This is my first healthy-eating, post-vacation lunch. In addition to the chickpea spread, my sandwich includes half of a pita divided into two thin half-round pieces, home grown tomatoes, kale, and celery sticks. I also had an apple for dessert. It tasted terrific and made me feel good about myself.
Back from vacation! Some serious weight loss is what will be happening in the next few weeks.
One day while we were on Malta we had a lunch at a seaside restaurant. I was expecting something pretty ho-hum since we were with a tour group but the lunch turned out to be way beyond my expectations.
Seriously, I wanted to dive into these whole-heartedly but the other “ladies” at the table were saying, oh, this so much! I never have a big lunch etc. etc. So I limited myself to one and a half and the platter still had three pieces of flat bread left when they took it away. But I had already ordered a beer while the other two ladies had diet sodas and I was intimidated.
This was also delicious and I ate everything on my plate. Then they served dessert which I did not eat at all since I do not like sweet things. My table partners ate their whole dessert which was a chocolate cake like thing with whipped cream. How I wish I could have asked for that platter of flatbreads back!! I still see myself as an overweight person whom others are judging. I really need to get over that.
I have been away for almost three weeks now and I have to admit that I am missing my usual routine. Making up my menu, shopping for the week, and cooking every night is what I like to do. I have been eating pretty much whatever I want for all this time away and I am really ready to address my weight gain and make sure that this trip is not the slippery slope towards being overweight again.
I have occasionally made some good choices. Both John and I have been concentrating on eating fish and vegetables. We have only had a dessert a couple of times but we have been into the bread a lot and each day has too many drinks! Here are some of the better choices I have made at lunch.
John and I have already started discussing our menu for next week. This vacation from my normal life has been fun but I am ready to get back to normalcy!
This was our last dinner before leaving on vacation. I made it in the Instant Pot. Even though it was simpler than actually stuffing the cabbage leaves it was still a lot of work. Delicious, though.
Since we were celebrating Sukkot our daughter made a wonderful four strand challah.
Excellent dinner tonight! John took one chicken breast and cut it into four pieces which he pounded out, seasoned, and cooked in a skillet with a spray of olive oil. I had made a tomato sauce with fresh and dried oregano, red onion, and garlic to go with it. I used the stick blender to get a smooth consistency. I also sautéed some batons of zucchini and yellow squash along with onion, garlic, red bell pepper, and mushrooms. When the chicken was done John put an ultra thin piece of cheese on top and I ladled on some tomato sauce and doled out the pasta and vegetables. A shower of parmesan finished our plates.
Each of us ended up having half a chicken breast and 2 oz. of pasta along with the vegetables. I was afraid that the portion size would seem woefully weensy but it actually seemed like quite a bit of food. I am hoping that this revelation shows nutritional growth on my part!
While I liked everything in tonight’s dinner I really think that the mango salsa was the star. Mangoes are so sweet and delicious! They pair especially well with cut up red onion, red bell pepper, jalapeño, cilantro, and lime juice. A little salt really perks the whole salsa up. I have found that a couple of days in a paper bag with an apple helps to ripen the mango. I use the peeling technique where you slide a piece of mango over the edge of a glass. The peel stay in your hand and the flesh falls into the glass. Try looking up “peel a mango with a glass” on Google and you will see several video choices showing you how it is done.
I went with cauliflower rice with no real rice mixed in tonight. I am atoning for my overindulgence on John’s birthday. I added some parley and grated carrot (they are in the same family) and a little soy sauce to give it more flavor. The broccoli was simply steamed.
John and I are still trying to figure out the best way to cook salmon. It is a work in progress. John covered the pan towards the end of cooking it to cook the top without flipping it. The salmon was fine but needs some browning I think. It is hard to cook it on both sides without overcooking it, though. We will try another method next time we have salmon.
Last week I harvested a bunch of basil from my two backyard basil plants to make pesto. Since I did not have quite enough I used some store-bought Italian parsley to supplement the basil. I used this recipe from the Cookie and Kate website. https://cookieandkate.com/how-to-make-basil-pesto/#tasty-recipes-24855-jump-target
I did not add the lemon juice and I tried to scrimp a little on the oil by adding an ounce of water. You just put all the ingredients in a blender and let it rip. Be sure your oil gets all the way down to the bottom of the blender before you turn it on. It made about 1 3/4 cups of pesto. I bought a 1/4 cup ice cube tray and froze all but one portion and then transferred the individual cubes into a zip-lock bag after the cubes were set. The 1/4 cup I left in the refrigerator was used in tonight’s dinner. We cooked 8 ounces of penne and the 1/4 cup of pesto and 1/2 cup of pasta water were all that I needed for the sauce.
We started our dinner with a tossed salad with green leaf lettuce, kale, cherry tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, and pepperoncini. The salad was dressed with Skinny Girl ranch dressing. We ate fairly lightly the rest of the day so we could enjoy and extra ounce of pasta tonight. I am so glad I have 6 other pesto meals waiting in the freezer!
This simple but delicious dinner was John’s choice for his birthday. I must admit that I had to put him to work cooking the scallops and he did his usual wonderful job. I steamed the potatoes and sautéed the collards and corn with some garlic in butter.
We also had some very nice wine and the pretzel rolls our daughter made especially for her dad on his birthday. She is such a terrific baker and even though I don’t have a sweet tooth I still fall prey to her creations. She made 15 small rolls and by Wednesday lunch they were all eaten. It was not a good diet day for me!
I enjoyed this dinner so much! Plus it only took about 20 minutes to make!
First, the sauerkraut. I read somewhere that the tastiest sauerkraut is Libby’s in a can. Sauerkraut does not like light so to stabilize the kraut in bags and jars they have to add chemicals so it won’t turn ugly looking. Read the ingredients. Choose the one with no chemicals in a can. (I used Walmart’s canned brand.)
To brighten up the taste I use a recipe from Loaves and Fishes – https://www.loavesanddishes.net/how-to-cook-canned-sauerkraut/ It uses a little sugar, apple, and caraway seeds. Since you drain the kraut and add some chicken stock it is less astringent. It is always a winner at a cookout.
For the beans I use a simple can of pinto beans. I add a tablespoon of BBQ sauce, a little ketchup, and a glug or two of Worcestershire sauce. Then I tasted it. It was too sweet for me so I added a few drops of fish sauce. Perfect!
John microwaved for 2 minutes my 4 ounce piece of turkey sausage (not raw but like Jenny-o that you find near the hotdogs in the grocery store). The beans and the sauerkraut heated up on the stove top. And there you have it, a super easy, super fast dinner!
Omnivore 