less healthy parts of my day-to-day consumption-- my weekend wine and few ounces of dark chocolate per week will be off-limits for this exercise-- plus, of course, skipping my rare dalliances with dairy, corn, rice, and sugar.
To address the issue with timing, we're going to start next Tuesday, after we return from our long weekend. We'll get three full weeks of clean eating under our belts, then wrap it up before Valentine's Day.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Update
Despite having an extra weekend of holiday celebration thrown in last weekend (which was ripping good fun), I've managed to get the new year off to a fairly productive start.
The first goal I tackled was to make kombucha. Using this basic approach, I'm trying to grow my own SCOBY using half a bottle of GT's original flavor. It's been doing its thing on top of a bookcase in the living room for about a week now. There's no major visible progress, but due to the cold temps in my house, it could take a few weeks. Or worse, not work at all: This more recent post suggests that the technique may not be viable anymore. I'll give it some more time, but if making my own doesn't work out, I'm not averse to paying for a SCOBY.
Actually, now that I've done some research, it looks like a continuous brewing set-up is the lowest-hassle way to brew kombucha. Instead of doing a batch in a big jar every week or so, you keep the tea continuously brewing (thus the name) in a big vessel. The SCOBY gets so large and active that you can drain off kombucha and feed it fresh sweet tea every day. Unfortunately, the set-up costs for this kind of system are a bit high, so I'm hesitant to jump in quite yet. Naturally, I'll keep you posted.
The first goal I tackled was to make kombucha. Using this basic approach, I'm trying to grow my own SCOBY using half a bottle of GT's original flavor. It's been doing its thing on top of a bookcase in the living room for about a week now. There's no major visible progress, but due to the cold temps in my house, it could take a few weeks. Or worse, not work at all: This more recent post suggests that the technique may not be viable anymore. I'll give it some more time, but if making my own doesn't work out, I'm not averse to paying for a SCOBY.
Actually, now that I've done some research, it looks like a continuous brewing set-up is the lowest-hassle way to brew kombucha. Instead of doing a batch in a big jar every week or so, you keep the tea continuously brewing (thus the name) in a big vessel. The SCOBY gets so large and active that you can drain off kombucha and feed it fresh sweet tea every day. Unfortunately, the set-up costs for this kind of system are a bit high, so I'm hesitant to jump in quite yet. Naturally, I'll keep you posted.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
From Here
Today marks the formal end of Holidailies, a challenge to post daily from December 1st to January 1st. I signed up (and started this very blog!) on something of a whim on the night of November 30. For the first two weeks I kept up with daily posting, but dropped off a bit at the end. Still, 24 entries-- counting this one-- in 31 days is nothing to sneeze at after not writing regularly for years.
So, where do I go from here? I'm planning to keep up to keep up this blog, and write a few times a week about things that interest me. Without the self-imposed pressure to write daily, I hope to dig in a little and write some more substantial posts when the subject calls for it. I expect I'll continue to share my paleo cooking successes and failures, reading habits, travels, and more. Thanks for reading this month, and I look forward to interacting with more of you in the new year!
So, where do I go from here? I'm planning to keep up to keep up this blog, and write a few times a week about things that interest me. Without the self-imposed pressure to write daily, I hope to dig in a little and write some more substantial posts when the subject calls for it. I expect I'll continue to share my paleo cooking successes and failures, reading habits, travels, and more. Thanks for reading this month, and I look forward to interacting with more of you in the new year!
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