Lazy Saturday

Today was one of those days when your butt hardly leaves the seat and your eyes are glued to the screen. Breaking Bad, 30Rock, and How I Met Your Mother were what was on tap. I did take a timeout from my busy schedule to do a few important things. Grocery shop, clean the kitchen, and play with my darling baby.

I had a very successful trip to the store. I spent nearly 100 big ones on an extra-large zucchini, two yellow squash, 4 good-size tomatoes, leeks, cherries, a big carton of strawberries, (I should mention everything to this point was organic) cherry tomatoes, a jalapeno, bunch of bananas, radishes, 8 angelcots, fresh ginger, a plum, papaya, a white-flesh nectarine, a gold kiwi fruit, curly parsley, 2 cucumbers, baby bella mushrooms, a hefty wedge of parmesan, fresh mozarella, spinach tagliatelle, whole wheat rotini and farfalle, Weisenberger's wheat pizza dough flour mix, panko bread crumbs, 1/4 pound steel cut oats, a small can of good quality tuna (never tried this before, we'll see) 1/3 pound fresh ground dry roasted peanut butter, 1/4 pound unsalted walnuts, a loaf of Marathon bread (a deliciously hearty bread with tons of goodness, including carrot and raw sunflower seeds) a blue cheese salmon burger, and a 1/2 pound salmon filet. I spent nearly $195 on groceries two weeks ago and I had a few things leftover.

 Just in the last two weeks I have seen results in this new way of life. I can tell that my stomach has gotten fairly familiar with the way in which I eat throughout the day. I plan for 3 meals a day plus two snacks. I usually leave out a snack but it's built-in just in case. On a yellow legal pad (my father was an attorney and was notorious for having tons of these all over the place) I write my plan. ie:

B Spinach and edam omelette with 1 whole egg and two egg whites (I am not EVEN missing the other two yolks, it's crazy)
S Berry and flax smoothie with almost 2 cups milk
L 1 roasted carrot, angelcot, piece of Marathon bread with 1 tbsp. p.butter, 10 cherries, and a small sweet potato (there are not a lot of calories in this meal but somehow with all the chewing it fills me up)
S Kale chips and a small handful of walnuts
D Cup of basmati rice with steamed veggies (or I might have another smoothie and forgo a "real dinner")

I also make a horizontal rectangular bar with 8 boxes. For each glass of water I drink I check a box. I try and exceed this but at least get that many. Plus, more water means less hunger. Win Win. And to be perfectly honest over the past few weeks, I've felt "true hunger" maybe twice. I am getting plenty to eat and I would say about 75%, maybe more, is homemade. My hope is to eventually be able to say 75% homegrown but for now, homemade is fine by me. Baby steps.

I plan to make the following over the next two weeks.

Mushroom soup
Semi-homemade pizza
Lemony salmon bow-tie pasta with peas
Homemade wheat bread (for next week, once I'm out of the Marathon bread)
From scratch Tzatziki with crudites
Endless combinations of fruit smoothies
Omelettes
Caramelized onion grilled cheese
Baked eggplant parmesan
Baked cheesy squash rotini
Whole wheat orzo with peas in a garlic-e cream sauce (yogurt based)
Caramelized carrots and wild rice
Wheat Basmati with thyme sweet potatoes and feta
Onion pancakes with dill dipping sauce
Zucchini sticks with onion dipping sauce
Split pea curry with brown rice
Rosemary Leek Cannellini Cakes via http://www.runningtothekitchen.com/2012/05/rosemary-leek-cannellini-cakes/

 Some of these items like the soup and pizza will last more than one meal and some I will share with my husband. (depending on how adventurous he's feeling) I also will be making a quick trip out of town when my best friend has her baby. Which reminds me, I need to plan for that too. It's so easy to get off track when you leave the house. It's like a nice nutritious bubble in here but the second I get into the car Starbucks is calling me or a taco place. It's ok for special treats but I'm really trying to make do with what we have here. And really 9 times out of 10 it tastes better and it makes me feel better. No guilt eating. What a concept! It has taken me 30 years and many pounds to realize that this was the way I was supposed to live life.

I have always loved cooking. I feel so connected to what I'm eating. Considering what I'm putting into my cart very carefully. Having specific dishes in mind instead of numbingly throwing things in hoping I can make a meal. I'm a list maker. I do lists. Grocery lists, gift lists, organizing lists, chore lists, diy lists (we have a 89 year old home that we're fixing up,) baby lists, 30 before 31 lists ( I had to change it to 31 because nearly everything is still on the list,) etc, etc, etc. So this meal planning was very easy to get into. And with the ease of the internet and clever bookmarking I was able to make a good size meal list fairly quickly.

I will keep this updated as much as I can to keep tabs on myself and progress throughout the week. I'm pumped! Let's get to it!