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!

So Fresh & So Yum YUM! + Rule 31

This week's past rule was a piece of cake. Sadly, it's almost too boring to write about. And I have no pictures. I think this boring-ness is a positive thing, however, because it means that following all the previous food rules has helped us to eat better without even really having to focus on it. We lived off of our CSA fruit and veggie bin, the 3 (I repeat 3!) cartons of fresh farm eggs that Ryan brought home from his friend at work, and made our own pasta and soups. The only question was the flour. We buy the flour that says it is organic but I am not sure where it comes from.

Next week we are moving on to Rule #31: Eat wild foods when you can. When I read this all I can think about are expensive mushrooms. After discussing with Ryan we have decided we can get wild fish and wild elk. Any other ideas???? Help!

One Word: Kohlrabi (& Rule #30)

This past week we attempted to eat like omnivores. We tried to mix it up by eating foods that we would otherwise look at and think, "What the heck is that?!?!" Here are just a few pictures so you get the idea:







It was pretty fun to stroll down the grocery aisles and throw weird looking things into the shopping cart. We had no idea what we were going to do with these food items (but that is what the Internet is for, right?!). When we went to pay for our goods the grocery checker looked at our food selection, looked back at us, looked at the food again and must have been thinking, "What in the name are these kids doing???" She even inquired as to our plans with the kohlrabi and Ryan responded, "We have no idea."

Well, to answer the grocery checker's question, we did something great with the kohlrabi. We made a curry. The funny part is that the recipe called for tamarind, which I thought we had. Sadly, I was thinking of turmeric. When we discovered my mistake I remembered that we had a piece of turmeric candy, one of the many pieces of candy that Ryan brings home from work (don't ask). Well, between the kohlrabi and the turmeric candy we made one heck of a curry (see pictures below). In case you are wondering, kohlrabi tastes a lot like the stalk of broccoli. Ryan thought it also tasted like artichoke. I encourage everyone to go cook some up so you can taste it for yourself.....except you might want to peel the hard skin off (thanks for telling us AFTER we tried to eat it mom!). But hey, we got a little extra fiber.







Ryan also tried his first guava this week. I have only eaten guava when I was in India and they were amazing. Sadly, these guavas were dry and lacked any real flavor. Ryan was unimpressed and now holds the belief that he does not like guava....No, you like guava, trust me, because the Indian guavas I ate were one trillion times more delicious.

This week for Rule #30: Eat well-grown food from healthy soil, we are sticking to organic items. Yes, eating organic does not necessarily protect you and can be misleading, but between this and eating locally we are hoping to follow this rule the best we can.

Fondue for Two!

Happy Valentine's Day (just a little late)! With all of the engagement excitement I didn't have time to post, but I promise we did not forget about our blog. Our new freezer should be here this weekend and we are currently following Rule 29: Eat like an omnivore.

The idea behind eating like an omnivore is not necessarily to eat both meat and veggies. Instead, he is talking about eating a wide variety of foods. I think we already do a pretty good job of this but to celebrate this week's food rule we are going to try some food items we have never cooked with before. Stay tuned to see what these will be (because I am not sure what they will be yet...).

To celebrate Valentine's Day Ryan's mom sent us a chocolate "fondue for two" gift set (see picture below). It was amazingly delicious and we have left-overs for tonight!

A Love Story Over Food

There once was a boy and girl who became good friends due to a Monday Night Dinner group. Every Monday it would be another person’s turn to cook. The girl loved the elk prochuitto meatloaf the boy made. The boy loved anything and everything the girl made (can you tell who is writing this story?). Over the course of many Monday meals the boy and girl discovered they had more in common than their love for food. They also both enjoyed outdoor adventures, traveling, and playing games. They realized they could talk to one another for hours after hours....after hours and hours and hours.....without getting bored. Their favorite thing remained putting on “home clothes,” splitting a bottle of wine, cooking a gourmet fabulous meal, and watching West Wing/Monk/Etc. This boy courted this girl for many years, unsuccessfully. But this is not a tragic love story (!) because eventually this girl realized she also loved this boy. They salsa-danced in Mexico, braved the wild waters of the Colorado River, and made a home together complete with a vegetable garden and a “love tree.”

One dreary Saturday the boy asked the girl to go on a hike. He stated that they should celebrate Valentine’s Day early because the girl was busy the actual night of Valentine’s day. The boy also planned to take the girl to dinner followed by a play. While on the hike the boy and girl walked underneath a waterfall. It was there that the boy turned to the girl and stated, “I have a question.” The boy’s voice tone was oddly serious and the girl grew concerned. The boy then reached in his pocket and pulled out the most beautiful ring the girl had ever seen and asked, “Will you marry me?” The girl was so surprised and overcome with the beauty of the ring that she forgot to say “Yes” and instead said, “Thank you.” The boy gave the girl the ring but asked for clarification on the whole marriage part. “YES, OF COURSE!” the girl proclaimed and this is just the happy beginning of many years (and meals) to come........

Freezer Luck

Ryan cleaned out the garage last night. It looks great and a spot is all cleared out for the new freezer. Ryan needed to know how much room to save for the freezer so he got back online to view the measurments AND guess what?!?!!? The freezer went on sale!!!! How weird that the day after we bought a freezer it gets marked down! We called the store and they refunded us the difference. Amazing freezer luck!