Saturday/Sunday - Day 15/16

My husband remarked how disciplined I have been these past two weeks, not only in staying the course, but also by blogging it.  Truthfully, by blogging this I have put aside working on my photography (all food pictures I've posted are cell phone pictures). I have reading to catch up on as well as a sewing project!  Only five more days, which I have already decided will be a take-away blog.

Food prep is beginning to get weary, but I think I already mentioned in a previous post, food prep has been more weary for  along time, even prior to this 21-day purification!  This does feel like more work though as our morning routine has been thrown off course with fixing two breakfast.  I look forward to sitting down next Saturday with my veggies and pasture eggs!! 

I would think that since we get our eggs and milk from a farm that I shouldn't have to give them up. I've said that before too.

Todays' post is for two days.  Oh well!  

Started morning "breakfast" as I've been doing.  It was Farmer's Market day so there was no fancy heroics.  Slept in until 6 a.m. and need to hustle.  While Bill made himself some soft boiled eggs on Ezekiel Flax seed toast, I had my smoothie and a half of a sweet potato with a tablespoon of Kerry Gold butter and some cardamom. 

SMOOTHIE:  2T SP Pro Complete, 2T Whey Pro, 1 cup hemp milk, 1/2 mango, 1T fresh dates, 1/4 cup basil.

So off to Farmer's Market: Tatsoi is back!!!  Tatsoi is high in calcium, iron and potassium and very low in oxalates!  (Read more about oxalates and anti-nutrients here) We've been buying our chicken there and roasting it, keeping the bones for delicious collagen filled bone broth.  Also bought beef soup bones.  When buying local meat the cost is hard to swallow and we've been doing it for years.  According to the Standard Process Purification guidelines, this is what we should be doing, along with what is recommended by wellness professionals.

For lunch I had a half pound of bison left so cooked it in the cast iron skillet and served it with a salad of frisee, cucumber and tomato (produce from farmer's market) tossed in olive oil and raspberry vinegar.  It was light but satisfying since I didn't eat much in the morning.  

We had a zoom event in the afternoon, and then Mass at 4:30.  The chicken was thawed yet.  The beef soup bones were in slow cooker but the broth would be ready until Monday (bones were frozen) and I wanted to slow cook out all the nutrients.

So before Mass we stopped at Robert's Seafood.  What I really like about them is that even their farm raised fish is raise sustainably.  Again, the SP guidelines specified 1-2 servings a day after Day-11 of deep sea fish (Page 19: salmon, cod, sea bass, etc. - not farmed raised).  Picked out their smallest fillet, a little over a 1/2 pound of cod (Bill could eat a larger piece).  For supper I served it with broccolini sautéed with shallots.

And I learned something.  I thought broccolini had better nutrients than broccoli.  I was wrong.  

After another good night sleep we readied ourselves for a hike at Lincoln Memorial Gardens.  We had to get out early as the temps were going to be oppressive again.  It was already 81°  when we left the house with the dew point at 73° (dew point readings above 70°F are oppressive and even dangerous). We did almost 4 miles but the later it became the more oppressive it became as well.

The afternoon was all about some meal prep for the week. I prepared and prepared:  *Red Lentil Butternut Curry Soup, made with coconut milk.  Having that tonight.

Red Lentil Butternut Squash Curried Soup

Cooked up quinoa* for the week (making stuffed peppers again) and have the chicken in the oven with Indian spices. 

*Note about lentils and grains like quinoa.  In order to release some of the phytic acids and  improves the way your body digests and absorbs the nutrients. I could write more, but I am getting tired.

Lastly, I wanted to post my biggest frustration.  When Bill and I was married almost 11 years ago, our grocery bill hovered around $125 week for just two of us.  This did not include eating out once a week.  Today it hovers around $200 a week.  I keep attempting to try and lower it without much success.  It isn't the fruits and vegetables, it is the protein.  It is the chicken (at least I can get several meals and bone broth). It is the fish.  It is a conundrum.