The Taste of Summer

Now that I make chicken stock by the buckets in my pressure cooker, I'm able to make all kinds of vegetable soups that are high in nutrition, super low in calories, and few, very few, ingredients...oh yes, and fresh, fresh, fresh!

I'm sure I'll be sick of zucchini by the middle of summer, but the light green pattypan squash that I brought home from Waynes garden was the best of the 4 squash soups I experimented with. I purposely used only one type of squash for each soup, hoping to taste flavor differences. The differences were noticeable when tasted side by side, but so slight otherwise that in the future I'll throw them all in the same pot. The picture above, from L to R, is yellow, green pattypan, and zucchini squash soup.

The other veggies are the ones I picked up from the farmers market on Sunday. Leeks and fennel for Marks quiche, fresh corn for some corn chowder and to add to the squash soup, broccoli and radishes for salads, carrots for more soup, onions, and celery to have on stock....you can never have too many onions, because if you have nothing else in the house, you still have...well...onions! Remember, onions are a vegetable too!

I bought 8lbs. of squash from Wayne, (all of the squash in the picture above!),and although I'm tempted to go and buy some more today, I've got plenty of food in the fridge and freezer, including ready made squash soup. I get my CSA box tomorrow night, and Mark and I are going to Minnesota on Thursday for the Level 2 Cert and will be gone for a few days, so I don't need anything.

Squash soup

onion
garlic
squash
stock

Saute onion in oil or butter (1-2 tbl.) until translucent 5-10 min, added crushed garlic in the last minute of cooking. Add squash, cut into large chunks and barely cover with stock, bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer (slightly covered) until soft, 15-20 min.. Puree in soup pot, using an immersion blender, or when cool enough to handle, puree in blender. Season with S&P.

I have so much soup that I haven't had a salad in days! I'm still in love with the cauliflower soup, I made more carrot, and I've been adding all sorts of stuff to my squash soup, including roasted corn, greens (of course) and chicken. Somehow I think jalapenos will eventually end up in the squash soup too!

Soup is good.
Life is good, my life is good,

'Tis the Season.....Summer!

Well, here it is....June, in fact the end of June. Where did spring go? We've had an unusually cold season until a couple of weeks ago, and then it felt like summer hit us overnight. Because of the weather I knew the tomatoes would more than likely be late, but I stopped by Wayne's garden to see if he was harvesting anything yet. I wrote a blog post about Wayne and his garden end of summer last year describing how I met him, and about all of the homegrown goodies I get to buy from his prolific garden.

It started with tomatoes, pounds and pounds of vine ripened tomatoes. It's too early still for tomatoes, but on this early visit I was able to score some lucious peaches, picked right off the tree, (Wayne mentioned the variety, but I forgot), some honey from the bees Wayne keeps, and summer squash...lots of squash, I think 7lbs., if I remember correctly, and a handful of loquats!

A couple of months ago I posted Gayles Apple, Ginger Fruit Salad recipe. Although technically it was spring we were still eating apples, so her recipe was basically, Fuji apple, fresh ginger, lemon juice, dried organic blueberries and walnuts. She suggested fresh peaches, instead of apples, for a summer version, so I had to try it with Waynes 'just picked' peaches!

Gayles Fruit Salad with Fresh Ginger and Lemon

silced peaches

fresh ginger (lots! About a 2 inch piece, peeled and grated)

juice of one lemon

blueberries (they're in season right now, but I used frozen)

nuts, optional

I'll be eating this everyday, until I run out of peaches and can get more, lol!

Teach a Man to Fish

So many times I'm asked why I don't cook for other people by providing lunches or meals.....that sort of thing. I guess I'm asked that question because prehaps it looks like preparing and cooking good, healthy, fresh foods is easy for me and I obviously love to do it! But there's so many reasons why I'm smart enough to know that it just doesn't work, and not just from a financial standpoint, it just doesn't pay enough for the work involved, so what are some other reasons?

First of all, I have the highest respect for food professionals, and I can't compare myself to those who are truly trained, talented and sacrifice working so long and hard to do work that most people should be doing for themselves and their families. The food business has got to be one of the hardest businesses to succeed at. Long hours, labor intensive, little pay, especially in the beginning, and not alot of respect until recent interest in gourmet cooking.

(The picture above was taken in Feb. 2008, at Jill's house, during a cooking class I organized when Fawn was visiting and staying with me for the Feb. Cert in San Jose.)

But this is why I believe teaching someone how to prepare and cook is so much more important than doing it for them.

One of my KB clients was thinking about scheduling a 4:00pm workout, but would be coming straight from a business trip and wouldn't have time to get a meal ready to eat after the workout(a healthy meal!), so I offered to bring her dinner that day if she did her workout! I brought her a my Curry Cabbage Salad with Chicken, because I haven't met one person that didn't like it, and in fact she loved it! She was surprised because she didn't think she liked raw cabbage that much, she told me that she could tell the salad was fresh because the cabbage didn't taste old and bitter (I had never heard that before , but that was her experience). She also told me that she wanted the recipe and would have her nanny/housekeeper make it for her!

I told her that she had to do it herself! Why? Because doing it yourself gives you more than just knowing the ingredients. Working with food gives you an understanding of it. You learn technique, order, flavor, that also helps a great deal when ordering out.....I'm usually the one at the table explaining the menu......what and how foods are prepared. But most importantly, by practicing yourself, you learn ease about food and cooking. Ease is what comes with practice. Ease is the place you need to get to, and once you're there, you will prefer to make your own food.....truly! And since you have to eat for the rest of your life, don't you think you should learn how to feed yourself?

Over the past few years, I've held the hand of many a friend in the kitchen. I've literally, shopped, chopped, and cooked alongside them, in their own kitchens to demonstrate how it can become easy and rewarding to eat at home.....in fact better than eating out. Last year when I was at my friend Jills house teaching her and another friend some of my recipes and techniques, I told Jill that I wouldn't care if I ever at out, in fact I would prefer to never eat out, she was blown away by that statement and couldn't believe it....until now! She told me herself that she can't even eat at places like Chevy's, Applebee's, certainly not Taco Bell or Mc Donald's anymore because she knows that food is crap! And besides her food tastes better! Gee......I wonder where I've heard that before.....?

Everytime I look over at my friend Jamie eating her lunch at work that she made herself I know I helped her do that! When I see co-workers with their 'apple' for a snack instead of chips or a burrito from theTaqueria next door, I know I helped set an example. When my friend Jen writes on her blog that she's been 'rockin' the pressure cooker', I know I showed her how. Everytime my friend Cathy makes meatloaf for her family, and cooks a homemade dinner for her husband and kids I know I supported and encouraged her. And when I get comments on my blog about someone being inspired to try something new, it inspires me to keep teaching, preaching, and showing, by my own example. But when Jill told me that she prefers to eat her own food, instead of eating out, that was the ultimate!

Doing for someone is not the same as teaching them to do for themselves. As I share my knowledge, my knowledge grows. Knowledge is power and practicing your knowledge empowering. That's why I will always "teach a man to fish".

My life is so stinkin' good, and such a miracle....truly.

Homerun....Carrot Soup and Roasted Califlower and Curry Soup

My base veggie soup has been so versitile for me that it will always be a staple of my diet. Making it on a regular basis has become such a habit, that I admit, I haven't taken advantage of the variety of other vegetables available for making soup with.

One reason is, I make and use my own chicken stock, a very rich stock that is like "gold" in my freezer. I use 4-6 lbs of chicken bones to make 2 1/2 quarts of stock, and I didn't want to waste such rich stock making big batches of soup. But now, I make a "lite" chicken stock in my pressure cooker....I can get 3 quarts of chicken stock from the bones of one chicken,(or one turkey neck and back!), in about one hours time. I can have homemade chicken stock, at the ready, anytime, with minimal effort....I love my freakin' pressure cooker, lol!

I will be posting directions on how I make my own chicken stock BOTH ways soon!

*************************************************************************************

Carrot Soup

2 lbs carrots
4-6 cups stock

Peel and cut carrots into 1 inch chunks. Bring chicken stock and carrots to a boil, turn down heat and cook until soft, (about 25-35 min.)

2 tbl. butter
large onion
garlic, 1-2 cloves crushed
2 tbl. almond butter (I used Trader Joes, raw/unsalted)

While carrots are cooking, saute onions in butter until soft adding garlic in the last minute of cooking. Turn off heat add almond butter, stir to combine. (Or you can add the almond butter at the blending stage...it doesn't matter since you're not "cooking the almond butter, just adding it)

Once carrots are cooked, combine carrots and stock, with onion/garlic/almond butter mixture in blender, and blend until smooth. If needed, add more stock or water to get the consistency you want.

Until I get an immersion blender, I use a standard blender. The picture above was my first attempt, and if I had a little more stock I would of made it "soupier", this was a little thick for soup, but with a little less stock would make a great carrot puree!

I researched many carrot soup recipes, many of them had the common theme of either ginger, curry, or cashews, and many gave the option of using cream/milk/yogurt. Since I don't shop until I absolutey need to, I was out of ginger, and I had been using alot of curry in my cauliflower soup, so I wanted a change, and since I didn't have any nuts, except for pistachios (I could've used those), I decided to use almond butter...I already had that in my pantry! Although, ginger would of been my first choice.

Carrot soup reminded me alot of butternut squash soup, because of it's sweetness, and I wouldn't hesitate a bit to make it again, and/or make it for company.

************************************************************************************* Roasted Cauliflower Curry Soup

1 head cauliflower

Cut in small pieces and roast in the oven (350-400 degrees), tossed with 1-2 tbl. olive oil. While cauliflower is roasting, in a soup pot, saute,

1 large onion
1 tbl. butter or oil

until soft, add garlic (1-2 cloves, crushed) and curry powder (2 tsp.) in the last minute of cooking. Add chicken stock (4 c.) and roasted cauliflower and cook for 5 minutes or until soft. Combine mixture in blender when cool enough to handle, blend until smooth. Season with a dash of cayenne pepper and S&P. (picture above shows soup before I blended it, and, I also used the cauliflower leaves, chopped and sauteed with the onion)

Serve with honey drizzled on top or with a handful of raisins, if, like me, you like those "sweet, spicey" flavors together....try it!

Life is good.....and soup is so damn good, and good for you, lol!

Hit....Romaine, Celery and Chicken Salad with Egg and Mustard Dressing

Since releasing my resistence to romaine lettuce I've been using it alot, actually buying it! Here is a dressing I found using hard boiled eggs in the dressing. In the past I have used diced egg whites for additional protein in salads, not knowing what to do with the high calorie yolks (You know I hate, I mean, dislike, throwing anything out, lol), so I was thrilled to find this recipe using the yolks and only a few other ingredients to make a dressing.

Egg and Mustard Dressing

2 hard boiled egg yolks
2 tbl. apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. mustard (any kind)

This is how I do it for a single serving....





Mash the egg yolks at the bottom of a large salad bowl, add vinegar to "dissolve", add sugar and mustard. Taste to adjust seasoning (S & P). Add salad ingredients on top and toss.





This makes enough for one salad, one large, "Tracy size", salad, lol, double it for 2.




The original recipe called for 4 egg yolks, 4 tbl. apple cider vinegar, 2 tbl. sugar, 2 t. mustard. I don't think it needs that much sugar, but do what you like. Also, the original recipe called for browning some bacon and tossing spinach leaves with some of the fat before dressing it and adding some crumbled bacon. Sounds good, but I didn't want the extra fat and calories, but definitely an option for another time!



BTW I was making a fresh batch of chicken stock in my pressure cooker that day and I decided to use the hot stock to cook my eggs in! So I cleaned the eggs, and dropped them into the hot, hot, hot, stock (the pressure had just come down enough to take the lid off of the pressure cooker), set my timer for 14 min. and then fished them out...another "hit", perfectly done eggs, and no extra pot to clean!

Miss.....and then a Hit

Wednesday night I pick up my CSA box, I am never in the mood to wash and prep veggies in the evening, I'm tired already, lol, but this particular evening as I washed the chard and collards, (and carrots), I decided to go ahead and blanch the greens (in salted water), and use them in salads instead of soup or pasta. I must of been tired because I overcooked both of them. The chard was "passable", but the collards, (I had two bunches because my friend Jill gave me hers), were almost....not quite, but almost....mushy! It surprised me because I kept checking for doneness and they were still bright green. I rinsed them in cold water, but it didn't save the firmness....I threw them in the fridge to deal with another day.

The next day, on my walk, I had come to the conclusion that I was just going to have to come to terms with the idea of throwing out food. I hate waste. (did I say hate? I mean I dislike, lol) The collards were going to have to be thrown in the garbage...what a waste.....two whole bunches! But why eat food you don't like? That's a waste! And then, I don't know where this idea came from, probably my resistence to throwing away 2 whole bunches of greens, oh yes, I remember....

Mark has been buying these little frozen quiches from Trader Joes (yuck! But he seems to like them), he doesn't like the crust, he just eats the insides, so, I thought, why don't I use those collards in a quiche? It just might work, especially since I don't have to make pastry for the crust, I'll just make a "crust-less quiche", how freakin easy is that?! Quiche used to my "go to" dish for potlucks and get togethers. Quiche can use up so many things in your fridge, I don't know why I never thought of it before....oh yes....it's high, very high, in calories! But, it's not for me, it's for Mark....Mister "cheese, heavy cream, butter, eggs, high calorie, I can eat whatever I want to, and not gain weight" Mark.

Quiche is basically a green veggie, like spinach or broccoli, and eggs, cream, and cheese. Any variety of a veggie saute can be made into a quiche, especially a "crust-less" quiche by adding these ingreients and pouring into a pie dish, baking at 350 until done (about 25-35 min). I will post the more details on"Crazy for Quiche" another time. But for now, here's a picture and the list of ingredients I had on hand, using up the overcooked collards for the quiche I made for Mark.

filling (saute in this order)

butter

mushrooms

green onions (I had a ton, some from Jill)

collard greens ( chopped and blached)

parsley

garlic

add

feta cheese (I only had a handful, about 2-3oz)

parmesan (1/4 c.)

heavy cream (about 1/2 c.)

2 eggs

sliced swiss cheese (for the top)

I do like to use herbs in quiche, fresh if I have them, but I didn't so I used a little dried thyme and dried basil.

Hit and Miss

Well, I never claim to be an expert chef, or food photographer, so here's all of last weeks "missing food posts" good and bad, lol! I had alot of time to play in the kitchen and one day last week, I think it was Wednesday, everything I did turned to crap....or I thought! Turns out one of my failures turned into a huge success, but first a failure....

I decided to make my own tortilla chips because for 2 weeks in a row I got avocados in my CSA box and I wanted to make a taco salad with avocado dressing. Well the avocado dressing came out freakin' awesome (it can also be used as a dip for veggies or chips, or to spread on triscuts...I kind of went crazy with that one, lol), but the "baked chips" sucked!

I want to blame it on the crappy quality of Trader Joes corn tortillas, but it was probably the cooking method. I brushed a small amount of oil on the tortilla and then cut them into small wedges, threw them on a baking sheet, into the oven @350 degrees for about 15-20 min. Some of them were nice and crispy, but most of them were rock hard.

It was my intention to make a 'taco like' salad of romaine lettuce, tomatoes (I bought my first 3 tomatoes fo the season, I wasn't really ready because it's been cold and I knew they were still "green house" tomatoes....nobody's perfect...I had to get over it), and avocado dressing, I had chicken and shredded pork but the calories were already high, so I skipped the meat. Unfortunately I didn't taste the tortilla chips before crumbling them on top of my salad! What a waste of calories! The hard chips ruined much of the experience and I couldn't get them out because I had crushed them, lol!

Avocado dressing

1 med avocado

1 small container plain yogurt (6-8oz)

lime juice (about 2 tbl.)

crushed garlic

diced jalapeno (you have to know by now I put jalapeno in everything, lol)

diced tomato (as much as you like)

cilantro, optional (I didn't have any)

S & P

A Bigger Piece of Pie

I think and talk about food and eating alot. I think and talk about food and eating so much that I started a second blog just to think and talk about it more! I have alot of thoughts about why I think and talk about food and eating so much, mostly because I think I want to get to a place in my life when I don't think and talk about it as much! What's up with that, lol? I don't feel bad that I think and talk about it as much as I do, it's just that I don't think I need to. There are so many other parts of life that need and deserve attention.

So, lately I've been visualizing my thinking like that of a 'pie chart', what size is the slice of pie that represents food and eating? Now, food and eating are technically two different subjects, but I'll get to that later.... But if I grouped them together, I would say that half of my 'thinking pie' is taken up with my thoughts on these two subjects. So what does the rest of my pie represent? Let's see.....

Relationships.....the obvious, wife/mother, sister, daughter, friends, clients, coworkers, pets, etc. Responsibilities, like the maintenance of my house, cars, belongings, etc. Hobbies.....what I do for fun, (this is may be difficult because I consider cooking my main hobby). Job/Money, currently I lead the life of "the rich and retired", according to Mark (how lucky am I?), so this piece of pie is the smallest. Oh yes, and training....hmnnn....this might have to fall in the same category as food because it's about my health.

Since I don't need to focus on a job, or money, then I would have to say that my relationships and my responsibilities need more attention. So as I find myself beginning to obsess my thoughts around food and eating, I remind myself that I have other things to think about, and more importantly, other things to do. To do! Action. I used to be really good at writing a 'to do' list everyday, writing down, in order of priority, all of the things that needed to get done, and then getting them done! I've had the luxury of being way too self-centered, it's time to stop giving myself such a big piece of pie! And that includes my hobby. Lord! I've been greedy with this slice of my pie!

So, how am I going to separate the food, eating, cooking, and training? First, the whole slice has got to be cut in half, so that means about 25% of my 'thinking pie' can represent these subjects. And really, the only part of this piece that gives me grief, because of it's size, is the 'eating' part, so, food, cooking, and training can also be on my 'action list' (maybe I need a slightly bigger slice, lol!)

Anyway, the point is to stop thinking about eating and start doing the things that need to get done. I have a whole life to live, and since I only need to eat 3 times a day, I should only think about it 3 times a day. The rest of my life needs doing.....I better get started.....

Life is good, every part of it.

Salad For Breakfast

OK, so the last 2 days I've had salad for breakfast....why? Because I have to eat my freshest foods first! And besides, why not? I can always make a salad, my own dressing and all, in just a few minutes.

Thursday I had bok choy, red cabbage and green onions with my Korean short ribs, and Friday I had a wilted salad of reheated roasted cauliflower, rutabaga, shallots, w/chicken, baby greens and lemon (the veggies had plenty of oil on them from roasting).

My food and diet strategy is to eat and choose, first, fresh foods.....second, adjust the portions....and third, think about how I'm eating, whether or not I'm physically hungry or emotionally hungry, so as to not eat foods compulsively. One thing at a time.

I made a killer cauliflower soup yesterday and I'll post pictures and the recipe soon, because I have to make more! My friend Jill will be on a 3 week vacation, so she brought me most of her CSA box on Thursday, along with last weeks head of cauliflower, so I had 4 heads!
I tried to roast the leaves (and stems), and although they came out 'edible', I need to tweak it more. The stems of the leaves are tough, but they do retain a slight cauliflower taste. So maybe dicing the stems small and cooking them with the onions for soup maybe the best way to use them. Then the seperated leaves can be added at the end. Or maybe.....I should just throw out the stems?

Life is fun....food is fun. (and good!)

Overshopping, Overeating, Overabundance, Overwhelmed

I think I'm into my 3rd week of not overshopping, and whew, what a relief. I think I'm actually getting good at this minimalist approach. It's getting to the point that I don't want any food in the house that can't be eaten within a reasonable time, including what's in my pantry!

My freezer is still bulging with preportioned soup, stews, and other cooked meals, but I took out a 4lb pork shoulder (chili verde), and a whole chicken to cook within the next 2 days. No point in buying more meat when I had some in my freezer. Now, all I have left, in my freezer, is one leg of lamb, that I bought on sale after Easter, and some chicken feet.

I can't believe what an effect this has had on my eating. Because I have to use up what's freshest before buying more.....and I only eat, basically, three meals a day (with one snack)......I still can't eat all of this food fast enough! Sometimes it's just overwhelming. Everyday, although my fridge has never looked so bare, there is still so much to eat.

The point of buying fresh foods is to eat them when they're fresh, so not overbuying is key. I hate throwing anything out, so I used to try and just eat it all! Huge portions of salads and other veggie based meals were the norm. I still can eat bigger portions of these foods, but because I can clearly see the overabundance of food, not only in this country, but in my own house, my own fridge and pantry, I saw that I was eating alot, not because I was neccessarily hungry, but because the food was there and it had to be eaten. Hmmnn....

It had to be eaten..... Says who?

This country produces more calories in food than the population needs, by at least 30-40%. We, as a country, cannot possibly eat, nor do our bodies need, all of the food that is produced. It is not my responsiblity to make sure nothing is "wasted" by eating more than my body needs. And, if I have to throw something out, so what, I know where to get more. I just can't burden myself with this thought of waste. I can only practice trying to buy enough, but not too much, to reduce my own waste. Reduce the garbage on my thighs, lol!

The other affect this is having on me, is my feelings of needing to "stock up" on food....that probably feeds into my habit of "hoarding". I used to buy at least 2 large, and 2-4 small containers of my favorite yogurt, because I use it in smoothies, salad dressings and as a meal in itself with honey, and or almonds, etc. But having it in the house, available in abundance set me up for yogurt binges. No more. Just one container of yogurt at a time, and it's worked out fine!

I pretty much already know what I'm going to eat today, the last of the bok choy (that was the only thing left from my CSA box last week, woo hoo!), and green onions with beef short ribs, a salad with the romaine from the farmers market and the last of the roasted cauliflower,( I have another head in this weeks CSA. Tomorrow I'll cook the chicken from the freezer for the meat, and to make stock for some cauliflower soup, and then roast the thick-stemmed leaves, to serve on top or in the soup.)

Tuesday Menu

coffee/cream
rye bread. almond butter, raisins
Indian lentil and lamb stew/veg soup
fruit smoothie, mango, strawberry, blueberry w/fiber
roasted cauliflower, rutabaga, shallots
spicey bean soup w/baby squash

I was at the Mall, and thought about going to See's Candy , but I went home and ate lunch instead.....I thought I could spend my sugar calories in a better way another time.

Wednesday

coffee/cream
oats/milk dried bluberries
Reeses candy eggs (6)
Korean style short ribs w/shredded cabbage, bok choy, and green onions
white chedder popcorn (compulsive waste of food and calories)
small fruit/fiber smoothie, orange juice (1/4c.), blueberries and strawberries
apple, baby carrots

I ate some oats before I left for work, and once I got there I decided, since I had been so good lately, to "treat" myself to the chocolate, peanutbutter eggs on a co-workers station. I managed to only eat 6, but it didn't make me feel better, hopefully lesson learned.

Korean Braised Beef Short Ribs (done in the pressure cooker)

3-4 lbs beef short ribs (6-8)

2 c. water
1/2 c.soy sauce
1/4 c. molasses
4 tbl. toasted seasame oil
2 t. dry mustard
1t. red pepper flakes
sliced onion (I used red)
sliced garlic (I used 4-6 cloves)

Throw all of this in the pressure cooker, cook on high pressure 25-35 min. Remove ribs and reduce sauce to thicken. Serve with sliced green onion and sesame seeds.

This recipe was adapted from "Starting With Ingredients" cookbook, by Aliza Green. It smells crazy good while it's cooking! I think if you wanted to do this in a dutch oven on the stove top, you would bring it to a boil, transfer to a 300 degree oven for 2 hours, or until the meat is tender.

Local

Wow! There's so much I'm learning lately about food, that it's going to take me a while to break it all down, but for today I did something different, I took the definition of "local" literally. Buying locally grown foods is important for a number of reasons, like freshness, seasonality, support of local farming, and the farmers that work so hard to provide us food. And the best places to buy locally grown foods, (not just "grown" foods, but locally prepared foods, like breads, cheeses, oils/spreads, etc.) is at our neighborhood Certified Organic Farmers Markets.

Well, Mark and I live in an area of San Jose known as Japantown. Japantown is located on the northside of our downtown area, and has a main street with a strip of small businesses ( a fresh tofu company, Japanese market, Sushi resturants, etc.) in fact we live on the same street, just one block away, from the Buddhist Temple. Every Sunday Japantown has a small farmers market....one which I almost never shop at! Why? Well, if you asked me that question before today, I would of said, "Because it sucks!". Why? It's too small, and it doesn't have near the selection that the "trendier" Campbell Farmers Market has on the same day.

Well, too bad for me! If I want it to get any better, then I better start supporting it! Besides, what do I need? I'm lucky in the fact, that I have at least one farmers market to choose from Wednesday thru Sunday, most days I can chose between 2 within driving distance. So why not shop in my own neighborhood, 2 blocks away on Sunday? Done!
I'm doing a great job not overshopping, but it's going to take me a while to really get it down. My CSA box gave me, it seemed, like all green things! (besides the strawberries) So I needed some color. I ended up only buying baby yellow squashes, watermelon radish, (pictured below), carrots (only 5!), red and green onions, strawberries, cherries, and yes....a head of romaine lettuce, lol! I made a warm salad that I shared with Mark using the chard and baby lettuces from CSA, green garlic and watermelon radish from the FM....I put bleu cheese on mine, dressed with oil and lemon. The pictures show sliced chard stems, spring garlic, watermelon radish (in skillet) and chard leaves.

Two things I was hoping to get, but I didn't find were asparagus and leeks, for soup. I made an overabundance of chicken stock last week! More on that next time!

Sunday

8:00am Bikram yoga

2:00pm KB

Menu

coffee/cream

small oatmeal w/milk

strawberries/cherries

warm salad w/radish, chard, baby lettuces, bleu cheese, oil and lemon

small mango/papaya fruit smoothie w/fiber

Saturday

demo swings w/clients

12noon 1 hour walk

Menu

coffee w/cream

apple/strawberries/apricots (farmers market in Palo Alto)

roamaine, celery salad w/egg, mustard dressing and chicken

sprouted rye bread w/almond butter and raisins (5 slices!)

large pasta w/arugula roasted peppers and cheese

vanilla yogurt w/jam

Saturday was a high calorie day, but not high sugar! I only used about 1 teaspoon of almond butter, and about 10-12 raisins scattered on top, per slice of sprouted rye bread...but I did have 5 slices! Lots of sweeness in the fruit, and I finished the day with sweetened yogurt.

I'm still in the habit of not eating after 6pm, a habit that I haven't been taking seriously enough, but I've changed back to making that a priority. I'm currently weighing myself once a week, maybe twice, I haven't decided. Possibly Mondays and Thursdays.

Life is great, and the fruit season has started in full force! Woo hoo!