Monday, March 14, 2011

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday


I have to start this post with a picture of Nicco (Binky) because I think he is adorable, not good or well behaved but adorable.

When Dan got home from work on Friday he told me that he needed to go to the office one day over the weekend which was a serious let down for me. Since I was only getting one day with my sweetie I decided to not blog that day and then Sunday got away from me. Monday we were planning to go back to the gym before work which meant I needed to get off the computer early. I was so engrossed in the book I was reading combined with the time change meant no time to post. Sorry about that I had planned to have something up on Sunday but it wasn’t in the cards.

Friday:


My breakfast was a salad with walnut dressing (walnuts, water, fresh ginger and a little white miso), oranges and black berries.


After breakfast I ran my errands, checked on my parents and headed home. Here is the latest group of items from the library. I know you are wondering how I get through all the books that I read and listen to and sometimes I wonder the same thing. ;-)

Then I had signed up for a webinar which I listened to. I also chatted with my friend Joy on the phone and it was finally time for lunch.


Today I made myself a bowl of the soup leftover from earlier in the week. Soup is one of those things that always works extremely well as a leftover which is why I like to have it on hand.


I had leftover quinoa and Sicilian artichokes for dinner. It was definitely a no cooking day for me. There are definitely times when I am not in the mood to cook and I seem to be in one of those now.

Saturday:


This was my day to spend with Dan this weekend. We had a good time hanging out together like always. One of the things we did today was watch the DVD which arrived on Friday “From Oil to Nuts”. Both Dan and I thought it was well done. I will be writing a review of this very soon.


Breakfast for me was savory oatmeal which contained: oats, water, wheat germ freshly ground flaxseeds, cumin, oregano, no-salt seasoning, nutritional yeast, artichokes, broccoli, salsa and raw pumpkin seeds. Dan had his usual wild blueberry oatmeal with walnuts.


For lunch with my parents I made tapas inspired by our recent trip to Jaleo. I didn’t measure but will describe what I did. I made oven roasted fingerling potatoes (white and purple) that we dipped into a dried tomato sauce. The sauce included tomatoes, sherry vinegar, garlic, smoked paprika, cumin and water. The mushrooms were cooked in lemon juice and water and flavored with lemon zest, smoked paprika, garlic and parsley. The green beans were lightly steamed. To the beans I added roasted onion, golden raisins, a little lemon and smoked paprika and sliced almonds. For the artichoke dish I added dill to artichokes and let them marinate in the refrigerator which was inspired by Ian. I served everything at room temperature to maximize the flavor.


To accompany the tapas I made a simple salad of: mesclun, thinly shaved raw beet, orange segments and dressed that with balsamic vinegar and walnuts.


Dinner was leftover soup from earlier in the week this time with fresh lemon juice and parsley. Are you starting to notice how much mileage I get out of my leftovers? That is the reason I like to make large portions of soup, it comes in very handy later.

Sunday:


Our morning started with a trip to Whole Foods. I always marvel at how beautiful the produce is at that store. We needed kale (4 bunches), cilantro, wheat germ, apples, and green onions, all organic of course. ;-)


Breakfast was a green smoothie since we had kale again. My smoothie included: kale, frozen banana, wheat germ, freshly ground flaxseeds, cinnamon, powdered ginger, water and stevia. Dan’s smoothie also had walnuts and an additional banana for extra calories.


Dan and I talked, drank green and white tea and caught up before he headed downtown. Fortunately he got into his office before the St. Patty’s Day parade started. Above is the picture he emailed me from work. How did we ever stay in touch before cell phones with cameras and texting? Hard to imagine how we survived back in the old days.


Lunch was the end of the soup I made earlier in the week topped with the mushrooms from Saturday and parsley. Adding the mushrooms made the soup just different enough to be interesting.

Since I had time to burn I made some sprouted soymilk, got more soybeans soaking for more milk, and pressure cooked some chickpeas and made Moroccan chickpea stew which is a Dan favorite. I didn’t measure the stew ingredients but it was approximately this recipe only no oil or salt (which also means no preserved lemon I substituted fresh)

Later I took some time to watch the DVD from the Great Courses on “The Human Body: How We Fail, How We Heal”. I have been very impressed with the quality of this course on DVD. If you are an information junkie like me you may want to buy a course and see what you think.


Dinner was two small bowls of the Moroccan chickpea stew that I made earlier in the day. Dan had a large bowl that also included quinoa.

Happy Thoughts:

• I am thankful to Lea for recommending the DVD “From Oil to Nuts”. It is always good to hear or read different views on nutrition. While I don’t agree with everything on the DVD yet, it does give me additional information to research and consider since I am always open to new ideas.

• It was nice to spend some time getting to know my new friend Joy. I can always use more healthy friends in my life.

• Dan and I had a good Saturday and a nice Sunday morning. I would have liked more time with Dan but am thankful for the time I had.

• My felines are so precious. It goes without saying that I am thankful for their existence in our lives. They are an integral part of our family. Dan and I both adore the fur babies in case you hadn't noticed.  ;-)

• The weather this morning is seriously looking like spring and I could not be happier about that. Temperatures on Friday are predicted to get into the 70’s. Wow!

Signing Out:

Today I have been ridiculously unproductive. While I have been enjoying the health DVD from The Great Courses it has taken up a lot of my time today. I need to get moving and get productive before Dan gets home. I hope you had a great weekend and that Monday has treated you well. Talk to you again soon which should mean tomorrow unless something unexpected comes up.

24 comments:

  1. Looking forward to your review, Ali...I still use oil, but am trying to cut back.
    xo
    Aimee

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  2. I'd like to hear about the Oil DVD too.
    Love the tapas plate. I'm still looking forward to making my own version.

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  3. Ok those potatoes and artichokes look ridiculously good. And love the pic of your furbaby. I always say, "Thank goodness they're cute, it's what keeps them alive" ;-)

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  4. Soup is perfect for leftovers. I like how you made it a little different when you had another bowl.

    How did your parents like the Jaleo-type dishes? These look delicious to me!

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  5. Dang it, I am hungry again!

    Peace :)

    PS. I almost thought your kitty had lamb's wool fur LOL!

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  6. Love the kitty! My grandma always had a white cat named Molly and when I was on my own I got one, too. I had my Molly for 18 lovely years. Thanks for the pic! I love the pink nose, don't you?

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  7. Ali, you use artichokes in various dishes you make. I also like artichokes but don"t use them as often. Do you buy canned artichokes and just rinse the salt off? Or do you buy them in another way?

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  8. Aimee,

    Thanks, for letting me know you are interested in the DVD. I want to watch it a second time and take notes before I review it on the blog. I hope to get to that in the next few days.

    Olive oil may have been the most difficult thing that I gave up. Being part Italian I was convinced it was healthy for us. That took a long time to come to terms with.

    hugs,
    Ali

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  9. Food Feud (M),

    We both thought the DVD was well done. I think you would enjoy it, if enjoy is the right word. ;-) I hope to have that review up in a few days.

    I liked the tapas plate and surprisingly so did my parents. LOL

    have a good Tuesday,
    Ali

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  10. Heather,

    Great eye as usual, the potatoes and artichokes were the favorites of most people. I realy liked the 'shrooms but that is because I have mushroom issues. ;-)

    Binky is adorable when he is being good. The problem is that good can be rare with him. I swear he was a super model in a different life because it is almost impossible to take a bad photograph of him. He also likes to pose for the camera. Love your saying BTW!. LOL

    Ali

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  11. Jessica,

    I try to morph leftovers a little so I don't get bored. Dan doesn't mind eating the same thing but I prefer variety (and less cooking). ;-)

    The Jaleo type dishes were very well received thanks for asking and for the compliment. The potatoes and dipping sauce and the artichokes were the clear favorites with my parents.


    Happy Tuesday!
    Ali

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  12. Chandra,

    Sorry I made you hungry I hope it wasn't after dinner.

    Our "children" are extemely fuzzy like little lambs. In fact that is one of their nicknames. Nicco was fascinated with Teresa's soap as you may have heard. He loves the fragrance. Smart cat huh?

    Have a great Tuesday,
    Ali

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  13. Megan,

    Love the story of the white cats in your family. Nicco is my second white Turkish Angora. I got the first one when I was in college and he lived to be 21. I named my white boys Nicholas and Nicco (aka Binky or Nicholas II). I do love the little pink noses and pink foot pads.

    hope you have a good Tuesday,
    Ali

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  14. Louise,

    I have found some low sodium canned artichokes, but yes I do rinse those when I buy them. Typically I buy frozen artichokes in 10 ounce boxes. As you probably noticed I love artichokes, it must be the southern Italian in me. ;-)

    have a wonderful Tuesday,
    Ali

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  15. WHY do I have the hardest time posting comments to your blog? I'm doing something lame... obviously. OK, here's hoping that I didn't already post this comment.

    Thanks for the tips on the walnut salad dressing. It looks so simple and clean. I'm "off" nuts for a short period right now but I will remember that dressing idea cause it looks so YUM.

    Also, thanks for the tips on the DVDs. I want to watch both the one on Nuts to Oil and the Great Courses DVD. You are always such a great source of info!

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  16. Elizabeth,

    I wonder why you are having problems posting comments. If you see a pattern to the problem please let me know so that I can inform Blogger.

    If it weren't for nuts Dan would be disappearing. ;-) I am trying to eat more seeds than nuts myself for the nutrition.

    Glad I can help give you health information ideas. I will try to have the Oil to Nuts DVD review up soon. I need to watch it again and take notes first.

    have a great Tuesday,
    Ali

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  17. Your kitty looks like ours, only ours has one blue eye and one amber colored eye! I wanted to put a picture in this comment to show you him, but it won't let me. I love Turkish Angora kitties (well actually all kitties)and we are so lucky to have ours. He was a stray we found near death and took in and now he is HUGE. Sadly, we got him neutered before we knew that he was anything other than a gorgeous personality filled kitty.

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  18. So many artichokes! It looks great :-) Add in the mushrooms and you have me salivating, lol.

    Courtney

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  19. Joline,

    I have not seen an odd-eye Turk before I would love to see the photo of your kitty if you want to email it. I found my first Turk roaming the streets when I was in college (many years ago) and he was in bad shape. We also had no idea what he was until very late in his life. In spite of his beginnings we had him 21 years. Mr. Nicholas (my first fur baby) is the reason I have three Turks now. They all have/had very similar personalities and have definitely been too smart for their own good. ;-)

    Ali

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  20. Courtney,

    I adore artichokes and could eat them everyday. However recently I have definitely been on a artichoke kick. Certainly artichokes are a more healthy obsession than many other things I can think of. Needless to say I also love 'shrooms. LOL

    talk to you later,
    Ali

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  21. I'm also excited to hear about the dvd.

    Hey, how do you prepare artichokes? I love them but I don't know how to cook them and I feel weird about getting them in a jar.

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  22. Henrietta,

    Thanks for reminding me to rewatch the DVD so that I can put up a review. This week has been very hectic for me.

    They sell frozen artichoke hearts here that work very well. However you can buy the jarred ones and rinse them off to reduce the salt. As a test I bought some in oil and rinsed them in a strainer using hot water which eliminated almost all the oil which surprised me.

    Artichokes are easy to cook from fresh. When I get some from the store I will do a step-by-step tutorial. The more you make them the easier the process becomes. Once you try it you will see what I mean. This is the season for fresh artichokes which means I may have some in the refrigerator soon. :-)

    I hope that helped,
    Ali

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  23. Yay! You're so great. Thank you.

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  24. Elyse,

    You are too kind ... but thank you very much. ;-) I am happy to help.

    Ali

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