Next Up: Lunch

Well, since I covered breakfast first I thought it was only fitting to go to lunch next. Here's my mayo-free pasta salad. (I continue to keep my promise that I will not bog you down before getting to the point.)

Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

Whatever pasta you "fancy" (I like to use part whole grain/part vegetable spiralli)
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Freshly grated parmesan cheese
Marjoram and/or thyme
Pine nuts (or any other nut you "fancy")
Frozen peas
Frozen corn
Frozen broccoli 
Zucchini and/or yellow squash
1-2 Carrots
Optional whatever turkey/chicken/ham you have on hand
1 small lemon      

1. Cook and drain the pasta and let it cool
2. Cut up herbs (if fresh), carrots, and zucchini/squash 
3. Mix pasta, herbs, vegetables, salt, pepper, nuts, olive oil, meat and cheese
4. Squeeze lemon over the conglomeration-it should not taste lemony but cut through the olive oil and give it depth; you can use a little zest as well
















As you can see, this is incredibly simple. These pictures are from two different batches (clearly I'm not contending for any awards in photography or "cute" food). Trade out anything you want. Use a food processor instead of cutting. Switch the pine nuts for sunflower seeds. It's pretty open-ended, although I would recommend that if you use deli meat, you might want to add it directly into your portion-it seems to go bad faster when the deli meat is in it. This may be purely my perception, but why take the risk? Also, as a point of interest, you don't even have to bother dirtying a spoon; I just put it in either a large tupperware or gallon size bag and shake it.


And one last thing: You may have noticed that I don't believe in measuring things. It's so cumbersome and just dirties more dishes (we don't have a dishwasher). So I do pretty much everything to taste. And if you ever do see a measurement then I probably guessed or measured it out just for ya'll. I also really like starting sentences with conjunctions.

Favorite Meal of the Morning

So. For those of you who know me, you know my days of international travel have been at a standstill for a while now. But please, it is not possible for my life to not have adventures. And now my adventures have shifted to a very small radius: my kitchen. And boy has it been an adventure as I have begun to cook. And like it.

I like order. Therefore I have decided to start at the first meal of the day. Or as my husband would say: "My favorite meal of the morning." Since I hate having to scroll through a bunch of other stuff I'm going to put the recipe first, then if you don't want to hear anything I have to say about it, you are free to stop reading at any point.

Overnight Oats

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled (not quick) oats*

1/2 cup Greek yogurt (this is a great source of protein)

Enough milk to cover once all ingredients are added (any kind of milk will work)

Also add any/all of the following:

Fresh or frozen fruit (we used to use apple and banana; now we prefer frozen blue-, rasp-, and blackberries, but they can be texturally intimidating to some)

Dried fruit (craisins, raisins, apricots, dates, cherries, etc)

Seeds (pumpkin, sunflower)

Crushed nuts (almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts)

Zest/juice of citrus (either 1 small lime/lemon or 1/2 large orange)

1 t chia seeds

1 T ground flax seed

1/2 t vanilla

Pinch of salt (this is just to bring out the other flavors, not to taste)

If it's not sweet enough for your taste you can add honey, but if you have enough fruit and citrus juice, you won't need it.

1. Cut up any large fruit and crush nuts in food processor (or buy them already cut/crushed)

2. Pour oats, yogurt, dried or fresh fruit, seeds, nuts, chia and flax

3. Add enough milk to cover

4. Zest the citrus**

5. Cut citrus in half and juice**

6. Add vanilla and salt**

7. Mix everything

8. Cover and refrigerate over night

9. Mix in frozen fruit when ready to eat

* This feeds my husband and me for about 2 days. If you’re eating it alone I would suggest making less since it’s best to eat the first 2 days

**Steps 4-6 aren't technically necessary, but I would strongly encourage you try. The citrus adds sweetness and keeps it a little runnier, but it’s just fine without it. If you don’t add the citrus and vanilla than I would suggest a little honey for sweetness. Also the citrus and vanilla fill the room with what I think might be the most divine aroma.

The night before

Ta-Da! In the morning...

Yum!

I won't try to take credit for this idea, I'm just bringing together the slightly different ways I've seen this done and giving you my favorite combination I've made after many batches of this. Overnight oats are our go-to breakfast. They're fast, easy, and feel good in the gut. I know exactly what's going into my body, and it isn't abbreviations or words I can't pronounce. The concept is very simple. One time I was talking to a friend about this, and she said when she made overnight oats it was just oats, milk, and one fruit. That's fine. Whatever tickles your tummy. But it should be a good tickle. More of a soothing massage. Ok. I'm going to stop there. The point is, this is definitely different from cereal or even oatmeal. Don't expect either one. Have an open mind. Try new ingredients. Make it your own. Although, I am partial to my way... 

And just to be fair, click the links below to watch the videos I got this idea from.

I'm Back!

Hello Friends and Family!

By way of announcement: I have tummy issues.

And the more I talk to people about it, the more I find that a large percentage of the population, or at least of those with whom I become acquainted, are in the same boat. Something about this doesn't quite seem right... Eating shouldn't be painful--physically, emotionally, grammatically, or any other -ally. So what is to be done? That is a fabulous question which I have explored the hard way for a few years now. I've been on all sorts of diets to help diminish the pain. Some did more good than others. And some did more harm than good. I've lost unhealthy amounts of weight. I've swung to the other extreme and gained it all back plus some (keep in mind these were not intended to be weight loss diets). And often the harm I did to myself was not to just my physical body. Extreme diets are mentally exhausting and socially isolating. I cowered from dates or lunch get-togethers for fear that I would have to be an inconvenience or have to draw attention to all the things I couldn't eat. I traveled Europe for 2 years but couldn't try a single baked good! Sometimes I handled it better than others, but in the end, I still had tummy issues.
After spending my honeymoon either curled up in a ball in pain or trying to get in to see different doctors, I was put on my most extreme diets yet. Then the craziest thing happened. I didn't feel physically better, but I did feel emotionally worse. I had stuck so rigidly to rules about food that it became the boss of me. Wait a second. Food isn't alive. It doesn't have a brain. It can't move. It is an inanimate object. And its sole purpose is supposed to be to serve me. So what was I doing letting it control how I felt? I decided to try what could be the hardest diet of all-moderation. I started learning about what I was putting into my body and how it could affect me. I started cooking my meals from scratch and using whole ingredients. I started to be the boss again. Because I do have brain-unlike the food. I stopped being afraid of "the rules". I still eat processed food when someone wants to meet up for lunch or when I have a hankering for some ice cream. But I pay attention to how I actually feel and what I actually taste when I do put something in my mouth. And when I cook, I challenge myself to see how many veggies I can seamlessly incorporate into any given dish, usually without my husband's detection.
So I don't have an earthshattering solution or a trendy diet to vouch for. But I've had a lot of people ask me about tummy issues in the last year, and all I can say is God knew what he was doing when he made food pop up out of the ground as if by magic. And it's not meant to hurt--emotionally, physically, grammatically, or any other -ally. Nor is it meant to be the boss of me.