Wave One, Day Two

Oh my god, I am so fucking hungry. Yeah, that was my dinner, and yeah, it wasn't so little, really, but man, I am hungry. And you know, it was a damn tasty dinner. I even had my favorite Sonoma Diet wrap recipe--steak and blue cheese-- for lunch. Yum!

But you know what I didn't have? Anything off the table of cupcakes and pink macarons and enormous cookies at the lecture I went to today at work. Yes, today I went to a meeting with fucking giant pink macarons. How often do you think that happens to me? NEVER. I have not once, until today, gone to a meeting with macarons. Is there justice in this world?*

Alas, I used my willpower. And then I used my willpower to go to the gym and run three miles. And then I came home and made dinner, though not without snarking at Bill. Let it be known that I get a little bit cranky when hungry. And I'm still fucking hungry, and I've eaten my fucking cucumber, so there will be no more snacks for me this evening. All I can look forward to is a cup of sleepytime tea. :(

*Rhetorical question. There is obviously no justice in this world (the macaron incident is just the tip of the iceberg!).

Wave One, Day One

Well, I have nearly survived day one of wave one. Above, you'll see pictured my dinner this evening-- marinated flank steak (actually, London broil), and broccoli with goat cheese and roasted red peppers. Yum!

Granted, my dinner took up about half a salad plate, and it took me... oh, about 30 seconds to eat... and sure, I'm still a little hungry. But hey, I still have 28 peanuts to eat!!! I bet you are jealous.

And back to you, Sonoma Diet.

Ahh, internet, I must report to you my failures. My 20 lbs of failure. OK, or maybe just 15. Yes, let's say Fifteen lbs of failure, for the sake of alliteration.

Yes, internet, in the past two years I have gained about 15 lbs. Or 17. Or 20. Yes, that does mean that I have successfully kept off almost 20 pounds since my pre-Sonoma Diet high, so, in that sense, success!

But at this particular juncture, I cannot fit into my favorite jeans. They fit me throughout graduate school, when I was 5-10 lbs heavier than I was in November 2009. Alas, with May's thyroidectomy, the fall's round-the-clock work schedule, and the resulting 10 lbs, I was forced to retire several pairs of pants.

This is unacceptable. Especially as my wedding approaches-- it is now less than six months away.

So, the Sonoma Diet must begin again. And not some half-assed Sonoma Diet flirtation, no, it is time for a full-blown Sonoma Diet affair.

And thus, tomorrow, Wave One begins. Ten days of healthy eating-- with no booze. And no fruit. And, oh my god, no wine.

I can, however, do it. I've made my meal plan, picking and choosing my favorite and/or most convenient meals from Wave One, and frankly, it looks delicious, if rather spare.

Below, the meal plan:

Day One: Monday

B:     2 scrambled eggs w/ 1 slice toast

L:     Chicken and Black Bean Wrap    

        Spinach Salad

D:    Marinated flank steak

        Sauteed Broccoli w/ roasted peppers and goat cheese

S:     ½ cup tomatoes

        28 peanuts

Day Two: Tuesday

B:     2 scrambled eggs w/ 1 slice toast

L:     Steak and Blue Cheese Wrap

D:    Mediterranean Pork Chops

        Broccoli with Almonds and Hot Pepper

        Toasted Quinoa Pilaf

S:    1 cucumber, sliced

        ½ cup raw bell pepper strips

Day Three: Wednesday

B:     2 scrambled eggs w/ 1 slice toast

L:     Chicken and Black Bean Wrap   

        Spinach Salad

D:    Tandoori Chicken

        Roasted Eggplant Salad

S:     14 peanuts

        cucumber slices w/ Laughing Cow light

Day Four: Thursday

B:     Whole grain cereal w/ fat-free milk

L:     Chicken and Black Bean Wrap   

        Spinach Salad

D:    Marinated flank steak

        Sauteed Broccoli w/ roasted peppers and goat cheese

S:    ½ cup tomatoes

       28 peanuts

Day Five: Friday

B:     2 scrambled eggs w/ 1 slice toast

L:     Steak and Blue Cheese Wrap

D:    Mediterranean Pork Chops

        Broccoli with Almonds and Hot Pepper

        Toasted Quinoa Pilaf

S:     1 cucumber, slided

         ½ cup raw bell pepper strips

Day Six: Saturday

B:     Whole grain cereal w/ fat-free milk

L:     Steak and Blue Cheese Wrap

D:    Mediterranean Pork Chops

        Broccoli with Almonds and Hot Pepper

        Toasted Quinoa Pilaf

S:     1 cucumber, slided

         ½ cup raw bell pepper strips

Day Seven: Saturday

B:     Whole grain cereal w/ fat-free milk

L:     Grilled Asparagus Salad

        7 Kashi crackers

D:    Beef and Mushroom Kabobs

        Spinach Salad

S:    1 Laughing Cow Babybel

        1 cup raw bell pepper strips

Day Eight: Sunday

B:     Spanish Eggs

L:     Mediterranean Tabbouleh Salad w/ Chicken

D:    Easy Balsamic Chicken

        Sauteed Broccoli w/ roasted peppers and goat cheese

S:     11 almonds

        cucumber slices w/ Laughing Cow Babybel

Day Nine: Monday

B:     Spanish Eggs

L:     Mediterranean Tabbouleh Salad w/ Chicken

D:    Sicilian Tuna Steak

        Spinach Salad

S:     ½ cup tomatoes   

         1 cucumber

Day Ten: Tuesday

B:     Cereal

L:     Birthday lunch at work-- but I promise to order a salad.

D:    Mediterranean Pork Chops

        Broccoli with Almonds and Hot Pepper

        Toasted Quinoa Pilaf

S:     1 cucumber, sliced

        ½ cup raw bell pepper strips

(B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner, S=Snack).

(How nice is it for me to provide all of those links to you??)

Freezing Frenzy

So, I am now working two jobs, editor by day and English instructor by night.

Which leaves few evenings home to cook. And I hate buying lunch, though I love going out to eat.

Anyway, I bravely ordered myself a CSA box from the South Central Farmers' Cooperative.

Which contained:

That would be: 4 zucchini, 2 yellow squash, some kind of round summer squash, a pint of cherry tomatoes, 3 other tomatoes, 4 green peppers, a million chili peppers (note: the yellow ones are hot as hell), 2 cucumbers, 1 bunch Tuscan kale, 1 bunch regular kale, Chinese long beans, 1 bunch basil, 1 bunch cilantro, a passel of okra, a watermelon. For $20. I know. Amazing.


Anyway, I picked this box up on Saturday. And on Sunday, for lunch, we had a salad with the cherry tomatoes and the cucumbers, and some spinach we already had.

And then I made:
Self's Vegetable Lasagna, sort of. I couldn't find whole wheat lasagna noodles so I used whole wheat orecchiette and made a casserole. It was delicious, and I used one of each squash, as well as two peppers and some basil. Bill, a squash hater, loved it. And I packed up the remainder into four for-a-later-date portions, two for the freezer, two for the fridge.
     And then, for lunches/freezing, 101 Cookbook's Buttermilk Summer Squash Soup. I unloaded one more of each squash, as well as a chili pepper. I ended up with seven servings (4 of which I froze, 3 in the fridge for lunch this week), one of which I ate today (delicious!), alongside another spinach/tomato/cucumber salad.
     And then, I made a loaf of zucchini bread. And that was the end of the squash. And thanks to Bill's hearty appetite, the bread has barely survived the first twenty-four hours.  
    And then tonight, I made a stirfry with a pork chop, some long beans, two green peppers, a chili pepper, cilantro, and some other stuff I already had (broccoli, carrots, garlic, ginger). One leftover serving, in the fridge for lunch tomorrow.
     And then! I made this Spicy Kale and Chickpea Stew from Gourmet. One serving in the fridge, five in the freezer (I halved it). Used up both kinds of kale and the remaining green peppers. And of course, I added a chili pepper.

That leaves me with some more cucumber, a million chili peppers (which I figure I'll be throwing into everything from here to eternity, including perhaps the freezer), a watermelon (which I'll cut up for my lunches this week), some cilantro and basil (I'm thinking a pesto, or maybe an herbaceous hummus), and some long beans I'll be eating later in the week. And OK, I unloaded the okra at work, because I'm afraid of its slime.

I have 11 meals in the freezer, and enough in the fridge to get Bill and I through the week! If everything coming out of the freezer tastes as good as it did when it went in, I'll be a happy, happy girl.

Broccoli Pesto Quinoa

I am pretty smitten with 101 Cookbooks. Mostly, though, I follow her baking recipes, because let me tell you, there is not a single site better for natural, whole grain baking. Heidi Swanson, I love your baked goods.

Anyway, so the other day, I decided to make her Double Broccoli Quinoa. I didn't have any cream,  I used pecorino romano instead of parmesan, and I don't really measure except when baking, but I have to say, her broccoli pesto is one of the best things I've made in ages, and is something I'm sure I'll be eating a lot of.

So, here's what I did:
2 medium garlic cloves
1/4 cup toasted almonds
1 thumb-sized rectangle of pecorino romano
pinch of salt
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 T olive oil
2 T nonfat Greek yogurt
1.5 cups steamed broccoli

Throw the garlic, the almonds, and the cheese in the food processor until they are finely ground. Then put the rest of it in the food processor. Process until pesto-y. It'll be a bit thicker than basil pesto.

Anyway, I tossed this shizz with more steamed broccoli and cooked quinoa, and it was amazing. Amazeballs, if you want. I think the pesto would need to be thinner if you were using it with pasta, but with quinoa, it was perfect. Even if my picture is less than awesome.

Produce galore!

Eek. I went on an insane produce-buying spree on Tuesday at the farmers market and Wednesday at Sprouts, neglecting to recall that I have multiple social events over meal-times over the next few days.

I have:
Roma tomatoes
Grape tomatoes
Radishes
Cilantro
Arugula
4 ears of corn
Many, many bing cherries
2 avocadoes
FIVE mother-effing green peppers. What oh what was I thinking?
1 yellow pepper
A bazillion cucumbers
Green beans
Onions
2 white peaches
Apples
Bananas
Two zucchini
Some chilis
Half a bag of baby carrots
Tangelos
Lemons
Limes
Green onions

So much bounty!

I have some plans for the eating. But oh, lord, I must be diligent because there is truly nothing I hate more than food waste. I actually can't think of the last time I threw something out because it had gone bad or spoiled, so diligent am I about using stuff up. But this will be a challenge.

So, today I made a salad with cherries, a peach, a lemon, quinoa, and some arugula. Post to come.

Tonight, Bill and I are going to a friend's for Japanese food and I will make a Japanese cucumber salad (with a mixture of Japanese and Persian cucumbers-- incidentally, that's a baby blend I haven't seen that I think would be gorgeous).

Tomorrow, I will go to a baby shower where I don't know the host and thus won't bring anything. Also the mama doesn't like cherries (wtf?) and that is the food item I most need to foist off on other people. Because I bought four pounds. Whoops.

I also have plans to make some stuffed green peppers, because I also have some ground turkey (which was not in the recall) to use up. I've never made stuffed peppers and Bill doesn't think he likes them, but with five green peppers, it seems like the best option. That will use some carrot and tomatoes, too.

Some of the corn, tomato, green onions, chili peppers, and cilantro, one avocado, and all of the radishes will be turned into a quinoa salad.

And I will make zucchini bread soon.

That leaves: corn, arugula, green onions, chili peppers, cilantro, green beans, bell peppers, onions, and cherries that need to be assembled into meals. The remaining fruit I can snack on, and same goes for the remaining tomatoes. Suggestions?

Boring Orzo Salad

Well, Bill liked it. And I didn't hate it.

But, it wasn't awesome. And the ingredients were awesome-- a bunch of veggies (arugula, tomatoes, bell pepper, herbs), straight from the farmers market or my balcony garden, plus baked chicken and goat cheese. It even looked good.

Chicken-Orzo Salad from Cooking Light. I used whole wheat orzo and baked the chicken.

But it was boring. Sigh. As amazing as goat cheese is, I think there's something about combining it with whole wheat pasta that always disappoints. I wish I could articulate exactly what the problem is, but it's just never as good as I want it to be.  Here, the sum of the ingredients were less than its parts.

Steak and lettuce is still a salad, right?

Totally.  This is a "Thai Beef Salad" and it is pretty good. I followed the Food Network recipe more or less exactly. I will say that lettuce, herbs, and beef does not make for a particularly filling salad; if I make this again, I'll add cucumbers, bell peppers, and some other stuff. As it stands, I'm about two-thirds an episode of the increasingly abysmal Weeds from making a ginormous bowl of popcorn. But let's be real, folks, I'd be making popcorn this evening regardless of what I ate for dinner.

Anyway, check out the perfectly cooked steak, thanks to Bill's new manly grill skills. 

More summer salads!

So I spent the last week hanging out with my mom while she got her knee replaced, and then started recuperating. As a result, I followed the fried and meat diet, based on what was edible in the hospital cafeteria. Don't worry, I would pick up a few leaves of spinach from their paltry salad bar to accompany my chicken fingers and waffle fries...

Anyway, I am back in LA and while Bill and I did some celebrating this afternoon with some truly delicious all-you-can-eat Brazilian pizza at Bella Vista, well, it's time to get back on the vegetable wagon.

So, this afternoon I hit my local farmers market.

And for dinner, I chopped up some fresh-from-the-farmers veggies. Two of which were "bargains"-- the radishes were thrown in for a quarter on top of a 75 cent bunch of cilantro, and two cucumbers were thrown in for a quarter on top of a whole passel of cucumbers I was buying. Is there a quarter shortage in this country?

Anyway, I made this cucumber, tomato, and radish salad from epicurious. It looked like this.

Salad news

So, I have been eating more salads lately-- fear not, internet.

Yesterday for lunch I concocted a delightful quinoa, nectarine, arugula, and feta salad. I sadly took no picture, but I'm sure you can imagine what these four ingredients looked like in a bowl.

No, the real reason I am posting is to share an article I just read. Which gives an overview of the work of some researchers who have discovered that, in fact, counting calories has little to do with weight loss and instead, that what you eat is most important.

And surprise, what you eat should be mostly plants. Fruits, veggies, whole grains. Shocking, I know. Here's their list of what to eat.

Oh, and? Eating full fat dairy has little effect on weight. So, cheese, come to mama. 

Anyway, my favorite bits of news are the ones that validate my own lifestyle choices, so I figured I'd share. And, world, please stop eating Lean Cuisines. They break my heart.

From: NYTimes Personal Health-- Personal Health: Still Counting Calories? Your Weight-Loss Plan May Be Outdated & Choose Foods to Shed the Pounds

Post-salad week salads

I'm eating this RIGHT NOW. Even though I have no love for the radish (but no hate either), it is quite delicious.

And for the past two lunches, my trusty southwestern-y quinoa salad, with veggies, black beans, cilantro, lime, and blackened corn.

I have also made a raw kale salad and it was actually quite tasty. I did not take a picture, but then, the pictures on 101 cookbooks are better than mine would be, anyway. I recommend.

And a tomato/mozzarella/roasted peppers/cannellini bean pasta sald, which was only marginally healthy, given the abundance of so delicious mozzarella.

Salad week, day 7

Eek. I forgot all about updating the internet on my salad-eating yesterday.

Well, I had eggs for breakfast.

Then another steak salad for lunch with the leftover steak from the day before. This one had roasted peppers, arugula, tomato, red onion, mozzarella, and a homemade red wine vinaigrette.

Dinner was lettuce, grape tomatoes, baked chicken, cucumber, pine nuts, feta. And I forgot to take a picture. Sorry, universe.

So, yesterday theoretically ends salad week, but in practice, I think it'll go on for a while longer. First of all, I missed four salad meals during this past week. So I feel like I need to keep going as a matter of principle.

And also, salad is delicious!

Salad week, day 6

Lunch today was a truly delicious steak & arugula salad from the dearly departed Gourmet via Epicurious. In an unusual spin, I followed the recipe exactly.

And it was quite tasty. Tangy from the reduced vinegars and the arugula.

Alas, that was my only salad today, because this evening we celebrated my friend Melanie's birthday with some Brazilian food and ice cream and beer.

Salad week, day 5

Much more successful today, though I did have some cheese and crackers thanks to my friend the Book Glutton...

Jumped straight into lunch today with a big quinoa salad with green cabbage, black bean, tomato, cilantro, cucumber, lime, avocado.

Then, a snack of Bittman's #38, except... tragedy struck! Green mold found its way into my kalamata olive stash, so I had to go without. I was terribly excited to try this salad of watermelon, olives, red onion, feta, mint, & lemon juice. And it was delicious, even without the olives. But my goodness, the watermelon feta combo is amazing and I bet olives would just bring it to a whole new level.

And then, for dinner, Bittman's #21-- avocado, cucumber, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar. I added some of the soy & sesame marinated chicken leftover from day three's "Chinese" chicken salad. It was truly out of this world. So much yum.

Salad week, day 4

Day four, hump day I suppose.

And what does one do on hump day? Hump? No, silly, drink.

And that is what I did for most of the day (hence the 4:30 AM post).

Alas, few salads were eaten. Just the morning quinoa leftovers, followed by a chopped-up nectarine tossed with blueberries and yogurt.

And then, lunch out (BLAT on wheat, sweet potato fries), with all-you-can-drink champagne (and I pushed myself, hard). Then chatting and drinking another bottle of wine and watching Girls Just Want to Have Fun, a childhood favorite now on Netflix Instant). Then ordering a pizza and more chatting and more wine.

Then crashing hard at midnight. And then waking up at 3:45.

Salad week, day 3

Today I got up and ran, both before breakfast and before it got too hot for physical exertion.

Then I came home and immediately wolfed down a nectarine.

And then I scrambled myself some eggs with tomato, onion, a little pecorino romano cheese, a habenero hot sauce, and yes, a handful of crushed corn chips. My attempt to approximate something weird people eat in Texas called "Migas" and also get through the bag of tortilla chips before they go stale. Not a salad, I know, but it was delicious and there were vegetables.

For lunch, leftover quinoa salad from the day before. It is, if I do say, delicious. And will be delicious when I eat even more of it for breakfast tomorrow.  More on that tomorrow.

For dinner, a salad of my own creation, loosely based on several recipes for Chinese/Asian/Oriental Chicken Salad.

For this, I baked chicken tenders brushed with sesame oil and soy sauce, and tossed with green cabbage, leaf lettuce, shredded carrots and radishes, mango, cucumber, and dressed with: a small thumb's worth of ginger, two garlic cloves, several pinches of sesame seeds, a small scoop of chili garlic sauce, a small shake of sesame oil, and a large shake each of soy sauce, safflower oil, and rice vinegar.

As for snacking, well, I had the last of the black apricots of betrayal, and a bowl of blueberries and chopped up strawberries, tossed with a scoop of fat-free, plain yogurt.  And you can bet that later this evening, I will fix myself a bowl of popcorn, because I've just sat myself down for some True Blood with my true love. D'awww.

Salad week, day two

Today was a bit trickier. I had to go over to my friend Wendy's and drink some wine and sangria and eat some empanadas and sweet potato taquitos and pie.

Still, I ate a lot of salad.

Kashi for breakfast. A couple of black apricots, which are just fuzzy mini plums, and thus a hoax. Plums are the lemons of the stone fruit world, which is to say they are not versatile and amazing like real lemons, but instead are like metaphoric lemons that cars can sometimes be. Anyway, back to salad.

Leftover cucumber salad from yesterday for morning snack.

For lunch, this salad:

Bittman's #25-- tomatoes, corn chips, peppers, chili, onion, cilantro, lime. Good, but not great. Corn chips added nothing, but then, we have a lot leftover so it was good to use them.  It was, however, filling.

I brought this to Wendy's. My own creation. Quinoa, cucumbers, peppers, chili, mango, corn, black bean, tomatoes, cilantro, onion, lime. Nom.

 

Salad week, day one

Salad # 1: Slightly modified Bittman's #20: Shred cabbage (I used green. Napa would have been better) and radishes. The dressing is roasted peanuts, lime juice, safflower oil, cilantro, an unseeded serrano chili and a couple of shakes salt and chili flakes, all whizzed in a blender.

Salad #2: This one is scaled down from here: halved grape tomatoes, cannellini beans, basil, lemon zest, salt, olive oil.

Salad #3: Adapted from epicurious. Cucumber (salted and drained), red onion, unseeded serrano, two garlic cloves, mint, lime juice, nam pla, rice vinegar, a little sugar.

Salad #4: My Sonoma Diet Standby-- Beans with Greens and Artichoke Hearts

Other things I ate today: a bowl of Kashi GoLean Crunch with skim milk, a handful of roasted, salted almonds, a slightly under-ripe black apricot, some strawberries, a glass of white wine, and you can bet your sweet ass I'll be making some popcorn this evening-- the first disc of True Blood arrived today.

You might wonder why I ate 4 salads today. Well, salad #1 was leftover from dinner last night, and I wolfed that down after I got home from yoga at 11:30. Then, an hour later, I made salad # 2. Then around 3, I made Salad #3 as a snack. I ate about half, and will eat the other half tomorrow. Then, finally, the dinner salad, #4, which Bill and I ate around 6. So you see, perfectly reasonable.

Sorry for the shitty photos. I'll try harder tomorrow.

Salad week shop #1

$27 for all this locally grown, mostly organic bounty. 6 limes, one bunch each of: kale, cilantro, mint, lettuce, radishes. Also, 3 gigantic cucumbers (should I be afraid?), 1 cabbage, 3 lbs of grape tomatoes, 5 avocados, 3 ears of corn, and 2 pretzel rolls (to be consumed at tonight's dinner-- don't worry). I'm a little surprised I somehow ended up buying no fruit, but then, the Sonoma Diet doesn't allow it on Wave One, so maybe that's for the best.

Salad week begins tomorrow!

And now I am collating some recipes.

I will definitely make my two Sonoma Diet standbys:

• Greens with Beans and Artichoke Heats (mixed greens, 3 oz chicken, 2 canned artichoke hearts, 1/8 cup cannelloni beans, 1 tablespoon goat cheese, 1/2 tablespoon toasted pine nuts, Italian parsley, red wine vinaigrette. Yum!) 
• Sonoma Salad with Tomatoes and Feta

I will hit Mark Bittman's 101 salads list hard:

• I am making #3 now, to use up a cucumber: "A nice cucumber salad: Slice cucumbers thin (if they’re fat and old, peel and seed them first), toss with red onions and salt, then let sit for 20 to 60 minutes. Rinse, dry, dress with cider vinegar mixed with Dijon mustard; no oil necessary."
• I will definitely make (err, probably not all of these in one week...):
• #7 & #14 (basically, carrots)
• #8 (radishes, mango, lime, cilantro & mint)
• #15 (an intriguing tomato/soy sauce combo)
• #20 (a peanut-y Asian-style slaw)
• #21 (cucumbers, avocado, soy/mirin/vinegar)
• #25 (bell peppers, tomato, onion, chilies & tortilla chips)
• #38 (watermelon, feta, mint, olives)
• #39 (corn, chili, lime, tomatoes)
• #41 (avocado, black bean, cheese, tomatillos)  
• #54 (roasted peppers, mozzarella, white bean)
• #56 (salade niçoise)
• #74 (bell peppers, sausage)
• #79 (steak, kale, olives)
• #95 (quinoa, fruit, onions)
• #97 (barley, grapes)
• #98 (bulgur, tomatoes, chickpeas)
• #99 (quinoa, apricots, cherries)

 I will also make my own favorite quinoa salad: quinoa, black beans, onion, peppers, roasted corn, cilantro, lime.

Suggestions? I am very excited to go to the farmers market in a few hours to load up on some components.