food notes

My friend Shirl asked me to do this way back and I've just been lazy. I can't say that I'll be more diligent, but I can say that I'll try. I get a lot of questions about food and such. As a single gal who tries to cook and survive by her lonesome (well, not really I have my friends and family around), cooking semi-healthy for one (or a few if anyone would like to come over for a meal sometime. Seriously. I'm a decent cook!) can be challenging.

I'm not picky, but I definitely have my preferences. For example, I don't like canned food. For me, canned food is typhoon survival food. I'll eat it if I have to, but other than that, I don't really like to. fathlete confession: My only exceptions to this are spam (you realize this is an island thing, right?), kidney, pinto, and garbanzo beans because I'm too lazy to cook them, tomatoes because some recipes call for them and these smoked oysters that I can sometimes find when I have the craving.

I have a penchant for breads, but I really need to learn to cut down because with the diabetes, the carbs get to my head and sometimes knock me out. It's a rare occasion for me to ask for pasta. If I knew better recipes, I'd make more stews and soups. I love noodles, and meat/rice. However, I'm finding that in my old age, those carb heavy foods really need to be offset with veggies. If not, I just feel clogged.

Anyway... Shirl asked a long time ago to share my weekly menu, so here's my crack at it. I try to be disciplined and each week I prep one breakfast-like dish, one snack, and two lunch/dinner entrees. I also always have a supply of green salad (and its accessories because unless someone else made it, I really don't like green salad. Go figure.) and two different kinds of fruit. Sometimes I'll have cheese on hand as well. Last week here is a little of what I prepared:

Green salad, gorgonzola, and figs with homemade dressing. I saw that Trader Joe's had figs and I wanted to pick up a basket. You can eat figs plain, but I like it to help give green salad that extra zing. In fact, I'm notorious for adding fruit (such as apples, pears, or white nectarines) to green salad. The dressing was a simple mixture of garlic, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and spices. The next time I make it I'm going to have to tone down the garlic and mix the vinegar with some other acid like lemon.

Cuban avocado salad with homemade dressing. (I found the recipe here.) I had a ton of avocado that I wanted to use up and I remember a while back having this salad at a Cuban restaurant. When I had it at the restaurant, they only served it with avocado and onion. I prefer to add the greens for that extra something. I fudged with the recipe by using less oil and more lime juice.

Shrimp and couscous. I concocted this one in my head. Again, Trader Joe's has this couscous medley that I like because it has the feel/taste of pasta but with more fiber. I simply mixed it with parmesan cheese, mini heirloom tomatoes, olive oil, and spices. This packs well if you're taking it to go (which is what I do a lot).

Last week I didn't have the time to cook a second meal, so I bought some BBQ pork from the grocery store and ate it with these lo carb tortillas. They were fine in a pinch. Next time I'm making my own BBQ, though.

I'm terrible at recipes. Typically, what I do is I'll take a recipe and follow the general directions and then add my own twist depending on my mood or what happens to be in the pantry. When cooking, I just need a general idea of taste and ingredients and I just go. Also, I sometimes invent things. For example, I love Filipino fruit salad. Thing is, it's too sweet and is made largely with canned fruit (it's a colonial thing. I'll explain this to you over coffee if you like). Recently, I created a "cream" to eat with fresh fruit that I made out of cottage cheese, half and half, and sweetner. It's been a big hit so far and it satisfies my Filipino fruit salad craving in a more healthy way. I also like to taste things and either dig for the recipes online or replicate it myself. Another thing I do is just stare at the pantry and piece together meals on the fly. Apparently, I get this from my mom.

Anyway... I'll try to share more food stuff. I'm still trying to figure out healthy eating. I'm not always good at it, but I'm more than happy to share the journey with you. If any of you would like to share your favorite recipes and tips, please do so!

Finally, on the 100 burpee rule... I've decided to continue doing it, but I'm allowing myself one cheat day a week. This is largely due to social functions as opposed to my lack of will power. Well, that's the story I'm sticking to. fathlete note to self: garlic curly fries from Pluto's are yummy, but I could do without them. They are hardly worth 100 burpees.