Food • Photography • Life
Week 3 of the ‘Weekly Dozen’ challenge. The gist is to share your 12 favorite pics per week – in an effort to make one more mindful about taking and using the camera daily.
Most of these pics were taken while meandering around the Lower East Side / Little Italy / Soho / Greenwich Village this Saturday.
Today started out rocky. The place we went for brunch switched menus last night and had not a single dish I could order strictly off the menu. (and I was all excited about the two dishes I wanted to try)
But I rolled with it, had a great breakfast, and kept the goodness going for the rest of the day.
Breakfast
2 fried eggs, salad with vinaigrette and half an avocado.
Lunch
Coffee with coconut milk – my new love
Dinner
Got to go to my favorite clean foods restaurant – Hu Kitchen. It’s kind of like paleo Shangri-la.
Had the grain free grass fed/grass finished meatballs with tomato sauce and broccoli & kale with cashew cream sauce. Delicious and I’m already craving more meatballs.
This weekend business isn’t as all-fired scary and frustrating as I was making it out to be in my head. Whole30 takes a little more thought than just ordering what looks good, but it is certainly doable – especially if you stick to an “American” restaurant. I really wanted a Bloody Mary or other cocktail with lunch, but you know what? It’s only a month of my life – and we can always go back.
Breakfast
You guessed it … DH’s green smoothie, minus the banana.
Lunch
Stopped at a bar/pub specializing in local brews and quality food and had a grass fed burger (no bun, no cheese, no chipotle mayo) for lunch with a side field greens salad (subbed for the fries). Delicious and easy.
Snack
Energy flagging, we hit up Starbucks for a caffeine jolt and a seat. I had black iced coffee & then stopped at a bodega for some coconut water to add to it to cut the oppressiveness. Yum.
Later in the afternoon, I had to pee with no public bathrooms in sight – hit up another coffee shop for some unsweetened black tea.
Dinner
Stopped at my favorite market for house made take-and-eat dishes – Westside Market. Grabbed a grilled lemon chicken breast, some steamed asparagus, and roast mushrooms to eat at home. Easy and delicious.
I had a craving. Well, two cravings. I wanted my old best friend comfort food – eggs and hashed browns – and a new friend – Thai laarb (a spicy, deeply flavored crispy pork dish). This version of the standby hash is kicked-up in the nutrition department, features bunches of crumbly crispy pork, and uses up everyone’s favorite summer menace staple, zucchini.
Sweet Potato & Zucchini Hash with Pork (paleo, Whole30)
1 pound ground pork
2 tsp. coconut oil
2 tsp. sea salt + more to taste
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. granulated garlic
1 Tbsp. onion powder
2 tsp. ground chipotle
1 large sweet potato
1 medium zucchini
1 small onion
2 eggs per person
fat of choice for the eggs
Whole30 approved sriracha
Black pepper
Heat the coconut oil over medium high and add the pork. Break up with a spoon into the smallest pieces possible and add the spices and salt, stirring after each addition. Sautee until deeply browned and crispy and remove to a bowl (reserving the fat).
While the pork is cooking, grate the sweet potatoes, zucchini and onion. Add to the pan with the reserved pork fat when the pork is resting comfortably. Cook, stirring occasionally, until everything is soft and the sweet potato is beginning to brown in spots. Salt and pepper to taste.
In a separate pan, fry the eggs in a fat of your choice until your desired doneness is reached. Salt and pepper to taste.
Serve topped with sriracha (I used 2 tsp. per serving)
Serves 2 for dinner + 1 for lunch (with 5-6 eggs)
Today was good. We ate out for dinner, and a few simple swaps made it easy finding something tasty to eat.
Breakfast
You guessed it … DH’s green smoothie, minus the banana.
Lunch
I ate something sorta different than the salad I’ve been obsessed with over the past two days – a sautéed watermelon/roast chicken/pecan/scallion/cherry tomato salad with Whole30 sriracha lime vinaigrette. Yeah, you heard me – sautéed watermelon. It was good, though I’m not sure the heat did much.
Dinner
We made dinner easy on ourselves and went to Bareburger. Bareburger serves all grass fed meats (plus game/exotic meat!!) & organic produce and has a bunch of easy paleo/gluten free options (gluten free buns and lettuce wraps are standard menu items).
I had a Mexican salad (arugula, roasted red pepper, red onion, avocado and cherry tomatoes with cilantro lime vinaigrette) and added a beef burger patty. The only subs needed were to drop the jack cheese & kale tortillas). Dinner was delicious and satisfying.
And for when Whole30 is over – Bareburger now has sweet potato fries (they are fried in vegetable oil – a no-go on Whole30) and they look fantastic. Plus one of my favorite organic ciders.
Snack
1 ounce plain unsalted almonds.
Breakfast
DH’s green smoothie, no banana
Lunch
Repeat sautéed peach & chicken salad with cherry tomatoes and sriracha lime vinaigrette from yesterday + mint, basil, scallion and pecans
Dinner
A ragu of zucchini, leek, burst cherry tomatoes, tomato paste, fish sauce, roast pork and butter. Delicious.
Today wasn’t bad. Lunch was delectable, dinner’s aroma was heavenly, and I had some really great chicken. Not much to complain about – or miss – here.
Breakfast
DH’s green smoothie, minus banana
Lunch
Was fantastic. Pre-cooked cheater roast chicken breast from Trader Joe’s (ingredients: chicken, water, sea salt, olive oil, black pepper) sauteed in a splash of pork fat with a chopped peach until golden with a generous amount of cherry tomatoes and Whole30 sriracha/lime/grapeseed oil dressing. So delicious I inhaled it. And I might have to repeat for tomorrow. Is it lunch time yet?
Dinner
Has been making me insane all day. This is a long-cook (either crock pot or in the oven for 3 hours) and I’ve been smelling it all day during work. Needless to say, the anticipation was heavy for this dish.
I served the pork over a bowl of broccoli slaw & mango with more sriracha/lime/grapeseed vinaigrette.
Today was pretty easy. I had leftovers that needed photographing for a recipe post so lunch was a no-brainer. Even though I feel vegetable-light for today’s meals, I know they really weren’t – breakfast had loads of green leafies, lunch had nutrient-dense sweet potato, and dinner had a whopping huge serving of cauliflower. I guess it’s the brown-ness of lunch and the lack of green in dinner causing the mental deficit.
On a side note, I’m in love with the Whole30 sriracha from Nom Nom Paleo. This stuff is awesome – a nice heat, good fresh bright taste from the jalapenos – and just a bit something extra. Chicken sauce is good and all, but this stuff is also pretty awesome.
Breakfast
DH’s green smoothie, minus banana
Lunch
Leftovers from last night – sweet potato, zucchini & onion hash with spiced ground pork & fried egg
Dinner
Grass fed steak with roasted garlic cauliflower mashed ‘potatoes’
Today was good. Food was easy and no real cravings for anything other than avocado.
Breakfast
DH’s green smoothie, minus banana. Tasty. Photo: recycled.
Lunch
I made a summer salad of watermelon, basil, grape tomato, roasted beet and avocado with balsamic vinegar drizzle & a sprinkle of citrus salt. Yum.
Snack
I was hoping the avocado would fill me up in place of protein, but it did not. Had 1 ounce plain almonds to snack on at about 2:30.
Dinner
Dinner was a bowl of deeply flavored pork sautéed until crispy with a hash of sweet potato, onion and zucchini topped with fried egg. And Whole30 compliant sriracha, which was awesome. Good and hearty and perfect for after a workout that left my arms and shoulders screaming. Recipe to come.
Week 2 of the ‘Weekly Dozen’ challenge. The gist is to share your 12 favorite pics per week – in an effort to make one more mindful about taking and using the camera daily.
Totally unsurprising – again – this week’s pics were mostly taken over the weekend.
Gastography 