May 7-- clean slate (no dairy)
Breakfast: green tea, shake made from coconut milk (from the carton), coconut water, quinoa milk, hemp protein powder, canned coconut milk, frozen blueberries, strawberries, a few gooseberries, and spinach. It didn't come out all gloppy like the last time I used gooseberries; in fact, it is one of the best shakes we've had.
After breakfast, my husband and I decide to take a drive to the beach. I pack snacks, in case there is nothing we are allowed to eat on our travels. Largely, it turns out that there isn't. Of course, I forget to pack my camera.
Shopping: In the small town of North Beach, MD where we end up, there is a market that sells only locally-produced food. It has a small selection but is pretty neat. We buy some strawberries, a package of frozen ground goat meat, and two jars of jam (for later). $31.
Lunch: none of the restaurants in cute North Beach (at least the area we found) serve things we can eat today, so we go over to Trader's in Chesapeake Beach, which advertises steaks and seafood. I am anticipating having to spring for a pricey surf-and-turf-type meal, but at least we can probably order steak and vegetables, or chicken, or something. Inside, though, the restaurant seems quite different than advertised, almost a slightly upscale diner foodwise, but with the lights turned down absurdly low, and the Kentucky Derby playing on the giant TV. My husband and I both order the large garden salad with a 6 oz. filet mignon on top, which for $13.95 sounds a little too good to be true. It is. The salad is diner iceberg-style, the oil-and-vinegar just vegetable oil and cheap red wine vinegar, and the steak... I'm not sure how to describe the steak. First of all, they had seasoned the hell out of it (or perhaps it came that way) with a powerful and artificial-tasting steak seasoning. Intense. Secondly, the texture was so soft and tender as to be unnatural. Yes, filet is supposed to be tender. But this was not normal. We weren't sure what to make of it, but we ate it.
Dinner (at home again): I cooked Madhur Jaffrey's Stir-Fried Fresh Shiitake Mushrooms, along with some stirfried NY strip steak and broccoli. Yes, that is two steaks in one day, and we didn't even want any more, but that was what I had ready to prepare for dinner. The shiitake mushrooms were okay, but nothing I would go out of my way for. Jaffrey calls them "exquisite." To each their own.
Breakfast: green tea, shake made from coconut milk (from the carton), coconut water, quinoa milk, hemp protein powder, canned coconut milk, frozen blueberries, strawberries, a few gooseberries, and spinach. It didn't come out all gloppy like the last time I used gooseberries; in fact, it is one of the best shakes we've had.
After breakfast, my husband and I decide to take a drive to the beach. I pack snacks, in case there is nothing we are allowed to eat on our travels. Largely, it turns out that there isn't. Of course, I forget to pack my camera.
Shopping: In the small town of North Beach, MD where we end up, there is a market that sells only locally-produced food. It has a small selection but is pretty neat. We buy some strawberries, a package of frozen ground goat meat, and two jars of jam (for later). $31.
Lunch: none of the restaurants in cute North Beach (at least the area we found) serve things we can eat today, so we go over to Trader's in Chesapeake Beach, which advertises steaks and seafood. I am anticipating having to spring for a pricey surf-and-turf-type meal, but at least we can probably order steak and vegetables, or chicken, or something. Inside, though, the restaurant seems quite different than advertised, almost a slightly upscale diner foodwise, but with the lights turned down absurdly low, and the Kentucky Derby playing on the giant TV. My husband and I both order the large garden salad with a 6 oz. filet mignon on top, which for $13.95 sounds a little too good to be true. It is. The salad is diner iceberg-style, the oil-and-vinegar just vegetable oil and cheap red wine vinegar, and the steak... I'm not sure how to describe the steak. First of all, they had seasoned the hell out of it (or perhaps it came that way) with a powerful and artificial-tasting steak seasoning. Intense. Secondly, the texture was so soft and tender as to be unnatural. Yes, filet is supposed to be tender. But this was not normal. We weren't sure what to make of it, but we ate it.
Dinner (at home again): I cooked Madhur Jaffrey's Stir-Fried Fresh Shiitake Mushrooms, along with some stirfried NY strip steak and broccoli. Yes, that is two steaks in one day, and we didn't even want any more, but that was what I had ready to prepare for dinner. The shiitake mushrooms were okay, but nothing I would go out of my way for. Jaffrey calls them "exquisite." To each their own.
Snacks: 2 cups rooibos tea, 1 cup green tea, a handful of almonds in the car, a handful of my husband's salted mixed nuts that he bought at a gas station, a boiled egg in the car. One of the local strawberries we bought at the market, except it turned out to be covered in gritty sand and I didn't eat any more until we went home and washed them. They remained a bit sandy even after that. I also packed some raspberries and gooseberries in the car, but we did not eat them, so we had them for "dessert" after dinner.
May 8-- clean slate and Mother's Day!
Breakfast: green tea, shake made from quinoa milk, hemp protein powder, avocado, lots of strawberries, and spinach. The shake was a little sandy because of the strawberries.
Lunch: Husband and I went downtown, seeking something we could eat for lunch/brunch where the place wouldn't be packed with Mother's Day celebrators (kid was not home yet from Dad's house). We discovered that our local Middle Eastern restaurant has just started offering a "Tapas brunch" on Sundays, and ordered two mini vegetable kabobs, a plate of two mini lamb chops, a plate of two hard-boiled eggs with za'atar, and a tiny plate of roasted cauliflower with some kind of tahini dip. We shared everything and I had some spice tea. A great new option for Sunday morning! We were excited. Affordable, too. My husband raved about his single grilled mushroom and two grilled cherry tomatoes on the vegetable kabob. Maybe I should cook those things at home for him.
Shopping (farmer's market): eggs, cherry tomatoes, head of butter lettuce, loaf of rye bread, bag of small collard greens, bag of large pea shoots, bag of purple carrots. $32.
Dinner: Because of our current dietary restrictions, I chose Sweetgreen again for Mother's Day dinner. I had a salad of spinach, kale, and arugula, with asparagus, roasted broccoli, marinated mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, pecans, avocado, and chicken, and a balsamic dressing. Also a glass of jasmine green iced tea. My kid had just been to Sweetgreen the night before with their girlfriend, who is a vegan, on their one-year anniversary. They're ninth-graders! Congratulations, guys.
Snacks: 1 cup green tea, 1 cup rooibos tea. Cherry tomatoes, a carrot, and a strawberry while playing Betrayal at House on the Hill with my family in the late afternoon.
It was a very nice day, foodwise and otherwise, and not once did I say to myself, "oh, I wish I were going out for proper tea and pastries on Mother's Day, or a big honking brunch with bacon and pancakes."
May 8-- clean slate and Mother's Day!
Breakfast: green tea, shake made from quinoa milk, hemp protein powder, avocado, lots of strawberries, and spinach. The shake was a little sandy because of the strawberries.
Lunch: Husband and I went downtown, seeking something we could eat for lunch/brunch where the place wouldn't be packed with Mother's Day celebrators (kid was not home yet from Dad's house). We discovered that our local Middle Eastern restaurant has just started offering a "Tapas brunch" on Sundays, and ordered two mini vegetable kabobs, a plate of two mini lamb chops, a plate of two hard-boiled eggs with za'atar, and a tiny plate of roasted cauliflower with some kind of tahini dip. We shared everything and I had some spice tea. A great new option for Sunday morning! We were excited. Affordable, too. My husband raved about his single grilled mushroom and two grilled cherry tomatoes on the vegetable kabob. Maybe I should cook those things at home for him.
Shopping (farmer's market): eggs, cherry tomatoes, head of butter lettuce, loaf of rye bread, bag of small collard greens, bag of large pea shoots, bag of purple carrots. $32.
Dinner: Because of our current dietary restrictions, I chose Sweetgreen again for Mother's Day dinner. I had a salad of spinach, kale, and arugula, with asparagus, roasted broccoli, marinated mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, pecans, avocado, and chicken, and a balsamic dressing. Also a glass of jasmine green iced tea. My kid had just been to Sweetgreen the night before with their girlfriend, who is a vegan, on their one-year anniversary. They're ninth-graders! Congratulations, guys.
Snacks: 1 cup green tea, 1 cup rooibos tea. Cherry tomatoes, a carrot, and a strawberry while playing Betrayal at House on the Hill with my family in the late afternoon.
It was a very nice day, foodwise and otherwise, and not once did I say to myself, "oh, I wish I were going out for proper tea and pastries on Mother's Day, or a big honking brunch with bacon and pancakes."