Pizza Redemption & Rule #35

We survived our hardest week in a while: No pre-added salt or sugar. This was an exceptionally hard week because multiple people wanted to take us out to dinner and how do you eat at a restaurant without consuming food that has salt and sugar not pre-added? WELL, we figured it out: SUSHI! We went sushi crazy and had some delicious meals. Also, my aunt and uncle were in town from California and we spent time with them and my mom's cooking (I watched her add the salt and sugar to some things). I felt super healthy this week. Snacking was focused on healthy things. Not eating cheese (lots of pre-added salt) was one of the hardest parts of this week. We managed to cook a pizza at my mom's with a white sauce and no cheese that was amazing! Yay for pizza redemption from the sardine episode.....(shudder).

This upcoming week is rule #35: Eat sweet foods as you find them in nature. All I can say is thank goodness this rule isn't happening over Easter weekend (aka jelly bean coma day). Here come's a week of no unnatural sugar. Also, Pollan specifies no juice even if it is from a natural source due to the quick absorption of sugars and the lack of feeling "full" due to the lack of fiber.

Fermented Fun Times and Rule #34

This past week we ate a lot of different foods containing live microorganisms. This might sound weird...especially the way Pollan describes it as food that has been "predigested by bacteria or fungi." Tasty, right? When people asked us what our rule was this week I kept forgetting how to explain it aside from "Eat yogurt and tofu and stuff....yeah." I am sad to report we didn't try anything too exciting. My mom suggested something I have never heard of but there weren't enough hours in a day to get it (wedding planning is basically done though!). So, if I try this mystery food in the near future I will include a special post about it because I am sure everyone is curious now (sorry!).

This upcoming week is Rule #31: Sweeten and salt your food yourself. My prediction: Ryan is going to LOVE this rule.

Sicky Fishy & Rule #33

My oh my this past week was HORRIBLE. I am a brave eater and always have been....but stinky canned fish I cannot do. In fact, I don't even eat canned tuna. This is not food for humans. This is food fit for cats. HOWEVER, when starting out the week I tried to keep a positive attitude. We went to the store and bought a couple cans of sardines, anchovies, etc. On Tuesday night I decided to dig in.

Making a sardine pizza sounded logical for several reasons. Reason A: Pizza is delicious. Reason B: Even bad pizza (pizza hut for example) is delicious. And Reason C: I love making pizza.

I made my own whole wheat cornmeal pizza crust and topped it with sauce and cheese. Ryan then used a can of sardines and we stuck it in the oven. Not only did our whole house smell like vomit, my first bite of sardines had me running for the toilet. I would like to attribute this to the sickness I endured days after this horrible bite of sticky fish. Ryan, who generally likes stinky canned fish agreed that it was the most disgusting thing ever. We tried to pick the sardines off and salvage the pizza but the juices had saturated all the way through. The pizza was a goner and was placed in it's rightful place: The Trash. In my whole entire life, I never thought I would throw away pizza. Folks, this day came and went and I am scared I will never look at pizza the same way again.

I spent the rest of the week trying to eat Caesar dressing, something that I do enjoy. Ryan ate some more canned fish. Bottom line: Cons outweigh the pros on this rule. Stick to fish oil pills and save your taste buds.

I am excited for this week Rule #33:Eat some foods that have been predigested by bacteria or fungi. This rule will be a breath of fresh (non-fish-smelling) air after last week.

Amazing!!!

Inspiring me to do a better job with last week's rule....worth the read:

http://www.oregonlive.com/mix/index.ssf/food-trends/castagna-chef-matt-lightner-forages-the-northwest.html

Forage-less & Rule #32

Sorry Allison. We were so lame this past week. I had high hopes that we would do something exciting but Ryan and I both got the cold that is going around. In fact, I still have the cold and cannot get rid of it. We had one night of glory with wild salmon and mushrooms. Ryan and I, both achy-bodied and runny-nosed, forced ourselves to turn on the grill and make a delicious meal. So true, winter is not the season to go wild. My mom found this website when she heard what we were doing: http://www.wildfoodadventures.com/johnkallas.html Anyone want to do a class (when money goes on trees?)? Allison!?!?!



Rule #32 I have been dreading: Don't overlook the oily little fishes. I have never tried eating an oily little fish. And I never thought I wanted to. Just the idea of eating skin, bones, etc. of some greasy salty little thing makes me want to vomit. I thought I might break myself in by trying some on pizza.....verdict still to come.

In other news we finally got our freezer! They delivered us a broken one the first go around so on try #2 we have a functional freezer that is so big I bet both Ryan and I could fit inside. Now we need to work on filling it up!