Food has been GOOD

We've been eating pretty good lately. On top of eating a bunch of REAL food, and MOSTLY PLANTS, we've also enjoyed some vino...

Earlier this week we had some sauteed veggies with grilled sweet potatoes and baked flank steak topped with dry onion soup. My sister named it "snotty steak" as a child, and the name has stuck ever since. It's super good.






I'll be honest...I've been reading Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food". Real food, lots of plants. Oh yeah.

Earlier this week I had nothing defrosted, and no fresh meat, so I figured we'd finally eat that can of chicken in the cabinet. Well, we didn't have pasta, so another trip to the store was in order (we go about 3x a week on average between grocery stores - Vons, Albertsons, and Henry's, and Costco) for whole grain pasta (Barilla). I dig it.

We had a ton of veggies, so I figured we'd sautee' some zucchini, bell peppers, and red onion with garlic, then add in some baby spinach leaves and tomatoes and top some whole grain pasta.



YUM.

Tonight we had leftover pasta and chicken/veggie mix with some balsamic butter asparagus as a side dish. SO.GOOD.





Thanks to Michael Pollan's suggestion, I've advocated eating at the table for dinner. So far the last few days we've either been at the table, or had the TV off. It can't hurt, right? We spend all day chatting on IM or sitting in front of a computer, so some alone time without all of the modern "conveniences" has been a refreshing change. The only...bad? part is our neighbors having band practice at dinner time!

What to eat...

When you can't eat what you normally eat.

Yes, I've been afflicted with what may (or may not) be a food allergy that has randomly and suddenly popped up. No changes to my diet or any new or weird food introduction. No, just the same old, same old.

Since last Friday morning I have stopped eating blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, cherries, grapes, citrus fruits, fish, and any kind of nut. Yeah, that does rule out most bike food that I currently have in my "stable".

It also means no anti-inflammatory dinner, no almond butter & jam sandwiches, no Luna bars purchased from Costco's multi-pack, no granola, very few options for Clif Bars, no TLC Crunchy Pumpkin Flax Spice bars, no TLC Chewy Trail Mix - Honey Almond Flax - or Peanut Butter bars, no mixed nuts, no Craisins, no almonds, no raisins, no wine, no walnuts, no Snickers, no oatmeal raisin cookies, no Kashi Go-Lean Crunch Honey Almond Flax cereal, etc.

So, what have I been eating? Well, I picked up a box of generic Smores Granola bars (SO good, but at 100 calories you almost need to eat 3 of them), Kashi TLC Apple Crisp bars (see the Smores granola bar comment), Clif Chocolate Brownie bars, Clif Shot Electrolyte - Crisp Apple, Apple/Apricot fruit leathers, turkey sandwiches, chocolate milk...

Seeds seem to be okay, so luckily I've been eating multi-grain bread with sunflower and flax seeds.

Dinner on Friday was grilled chicken, sauteed broccoli, squash/zucchini, bell pepper, red onion, and baby spinach leaves mixed with red pepper flakes, garlic, parmesean cheese and whole GRAIN (not whole wheat) pasta. The pasta was killer and smelled like fresh baked bread to boot. Also, it doesn't disentegrate or stick together like whole wheat pasta. I was afraid to buy the Barilla Pasta Plus last week since it has Omega-3 added, and I could be allergic to fish.



Delish!

Saturday morning I couldn't have my normal oats with walnuts, almond slices, craisins, etc., so instead I had oats with sliced apples, cinnamon, flax seed and honey



Saturday night we fixed up some of our ground turkey tacos (browned turkey with HOT Taco seasoning, organic black beans, sodium-filled Taco rice, mixed bell peppers sauteed with red onions in olive oil, whole wheat tortillas and Henry's salsa (red and green for me, please).

So, so good



Yeah, so I am pretty much subsisting on veggies, apples, and bananas. How long do you think it'll take before I can't eat another Braeburn apple or banana? I give it maybe 3 weeks.

Recent "goods"

Last week we stopped by Henry's and noticed while the salmon didn't look that great, the shark filet's did! Score.



Add to that a decent salad (zucchini, bell pepper, red onion, sweet butter lettuce blend, tomatoes, and the last drop of Annie's Naturals roasted pepper? dressing and balsamic vinegar) and Trader Joe's brown rice medley? Delish!

We didn't even over-eat.

Yesterday we were invited coast-side for some BBQ's and beers. Anything barbequed is good, and when you mix it with Alaskan Smoked Porters that have been "brewing" for a year or three? Uhm...YUM!

Mushrooms and squash in butter, garlic, and spices grilled in foil, BBQ chicken with a sweet marinade, and Kashi Rice Pilaf.









Nice somewhat healthy a.m. snack

Downieville food!

Sorry, we didn't sample much of the local eats, but we did cook a lot of food in camp!

Not healthy, but I'm a sucker for sour gummy worms on road trips.



Dinner #1!



Veggies, veggies, and more veggies







Breakfast on the stove

4th of July Eats!

Here's a sampling of some food throughout the weekend:





So good you can almost reach out and eat it



First course of 4th of July BBQ

How to make dinner, in just a few easy steps...

It's been awhile, but the foodage hasn't been changed up much. A few nights ago I had a stellar dinner. Here's how it went:

1. Get out the spices 'n stuff



2. Apply to a TON of veggies in a Ziploc(tm) (or is it (R)?) and mix. Lay out your ton of veggies on baking sheets.



3. Get quinoa in a pot ready to boil



4. Get out your killer looking steaks



5. Apply some of those spices to your steaks



6. Cook dinner.

Here's the most important ingredient - a loving spouse to do it all while you ride the trainer!! Key thing there. I got off the trainer and dinner was almost ready to go. Yum-sauce.

The baked veggies (yes, we actually have some LEFT OVER):



Steak and quinoa, ready for veggie application:



Aws yah.



I'm ready for my close-up



Perfection



Happy eats.

Travel food

Without my steel cut oats this was breakfast!



Pre-race snack



Post-race meal at Wahoo's. Not as good as I was expecting.