This week didn't go perfectly for sure. We have only eaten at home two nights in the past five. Eating at friends or out at a restaurant has proven to be difficult when following a strict meal plan.
We went for a beach BBQ with some very wonderful friends and chose to eat homemade salad dressing that had some cane sugar in it (which was divine by the way, all lime-y and delicious) as well as some chicken that had marinated in a little soya sauce with wheat in it. But I don't totally regret either choice. Both were so delicious and seemed like the absolute best options we had available to us.
The very next night we went and played a scavenger hunt, all through downtown Vancouver, ending at a Mongolian BBQ. It was super good, 1234 Robson street (by the way dad, when you come visit, we are taking you here!). Check it out if you like little hole in the wall adventures! It was a good restaurant choice for us but we did make some concessions as well. The nice thing was being able to choose everything that went into our meal, the veg, the meat (although probably not high quality meat) and the sauces. I gave into my weaker self because very certainly those sauces had sugar in them.
I think our goal for the next eating out experience is to avoid sugar. It is very difficult as it is in EVERYTHING. But at the BBQ we could have vouched for salad with no dressing or brought some of our own. At the restaurant we could have chosen only garlic or only ginger rather than soya (which we know has wheat) and the sauces very likely to contain sugar.
Meals at home and lunches at work have been spectacular. I made up a big bowl of cabbage salad with greens and nuts added in to last us a few lunches (all with that lovely dressing I am quite obsessed with).
For supper tonight we had one of my all time favorites: Spaghetti Squash with a homemade tomato and pesto sauce (plus tonnes of veg and tonight some bison). We simply cut the squash in half, scoop them out, lay the halves cut side down in a pan of water and bake at 350 degrees for about 45min or until a fork can penetrate the skin. The pesto I've been making is a full food processor of basil leaves, 2-3 cloves of garlic, a couple big handfuls of pine nuts, (normally some Parmigiano Reggiano), the juice of 1 lemon and olive oil until it is the right consistency (I like mine thicker). This is so filling and so delicious. You can save the seeds from the squash, like Ian always does, and toast them up for munchies later.
One of the questions I have is about priorities. When faced with going hungry or eating a food that doesn't work with the plan I'm not sure which foods to avoid over others. At this point it has been the food of least resistance (the one containing the lowest number of concessions) but sometimes it seems like that is a worse choice or under pressure I have trouble recognizing which food that is. Like today, not sure what I was thinking, it was my work mates birthday so we went out for lunch at a burger joint. My choices were burger, burger, breaded chicken sandwich or poutine. I chose poutine. Not my finest moment. It probably would have been better to order a burger no bun or pick it off the bun but I was embarrassed to do this in front of my work mates. So I chose potatoes (probably mixed with flour AND sugar), cheese and a gravy made from who knows what. In a quick decision I determined these were a better choice than a bun because they weren't blatantly wheat. I realize now I probably should have swallowed my pride and eaten the burger without the bun but under pressure I didn't realize this. How to prioritize in less than ideal situations.
I am feeling slightly discouraged with some of our food choices, some could have been much better, but I am hoping that these good habits we are attempting to make now will only get stronger as we keep trying.
I hope this finds everyone well. Be inspired by our successes and learn from our failures.
Corie and Ian
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