Nov. 14 food

Breakfast:  apple, banana, 1 oz walnuts.  I've been away from home for breakfast pretty much every day this week, so this is an easy breakfast away from home.  When I got home, I also ate some mushrooms (fresh from the grocery store).

Lunch:  bowl of leftover soup from yesterday.   at least 2 bowls of a sweet potato dish.  1 oz brazil nuts.  The sweet potato dish was from the Fuhrman forums, called Sweet Potato Apple Bake.  It has sweet potatoes, apples, cranberries, raisins, and orange juice.  I thought the cranberries were going to be yucky but they were great.  I ate too much of it.  I overate.  

Dinner:   bowl of salad greens and mushrooms--too lazy to make dressing so just ate it with my hands like snackfood.  I kind of prefer this, much easier.   2 small oranges.  another bowl of sweet potato dish.    doesn't seem like much but I ate a lot of sweet potatoes today and was overly full.  I finished dinner before 6 pm and wasn't hungry until 10 am the next morning (today as I write this).  

NOTE:  edited a few days later:  I learned on the Fuhrman forums that Dr. Fuhrman doesn't recommend eating raw mushrooms because they might be carcinogenic; they contain a toxic substance called agaratine, whatever that is.   I think this is one of those, who knows, things but since I'm pretty much willing to do whatever Fuhrman suggests, I'll stop eating them.  I was eating probably a pound of them a week!  It's disappointing to take them off the list as they were a great snack.  He says they are okay cooked.

Nov. 13 food

Out most of the morning so had breakfast on the go, like yesterday:

1 apple, 1 banana, 1 oz walnuts

Lunch:  no time to cook anything, so 1/2 oz sunflower seeds (1 Tbsp), OMG blueberry drink, 0.5 oz brazil nuts, ~2 oz salad mix (baby herb mix from a bag).  hmmm, that doesn't seem like so much but I was satisfied.   

Dinner:  made a batch of North African Chickpea and Kale soup since I happened to have the ingredients on hand.  It's not my favorite soup.  I might have added too much garlic.  It was better after I added a Tbsp of maple syrup to the pot.   hmmm, so would carrot juice have worked here?  or sweet potato?   anyway, I ate 3 bowls!  oops.  and 0.5 oz brazil nuts and 2 small oranges.  I should have had the nuts and oranges first and then wouldn't have eaten so much soup.  I'll try to remember that.   I feel a bit too full...

OMG blueberry drink

This was unbelievably good.  why would you want to eat SAD (Standard American Diet) food when you can eat this?

Ingredients:

1/2 bag frozen blueberries (about 4 oz or 1 cup)

handful or two of grapes (optional)

juice from 1-2 small oranges or 1 medium to large

blend in a blender.  soooooo gooooooood.  without the grapes, it isn't as sweet but it is still attractive, has a clean feel to it.

I made this because I thought, I should eat some berries since they are good for you.

Nov. 12 food

Was out most of the day except home for an early dinner:

Late breakfast:  apple, banana, 1 oz walnuts

Lunch:  spinach-mango smoothie

Early dinner:   1.5 oz nuts (brazil & pistachio, I like the brazil most right now), large carrot (was hungry early), grapes (more than I should have), ~2 oz salad greens (baby herb mix from a bag), steamed cauliflower, beets and sweet peas.  and this awesome blueberry drink I made up, OMG, I will call it OMG blueberry drink.    that seems like a big dinner.  I did get full.  But I didn't have to eat the rest of the night and lasted through my exercise class this morning.  I don't like to eat dinner too late because then I'm still full the next morning.  

warm apple-banana-walnut breakfast

I am stealing this from Lucy on the Fuhrman forums, but I hope she doesn't mind the reason, which is to benefit others with examples of healthy eating:

cut up an apple, chop up some walnuts (I used 1 oz), sprinkle with cinnamon, and heat in the microwave for about a minute. slice a banana, add and stir it all up. If it needs a little more warming, try 15-30 sec in the microwave.

It's good isn't it? Even housemate liked it.

mon & tues nov. 10&11 food

Monday

Breakfast:   warm apple-banana-walnut breakfast.

Lunch:  0.6 oz brazil nuts, mango-banana-spinach smoothie, 1/2 cup edamame warmed up in the microwave (from a frozen bag).  (I thought I needed some beans).

Dinner:  my favorite sweet potato with pumpkin pie spice, brussels sprouts (cooked with a little fennel and lemon juice), cabbage salad, large orange, 1/2 oz pistachio nuts.  

Tuesday

Breakfast:  grapes, 1/2 oz brazil nuts, bowl of greens (not much, maybe 1 oz), made the warm apple-banana-walnut breakfast again.  yum.

Lunch:  vegetable medley (just a bunch of steamed veggies:  beets, cauliflower, carrot, edamame, potato with no-salt seasoning on top, the cauliflower was really good, I think I like cauliflower a lot more than I thought), finished off the cabbage salad, grapes

Dinner:  spinach-mango-banana smoothie (more fresh local spinach at the co-op!), 1 oz nuts (pistachio, brazil, macadamia), grapes, large orange.  

all of it so yummy.  I decided to measure my nuts to make sure I'm eating enough but not too much.  it's much easier and makes it guilt free.  Since I'm thin and exercise a lot, I'm going for 2-3 oz a day.  You should have less if you are trying to lose weight.  They are a lovely treat that I get to eat several times a day!

sun nov 9 food

Today I ate the way I'm supposed to.  It was a relief, not an effort.  Surprisingly, I weighed myself this morning and I haven't gained weight, though I'm in the top end of my normal range, which is 122-125 lbs.  I was 125.2.  My body must have a set point.  but it's wasteful to eat as much as I have been.  so here's what I had today:

Breakfast:  mango-banana-spinach smoothie and 2 brazil nuts.  To me it's like drinking a delicious milkshake and yet it's so healthy.   That is why this way of eating is not deprivation.  It is awesome!

Lunch:  1-2 oz of baby herb salad mix from a bag.   small bowl of cabbage salad.  and my favorite meal right now:  sweet potato & pumpkin pie spice.   4 brazil nuts.

Dinner:  small bowl cabbage salad.  large orange.   brussels sprouts cooked in a small amount of water with a little vinegar and a little fennel from the garden (planted it too late so it was very tiny).  1 oz brazil nuts & pistachio nuts (total), small apple.

Notice I didn't touch yesterday's soup.  Neither did housemate.  She says she'll try it for lunch tomorrow.  I have the feeling most of it will go down the drain.  I feel bad about that--wasteful.

Today it finally got cold in Wisconsin, didn't get above 32 F and is only going to drop tonight, So it was finally time to harvest the rest of the collard greens and kale from the garden.  I washed and destemmed (ripped pieces off the stems) about 4 lbs worth, and stuffed them into 4 large ziplock bags, and froze them (it took 3 hours!).    It will be interesting to see how long they last.  I also washed and froze parsley, thyme, mint, and marjorum.  I'm not sure how this will work but I've done frozen parsley before and that worked fine.  it's easier than drying them, which I don't know how to do.  What a great year for the garden it was.  We're encouraged to do even more next year; I'd like to keep expanding it as time goes on.  In a few years, I suspect money will be tighter and the garden will be a cost saver.  In the meantime, I'll enjoy those expensive berries and fruit while I am still gainfully employed!