the whole30, day twenty-seven

Did I just write 27? Yes! Yes! Yes! While I may not be making any radical changes at the end of thirty days, it will, nonetheless have been thirty days. Not that I'm excited or anything.

When I have food ready to go, mornings are so easy. I know I've mentioned this before, but overstating it seems impossible and repetition is almost demanded. This morning I grabbed the container pictured below and an apple and was on my way.

Last night I grilled a rib-eye steak on the stove using a Le Creuset grill pan.  GK was having bean soup, and my planned vegetable soup had not quite materialized. I was at a loss for what to cook, as I'd planned on the veggie soup and hadn't made it. He asked, "Don't you have a hunk of meat you can cook?" He loves to give me a tongue-in-cheek bad time about my meat consumption, partly, I'm sure, because I prefer it rare, and he prefers it on someone else's plate. I did have meat, though, hard as a rock in the freezer. I am almost ashamed to say that I pulled it from the freezer, added a bit of Kosher salt, and laid it still frozen on the heating grill pan. As it started to thaw a bit, I sprinkled a bit of dried garlic and ground some black pepper over the top. It cooked surprisingly well given my less than careful preparation. I kept the heat lower than I normally would to grill a steak and let it thaw as it cooked. The outside caramelized nicely with dark grill marks as the interior stayed rare, though heated through. While it cooked, I threw (almost literally) a halved zucchini sprinkled with sea salt on the grill pan along side it. I had a rather nice dinner with plenty of leftovers for breakfast and lunch today.


rare steak and grilled zucchini packed for lunch

Remembering how unlikely I am to want to start a slow-cooking process when I get home from work, I also tossed half an onion, a dash of cider vinegar, a quart or two of water, and what was left of my roast chicken in the crock pot. The only tricky part is that GK is going to turn it on this morning, and I do not dare insult him by calling to see if he remembered.


soon to be chicken soup

When I get home, hopefully, I'll just need to strain the broth and add it to a few sauteed vegetables. I'm looking forward to it. And when I wake up tomorrow, it will be Day 28.

the whole30, day twenty-six

I'm beginning Day 26 wanting to stay in bed and enjoy the day. Unfortunately, work beckons. I am also scrambling a bit to put meals together for the day. Sometimes I get so used to being prepared that I forget to do what it takes to get to the point where I can be prepared. Today is one of those days. It's not that there's nothing in the house to cook or prep for breakfast and lunch. It's just not ready to go. It's also not super appealing, but that's a matter of mood and appetite.

For breakfast I'll scramble 3 eggs with a sliced summer squash and onions. I apparently let the mushrooms stay in the fridge a bit too long, or I'd throw those in, too. Not sure about lunch right now. Oh, sometimes I secretly long for the days when I would think it just fine to grab something out.

a little later in the day...
Breakfast turned out pretty well in spite of my momentary panic. I added a little leftover braisied beef to the squash and onion, then scrambled the eggs with them still in the pan. It may not have been beautiful, but it was yummy and filling. For lunch I grabbed a frozen container of chicken soup, stashed there for just such a time. Today is our first day of windy, almost cold weather, so soup sounds great. This is in stark contrast to the hot day when I made the soup, tired of waiting for the appropriate cool weather. I am a soup nut. I think, surpassed only by braising, making soup may be my favorite in the kitchen.

With that in mind, I'm picturing all the vegetables sitting in my refrigerator getting older by the day and thinking of a large pot of vegetable soup. There's nothing wrong with them. I just haven't felt inspired to do anything with them. It's been a mentally and emotionally exhausting week or two, so I've gone with mindless and easy much of the time. Making vegetable soup is not remotely hard; it just hadn't crossed my mind. So my plan when I get home today is to slice and dice and brown onions, celery, green beans, zucchini, turnips, carrots (if I can find some hiding), and then add garlic cloves, salt, pepper, and probably a bit of mixed Italian herbs from the garden. To these I'll add water to cover and maybe a couple of tomatoes, diced. Normally, my preference would be chicken broth or stock for the liquid, but this time I'll defer to GK's desire for less beastly stuff. Besides, I still have some leftover chicken I can through into mine when I serve it. He'll ask for beans in his, and for the time being, I'll try not to grimace.