Live From Arizona

After a brief hiatus, Candice and I are back.  Since the last post I made, I've moved to beautiful Arizona to be closer to my family.

The people I live with are vegetarian and have forbidden meat cooking in the house.  This isn't a big deal to me, I can do just fine without meat.  In fact, I've probably been saving money without meat.

But for the past couple of weeks I've been feeling sick to my stomach.  I haven't quite figured out what's going on and I'll feel bad for a few days and then fine for a day or so.  I started to consider my diet a little bit more.  Questioning what has changed and what's remained the same.  I suspect that I'm dehydrated a lot of the time and I think drinking more water has helped.  I'm not in the pacific northwest anymore, I can't just absorb water from the air, I have to physically drink it.  Also, despite living with vegetarians, I think I'm eating less vegetables and more (gluten free) grains.

Yesterday I decided it was time to add some vegetables to my diet so I went to the nearby corporate health food store and bought some (mostly non local, mostly conventionally grown, overpriced) produce.  The most important thing for me this week, and for the rest of the time I'm doing my student teaching, is convenience.  I eat breakfast in the car, lunch needs to be portable and not require refrigeration or a microwave.
I came up with the following:
Egg, cheese, and potato rolled tacos (okay, so not exactly a good source of vegetables).
Roasted vegetables and quinoa salad (asparagus, red onion, red/orange/yellow sweet peppers, and Mexican Squash with quinoa, parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper).

 

Lemons are in season here and my mom's lemon tree has been extremely generous.  If you add a little gin to your lemonade, most of your troubles will go away.
Here you'll see me eating a mango popsicle and some lemonade while I write this.

So here's my list as of today, day one:
1. Lemons!
2. asparagus
3. red onion
4. sweet peppers
5. Mexican Squash
6. mango
7. cucumber
8. parsley

Not too shabby for day one.

Spring in your step

Joe and I had an unexpected trip to MI to be there for the passing of his Nana. It was a powerful and surprisingly positive experience. Good to be surrounded by family.

Since we were all on shifts at the hospital and staying in a hotel we ate out at restaurants WAY more than we ever do when visiting family. So, we ended up eating better (more veg) than when say... my Grandma is cooking.

I also got a little time with some of my family. My Aunt Jan and her husband Darryl put us up our last night in town and even took us to the airport (early!). I really enjoyed talking food with Uncle Darryl. As I'm always telling Earl I loves me a good eater. I genuinely have a hard time relating to people that don't like to eat, whether from being food as fuel types or having body issues that keep them from enjoying meals.

Now that I'm back in Seattle the New Roots delivery is in and I'm making my menu for the week.

M: Salmon, Lacitino Raab, Salad w/fennel

T: Stir Fry, zucchini, carrot, broccoli, bok choy, pork sasauge

W: flat iron steak, asparagus, salad w/roasted beets

Th: Small Chkn, roasted Broccoli, potatoes

Potluck: Collard paneer, curried chickpeas, naan

weekend, eggs! Leeks, zuchinni, etc.

I'm especially excited to try this kale rabe, probably keep it simple with garlic and red pepper flakes.

Also this week I've been rescuing veggie tops and trimmings from the compost bin and freezing for veggie stock. I figure I'll make a side by side pot when i make chicken stock next.

Joe is trying to get in fighting shape for flag football season, and after some conversations with his older brother and cousins... watching his cholesterol.

This is a long post as I'm still all fired up from talking with Uncle Darryl and Cousin Charlie (a former chef who is discovering organic gardening.)

With any luck I'll get Uncle Darryl's fudge sauce recipe, because a life of JUST leafy greens isn't any FUN.