A New Ritual Meal

This has become a habitual lunch: cucumber, roasted green beans (below), string cheese, a larabar and a blisscuit. Or two.



Healthy or no? Not sure. Just being honest. Could be a lot worse.

Tuesday workout: GOING to do an online yoga class. Soon. Promise.

Husband's Ritual Meal

Since husband has been home, and I've been busy with work, he's had to fend for himself for breakfast and lunch most days. He is not a bad cook, but has had zero interest in doing so for himself (I have totally spoiled him), so this is what he makes for himself just about every day for lunch:

Tuna salad, cucumber, tomato, avocado, and rye krisp crackers. Husband's ritual meal. Healthy, right?

His other version of lunch is chicken sausage and hummus. He dips the sausage into the hummus (hello, I am not touching that hummus). Not cute.

The last resort meal is Puffins out of the box, raisins and chips. Will document ASAP.

Crispy Chicken And A Modified Ritual Meal

This was Monday night dinner. Husband's favorite curry crusted chicken thighs. Served with spiced yam mash and steamed veggies. I always pick the hottest days to crank the oven up to 400 degrees. Genius am I.



This is a slightly modified ritual meal. I don't know if y'all have noticed, but I've been branching out a bit from the exact same meal for every meal, yes? My latest obsessions are vegan cookies and green monsters, which result in a caloric imbalance that leads to bigger dinners. Don't know how much this agrees with me. It could be my body saying "thank you, mama, for the variety" or it could be my body saying "what the- where's all this sugar coming from?!"

Tonight I am feeling weirdly achy and dizzy; think it could be a reaction to the fish I snarfed after my culinary exam today (the fish was perfect and perfectly fresh, I just think I may have an allergy, as I am allergic to shellfish as it is).

Modified Ritual Meal: cucumber, celery, broccoli, cheese, spiced yam mash, nuts and dried pineapple.

Monday Night Dinner Eaten Consciously

What a day. Husband and I feel like we're running a small business out of our house, which I guess we sort of are. It's actually awesome having meetings in bed about clients and projects. We had so much to discuss, we decided to (eureka!) eat at the table.




Husband's polenta and meatballs. He likes it better than pasta.



Mine: cucumber, broccoli, cheese, nuts and dried pineapple.

Monday workout: 3 mile run with husband.

Spaghetti and a new(ish) dining room

On our way home from Palm Springs, we stopped at the Cabazon Outlet Mall

for, umm, socks, a brown belt and some summer pants for husband.  We ended up with socks, a brown belt, summer pants (green, very fabulous) and 8 t-shirts for husband.  We also ended up with some unmentionables for moi and 3 bags of house stuff from Crate & Barrel.  The dining room looks much better now.

We were so busy shopping and driving all day that I consumed one soft pretzel with crappy nacho "cheese food" dip and husband had a blueberry/banana smoothie.  Thus, he ate this entire mountain of spaghetti with turkey meatballs.  Then he had some Simply Fruit strawberry preserves with a spoon.

Mine:  cucumber, green beans, cheese, nuts and dried pineapple.  And I think I'm going to eat a snack right now.  If only I knew what it was...

Food Ritual: The Movie

Chili

This chili had been chillin' in the freezer for months. I was worried when I thawed it that it would be inedible, but no! Husband loved it! I couldn't tell you what I put in it (don't remember). I topped the bowl with some tofu cheese and whipped up a tomato and cucumber salad, which he added to the chili for a little hot/cold adventure. Creative husband.

Mine: broccoli, cheese, nuts and dried pineapple.

Burrito and tofu cheese nachos

Husband enjoyed a chicken burrito, re fried beans, veggies and a few blue corn chips with tofu cheese. I just gave him the jar of salsa. He really likes salsa.

Mine: green beans, cucumber, cheese, nuts and dried pineapple.

Friday night dinner

So it's the weekend, except kinda not really because my entire weekend is booked with stepson and new business meetings and spiritual seminars and laundry and therapy and Trader Joe's. Quality problems.

Husband enjoyed a chicken burrito with cheesy refried beans, spicy organic blue corn chips and veggies. Then he had some blueberries. Then he had an apple. Then he had some mixed nuts. It was a hollow leg kind of day for husband.

Mine: cucumber, broccoli, cheese, nuts and two dried fruit bars.

Unlike husband, I have not been feeling hungry at all. Not that that stops me from eating. Who needs to be hungry to eat?

Crispy chicken

Yes, mysteriously I am feeling oh so much better today. Sometimes I think you've just got to let out all those evil thoughts. It gives them less power. Or at least you stop grinding your teeth at night.

Today was all sunshine and rainbows as I had a lovely client meeting this morning, returned husband's overdue audio book to the library (but didn't pay the fine), made lunch, worked for another client, went to meet my walking buddy who forgot about our walk as she was in copy writing crisis mode (been there), comforted her while she wept into her PowerPoint, walked home, scheduled another client meeting for the weekend, and made crispy chicken.

Baked not fried. 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Chicken thighs WITH skin, thank you very much. I coat them with any spice mixture I have lying around (this was a combo of fajita and taco seasoning). I also added a bit of bread crumbs, cumin and grated cheese (why not?).

Husband enjoyed yam mash and steamed veggies with his chicken.

Mine: cucumber, broccoli and cauliflower, cheese, nuts and dried pineapple.

Off to watch Intervention. This episode is about a woman who has eaten only through a feeding tube for the last 14 years. This is the definition of fascinating for me.

Dinner before channeling

First day back from vacation is kinda brutal. But the brutality is self-imposed. I am a bit of a task master and when there's a lot of tasks I start making deals with myself like, "if you get all the bills paid and clean the kitchen, you're allowed to take a break to eat dinner". I was up at six and did not stop the whole day. The good news is I'm probably burning off the Christmas weight through stress alone.

After working all day, I got to make dinner (I know, get off the cross...). Husband had a tofu cheeseburger with all the fixings on a low carb English muffin, steamed organic green beans and tater tots.

Mine: cucumber, broccoli and cauliflower, cheese, nuts and dried pineapple.

Then we went to a channeling session with some close friends. I know, VERY LA. It was cool. I'm supposed to heal children according to the spirit (I've actually been told this twice). I don't get it, not the most child friendly girl and frankly, kids scare the crap out of me, although I'm obsessed with babies. Whatever.

Lunch and a fight

I ate this lunch at 3:30pm. I hadn't eaten since 6:00pm the day before. This could be one of the reasons I was so freaking cranky. Here's what else occurred to me (and most likely none of it is true):

My husband married the wrong girl. He wanted a career girl. He got home maker and a sort of writer girl. Poor husband.

I have SO many responsibilities: laundry, grocery shopping, toiletry shopping, home supply shopping, travel planning, bill paying, bed making, meal making, dish washing, exercising, grooming, writing, marketing, organizing and appointment making. Poor me.

My jobs are more stressful than husband's, but because he makes more money, his job is deemed more important.

Oh boy. This all is most likely hormonal, but it's interesting to observe how one day life feels perfect and the next day feels like I'm doomed to martyrdom and perpetually getting the short end of the stick.

The day before Ohio

I made a pasta bake. It was comprised of ground turkey, turkey sausage, tofu cheese, cream cheese, Romano cheese, green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, brown rice spaghetti, garlic, onion, stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce. Topped with a sprinkling of bread crumbs and said Romano cheese and baked for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Served with impromptu "garlic toast"= wheat bread spread with a smashing of light butter, one garlic clove and Romano cheese which I spread on the bread before toasting it.

Mama had a baked yam with her pasta bake.

And yes, I had my ritual meal: green beans, carrots (not usual), cheese and nuts. I knew I was in for some big and crazy food in Ohio, so I ate like my birdy California self.

Parmesan-Cheddar Crisps

I made a bunch of these for a wine and cheese party and for husband's office party. Here's the scoop:

4 cups shredded Parmesan (I mixed parm and cheddar (low fat sharp) just to be crazy

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil

1 Tablespoon lemon zest (it was as much zest as I could get off two lemons, whether it was actually a Tablespoon, we will never know)

Mix all ingredients together. Put little mounds (maybe a heaping Tablespoon) of the mixture on a baking sheet (I used a silicone baking mat in insure no stickage). Bake for 6-8 minutes or until super bubbly and the edges look like they are just about to burn.

Transfer to cooling rack and then eat pretty much immediately. I served these the same day I made them, but many hours later and they were not crispy. They tasted good and held their shape, but were oddly chewy. Not my best work.

I am a fried cheese expert. I went through a Southwestern chicken salad phase (the salad came from Trader Joe's, but I doctored it with low-fat ranch, more lettuce and veggies, and a bunch of cheese which I would dump in the bottom of a Pam-sprayed bowl, add the tortilla strips from the salad and nuke until the cheese was this crunchy fried mass. Dump the salad on top, add dressing and toss. I know, it just keeps getting weirder, right?).

Cheeseburger

I had so much fun today making turkey sausage strata and chocolate pumpkin bread. Don't worry, pics will follow!

After those recipes were completed, I made husband an organic beef burger with tofu "cheddar" cheese, tomato and greens with mustard, mayo and ketchup. He also had tots and veggies. Then genius boy wanted dessert, so he sliced a banana, added some frozen black cherries and nuked it for 30 seconds. So creative.

Now we are off to watch the finale of Celebrity Rehab. Genius show.

Mine: cucumber, broccoli, cheese, nuts and dried pineapple.

Final sick day (hopefully)-dinner

We were supposed to travel to Idyllwild this weekend to celebrate Christmas with some of husband's family (I guess they're mine, too huh? Weird.). Not to be. We want to get him better before we get on a plane and fly across the country to be with my family (who are also his...yay) for the actual holidays.

Another frozen reheat: Turkey and spinach meatloaf, tots, celery and a fried banana.

We watched Get Smart. Really, really funny the first hour. Then a little less funny, but overall good. I haven't laughed that much during a movie since Napoleon Dynamite...wait, does my wedding video count? That's pretty funny, too.

Mine: Celery, broccoli, cheese, nuts and dried pineapple.

Sick day one-lunch

Husband finished his top secret project and promptly got sick. Really bad cold. I made lamb stew with white beans (recipe in December Gourmet magazine, pg 98, give me a shout if you want the details). The stew was supposed to be for our friend Jean when she came for dinner. Alas, husband's project was still going strong. It worked out in the end, though, as this ended up making several sick boy meals. It was rich with meat from lamb shanks, small white beans, tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion, parsnips and finished with a bit of lemon and fresh parsley.

Mine: Asparagus and broccoli, cheese, nuts and a dried cherry bar.

Another lonely meal

Here's what I've had for the last 4 meals (note sometimes fruit bars are substituted for whole fruit): cucumber, broccoli, cheese, nuts and two fruit bars.

In my title I use the world lonely like I want you to feel sorry for me. Really, I prefer it.

I was watching an Iron Chef America: Battle Sugar with Cat Cora and Paula Deen pitted against Tyler Florence and that beefy Marine dude who got kicked off his show Dinner Impossible for lying about his background. Anyway, Tina Fey was one of the judges and she remarked that she consumes most of her food in secret. I TOTALLY get it.

I'm convinced anyone around me is obsessed with what, how, and in what rhythm and consistency I am consuming food. Naturally, this makes eating in front of others more than a little bit tortuous.

The truth is, I AM that person I fear so much: I do care and take complete stock in what others are eating. I don't judge, because anything weird you do with food, I can do (and have done) better.

So having this blog is completely indulgent and petrifying at the same time. As it should be.

Pasta bake and fried apples

Husband is working on a secret project so this may be the only dinner you see this week. Important husband. He enjoyed turkey sausage pasta bake, a big green salad with heirloom green tomato, cucumber, apple, tofu cheese and balsamic vinaigrette, and fried apples.

Mine: cucumber, broccoli, cheese, nuts and dried pineapple.

Burger on a bagel and tots end the holiday

I undercooked the burger (on a low carb bagel with cheddar tofu cheese), which husband told me after he finished it (poor husband, silent sufferer). He also had tots and veggies and green grapes for dessert (still off sugar).

Mine: cucumber, broccoli, cheese, nuts and two fruit bars. Back to reality.