Food • Photography • Life
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.
Today was a good day, food-wise. And I learned a bit about being in the wide world.
Breakfast
I wasn’t hungry when I woke up this morning, and then I worked out. Luckily my DH pushed for me to eat before we left the house for the NY Aquarium.
I made a quick and semi-joyless bowl of 1 cup leftover steamed broccoli from last night, 1/2 cup balsamic grilled eggplant, and 2 eggs sautéed in coconut oil.
At the aquarium there were exactly zero things I could eat. Only about a third of the aquarium is open (the rest is recovering from Hurricane Sandy), and all they had was the bare minimum in snacks.
We then walked the Coney Island Boardwalk. Surprisingly, there were four places I could eat – a grill near Nathan’s had a steak on offer (just can’t eat the fries), two places had salads and somewhere else (enclosed! With AC!) had steak and possibly chicken. Nathan’s had a grilled chicken sandwich – which I could do, minus the bread. So … options.
Something to keep in mind for such excursions: slip a little sealable snack container with a nice vinaigrette in my bag, that way I won’t end up eating a joyless dry salad if I’m out and that’s the only option.
Lunch
1 cup mixed fruit + 1 ounce almonds when we got home.
Dinner
My favorite fallback plan: burgers. Grilled up some grass fed patties, and served with balsamic drizzled caramelized shallots and baked sweet potato fries.
Coney Island Boardwalk & NY Aquarium
I feel like today was full of sweet. Fruit and coconut water made for a sugary day.
Breakfast
In an effort to be even more Whole30 compliant, today’s smoothie had no banana. I liked it – tasted more green.
Whole30 lists smoothies as a ‘we rather you didn’t’ food, instead of banning them outright. While I wholeheartedly agree with that assessment for smoothies from a store and fruity smoothies, I would argue that my breakfast smoothie is just fine. My breakfast smoothie contains loads of green veggies and good fats, and keeps me satisfied until lunch much better than a couple of hardboiled eggs does. And I’ve been drinking this smoothie for over 7 months, so my body gets pissy without its morning fatty vitamin shot.
Whole30’s secondary issue with smoothies (that they are a sugar bomb is the primary issue), is that drinking your food sends different messages to the brain than chewing your food, which leads to a delayed ‘full’ reaction. I get this, I do. And thin fruit smoothies definitely fit this bill. My smoothie is thick – it takes some work to get through the straw – and my body is very conscious of what is going into it because of that. Also, the avocado is fatty – and fills me up until lunch at 12:30.
Tl;dr: While not expressly forbidden, Whole30 says smoothies set your body up for ‘cravings, hunger, and volatile energy levels throughout the day’. For most smoothies, I agree. I argue that my smoothie has enough fat & green leafies in it that it does satiate me until lunch – with no crash.
Lunch
We decided to call it an early day and ordered delivery for from somewhere called Tasty Chicken. The menu consists of chicken (fried, grilled and rotisserie), tons of sandwiches, wraps, ribs, a few salads, fried Mac & cheese, and lots of things smothered in BBQ sauce.
In this long, long menu was buried a few Whole30 approved items. I ordered half a rotisserie chicken with an order of steamed broccoli with garlic.
The chicken was so filling I didn’t even go near the broccoli, and I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture.
Dinner
1 cup of mixed ‘nod to the season’ fruit.
Drink
I wanted something with more taste than the 60+ ounces of water I drink daily, so had half a can of 100% coconut water, and man was it sweet.
Thanks, guys, lots of help with my morning workout there.
I read something enchanting a few weeks ago: grilled bacon. I saw it somewhere, in some recipe header, and the concept lodged in my brain; unwilling to let go.
Grilled bacon, brain said, in the middle of the night. GrilledBacon, it said, in the afternoon. GRILLED BACON, it screamed, while trying to think of what to have for dinner. So I tried grilling bacon. And … ???? It was just like pan-fried bacon, only more burnt. Still fantabulous, mind you, since I happen to *like* bacon that’s been on fire – but not the best use of my bacony buck. Maybe I should have read the recipe afterall.
Summer On A Plate – Bacon, Tomato & Peach Salad (paleo, Whole30*)
2 strips bacon (check your source for Whole30!)
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
1 Saturn peach (or any variety, I just so happen to be addicted to the Saturn variety from Trader Joe’s)
3 leaves basil
Citrus salt
Balsamic vinegar (the best quality, thickest you can find)
Crisp your bacon however you see fit, drain on paper towels and chop. Chiffonade the basil, slice the cherry tomatoes in half, and the peaches in thin slices. Combine all and drizzle with balsamic. Finish off with some nice citrus salt.
Serves 1 as a side for dinner or lunch. Easily scaleable to feed more.
*This recipe can be made Whole30 compliant. Bacon isn’t completely verboten, just mostly. According to the Whole30 edict, bacon that is made with no added sugar is clear, which you’re most likely not going to find in the regular grocery store. US Wellness Meats sells Whole30 approved bacon, and your local natural food store, butcher or farmers would be a good place to look as well.
The city demands it.
Breakfast
DH’s green smoothie ftw – made with coconut oil today instead of avocado. Yum.
Lunch
Roasted balsamic eggplant with sauteed zucchini and shallots in coconut oil + 2 eggs fried in coconut oil
Dinner
Friday ‘date night’. Went out to Thistle Hill Tavern and had a 16 ounce pork chop with onions + half an order of deviled eggs, which I’m hoping were compliant. And unsweetened tea to drink.
Snack
1/2 cup mixed fresh fruit – pineapple, melon, grapes, strawberries
Day 1 of this Whole30 business was pretty easy. I’ve been prepping myself for this crazypants excursion for a solid month now (getting mentally ready by saying ‘goodbye for now’ to alcohol, non-dairy ice cream and rooster sauce) so today wasn’t too rough.
Breakfast
My DH’s green smoothie. Luckily, the brand of orange juice we use is 100% juice (not from concentrate with no additives) and the coconut water we use is 100% coconut (no additives).
Lunch
I made a salad of 1.5 cups shredded carrot, 1 sliced scallion, 1 sliced nectarine, 6 cherry tomatoes, 1 Tbsp. diced mint, 1 Tbsp. diced cilantro, 1 small breast leftover Baked Mustard Lime Chicken + a quick dressing made from some of the chicken sauce and 1 Tbsp. grapeseed oil.
Snack
Had a 100 calorie pack of plain almonds by Emerald.
Dinner
Made a simple sautee of sea beans in coconut oil, garlic & shallots and baked some boneless skinless chicken thighs with more coconut oil, garlic and shallots. A simple meal, but a good one.
How did it get to be August already?
Gastography 