Omnivore

Last week was a hard week what with the Fourth of July and then our Wimbledon party. Needless to say, my weight was up quite a bit. Time to get back to basics. Today I exercised and ate correctly. It was kind of a relief. Last time I lost a lot of weight I let it creep back on but this time that is not going to happen!

For dinner tonight we had lean bison steaks, brown rice with asparagus and Brussels sprouts. It was a tasty and satisfying meal.

Bison steak, Brussels sprouts and brown rice with asparagus

It being Chicken Monday, instead of putting shrimp in this dish we decided to use chicken (duh.) But before we get to the pasta, I thought I’d post a picture of what happens when we go to the grocery store and limes are 10 for $1. That would be margaritas. And not just any margaritas but the Earl Gilmore Memorial Margaritas. Here’s the story behind them. A long, long time ago when we were in our early twenties, before we even had children, John’s boss, Earl Gilmore, invited us and a bunch of other people who worked for Data General to his house for a cookout. At that dinner, he served his very, incredibly strong margaritas. It was the first time we’d ever had margaritas. I would tell you what happened at that party but for some reason I just can’t remember. I am assuming that a lot of margaritas were drunk. The margaritas became the Earl Gilmore margaritas and after Earl died way too young, they became The Earl Gilmore Memorial Margaritas.

Here’s the recipe. Do not consume these if you need to drive anywhere.

The Earl Gilmore Memorial Margarita

On to dinner. I sauteed the vegetables. John cooked the pasta. We put the two together with a little chicken stock. Dinner. BTW, broccolini is really tasty.

Whole wheat penne with mushrooms, chicken and broccolini

Saturday night’s dinner consisted of a pan roasted pork tenderloin rubbed with ancho chiles, salt, pepper, garlic powder and oregano. John used the spice grinder to turn the ancho chile into a powder. The pork turned out really well, rosy pink with some spice. I reheated the leftover farro and brown rice mixture from last night. I also made a medley of zucchini, mushrooms, red bell pepper, onions and serrano chiles using a teaspoon of oil in the saute.

This week we have eaten 20 out of 21 meals at home. My one dining out experience is the Chili’s lunch I had on Wednesday, not quite the gourmet experience. I know it is better to eat at home but sometimes I wish we could go out for something exotic. (like Thai food) A year and a half is a long time to go without visiting my favorite Thai restaurant. Sigh.

Pork tenderloin, brown rice/farro mixture and zucchini medley