Poppyseeds Home Food BBA Seasonal Adventures Polish Italian Holidays Random

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Spring!


Another Easter arrived last weekend. We colored eggs, made spring foods and had our bouquets of pussy willows, Easter Lily and daffodils. I feel new energy and excitement, knowing the garden and potting shed will soon be humming again and the deck will replace the living room.

Ok--this "think yourself thin" business is working. I've lost 7 pounds. It has been mostly my mental shift that has allowed me to eat differently. I'm eating purposefully. I know the "superfoods" for health: deeply-colored fruits and vegetables, fish, turkey, beans, soy, oats, nuts, yogurt and tea. I keep those foods in the house. If I don't have them, I can't eat well. I find diet books and articles somewhat helpful and inspiring and I use them for recipe ideas, but I like exciting cookbooks better--the ones that contain small meals full of flavor. My breakfast today was 1 hard-boiled egg, half a slice of whole-grain bread, a chopped tomato and a small apple, cubed and rolled in a bit of walnut oil and ground walnuts. I actually couldn't finish the whole egg--it was all so satisfying. I'll have my daily smoothie later. It's usually made with some type of frozen fruit and skim milk. My favorite is frozen bananas, a spoon of Nutella and skim milk. However, a tropical fruit smoothie with cream of coconut added is pretty darn good!

My lunch will be "Tapas" style--small amounts of a variety of good foods that I have on hand. There is leftover pork that can be a small pork medallion with a bit of Asiago cheese over it, some baked sweet potato--I can glaze a couple chunks of that with some acacia honey and microwave it a couple minutes. On the side I think I'll add a marinated artichoke, a bit of sour-cream cucumber salad and a couple grape tomatoes drizzled with a bit of olive oil and fresh basil.

If I plan my meals with emphasis on small amounts and lots of flavor, I have the perfect combination. And I've already started running out to the herb garden this spring. The new chives are up, the parsley is producing its second-year crop and the thyme survived the winter well.