Sunday, October 30, 2011

the whole30, day twenty-three

Meals around here are getting interesting and odd at the same time. GK has decided enough is enough with animal protein, specifically meat, and is insisting on beans and bread and such. Since he's been through quite a lot lately, I am looking for ways to accommodate him without making him, or me for that matter, sick. Such fun this is. Really, except for grimacing when making bean soup or oatmeal for him, it's likely to be workable, at least for awhile. I'm hoping it will pass.

This morning for breakfast, I made a veggie scramble for him with summer squash, red onions, mushrooms, and pastured eggs. This would have been a fine breakfast for me, too, but I am trying not to eat so many eggs. Well, that and I also had these beautiful little sandwich steaks from Wellness Meats thawed and ready to cook. Steak and eggs (one egg) just sounded better. This one was easy. It took about 15 minutes to do both dishes, and they were pretty darned good. Mine was, anyway, and he ate his with no complaints, so I'm assuming.

While I'm on the subject of beef, one of my favorite subjects, I must say more about those sandwich steaks. These are not your fancy steak dinner steaks. They are fairly small, I'd estimate about 2 ounces each, and thin. Each is about the size of the palm of a hand and shaped the same. They are grass-fed, tender, and inexpensive. They cook very, very quickly, but with a hot pan you can still manage medium rare if you like. Even as they approach well-done, not my ideal certainly, they maintain their tenderness. One would be a nice meat addition to a breakfast or lunch plate. They're good wrapped in a lettuce leaf, butter lettuce is my favorite, with the condiments of your choice. They're good, too, just to pick up unceremoniously and eat out of hand for a quick snack. I usually cook the entire pound package, use what I need at the time, and keep the others in the refrigerator for later.

We usually have something fun simmering away on Halloween and have a few people here to help us with trick-or-treaters---we LOVE to count them. My Halloween meal plan initially was lamb stew or lamb shanks. That has given way to a hearty beef stew and an equally hearty, though vegetarian, bean soup. We can both eat comfortably, and our guests will have a choice. I worry a bit about the negatives connected with legumes, but right now I'm worrying a bit more about his emotional well-being and need to exercise a little control over his diet. I may make some fresh almond flour biscuits, though I might feel awfully deprived as they are not Whole30 compliant. Maybe I'll skip the biscuits this time.

Speaking again of the Whole30, one week from today is day 30 for me. That seems almost unbelievable.

2 comments:

  1. Good job Pamela! That sounds like a plan. I really need to try lamb (other than at christmas when we make a leg of lamb) that's the only lamb I'm accustomed to eating and hubs insists he DOES NOT like it (sad sad sad, because I lOVE IT!) And I think it's really awesome of you to accomodate hubs... it's So hard when you feel so compelled that way of eating is unhealthy. I struggle with that too -- finding a way to make hubs happy, yet also make meals that are safe and healthy for me to eat! Hopefully it will lead to very good things in the end and both husbands will eventually be persuaded! lol!

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  2. It is hard serving something you think is unhealthy to someone you love, isn't it? On the subject of lamb, often when people don't like lamb, it's the fat that's the biggest offender. In Lebanese cooking, we remove all visible fat that we can from most lamb cuts before cooking. This makes it a lot milder in flavor. There are, of course, others who leave it on and savor all the flavor they get from that fat. I'm not a fan of fatty lamb, though.

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