EatingIsImportant
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Walking Is Important

Recommended Reading, part 3-- links & product reviews!

8/16/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
FDA Warns Against Eating Cookie Dough, But Not Because of Eggs
This story is a bit old by now, but flour sits on our shelves for a long time.  Apparently E. coli contamination of raw flour is potentially widespread.  It had never occurred to me that this was even possible with dry goods.

Out Here, Up Here
Includes the best kitchen tip ever, from Nikki McClure via Orangette:  soften butter by wedging it in cleavage.
​

Picture
​

​
​There's a Price to Pay for Not Eating America's Ugly Seafood
Americans are only comfortable with certain types of familiar seafood, many of which are imported and/or overfished.  Meanwhile, other local ocean food resources are wasted or sold overseas.  What would buying local look like when it comes to seafood?



Discomfort Food: Using Dinners to Talk About Race, Violence and America
Chef Tunde Wey organizes dinner parties with diverse (but predominantly black) guest lists, to discuss race, social justice, and personal experience. “There was some sort of obscenity to the whole thing, this foodie movement,” he said. “You eat at one of these new restaurants with small plates, and the food tastes good, but it’s not saying anything. What it’s saying is just, ‘Look at me.’ It’s self-referential. That’s where the obscenity comes from: when you can say nothing, surrounded by so much to say.”

 
Unsponsored opinion: these Fig & Olive Crackers are like one of the best things I've ever eaten in my life.  And I got them on sale at Whole Foods for $4.99!  (Which seemed like a lot, until I saw that Amazon is selling them for $11.59.)

Picture
Picture
​My kid is greatly amused at "men's" versions of everyday products, such as bath grenades or Bounce fabric softener for men, so when I saw Men's Pocky at the HMart, I had to buy some.
Picture
Picture
Transgressive Pocky eating.
0 Comments

June 30-- My heart's not in it anymore.

8/16/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Breakfast: on a non-ordinary day, I have an ordinary breakfast.  Water with lime, black coffee, smoothie made from almond milk, honey yogurt, hemp protein powder, avocado, strawberries, and lots of swiss chard, because the latter is starting to wilt badly and I am going away for three days.

Then we drive to Pennyworth Lock and start our hike.  The bulk of our experience is detailed at that other link.  I'd intended to write up a food diary of the hike as well-- even kept notes in my little red notebook, about what we ate and under what circumstances-- but when I got home I found those notes interested me very little.  First of all, how much can you write about trail mix and crackers?  Secondly, and more important, I was ready to end the daily food diary.  It has been an interesting experiment and writing exercise, but is immensely time-consuming and requires an attention to minutiae that eventually becomes wearying.  I also feel that the world now knows enough about exactly what I eat on a daily basis.  (I would still like to know more about what OTHERS eat on a daily basis.  But we'll save that for another post.)

I reserve the right to continue writing about things I eat... just not everything, not right now.  Ironically, I have had less time lately to cook, due in part to all the incessant chronicling.  Also, less time to walk, and less time to write my murder mystery.  All things that are important.  Perhaps as important as eating.

Nevertheless, stay tuned, I shall continue to afflict you with this and that.

0 Comments

June 27-29 food diary--  I am unaware that this is the last food diary.

8/16/2016

0 Comments

 
​June 27
An early, before-work breakfast: water with lime, coffee with half and half, smoothie made from vanilla almond coconut milk, honey yogurt, peanut butter, hemp protein powder, peach, strawberries, blueberries, frozen mango, and kale.  This one is not sweet at all, whereas yesterday's was almost cloying.  The main difference seems to be the banana.  Maybe I should start going with half a banana?

At work, all I have is a cup of decaf coffee, black.

When I get home about 2:30, I have a wonderfully wholesome lunch.  Leftover leek soup garnished with some creme fraiche, snipped tarragon and chives; a bowl of mixed raspberries, blueberries, and cherries; and some raw carrots and peppers.  I feel so virtuous.  I also have a cup of regular black coffee, and afterwards another cup of decaf with half and half. 

Shopping (Co-op): can of coconut milk, organic 1% lactose-free milk, half & half, organic lemon juice, quart of plain yogurt, cat treats, unsweetened almond milk, raw goat cheddar, seitan, 2 cans of pinto beans, a cantaloupe, 2 packages small corn tortillas, dried currants, coffee, 4 ears corn, 6 individual Brown Cow yogurts (assorted flavors), strawberries, cilantro, 4 limes, bananas, 4 avocados.  $91.

Dinner is slightly less virtuous, but still fruit-and-vegetable-centric, which is the way I like best to cook.  I roast some mixed root vegetables (the rest of the CSA beets, two farmer's market potatoes, an onion, some farmer's market carrots) with fresh marjoram; also make an apple-and-fennel salad with a lemon-mustard dressing.  My kid has long hated fennel, but recently expressed a desire to try it again.  So I bought fennel at the farmer's market (as well as the Gold Rush apples).  It turns out that, while they still do not love fennel, they no longer hate it.  They eat some; in particular, they seem to find the bulb more edible than the fronds, which of course it is.  So, a pretty good foray.  As an "entree," I just melt some goat cheddar onto slices of whole wheat bread, also from the farmer's market.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
​I think I am mighty lucky to have a child who volunteers, of their own free will, to experiment with foods they dislike.  Next thing you know, they'll be eating cucumber.
 
June 28
Breakfast: lemon water, black coffee, smoothie made from vanilla almond coconut milk, honey yogurt, hemp protein powder, canned coconut milk, banana, cantaloupe, and swiss chard.  I totally forgot about my half-a-banana plan that I made yesterday.  Afterwards, I had some decaf with half & half.

At noontime, after my kid and I take a test-run with our new backpacks, another cup of regular coffee with half and half, followed by lunch.  Lunch is a bowl of mixed strawberries, blueberries, cherries, and cantaloupe; some raw carrot and pepper; and half a peanut butter-and-blueberry jam sandwich on whole wheat farmer's market bread.  Actually, the blueberries, cherries, carrot and pepper are from the farmer's market too.  I am eating like a queen.
Picture
​After lunch, I do some housecleaning, and don't go out until late afternoon to make a quick trip to REI.  I don't have the chance to have my usual mid-afternoon cup of decaf, and for that reason, or some other reason, I become ravenous while I am out.  There isn't an opportunity for food and drink until about 6 pm, when I stop at a bakery near home to buy the decaf coffee.  Of course, I feel I need some sort of snack, and end up buying a mushroom & cheese turnover.  In retrospect, I can see how a series of poor decisions led to my basically buying dinner an hour before cooking a second dinner at home.  The turnover isn't even very good, but I eat it because I paid for it.

Second dinner at home is vegan, because my kid's girlfriend is staying for supper.  I've had tacos on the brain ever since we had the worst tacos ever in small-town Virginia.  Tonight I put out some local corn tortillas that are not really very good (made in Virginia!  Coincidence?), pinto beans, sauteed seitan (both this and the beans flavored with chili and lime), avocado, tomato, shredded cabbage, onion, cilantro, corn sliced off the cob, green salsa, and bottled hot sauce.  Tacos are always fun, but they are more fun when your tortillas don't disintegrate into bits the minute you try and pick them up.  I have two tacos with kid and girlfriend, and then another one with my husband when he finally arrives home from work at about 9:45 pm.  Also a glass of sherry, which I do not quite finish.

At around 9:00, while waiting for my husband to get home, my kid and I drive through the rain to pick up our CSA box.  We run up the sidewalk to the house where it is delivered, getting soaked with huge drops of rain, and thunder crashing around us.  In the box: big green cabbage, 3 big white onions, 2 heads garlic, 4 cucumbers, 3 summer squash, carrots, leeks... and eggs!  Exciting!  Says farmer Mike about these eggs: "Eggs always start out mostly on the small side then increase in size as the hens gain experience." 
 
June 29
A work day.  Breakfast: water with lime, black coffee, smoothie made from almond milk, honey yogurt, peanut butter, hemp protein powder, banana, strawberries, cantaloupe, and swiss chard.

I didn't quite finish my coffee at home, so I have another cup of black coffee at work, followed by a cup of decaf with half and half.  By the time I finish that, it is almost time to go home (I don't have a lot of time to stand around and drink!)  At home, I have another cup of regular coffee with half and half, and lunch consisting of a leftover taco from last night, with all the fixings except beans, corn and cabbage (those are already gone); raw sliced cucumber and summer squash from the CSA; and a dish of mixed cantaloupe and cherries.  Oh, and one little hard-boiled egg, but the CSA eggs are too fresh: I can't peel it without taking most of the white away with the shell.
Picture
Picture
PictureThey do look kind of inexperienced.
​After lunch, another cup of decaf with half and half.

About 4:30, I've recovered from work and go to Safeway to buy food for our hike, as well as supplies for my husband to use while we're gone.  Shopping: Pirate Booty (requested by kid), Wheaties, 2 cans cat food, 3 bags beef jerky, hot cocoa packets, big jug white vinegar, marshmallows, jar of Hershey's chocolate spread, graham crackers, Ritz crackers, Brookside dark chocolate clusters, 2 shrimp-flavored Cup-O-Noodles, 2 rolls paper towels, toilet paper, lactose-free milk, frozen pizza, Amy's frozen lasagna, free-range eggs, 2 cigarette lighters, mini hand sanitizer, rosemary bakery bread, Applegate bacon, nova salmon, bananas, Bing cherries, green grapes, shelled pistachios, Caesar Snapeas, 3 kinds of trail mix, organic baby carrots, strawberries, banana chips, dried apricots, dried broad beans, wasabi chick peas, 2 bags dried banana snacks.  $162.

Dinner is a quick affair, conducted in the midst of elaborately packing our gear for tomorrow.  2 little fried eggs each from the CSA farm, really good Applegate bacon, Safeway bakery rosemary sea salt toast with butter, a little mixed fruit (blueberries and apple from the farmer's market, plus strawberries).

I don't finish all my packing and prep-- plus quickly finishing this post-- until 11:30 at night, by which point I am hungry again, so I go to the kitchen and scarf down a leftover strip of bacon and half a glass of the fairly drinkable honey yogurt from the farmer's market.  That'll hold me.  However, even though it is already late, I have trouble sleeping.  I really wanted a good night's sleep before our hike, but instead I probably get a little over five hours, not nearly enough for me.  Midnight finds me in the kitchen again, yelling at my husband about waking me up by turning the light on and then drinking straight out of the milk carton, which I have forbidden him to do.  My finest moments occur at times like these.

0 Comments

June 23-26-- AFI Docs

8/2/2016

0 Comments

 
​June 23
Breakfast: lemon water, coffee, smoothie made from cashew milk, coconut water, plain nonfat yogurt, canned coconut milk, hemp protein powder, strawberries, and banana.  This was fairly light and I am hungry again fast.  Another cup of decaf afterwards.  A slow morning-- I am planning on going, by myself, to a couple of documentaries at the AFI DOCS film festival today.

At the first movie (Obit), I drink a cup of coffee.  Usually the theater coffee is stale and muddy, but apparently it is better at 11:30 in the morning than it is at night.  Then, in the 45 minutes or so between films, I walk one door down the street to Panera and grab some lunch: a roasted turkey and caramelized kale panini and an apple.  I did not end up being excited about the panini.  It was okay, but I would not get it again.  Then back to the theater (the exact same theater, same row, even) to see Under the Sun.  I buy a box of peanut M&Ms and eat them while I watch a travesty unfold onscreen.  The official description from the American Film Institute reads: "Given permission by the authorities to film a Pyongyang family, Russian filmmaker Vitaly Mansky soon realized that his government minders were turning his documentary into a highly manipulated fiction. Mansky left the camera running between takes to capture them staging scenes. This controversial, award-winning film is a chilling glimpse behind North Korea's propaganda curtain."  The film has really turned into a fascinating documentary about the making of propaganda, as well as the soul-deadening effects on the general populace of being forced to live a false public life, full of simulated emotion.

At home afterwards, another cup of decaf while I struggle to get some work done.  This proves unsuccessful; for the second time today, my web editor crashes, and I lose my unsaved work. 

Dinner is late, because my husband has to go to a meeting.  When he gets home, we have one of those catch-all type dinners: CSA vegetables (beets, the "tronchuda," broccoli) served over rice with a fried egg on top, and a little fruit on the side (honeydew and raspberries).  Sometimes you just have to eat food, in its mostly-unadorned state.  Oh, and a glass of sherry.

Before bed, I have a little dish of Cascadian Farm oats-and-honey granola with milk.  I have the munchies, I guess; craving something sweet or crunchy or both.
 
June 24
Breakfast: lemon water, coffee.  My husband ate the remaining bananas in the night and I find there isn't much to put in this morning's smoothie.  Smoothie ends up being made of coconut water, almond-coconut milk, whole milk, plain nonfat yogurt, peanut butter, hemp protein powder, and frozen mango.  But it is more liquid-y than I'd like-- needs more fruit, and I need to buy some greens.  I miss the greens; the depth of flavor is not the same without them.  Afterwards I have another cup of decaf and start a new book.

At noontime, after yoga, another cup of regular coffee while I try again to settle down to work.  Today I will be more diligent about saving my work constantly.  This helps.  After a while, I have a working lunch too: leftover leek soup from Wednesday night (I like it better cold!), leftover farm vegetables from last night, mixed peanuts and raisins.  And another cup of decaf mid-afternoon.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Shopping (Co-op): organic whole milk, organic lactose-free 2% milk, Field Day organic bran cereal, tortilla chips, unsweetened vanilla almond coconut milk, organic blueberry jam, can cat food, coconut water, can of organic black beans, Tillamook 3-yr. extra sharp cheddar, 2 boxes of tampons, raspberries, strawberries, bananas, 2 avocados, lip balm, 3 local peaches, kale.  $66.

I'm meeting my husband for a movie this evening, so we stop by Panera first and have Roasted Turkey and Avocado BLTs and chips.  This is one of my favorite Panera sandwiches, and it's healthier than the Steak and White Cheddar Panini, my other favorite.  Seriously.  It's a great sandwich.  Just thinking about it makes me want another one.  This is not a sponsored post.

Afterwards, at the movies, I can't resist buying a package of Sour Patch Kids.  Actually, I didn't really try to resist.  I just bought it.
 
June 25
Breakfast, at 6:30, before a long Saturday shift: lemon water, coffee, smoothie made from almond coconut milk, hemp protein powder, avocado, strawberries, banana, frozen mango chunks, and kale.  Much better now with the kale in it.

At work I have a cup of decaf coffee, a cup of regular, and way too many spoonfuls of milkshake (the best was cappuccino malt), as well as almost an entire small glass of strawberry-pineapple juice.  Afterwards I bring home "lunch" (at 3:00 pm) for myself and my husband.  I have a sandwich that is basically raw veggies and bacon (with plum sauce!) on wheat bread, a few fries, and a little bit of coleslaw;  I purposely downsized the sandwich a bit from the "veggie club," skipping one of the pieces of bread and all of the cheese (and substituting real bacon for that gross vegetarian stuff).
​
I did all this downsizing so that I would not be too full to have something else to eat later.  But in fact I am starving by about 5:30, start snacking while my husband is napping.  A handful of raspberries, a little bowl of peanuts mixed with very dark chocolate chips.  Eventually I get up, pour a glass of sherry, start fixing some dinner: nachos!  Except with a twist.  I cook some kohlrabi and kale first, and slice up radishes, green cabbage, onion and avocado.  Then I spread the chips on a cookie sheet, layer on all those veggies, plus about 2/3 of a small can of black beans, and sprinkle extra-sharp cheddar over the whole thing, not too heavily.  Wake up my husband and serve it with green salsa.  They are delicious, but I made too much: enough for a big plate for each of us, and about one more serving left over.  I put the leftover serving away in the refrigerator, but it continues to call to me all evening.  I ask my husband if he wants to share it, but he does not.  So, before bed, I warm it up again and eat it all by myself in the den while reading my book.  These nachos are so, so good.  But I am not happy with myself.  Looking down at the rolls of my belly, I vow to start doing better.  I have gained back all but one pound that I lost on our cleanse in April.
 
June 26
Sunday; we slow down our breakfast so that we can have lemon water and coffee first, not bother to make smoothies until a bit later.  The smoothies are made of almond-coconut milk, coconut water, peanut butter, hemp protein powder, banana, peach, frozen mango, and kale.  They taste incredibly sweet this morning, for no real reason that I can ascertain.  The peach is certainly not all that good.  I have another cup of decaf as we read together on the couch.  I drink all the coffee black, in allegiance to my resolve of last night.  Fewer calories in, please.

In the late morning, we go out for a quick brunch at Capital City Cheesecake, then to the farmer's market.  At Capital City, I get my favorite "veggie bagel" (everything bagel, homemade veggie cream cheese, tomato, and onion), and a redeye coffee with some half and half.  A bagel and cream cheese isn't exactly diet food, but I do refrain from ordering a side of chips or an additional pastry, which are things I might sometimes do.

At the farmer's market we buy potatoes, sweet potatoes, Gold Rush apples, carrots, blueberries, cherries, tomatoes, peppers, whole wheat bread, a quart of honey yogurt, swiss chard, fennel, and chives.  Total $50.

Picture
Later in the afternoon, husband, kid and I all troop down into D.C. to see the documentary Chicken People at the E Street Cinema.  Chicken People is a lot of fun.  I do not buy candy.  I do buy a decaf americano, and since they are out of half and half at the concession (!) I drink it black, again.  I eat a few kernels here and there of my kid's popcorn, but it is way over-buttered and not really that tempting.  Not bad at all for a movie outing.

I'm careful with portions at dinner.  I do have my glass of sherry; also an egg scramble with a little sharp cheddar cheese, shredded carrot, kale, black beans, green pepper, and fresh marjoram; roasted "home fries" with onion; and one slice of whole wheat toast with butter and blueberry jam.  This is satisfying and I don't need a second piece of toast, or too many potatoes.  I do wish I'd left the marjoram out of the eggs, where the flavor is overwhelming, and perhaps put it in the potatoes instead. ​​

0 Comments
<<Previous

    Whodunit

    The author is a waitress, home cook, and foodie who has trouble sticking to a subject.  She currently resides and works in the Maryland suburbs of D.C..

    Archives

    June 2018
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    July 2014
    June 2014

    Categories

    All
    Bon Appetit
    Food Diary
    Guts
    Jennifer Reese
    Kitchen Practices
    Madhur Jaffrey
    Miscellany
    Mridula Baljekar
    Nonpienary
    Pie Of The Month
    Politics
    Rants
    Recipes
    Recommended Reading
    Restaurant Reviews
    Smitten Kitchen
    The Cat
    Things That Have Nothing To Do With Food



    Other people who eat, walk, and/or have to live in this effin' country:
    The Tipsy Baker
    Smitten Kitchen
    ​Orangette
    ​Cooking Without a Net
    ​My Name is Yeh
    ​
    A Sweet Spoonful
    ​
    Jack Monroe
    Lottie + Doof
    Two Red Bowls
    ​VSB




Proudly powered by Weebly
Photos used under Creative Commons from 4MamaMagazine, jdavis, Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com, Andy Hay, Andy Hay, Jerk Alert Productions, machaq, vere+photo, AlishaV, oonhs, wuestenigel, NIHClinicalCenter, JeepersMedia, Ly Thien Hoang (Lee), James St. John, N@ncyN@nce, fourpointgo, WeTravel.com, vagueonthehow, paraflyer, Tac6 Media, my little red suitcase, BarnImages.com, Kirinohana, Tony Webster, Lorie Shaull, roger4336, jules:stonesoup, torbakhopper, 2KoP, Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com, entouriste, Laura Northrup, Sam Howzit, toniv90, espinr, leostrakosch, ell brown, Calgary Reviews, entouriste, Hey Paul Studios, Nrbelex, Gerry Dincher, kelvinf19, Natalia Volna itravelNZ@ travel app, perpetualplum, NCinDC, AlishaV, m01229, LifeSupercharger, NathanReed, madelinewright, mikecogh, regan76, JeepersMedia, Steiner Studios, spratt504, Matthew Paul Argall, melanie.lebel94, stu_spivack, Calgary Reviews, Kristoffer Trolle, Tambako the Jaguar, Mr.Sai, JeepersMedia, emleung, televisione, Ruth and Dave, Upupa4me, b-j-oe-r-n, Franco Folini, Green Mountain Girls Farm, Roberto Verzo, MAURO CATEB, pacomexico, takomabibelot