The challenge continues...
Day 3
Breakfast: Broccoli & Scallion Frittata
Snack: Apple & Almonds
Lunch: Roasted Vegetables with Shredded Chicken, Parsley & Lemon
Dinner: Pan-Roasted Salmon with Garlic, Swiss Chard & Cauliflower “Rice”
Snack: Almond Milk Hot Chocolate
These silly people thought I would be getting up early enough to make a frittata before going to work! Hahaha! Not happening. I whipped up this colorful breakfast the night before, making my bed to work time frame as small as possible! Luckily I am a fan of broccoli; this was delicious!
Lunch was a tad heavy on the onions. The roasted red onions were soft and sweet, but the raw scallions had quite a bite to them. Sympathies to anyone who needed to talk to me the rest of the afternoon; my breath was fierce! This is my first experience with fennel. It definitely has that licorice taste people talk about. I would give it another go but probably if it was cut into smaller pieces and incorporated with other ingredients more. This lunch was more of pieces of food together in a bowl that you eat separately. The chicken and asparagus were my favorite parts. I picked at this bowl over the course of a few hours. No one should eat that much potent flavored foods in a rush!
Probably because I did not eat my entire lunch--I just couldn’t chomp on another onion--I was hungry by mid-afternoon. I nibbled on my almonds and watched the clock tick by. I sliced my apple and ate it. The clock continued to slowly move forward, my stomach growled. I ate more onions. Bleh.
Salmon! I LOVE Salmon! I was very excited about dinner and it did not disappoint. Garlic, salmon, cauliflower rice, swiss chard. Delicious! I did not eat all of the “rice” and greens but tucked it away for later in case hunger strikes.
Honest moment: I cheated. I did not make the hot chocolate. I don’t like liquid chocolate in the colder months much less summer time. I opted out of the almond milk altogether and savored the chocolate by itself instead :)
Thoughts: Breakfast was great. Lunch was gross. Snack was fine. Dinner was awesome. There was less kitchen time in the evening which was nice.
Day 4
Breakfast: Chocolate, Spinach, Banana & Almond Milk Smoothie
Snack: Cucumber & Hummus
Lunch: Broccoli & Scallion Frittata with Grapefruit
Dinner: Salsa Verde Chicken with Roasted Leeks, Radishes & Carrots
Snack: Mango Sorbet with shredded Coconut
I made my smoothie the night before because the thought of that loud noise first thing in the morning was not appealing. For my first ever smoothie, it was not awful. Tolerable for sure. The banana flavor came through a lot and then the almond butter. I would make a smoothie again but maybe toss some berries in for sweetness? For fun I used my thermos!
The re-heated frittata for lunch was yummy but I knew ahead of time that it wouldn’t be enough. After googling “how to make grapefruit less bitter” I took the world wide web’s advice and sprinkled a teeny tiny bit of salt on top. It helped a little I guess but I will not be buying anymore of that devil fruit. I zapped my leftovers from dinner last night. Every time I eat the cauliflower “rice” I fall more in love with it!
Cucumber and hummus was fine. Nothing exciting there. The afternoon sugar/chocolate cravings are strong. My will has not broken yet, but it has been tested.
Fixing dinner was easy enough. I already roast vegetables frequently, including carrots and radishes, however, the leeks were a new addition to my plate. I feel like a little kid saying this, but buying carrots that weren't all the traditional orange was exciting and made my place even more colorful! Finally finished up the chicken from Sunday. I have plans for making something like that again in the future, it was just so easy!
It wouldn’t be an evening in the kitchen for me if improvising wasn’t required. I failed to follow the instructions earlier in the week with regards to freezing the mango and banana for the sorbet. I mean, I froze them, but not peeled. It is next to impossible to peel a rock solid mango. Lesson learned. Luckily I happened to have a bag of frozen organic mango, banana and strawberries on hand!!! So I tossed those in the food processor and out came a smooth, creamy frozen fruity treat! If you love tropical flavor sorbets, then this is the route to go for a low calorie, no sugar added option. I ate it, but I wanted chocolate.
Thoughts: Mid-afternoon chocolate cravings are going to be the death of me. I am holding strong, but I’m getting feisty.
Day 5
Breakfast: Chia Pudding with Blackberries, Coconut Pistachios
Snack: Pear & Almond Butter
Lunch: Roasted Spring Vegetable Salad
Dinner: Spaghetti Squash with Spinach, Parmesan & a Fried Egg
Snack: Banana, Coconut, Chocolate Popsicle
I could get behind this chia pudding thing but I would really like a pinch of sugar or dollop of honey to sweeten it up a bit.
Lunch time couldn’t get here soon enough. I have felt super hungry the past two days. The lime/olive oil dressing wasn’t too bad so I tossed everything together and chomped away. My chickpeas weren’t very crispy anymore.
Almond butter with a sliced pear was okay. I would have liked a crispier pear--made me crave an Asian pear like the ones from the farm in Natural Bridge back home! I have concluded that almond butter tastes like a knockoff version of peanut butter. It is trying to be the goodness of pulverised peanuts but alas, it is only smooshed almonds. It is much more liquidier than peanut butter too. My taste bud jury is still out on this one.
I could tell from the recipe that dinner would come together quickly so I did some prep for the next day before firing up the stove. It wouldn’t be a day in this challenge if I didn’t modify something to suite my tastes better. I scrambled the egg because I don’t like the consistency of running egg yolk. Whatever.
Post dinner I was fairly tired so I watched an episode of Mildred Pierce and called it a night without eating my popsicle dessert. I’ll hold onto it in case of emergency over the next few days.
Thoughts: My meatless day went alright. Continuing to try things I have not made or eaten before. Learning a bit more about my preferences, and a lot more about cooking portions. For instance, because of all of the predetermined measurements in the recipes, I have noticed that I don’t need to use as much oil as I used to when cooking. I have always eyeballed that sort of thing, but now I have a better grasp of what I should use.
Onward march...
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