Food wise I ran across a few mine fields but I believe made it out without much injury. I was out of the house for 2 entire days 9-4 on various activities and Christmas shopping tasks. One day Isabelle was begging for a grilled cheese sandwich and I was told they sold them at Dairy Queen. I managed to order a small wrap sandwich with grilled rather than breaded chicken. I was very proud of myself. I am not going to lie I had a bite or 2 of Isabelle's fries and ice cream sandwich but overall felt good leaving. The second day out I found a place where I could make my own salad. It was a little more expensive than I had anticipated but was tasty and I felt real good about it. The rest of the week we ate at home meals I had planned ahead. I have not started trying to eat on the Endo diet but am starting to think about my choices from that perspective and think I will be ready in January to try it out again for a couple months.
Since the rest of the Top Gun team has shared some of their favorite healthy meals I thought I would share mine today. The tried and true Salad. I love salads. I used to love them smothered in blue cheese, you know where I really only tasted the blue cheese, then when we cut out dairy I had to find new dressings and use less. In the processI learned that the ingredients in a salad are good by themselves! The various greens in salads have different tastes and are good even plain and the variety of toppings to add to lettuce is endless. The fun is in finding the perfect combination. I do still like dressings though and after trying several different store bought ones I have discovered that the best and healthiest ones are the ones I make at home.
Here is an example from today's lunch. I started with red lettuce. I think my favorite is butter lettuce but the heads are small and they are a little pricier. I often will mix a few kinds together and keep them ripped up in a large bowl in the fridge to eat for a week but today all I had was half a head of red lettuce that I ripped up in my bowl.
Next I added my cut up red onion. I love red onion so I put it on many things. If you don't like it use something else. Whatever makes you happy. Red onion makes me happy.
I have found that if I just put veggies and lettuce in a bowl with some dressing I am hungry pretty quickly after lunch. I really need some protein and a little better fat to keep me going. So I add some sort of meat. I try to use left overs whenever possible. Whatever meat we ate the night before I am always excited if we have some left over that I know I will toss on my salad the next day. Just cut it up and put it on cold. If you don't have left overs you can always buy canned meat. The canned chicken is pretty good, Salmon can be good too but I have recently discovered a love of Tuna. My dad doesn't like it so we NEVER ate it growing up. Although I had never tasted it I made the decision that I did not like it and only in the last couple years even tried it. As I have had success each time I have embraced it more and more until I can tell you that I like Tuna.
For a second serving of healthy protein and fat I like to add nuts. Their crunch also replaces my desire for lots of croutons on my salads. The almond/cashew/craisin mix from trader joes is my favorite but I also love soy nuts on salads and have a mix in the pantry that is spicy which adds a fun element to my salad.
Finally I add my dressing. The basic recipe is olive oil, balsamic vinegar (a little more oil than vinegar) and a squirt or 2 of Dijon mustard. I also like to add a little raspberry vinegar and honey sometimes to the mix. You can also add garlic or shallots or any thing you want. There are no rules in creating your own recipe. My SIL recently gave me this little dressing bottle for my birthday. It was as if she had been peaking in my kitchen because the one I had been using for years broke literally a week before and I was feeling lost.
I also added a little goat cheese to this salad. If you are a goat cheese lover buy it at Trader Joe's, it is literally half the price of the local grocery stores. I buy a couple when I go and they last a long time.
Other things that are fun to add: left over roasted veggies are good, I have a pasta topping that has artichoke hears, tomatoes and black olives that I have been known to put over lettuce. Or left over pasta over lettuce. Frozen peas, don't even defrost them just pour a little right out of the bag onto your lettuce, they add a fun pop to the mix. I just had beets for the first time a couple weeks ago and they aren't too bad. I am thinking of picking up a can to try out at home. Oh the options are endless.
What are your favorite lettuce toppings?
Keep Flying
-Maverick
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