Food Choices

This evening marks the end of the first weekend since June when all four of us are home.  No vacations, no planning for vacations.   So we got to actually plan our meals without worrying about what would spoil if we didn't use it before leaving on vacation.

Theoretically, we're back on phase one of the South Beach Diet (which forbids all carbs, all fruits and some vegetables -- corn and carrots, too much natural sugar in them).  In practice, I've had at least one serving of carbs every day this week, mostly leftovers from when we were on phase 2. 

I was thinking as I was cooking this evening about how easy some of our food changes have been.   Dinner tonight was a mix of items from previous meals (uncooked, not leftovers) and fresh vegetables either harvested from our garden yesterday (yay!) or purchased after church today.  This wasn't a meal with lots of advanced planning, so as I cruised through the pantry, freezer and fridge looking for things to cook  it struck me how different were their contents from just the first part of Spring.

Tonight's dinner actually was two courses for Karen and I -- because I wanted to experiment a little and I'd rather mess up an appetizer than an entree.  For an ap, we had a slice of fresh zucchini sauteed until it was just caramelized on both sides, with a single slice of mushroom, similarly sauteed -- both were seasoned with a little fresh pepper, some salt and a tiny bit of rosemary.   The zuke went down on a bed of fresh spinach, with the 'shroom on top.  On top of the stack I put two quick seared shrimp, with a little bit of McCormick's "Montreal Steak" seasoning.  The shrimp was sadly overcooked.  (Way, way overcooked)  Otherwise the dish worked very well.   Our entree was the rest of the shrimp, stir fried (happily NOT overcooked), with a fresh veggie hash made from diced zucchini, diced mushroom, julienned green pepper, minced shallot and minced garlic, seasoned with a splash of balsamic vinegar.  

Because I've become one of THOSE parents, the boys had mac and cheese with leftover beef.

But twice today, the kids have eaten what we ate, without even noticing the change.   

Specifically, breakfast was entirely substitute foods, and they didn't bat an eye.  Breakfast was pancakes, bacon and milk for them, with coffee for Karen and hot tea for me (I can't stand coffee).   What makes breakfast different, was that it was turkey bacon and whole wheat pancakes.  (The boys got 2% milk, mine was skim)

Snack later tonight will be grapes for Joshua and the adults.   Picky John will probably have whole wheat crackers (much healthier, and he hasn't noticed the difference) with a little Colby-jack cheese on them.

I'm really enjoying the change in the way that I cook, and the new ingredients and seasonings in the kitchen.

For those keeping score, Karen has now reached a total weight loss of 23 pounds -- her best so far, and I'm at 28 pounds, which is still 3 pounds more than when the vacations started.