The last week has been unusually busy. Friends and fellow foodies Don and Julie were in from Michigan last week. We indulged ourselves in the Outstanding in the Field event last Thursday at Full Circle Farm out in Carnation. Johnathan Sundstrom, chef at the Lark in Seattle, was the guest chef. They were amazingly accommodating considering they were serving around 175 people at once seated far out in a beautiful farm field. (They did ask in advance for any special food needs.) I cheated a little bit on appetizers--a half glass of wine, and a bite of cheese and wheat in the crackers. Dinner with the exception of a tiny bit of cheese in the salad pretty much met the food restriction guidelines, however the protein to vegetable ratio was off. Had I taken the amount of vegetables I would have liked, no one else at our table would have gotten any. Dessert was a lovely (and thankfully small) ginger shortcake with berries and lemon verbena cream. Okay, I cheated again on the dessert. Julie exhibited more restrain and asked for berries only. They gladly accommodated her. We all were given a lovely box of fruit and vegetables as we left which provided me with lettuces, vegetables and fruit for the next 4 days.
Saturday my husband and I met up with Don and Julie at the restaurant at the Inn at Langley, probably one of my favorite restaurants in the area. Again, chef Matt Costello was more than accommodating. Julie had tipped him off in advance about our major diet restrictions. Dessert and a small tablespoon size palate cleanser contained sugar but other than that, the meal came quite close to accommodating my diet. Next to dessert, the biggest cheat was one sip of each of the wines served in the wine flight that my husband ordered. I could have easily held exactly to the diet during this dinner and still had a fabulous meal. In the hands of a skilled chef, vegetables and a small servings of protein can be spectacular.
Although I haven't made it through the full three weeks to start testing to add other foods back into my diet, I've found I feel so good with the diet as is, that my plan is to stay on it for the foreseeable future and allow myself to deviate slightly on special occasions.
On the more mundane level this week, my schedule has just been particularly busy making it difficult to keep to my regular shopping schedule which is usually about every couple of days. The chopped kale salad with tahini dressing has been a great staple since the kale keeps well and I can make enough dressing to last the week. I've also taken advantage of a black bean and chipolte salsa recipe that is great over arugula or spinach with chopped tomatoes, green onions, avocado and a vinaigrette made with fresh lime and olive oil. This same bean mixture works well on toasted sprouted corn tortillas with avocado and salsa on top. Although I've never frozen it, the bean mixture would likely freeze well if you wanted to have it on hand. I found mine lasted about 5 days in the frig. The corn tortillas have also kept well in the frig. And I've found that avocados last much longer in the frig. Be sure to coat leftover avocado with lemon to minimize discoloration. Dinosaur kale which also keeps well has provided a source of crunchy kale chips for snack time. I try to clean and cut in when I bring it in from the store. It keeps well in a plastic bag or large storage container in the frig. Apples, pears and almond butter have served as both a snack and an emergency meal.
Soup has also been a lifesaver this week. I had some black bean soup with lots of veggies in it frozen. Stir fry with a veggie mix from the grocery store and chicken breast already cut into small pieces made for a great quick dinner. I did use a sauce on it with a little sugar just because I was in a hurry. I've made a similar sauce myself without the sugar and it turned out just as good. Once I reconstruct the recipe, I'll publish it here. I'm going to try freezing it in cubes to be able to keep some on hand for a longer period.
My refrigerator is definitely pushing its volume limit right now. Leafy green vegetables take up a lot of room as do containers of soups and leftovers. Keep this in mind if you're in the market for a new refrigerator! You'll find you need less pantry space and more refrigerator space. Hoping to design this in to my upcoming kitchen remodel. If anyone has some good ideas about storing fruit and vegetables outside of the refrigerator, please let me know!
No comments:
Post a Comment