"GAMBATTE"

It's Japanese for (loosely translated) "KEEP GOING"

To keep going no matter what! Life gets in the way of our dreams, plans, expectations; but that's ok. Just keep going!

I know.....back to food. ;-)

Yesterday for lunch with customers in a Japanese restaurant, I had sashimi. 4 pieces of salmon and 2 pieces of white tuna (also known as Escolar) A few cucumber slices. This was very satisfying as I had a big breakfast. Snack later in the day was blueberries and almonds.

I play soccer on Wed. nights, so before I went I made a quick stir fry of chicken and asparagus.

No fancy stuff, evoo, garlic, onion, asparagus and 2-3 ounces of chicken.

Breakfast; again quick and simple!

3 brussel sprouts shredded, garlic, red onion, chicken broth and chicken. Sauteed and then simmered for a few minutes. Kiwi and apple. Celery and raw cashews, almonds, for snack. Look how green the kiwi is. Both organic by the way. Check out www.modernforager.com for a stimulating post on organic vs conventional. To add my 2 cents to that. The chicken I bought yesterday, I got at a regular supermarket. I think it's called Murray's. It's free range and natural . It weighed 12 ounces and cost was $5.24. I think that is twice as expensive as lets say Purdue. If you eat correctly, as in in 3-4 ounce portions, is it still expensive? I don't think so.

Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

I had this title before, but i just really like it!

Breakfast;

Scrambled eggs with, scallions, 2 shrimps, cubanelle pepper, cherry tomatoes, arugula and a pinch of feta. Of course some of my favorite fresh ground pepper to top it off.

Small side salad of avocado,cucumber, basil and a 1/2 teaspoon of vegenaise.

Have not tasted it yet, so don't know how good it is.

One kiwi and 3 strawberries.

"Love is all there is"

Nice title for my post today I thought. Even though it pertains to nothing in the post, .......ok then.......back to food!

Breakfast and lunch for two. This is my breakfast and my girlfriends lunch. Some macadamias and almonds go in the lunch box for an afternoon snack.

Stir fry of bok choy, garlic, baby eggplant, cubanelle pepper, tempeh. Ground grass fed beef and left over shrimp for me only. Strawberries, kiwi and blueberries.

Lunch;

Home made chicken soup, added left over grass fed ground beef.

Snacked on a few almonds and macadamias.

I also have a few blueberries and strawberries left, that I will munch at my desk.

Dinner:

Made a nice "red Sauce" in the crockpot before leaving for work. Here's the recipe. 5-6 garlic cloves, two cans of organic crushed tomatoes, one can of tomato paste, 1/2 pound organic grass fed ground beef (browned in some olive oil and garlic before adding to the sauce) garlic powder, onion powder, fresh ground pepper and 1/3 of a cup red wine. A few leaves of fresh basil.

No pasta ofcourse, so served over lots of peas. Try it! 2 glasses of red wine. 2005 Penfolds shiraz in case you're curious.

Farmers market and what's in your lunch bag today?

Do you have a farmers market where you live?

You would not believe the treasures to be had there. So check to see if there's one in your area.

I had not been to the one here in over a year. Stupid ME!

I went Sat. morning early and did a week's worth of produce shopping (all organic and locally grown) for $40. This also included a pound of the freshest local shrimp I've ever seen.

Curious what I bought?

Romaine lettuce, so green and so big it was 3 times the size compared to what's available at the super market. Yellow squash, baby eggplants, FRESH cucumbers (the garden fresh taste was un real) cherry tomatoes, strawberries, bok choy, of which I should have taken a picture, because you wouldn't believe how good it looked. Big bushel of basil, large bulb scallions and some fresh mozzarella.

I made a fresh pesto sauce on Saturday. So Sunday was a veggie and shrimp grill fest. Marinated all goodies with the fresh pesto and grilled it.

So breakfast this morning was some left over shrimp with avocado, some basil and a drizzle of EVOO.

See pic for my lunch box contents, includes breakfast with some straw berries and blueberries and afternoon snack of humus with drizzle of EVOO and fresh celery.

Lunch;

Some fresh Arugula, drizzle of olive oil topped with some left over organic pulled chicken.

I made the chicken in the crock pot a few days ago.

Here's a real easy recipe to try and it is delicious! One whole organic chicken, one large yellow onion, 6-8 cloves garlic, half a lemon. Dry Rub, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, chili powder (I like achiote) and thyme. Clean the chicken and stuff cavity with garlic cloves, some onion and sliced lemon. Put a little bit of olive oil in your hand and rub the chicken with it. Next rub the spices all over the chicken. Make a bed of onions in the crock pot and put the chicken on top. Cook on low for 4-5 hours. The chicken makes and sits in it's in own juices, turn the bird over after about 3 hours. Keeps well and is SO tasty.

Cut up the onion make a bed in the crock pot.

Sausage

"Everything you'll ever need to know is within you; the secrets of the universe are imprinted on the cells of your body. But you haven't learned how to read the wisdom of the body"

I wrote this down a long time ago, I'm sure it came from a book but can't remember which/what or who.
Anywho.....back to food.

I like sausage, but most available is an ingredients nightmare. So, I've made friends with some local butcher shops that make their own and make me special ones made to order. They do not add questionable ingredients. These need to be made the same day or next as they spoil quickly. I also get some at Whole foods. Esepcially the lamb,spinach and feta ones. Have I ranted yet how said I am that Wild Oats got sucked up by Whole foods? I'll leave that for another post.

Breakfast;
Romaine lettuce, one small spicy pepper, one marinated clove of garlic, one lamb,spinach and feta sausage drizzle of olive oil.
Also preppeded some cantaloupe and blueberries buit have not eaten it as I am full from the "sausage salad"

Sleeping, Evolutionary fitness and the hunter gatherer

How is everyone sleeping? And how much do you sleep?

I've noticed an interesting pattern lately. I wake early (5:30-6), I go for a workout, eat a good amount of food around 9:30. Then I'll eat again at 1 or so. A little snack around 3-4. Then I get hungry again around 4-5, I eat around 6. Glass of wine with and after the meal. Some reading or puttering in the house, and I'm ready for bed at 9. Falling asleep around 9:30 sometimes even earlier. Loads of energy during the day. This pattern had me thinking this morning. Let me tell you my thoughts and how I see this pattern relating to the hunter gatherer.


You see, I wake up, I chew on a few blueberries maybe as I go check and fix my traps early morning. I might have to pull myself up a tree, pull hard on branches to bend them for traps, perhaps move some big rocks. I climb a tree to scout around and stretch some to get my body awake from the night sleep. A few hours after doing all this strenuous activity I go back to my traps, gather some plants and leaves on the way and find to my delight that I have some game (or fish) in my traps. I now get to eat all this goodness.

Just and observation I thought I'd share. Anywho......back to food.
Breakfast;
Scrambled eggs with lots of scallions. Blueberries and a piece of apple.

Lunch; Celery, some left over rotisserie chicken, some left over sauteed spinach.
Snack a few raw cashews and almonds

Dinner; This should be good. In the crock pot I threw together this morning was the following;
3/4 of a Red cabbage, one large onion, 6-8 cloves of garlic, red wine, fresh ground pepper, some sea salt. And a bone in chicken breast that I browned on both sides, before putting in the with the rest.

Comment Troubles

I've responded to several comments over the week, and they do not seem to be posting. Also other comments seem to disappear. I spoke to tech support about it and it should be ok now.
so try and send of a quick comment if you have a minute and I will respond, just to test the system.
My traveling week challenged my way of eating, but in the end I think I came out on top.
I did consume a few carbs in the form of rice with sushi as well as a bagel (GASP!!!). I had it the New York way with cream cheese and smoked salmon. It was very tasty and oddly enough left me full for the entire day. Anywho, back to food.

Breakfast;
2 boiled eggs, some smoked salmon, 4 slices of melon, blueberries and a celery stalk.
This kind of breakfast gives me a lot of energy for the morning hours, but I'm usually ready to eat again around noon. (That's less then 3 hours after I eat.)

LUNCH;
1/4 rotisserie chicken with some raw sliced onion and brocoli.

Week of January 7th

I'm traveling on business this week, so won't be posting a lot per my New Years resolution.
But will keep you updated on my food choices. Not always easy when you are travelling.
Breakfast this morning was a buffett.
My plate as follows;
Scrambled egg, smoked salmon, red onion, tomato and some capers. I just cut it all up and mixed it togehter. Honeydew and cantaloupe slices.

Leftovers RULE

I always find ways to throw together a decent meal......even when a first look in my fridge reveals nothing of the sort. So breakfast this morning went something like this;

Ah, left over tandoori chicken, hmmmmm red cabbage, forgot I had that; onion? score! Garlic, I always have garlic. 4 asparagus hiding underneath a large cucumber, some cilantro, some spinach.

Sauteed some garlic and onion, added finely chopped red cabbage, cut up asparagus, chopped some cilantro and spinach for a last second addition. Some fresh ground pepper.

Nice variety of color, very tasty with a little kick form the spicy tandoori chicken.

FYI, if you need dinner ideas; last night I made brussel sprouts using a recipe I saw on Marksdailyapple. Balsamic Brussell Sprouts. Easy to make and very tasty. Link on the right of the blog. Made a red sauce (out of the jar) for the kids with organic turkey. Large mixed salad.

Struggle?

"Life was never meant to be a struggle, just a gentle progression from one point to another, much like walking through a valley on a sunny day"

Stuart Wilde. Interesting guy Mr. Wilde.

Dinner last night was some griled salmon, grilled yams and a side salad. Just boil the sliced (slice thick) yams, when still somewhat firm, put in a bowl with some olive oil, red pepper flakes and fresh ground pepper. Then grill in grill basket while you tend to your other items. 2 large glasses of a nice pinot noir.

Breakfast;

Salmon salad. Left over grlled salmon mixed with 4 boiled eggs, capers, celery, vegenaise and fresh ground pepper. Apple, cantaloupe, strawberries and a few carrots with baba ghanoush (eggplant) for my girlfriend. I'm having the salmon salad, a few slices of smoked salmon and left over salad from last night.

Her plate is first, as she like to eat before leaving the house for work. Mine is to go, as I eat a little later at my desk.

Tandoori Chicken.

Happy New Year everyone!!!
Did anyone make some new years resolutions?
Mine is for the blog. I am going to try and update daily from here on in. (exception might be the weekends)
So keep the comments coming, they motivate me to keep posting. You will also see more pictures, as I have finally created some folders for overflowing memory cards.

Tandoori chicken.
I love Indian food and especially tasty Tandoori chicken and chicken Tika masala. The last times I ate at an Indian restaurant (over a year ago) I did not feel particularly well afterwards.
So I have been on a mission to try and replicate these dishes at home. Many spice mixes and marinades have msg and other questionable ingredients, not to mention enough sodium, to remedy low blood pressure with a single meal.
I found one nice alternative recently and decided to try it. (I will post it here shortly)
Here's the recipe;
Chicken breast well pierced with a fork or tenderizer.
1 Cup of greek yogurt
2 tblspoons tandoori paste
Mix together and marinate over night.

I grilled it for about 40 minutes with NO DIRECT heat. basted once or twice and when it was done cooking basted it with some melted butter and paprika.
The taste is unbelievable. Serve over thin sliced raw onion and tomato salad with fresh cilantro.
Had it for dinner last night with some sauteed spinach, asparagus, garlic and red pepper flakes.

Breakfast;
Some thin sliced Tandoori chicken and 2 boiled eggs, cantaloupe, strawberries and a few almonds.

Lunch; Turkey burger sauteed in some olive oil. Some spinach and red pepper flakes added to the last minute of cooking.

Snack; Cantaloupe and a few almonds.
I worked out this morning and have been hungry ever since.