I’ve of two minds on our change to a more Mediterranean style eating plan.
MIND ONE:
Part of me is VERY happy that I feel better. I’m not eating Mediterranean recipes much – since my husband gets hostile when I talk about veggies and the recipes I’m finding lean heavily toward veggies he doesn’t consider ‘food.’ I’m basically just trying to focus on adding more veggies and fruit to our diet.
When I make beef stew, for example, I’m consciously adding more veggies than I used to, loading it up with less beef and more veggies. The same with casseroles.
I’M consciously choosing frozen dinners which concentrate on veggies, such as Healthy Choice “Steamers” and “Power Bowls” while my husband loads up on Pineapple Chicken or Sweet and Sour Chicken dinners. When we have the frozen dinners, or leftovers from my cooking, I add a side veggie, plus a fruit.
MIND TWO:
The other part of me is frustrated at my slow weight loss. I’m trying to watch my portions and track my calories on My Fitness Pal, but the scale is still laughing at me. I want there to be less of me. I am eating healthy, doing my daily yoga practice (DAY 73) and trying to be more active in general. I keep telling myself, “One day at a time…”
Our switch to Mediterranean is ongoing and seems to be good for us, though my weight loss efforts have slowed. My digestive problems have stopped, though, and that’s huge. We’re eating lots of veggies and fruit now, and our lunches are pretty, plus colorful and delicious. My husband and I are both enjoying them.
For dinner tonight, though, my husband requested an old favorite, where I cut up chicken into bite-sized chunks, cook it with onions, mushrooms, and cream of chicken/mushroom soup and spices, serving it over rice. We haven’t had this in a long time. We’re at the age where comfort food is important from time to time, so we’ll splurge and enjoy tonight.
Our Sunday started off with a bang with Amber barking early this morning, waking us up. When I got downstairs, my husband was making coffee (thank goodness) and announced that ‘something’ had gotten into our garage overnight and gotten into the trash bag of stuff I had gathered Saturday.
Lowes
I got that gathered again and am considering whether we should close off the dog door we have in our garage door. Amber doesn’t use the door. When we’re awake and it’s not actively storming, our garage door is up. Amber sleeps on her bed in our utility room at night. I’m not exactly sure what we would need to do to close it off, but it looks like something we should at least consider. I really don’t want to regather trash in the GARAGE daily and THEN have to re-gather it AGAIN at the bottom of the driveway if the trash people don’t pick it up…
damndelicious.net
On a nicer note, I got the makings of beef stew into our crock pot first thing this morning. I put extra veggies in it and I’ll fix some garlic toast to go with it tonight. We’ll have enough for a meal or two after tonight. :0)
InstaShot – BoredPanda.com
Today is DAY 51 of my daily yoga practice. Yesterday I added “The Boat” Pose. Today I’ll add “The Cobra” pose and “Supine Leg Switching”
The BoatCobra PoseSupine Leg Switches
My basic practice is about 30 minutes. I think I’ll be fine with eventually spending 45 minutes to an hour.
I hope you’re enjoying your Sunday and that you have Labor Day off.
boredpanda.comHand-painted, One of a kind Memory Box
Yesterday I spent much of the day listing memory boxes I’ve painted on my Etsy site, HandmadeHavenByLinda Today I’ll try to finish the clean-out-and-reorganization of my bedroom bookshelves, fold and put away laundry, and other equally exciting stuff. :0)
Today is Lunch Bunch. I know that two of our friends won’t be there because of needing to see a doctor. I’m hoping that Kay, and her husband, Bud, will be there. We finally got some rain overnight and are supposed to get more today. It would be nice if it holds off until we’re back from Lunch Bunch, but I won’t complain if it doesn’t. My flowers are saying, “ahhhhhhh!”
Glenning Welhan-Yoga Journal
I’m feeling more in control lately. Our eating in a more Mediterranean fashion, with lots more veggies and fruits, using meat as a flavoring, rather than the main focus of our meals, is working for us. I’m continuing to find ways to sneak veggies in, since my husband is hyper-sensitive to that, already deciding the veggies or the recipe featuring them will be ‘awful’ before he even tries it, but I’m getting better at it. :0) Some of the meals are getting rave reviews! I’m still kind of on my own, since there are very few ‘Mediterranean Recipes’ as such, that DON’T feature things I KNOW my husband will throw up his hands about, but what we’re doing seems to be in the right direction.
I’ve discovered that either cottage cheese or almonds is a good, filling snack for me in the afternoons. I’m trying my best NOT to be up in the middle of the night, when NOTHING deters me from stuffing my face. I’m on DAY 49 of my daily yoga practice today. Although I’m still an old, stiff broad, the yoga stretches really help me feel better. Our yellow lab, Amber, looks forward to my practices now, running over to smile at me, snuffle me, and try to push me off the mat before I sternly order her to get in her “PLACE.” (Can you STERNLY order anything while laughing?)
Over the past week I’ve lost 4 lbs. I’m using MyFitnessPal.com to make sure I’m staying under my calorie limit for the day. The big thing is that I’m feeling more in control of what I’m eating, drinking, and doing. The fact that all seems to be coming together to result in my losing part of the lard is definitely motivating.
We’re about to put this month to bed and I couldn’t be happier about it. I’m hoping we’ll get a cool-down soon – with more than a tease of rain chances – so I can enjoy being outside again.
IndiaMART
Even though my scales are still laughing at me, I saw improvement this morning. I found a new snack – 1 oz of Blue Diamond Lightly Salted Almonds with Sea Salt. The 1 oz is about 28 almonds. 170 calories. Filling and delicious. I’m enjoying them with a bottle of water after my yoga practice (DAY 47).
When we leave for errands today, we’ll change out our mailbox decoration. This scarecrow helps us welcome hopefully cooler weather with open arms.
Right Attitudes
I’m going to concentrate on my bookshelves in our bedroom today. I’ve moved a bunch of books out of there into the guest room, plus gathered a grocery bag of books to donate to the library. Today I’ll see if there is more to donate and then clean the shelves and reorganize the books.
I’ve been trying to eat more in the Mediterranean style, including LOTS more veggies and fruit in our diet. I’m also trying to find veggies that won’t cause a divorce after almost 54 years of marriage, since my husband – who is not veggie-averse, leans toward veggie-intolerant. So far, I’m on my own on recipes.
I’ve looked at LOTS of beginning Mediterranean recipes and am frustrated. Not only do they feature veggies I KNOW my husband won’t eat, they throw in chick peas, quinoa, olives, and kale. I would be fine with a bunch of this, but these are simply no-go in this house. Bah. Humbug.
Izismile
So far, I’ve been successful making our ‘regular’ recipes, adapting them for “less meat and more veggies,” adding more veggies to stews and casseroles, relying heavily on individual frozen dinners so that my husband gets a break while still eating healthy and I can choose the ones with the heavier proportion of veggies. A mixed bag.
I’m gradually deciding that I’m going to concentrate on ‘eating healthy’ rather than ‘losing weight.’
We’ve been feeling better – and our systems are working better – since I started adding more fruit and veggies to our diet – while watching my husband’s blood sugar readings carefully. As long as his numbers look good, and he’s feeling good, I’ve decided I’m not going to worry about anything else.
Technically, since he’s a Type II diabetic, he’s supposed to avoid all sugar, including fruit. I’ve just decided to change from ‘low carb’ to a more Mediterranean style of eating, although it’s my own form, since I’m having trouble finding recipes that he will eat. He looks at me in horror when I mention most veggies, and does things like stop me when I’m serving veggies at dinner. He DOES agree that he’s feeling better since I’m concentrating on serving him more veggies. As long as his numbers are good, I’m serving fruit, too.
As far as my dieting goes, I’m trying to either not eat at all between meals, or be very careful what I’m snacking on, watch my portions at meal times, and exercise.
I love having a ‘colorful’ plate of food. It lifts my spirits. Hopefully, all this will come together to give us the results we would like. :0)
It’s supposed to get to 105 F. actual temperature here this afternoon, so we’re planning to stay inside for the most part.
I made spaghetti last night, using Rao’s for the sauce base. My husband won’t even consider eating ‘zoodles’ (zucchini spiralized), so I sneakily used Banza Spaghetti (made from chickpeas -shhhhh!) It’s better for us in several ways. My husband complimented the spaghetti, even asking if there was enough for leftovers. :0)
Today is
laundry day,
change the sheets day,
pay the bills day,
play in the art room day,
yoga practice day,
listen to music for awhile day,
read part of a book day,
maybe take a nap day,
vacuum the equivalent of another dog from the tiles and carpet day,
I’m starting to see some good differences on the scales finally. That has been lower on my list since we changed from low-carb to the Mediterranean eating plan recently after my system got out of whack and I had to focus on getting my health back and eating differently. All is good now and I can focus on only stuffing GOOD things in my face (using moderation), doing my yoga practice daily (4 sparkly stars in a row on my desk calendar now), drinking lots of water (trying to drink 3 bottles of water daily), and generally trying to stay out of trouble. :0)
BugGuide.net
Yesterday was ‘bug day’ around here. I’ve been annoyed by gnats flying around me lately. Yesterday I was working at the computer and a WASP landed on my leg! I leaped up, got the fly swatter, and the NEXT time he was in the area, I beat him to a pulp before disposing of his corpse. :0) I noticed something on the floor just under the buffet in the dining area. When I leaned down to see what it was, I found a scorpion! It was a DEAD scorpion, but one can’t be dead enough for me. I picked him up with the forceps we keep on hand (fearing he might be playing possum) and disposed of him, too. I then called Tri-Hill Pest Control in Fort Smith and our good tech will come out late this afternoon to spray inside and out.
iStock
Today we actually have a CHANCE of rain! We MIGHT get an isolated shower or two! I have all appendages crossed, since it’s ALSO supposed to get to an all-too-hot temperature with a heat index of 111 this afternoon. If we get the rain, you can be sure I’ll take the time to go out and dance in it.
Tenor
We’re going to leave in a bit to get our mail and replenish our food supply at the local grocery. My husband tried a new Healthy Choice frozen dinner last night, “Pineapple Chicken,” and he wants to get more. He has also requested another ‘tuna casserole’ (with extra veggies) that I made recently. I’m also trying several different salmon recipes.
We had a nice harvest this morning, with more coming soon. The weather has started affecting the quality of the tomatoes with some breaks in the skin, a couple of bad spots, etc., but they still taste absolutely wonderful and we’re spoiled beyond redemption, shamelessly devouring some for both lunch and dinner daily while we can. :0)
Tenor
Tonight we’ll enjoy a “Main Meal Salad” (chef type salad) with added chicken from Lunch Bunch, so we’re having a nice, healthy day.
We’ve been moving toward the Mediterranean eating plan for several weeks now. I’m having to do my own version of it since my husband would definitely leave me (yes! after 53 years!) if I started serving him meals with eggplant, Brussels sprouts, quinoa, black olives, chick peas, ‘zoodles,’ etc.
I’m concentrating on adding as many of the veggies he WILL eat (or I can sneak in) as possible to soups, stews, casseroles, salads, and side veggies. We are also eating some of the healthier frozen dinners (both of us are avoiding sugar, and Healthy Choice Steamed Bowls are heavier on the veggies for me).
I’m feeling better all the time after having my whole digestive system out of whack due to too much fat for my body with its lack of gallbladder, (with my lack of thyroid a complicating factor) and then my system going nuts. The concentration on less meat and more veggies is working well for me now, though the weight is not coming off yet. I figure that eating healthier is first, learn to either skip or choose my afternoon snack very carefully, and THEN I’ll worry about the lard.
Most of the diet articles figure that their readers are craving sweets. That isn’t my problem, although I do enjoy them when I can get them. My problem is I love salty foods. Though I try to limit added salt, I would salt my SALT if I had total freedom. One step at a time….
I’m trying to wrap my head around this. I grew up with what I consider the ‘regular’ food pyramid. As you can see, there are a LOT of differences between that and the Mediterranean lifestyle food pyramid shown here.
They agree that we should eat very few sweets. We have been trying to cut out all, if not most, added sugar because 1) my husband is Type II diabetic, and 2) because we know sugar is bad for us.
They agree we should eat more fruits and veggies. I’m not finding many recipes to try because the Med diet includes WAY too many veggies my husband not only dislikes, but dislikes with a vengeance. I’m sneaking in more veggies here and there that he DOES like where he can see them, and sneaking in even more in soups, stews, and casseroles where he CAN’T identify them.
The ‘regular’ pyramid says to avoid fats and oils, while the Med one encourages you to embrace extra virgin olive oil.
The Med pyramid encourages you to eat fish and seafood at least twice a week. They also say poultry is good, but discourage red meat (only use as a flavoring).
Beans are DIS-couraged in the regular pyramind and EN-couraged in the Med.
And so it goes. I’m making small changes each week, trying to incorporate as many of the differences as I can without causing my husband grief. So far, I’ve been successful…
Yesterday our plumber came and put in the 2nd line for irrigation in the well house. My husband helped him figure out the ‘plan’ on all the pvc pipe in the well house, and they finished the job in just under the hour we had before we needed to leave for Lunch Bunch. We thanked him profusely for working us into his over-busy schedule.
When we got home, my husband got the timer programmed and ran the system manually. The poor plants in the front yard have only had the rain, and not any of THAT lately, for far too long. I’ve been dumping water into the elephant ear planter, but that’s all. Today I got out and cut the dead stuff out of that planter. I’m hoping we can save the plants we have in the front yard. I’ll try to work on things early in the morning or just before dark, trying to get things taken care of again.
I also harvested 2 more ripe tomatoes today – with 4 more probably ready tomorrow! My husband said he noticed some ripening when he was outside yesterday. I’m back inside now. It’s too hot to stay outside very long, but I can get what I need to accomplished if I just get off my duff and get out there at a reasonable time.
I finished listing some new products on my Etsy website late yesterday afternoon. Things are in good shape there now, I think, and I’m hoping to get some sales.
Today I’m planning to play in my art room. The website took all my time yesterday, and I didn’t go up to my art room at all. I look forward to making some progress today. (I was painting in my dreams last night. :0) )
Chef Dennis
Yesterday I made the tuna casserole we’ve loved for years, but haven’t eaten, due to the carbs. Now that we’re on the Mediterranean eating plan, I updated it to include a BUNCH of veggies. The casserole included tuna, macaroni, cream of chicken-mushroom soup, onions, mushrooms, carrots, green beans, broccoli, some fresh Parmesan cheese and some Mozzarella cheese. My husband said, “This is GOOD!” He didn’t mention the veggies, so neither did I. :0)
We got a big boom of thunder right before we went to bed, but I didn’t see any rain when I looked. Later, when my husband took Amber out for the last time of the night, he said he could see it rained, but it wasn’t when they were out. We must have gotten 3 drops of rain. I’m reminding myself it’s better than none.
Today I’m deceiving my husband. I admit it. I’ll be sneaking around this afternoon, putting together a casserole that he THINKS is our ‘normal’ tuna casserole – that we haven’t had for ages due to the carbs – but NOW are including in our diet because it’s a way I can get my husband to eat lots of veggies in our new Mediterranean style of eating.
I’ll pack it with veggies like broccoli, asparagus, onion, mushrooms, etc. and, because I’ll also put it together like our ‘old-style’ tuna casserole, he won’t be aware of the new, healthier version. It’ll count as another night this week we are eating fish. Another good thing is that I’ll make enough that I can freeze individual portions for us to enjoy other nights. Win/win/win. :0)
We don’t eat breakfast. This is for a variety of reasons, but mostly because of my medications, interactions, working at cross purposes, etc.
We work together on making our lunches, and this is very enjoyable. We each add small things to the plates. We don’t eat all of the same things, but much of it is the same. We’re trying to include a bit of protein- a slice of turkey or something similar. We enjoy a bit of cheese. I have a hard-boiled egg. My husband likes sugar-free jello. We both like fruit. We end up with a healthy, quite colorful, happy-looking lunch which we enjoy in the living room while we catch up on the news on TV.
For dinner I’m trying to eat as Mediterranean as possible. We’re loading up on veggies, eating a lot more fish, some chicken or turkey, a LOT less red meat. We include a bit of fruit at dinner, too.
My husband is veggie-averse, mostly, so I’m treading VERY carefully here, trying to convert recipes we like into healthier versions, sneaking extra veggies in. I’m concentrating on veggies he likes as side dishes where the veggies are identifiable. Since I haven’t found any recipes that aren’t loaded with stuff he won’t eat, I’m concentrating on cooking fish, casseroles with sneaked-in veggies, soups and stews, etc. So far, it’s going well, but it’ll be nice when I build a list of things we both like and are easy to cook. It’s a work in progress.
I downloaded this to my new Kindle this morning and have been pouring over it while I made a new system disc and new data backup disc for my computer.
This appeals to me because of the limit on ingredients and inferred simplicity of the recipes, particularly since I’m just trying to get started.
So far, I’ve started a notebook of generalities about the Mediterranean eating plan. It may very well be that I just collect recipes here and there and end up with a new lifestyle using their suggestions for healthy eating, but not-so-much their actual recipes.
My main concentrations are on
including LOTS more veggies,
some fruit – but mainly as a ‘dessert’ or substitute for sweet things,
a LOT less meat, (little red meat. Chicken and turkey are okay)
more fish, (twice a week)
more whole grains,
more nuts and seeds.
beans
less dairy (twice a week, rather than every day)
I’m a bit worried about the fruit. I love it, but it contains a lot of sugar – something we’re trying to avoid. We’ll see how our numbers do.
Of COURSE they want us to drink more water and exercise.
I JUST finished getting the ingredients for beef stew in the crock pot for dinner tonight, and eggs hard-boiled. I cleaned the fridge out a bit, too, and am now running the dishwasher, having filled it up already this morning. In a few minutes it’ll be time to fix LUNCH. Too much time around food!
I plan to be lazy much of the rest of the day, unless it actually rains and cools off. I finished a Lee Child book yesterday, Past Tense. It was the usual very well-written Reacher series book. Lee is writing with his son, Andrew, now. I’m not sure what that will do to the quality and flavor of the books.
Today I’ll start enjoying a Grisham book my husband passed to me recently.
I’m finally beginning to get used to reaching for raw veggies as snacks.
I had to switch from keto and low-carb eating to a Mediterranean type eating plan because this old body with its lack of gallbladder just wasn’t able to handle all the fat of the former plan, though I really enjoy eating that way. I searched the net high and low and tried every suggestion, but couldn’t find a way around my problems.
I’m now eating lots and lots of veggies, raw and cooked, meat used as a flavoring, mostly, careful portions, and exercise. My scales are beginning to notice, and I’m feeling a lot better now.
On exercise, I’ve decided that if I have a bunch of yard work to do, THAT is the exercise for the day and will suffice. If I don’t, I do my video exercises (warm up, workout, and weights) from my nice guy from Australia plus my yoga stretches in the afternoon. I’m adding to my poses with the aid of my new book
I do about a half hour of stretches now, and I’m adding other poses gradually to see how they add to my practice. I may get to an hour of poses as a new goal. We’ll see.
Nothing noticeable by others yet, but the scales are starting to notice my efforts. A couple of pounds less of me this week.
I’m starting to feel more confident in food choices, preparing, and eating now, loading up on veggies, fruit, nuts, etc. For the moment – while we’re trying to work outside, plus I’m doing some deep cleaning inside – I’m relying on Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers for dinners for me, with another veggie or raw ones on the side while my husband mainly eats Lean Cuisine. We’re having a salad night once a week, plus I cook something big enough (soups, stews, chili, casseroles, fish) that we can have several meals from one cooking session.
My working outside in the garden or inside doing deep cleaning is sufficing right now for my exercise. I’m feeling GOOD.
Things seem to be finally coming together on my Mediterranean-type eating plan. (I say ‘Mediterranean-TYPE’ because I’m really only embracing PART of the plan since my husband looks hostile when I mention most veggies.)
I’m thinking of calling what we’re doing the “SNEAKY Mediterranean Plan” since I’m simply adding an extra serving of the veggies my husband LIKES openly, and sneaking extra veggies that are good for us into soups, stews, and casseroles otherwise.
I haven’t been paying much attention to calories, since my digestive system got messed up awhile back and I’ve been concentrating on meds and eating smart to correct that. I’ve been relying on Cafe’ Steamers from Healthy Choice, since they have good veggies, meat flavoring, and low calories. We’ve also been enjoying fruit – carefully, though, since my husband is Type II diabetic.
All is coming together now. The change in what I’m eating, plus a new medication are largely solving my digestive problems. My scales are beginning to notice my efforts. I feel better – more energetic.
My husband requested I make chili, so I’m doing that today. My project for the day – if all goes according to plan – is to deep clean our master bathroom. Since our heat index is forecast to be 107 today, it’s a great day to wait until late afternoon to try to get outside for yard work.
I’ve found an easy, lazy way to eat in line with my new Mediterranean eating plan. I got some Healthy Choice Cafe’ or Simply Steamer frozen dinners the last time we were able to negotiate our driveway, a week ago now.
The dinners have a small amount of meat or fish plus a good amount of veggies. They have a special steamer bowl where you microwave the dinner, then turn the upper steamer bowl over, adding the cooked food to the sauce in the 2nd bowl below, creating a very pleasant meal.
Since we’re actively trying to increase our veggies, I cook another one – either fresh, frozen, or canned – and put it to the side of my husband’s plate, adding the veggies to the bowl of my meal. Very little work, lots of good veggies, delicious meal – perfect healthy dinner for a lazy cook like me. :0)
So far, I’m moving slowly in our switch to a more Mediterranean eating plan. The main reason is my husband views most veggies with distrust, if not contempt. I have figured out so far that stews, casseroles, omelettes, quiches and frittatas are a way I can increase our veggie intake without my husband revolting. I’m using meat as a flavoring, rather than the main focus, and not including any veggies toward which he is actively hostile. I can also ADD a meat (or tuna fish) flavoring to recipes I find.
I am scouring the Mediterranean cookbooks and online recipes for ideas to expand this. So far, it’s kind of difficult to find much help, though I’m determined to do this. I can also make some of the dishes for myself, serving something else to my husband, but I would like to do this as little as possible. I did find a couple of recipes for veggie ‘fries’ with interesting dips he might go for.
A backup is the Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers line of frozen dinners for me. Since my husband likes a lot of the Lean Cuisines, I’m not stuck in the kitchen trying to come up with something every night. Salads and fruit are rounding out our meals and snacks.
It’s rainy this morning and very dark outside. It looks like the perfect day to spend with the covers pulled up over my head, probably snoring.
npr.brightspotcdn.com-WESA-Meeko
We caught raccoon # 5 overnight, so we’ll need to relocate him later today. I really hope we get to the end of this ‘family’ of raccoons who have found our deck and sunflower seeds. So far, though, they have all been relatively quiet, so no worries about rabies or danger to our dog, Amber, or our cat, Abby. Another good thing – the raccoons always make a mess inside and outside the cage on the deck when we catch them. My husband used the new pressure water sprayer thingie I got recently, and he said it did a good job! If it ever quits raining, I’ll look forward to using it to clean some things up.
Since we’ve started a new month, it means that I need to do bank statements, May bookkeeping, filing, etc. I’ll need to intersperse a bunch of online exercising, getting up to do stuff, and more to keep myself from nodding off…
Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. I made the experimental kielbasa casserole for dinner last night. My husband said it wasn’t his favorite, but encouraged me to keep up the efforts to get us both to eat more veggies. Next time I’ll try a more usual tuna casserole and see if he likes it better.
I’m figuring out ways to sneak veggies into our diet without causing a revolt from my husband. Yesterday I fixed beef stew, going much lighter than normal on the stew beef and going much heavier on the veggies. He liked it. :0)
I can also make some casseroles, doing the same thing. I think it will also work well.
The veggies I’ve found so far from the Mediterranean people are too heavy on the veggies I KNOW will cause problems, so I’m staying away from them. I’ll keep looking.
I’ll work on this gradually, adding veggies every time I can without problems, adding good fruits daily, having main meal salads, etc.
I’m trying to adopt new eating patterns now. My doc told me to take my thyroid med by itself in the morning, then wait at least an hour to eat or take my other meds. I have an alarm set for that now as I type this. Today that means I won’t eat breakfast, since we would leave in another our for Lunch Bunch. Most days, though, I’ll plan to eat a bit of breakfast when I take my other meds.
I’m concentrating on adding as many good veggies and fruit as I can to our diet in this first push toward a Mediterranean plan. When we’re busy, I’m eating a Healthy Choice Cafe Steamer Bowl while my husband eats something else, and making us another veggie to go with our meal. I’m eating a piece of fruit as a snack each day. We’re cutting back on meats, using them as flavoring, instead of the main focus. I’m making a beef stew in the crock pot tomorrow, with lots and lots of veggies.
So far, I think this will be the thrust in the change in diet, since my husband rarely meets a veggie he likes. I downloaded another Mediterranean cookbook onto my Kindle last night. It got lots of good reviews on Amazon, but so far, the recipes I’ve seen in other cookbooks or recipes online center on chick peas, couscous, eggplant, kale, tofu, etc. and this would cause not only derision, but revolt from my other half. I’m hoping I can find a few good things in the new book. It may be that I just collect one or two from several sources, add them to the recipes I already have that my husband likes, and start a rotation. Whatever the case, I’m hoping that eating lots of fruits and veggies coupled with my moving more regimen will result in a happy result on the scales and from my measuring tape.
Yesterday I finally made some progress in ‘getting a handle on’ how I can make the Mediterranean eating plan work for us. (This is complicated because my husband rarely meets a veggie he likes or will even consider eating.)
Yesterday we had a huge fight-with-technology trying to get a Mediterranean cookbook downloaded onto my Kindle. I hardly ever use it, preferring to hold real, treasured books in my hands, but cookbooks are a different ilk, as far as I’m concerned. There are usually only a few recipes I’ll actually cook in each, so I can download a cook book, use what I like, then decide if I actually want to add it to my collection or delete the book from my Kindle and try another.
Making a long story much shorter, we had to DE-register my Kindle because it was listed under my old email address, then RE-register it under my current email address. THEN call for technical help on getting ads off, THEN fight to get rid of ‘freebies’ I didn’t want. I was able to finally get the cookbook and read it last night. As usual, it focused on eggplant, kale, couscous, tofu, Brussells sprouts, cauliflower, chickpeas, etc. Even after more than 50 years of marriage, I know my husband would leave if I tried to cook these things for dinner.
I thought about it a lot, and finally came up with ‘doing my own thing,’ incorporating as many veggies as possible, concentrating on those to which my husband doesn’t object, and flavoring with meats he likes. That means veggie casseroles with chicken or beef or pork ‘flavoring.’ It also can mean stews of various kinds. And fruit as part of our meals and as snacks.
If I cook these, making enough for more than one meal and freezing the leftovers into individual servings for the freezer, I can have lots of meals both of us like, increasing the veggies and fruit I want in my diet and not causing a revolt-among-the-masses. I can also try the recipes that sound reasonable. If my husband doesn’t care for them, I can freeze any leftovers for ME to eat later when my husband is having a Lean Cuisine, Real Food, or Stu’s frozen meal on busy days. Not a complete plan, by any means, but a workable start.
I’m feeling better every day now, with my digestion getting back to normal. I’m now taking my thyroid medicine first thing, eating a small breakfast an hour or so later, then taking the rest of my meds with lunch. This is workable for me. :0)
It’s still rainy here, so the guy bringing us a truckload of chat for the driveway hasn’t called or come. Neither has the plumber, whose work will be outside in the well house. If we can go to town between showers, we’ll get another timer to join the one we just installed in the well house, to be ready when the plumber does his thing.
Meanwhile, my husband actually NOTICED that I had been working in the pantry yesterday! I’m making my way through the food side of the pantry, getting rid of a lot of stuff, cleaning, and then re-organizing. I may finish the main part by the end of the day today. It feels good to be getting things easily accessible, plus smelling the ‘clean.’
If it ever stops raining, I’ll need to get out to my tomato plants and my garden to catch up there…
I’ve debated and settled on switching from Keto to Mediterranean in my efforts to cure my digestive problems and continue to lose my lard. I have a lot of new good things going for me now –
I have a supply of Healthy Choice Cafe’ Steamer frozen dinners I can eat while getting my act together on cooking again.
I THINK I have my digestive problem on the mend now with the combination of new eating of many more veggies and fruit with meat used as a flavoring, plus corrective meds, PLUS taking my thyroid med an HOUR before eating or drinking anything else each morning, giving my body time to absorb it.
I’m getting back into my exercise regimen again, after taking time off while I wasn’t feeling well.
I’m drinking lots of water.
I’m avoiding added sugar, white flour, pasta.
So – I’m optimistic about taking control again. I’m sad about having to give up the keto. I really liked the food, wasn’t hungry, was losing weight. The fact that I don’t have a gallbladder added a complication that none of the suggestions provided would overcome. I’m feeling much better now and will improve each day as my system gets back to normal and my body is absorbing my thyroid medication the way it should.
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