Author: 459856pwpadmin

I have been reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma off and on.  It is an interesting and fascinating book.  It is also frightening in many ways and although it is not difficult to read, and is rather gripping, I cannot read it for long periods of time because I must put it down and digest what I have read and deal with the basic mental unrest the book causes me.  There are times when I think I should just stop eating all together.

Those moments don’t last for long, luckily.

Today was grocery shopping day and as usual I purchased a great deal of fresh vegetables and very few foods from the remainder of the grocery store.  After reading Pollan’s book, just walking through the aisles of the grocery store, looking for raisins and canned beans,  was an almost horrifying trek through a world of non-foods.   

I was reminded of an article in the Tucson paper while we were  there last month about how to spend less on groceries.  There were several important points such as always shopping with a list and sticking to the list or allowing only a fixed number of items that weren’t on the list.  Well I have done that for years.  I don’t see how people shop without lists and I rarely buy extra stuff.  Of course there are exceptions.  I will go to the farmer’s market (in season) or the butcher’s or fish monger’s with only a vague idea of what I want, waiting to see what is fresh, but those foods are always eaten and meals are planned around them.  The thing that surprised me in the article was that the first rule was to avoid the produce section.  The author’s point was that most produce was purchased and never consumed but allowed to spoil.  If I avoided the produce section we would not eat as I stop very rarely in the wide middle expanse of a grocery store, spending all my time in the produce section and the dairy section at the opposite end, traversing the great wasteland in between as a means to an end only.

Obviously this particular reporter from the Tucson paper hadn’t read Michael Pollan.

I am increasingly grateful that I started purchasing grazed, grass fed (with the exception of winter feeding) and local meat from the farmer’s market this past summer.  Although there will be no farmer’s market for another two months, there is a butcher who sells only locally raised, grazed meats.  I have not always been good about going there and have often picked up a piece of meat at our local supermarket, I am not so sure I can bring myself to do that anymore.  I am not about to become a vegetarian, and I don’t think that is necessary, but eating more difficult to procure and more expensive meat will automatically reduce the amount of meat in the diet.  Besides I am not convinced that eating this kind of meat is all that bad.  Just as I don’t watch our fat intake per se, but it is tracked on my computer as I plan menus on the computer, I know that we eat so many vegetables that fat is not a particular worry.

But as I shopped today, I was much more aware of labels on those few packaged products I purchased, and the provenance of the food I ate.  I am not so worried about whether the produce came from Mexico or Chile (as one shopper was) and I do recall that the recent e-coli scares have been centered on US grown produce, as I am concerned about what is in the food I eat.  A vegetable is a vegetable.  But what about those canned and packaged things.  Should pasta contain high fructose corn syrup?  I would think not.

I did not purchase meat today. I have some in the freezer, not all of the kind I think we should be starting to eat, which I want to use up.  I am very grateful that we were able to purchase some fresh wild salmon and Bluefin Tuna last summer and have it packaged and flash frozen for us by my local fishmonger.  I realize that I am very lucky to be able to do such a thing, and these options aren’t available to everyone.  If faced with farm-raised fish (and corn eating farmed Salmon) I think I would have to stop consuming fish.  Luckily there are a great many fishermen in this area who love to go out catching Bluefish, and they sell their catch to my local fish market.  I can always get fresh bluefish; more than likely caught that same morning and served on my plate that evening.

It seems I have spent a great deal of time this weekend pondering the subject of breakfast. On the surface it does not seem like a subject that would require much time in the way of thought: one rises, one eats, one gets on with the day. But, like many things, one’s initial impression of a subject does necessarily relate to the depths of the whole.

I suppose my thoughts were prompted by musings on what to have for breakfast one morning. It is not as simple as it seems. If one cannot eat wheat, barley or rye, and the modern American breakfast consists of cereal or breadstuffs, what is left? There are eggs. But eggs get boring every day.

As G has joined me in embracing a diet of fresh and freshly prepared basic foods, the subject is arising of how to plan breakfasts and lunches when one is not relying on the cereal box or the local deli and fast-food joint for one’s daytime nutrition.

I am faced with the need to come up with a repertoire of basic breakfast foods that I can either prepare easily, or prepare in advance for working mornings, so that breakfast is a fairly easy, healthy, nutritious, and satisfying start to the day.

We have several requirements.

1. Since I have been keeping track of our daily nutritional intake, the breakfast should contribute to the nutritional input for the day in a positive way, providing at least some vitamins and fiber, not just empty calories.
2. It should also be satisfying and comforting; we are not always particularly daring first thing in the morning although we have gotten into the habit of incorporating more fruit and more often vegetables into our morning routine. But although an omelet with leftover vegetables works with many things, what do I do when there are no suitable leftovers, or we are tired of morning omelets?
3. There should be enough variety in the choices so as not to be totally dependent on leftovers but also not be boring. Although I love my Apple, Apricot, and Blueberry salad which I have for breakfast quite frequently, having it two or three times a week, every week, does get tedious. There are also times of year when the apple supply is less than thrilling such as now during this end of winter/not yet spring period, when the fall apples are old and the spring apples are not yet appealing.

So what are our stock breakfasts now? The selection is rather slim. Most breakfasts seem to consist of some king of mishmash of leftovers. This week, when we got back from a trip and there were no leftovers, the choices were fewer. The breakfast menus that we come back to, time after time boil down to about two, plus a new one that I added this morning which looks like it can become a staple.

    Apple, Apricot and Blueberry Salad

    Scrambled Eggs with Soyriso and Greens (often beet greens but any other greens work)

Oatmeal. I have successfully incorporated McCann’s steel cut oats into my morning routine with no adverse affects. Although I realize there are people who eat a bowl of oatmeal happily every day, I think I want a little more variety in my diet.

And today’s new addition is:

    Ham sautéed with Hominy

This morning we had a generous slice of ham, about 8 ounces total, or 4 ounces each, which I seared in a skillet. After I removed the ham I used a little chicken stock to boil up the ham bits and I added a can of hominy, rinsed and drained, to the skillet, which I warmed in the ham gravy and served on the side of the ham. This was very popular and easy and will probably become a standard choice.

G usually has toast on the side with these breakfasts, I never was a big bread eater, and now that I can’t eat good bread, I am little inclined to eat most of the gluten free offerings I have tried, so I do without.

There are things I would like to incorporate, namely:

1. Pumpkin pancakes. Good and easy and I love pumpkin, but these alone with syrup only last about an hour or two before I get the shakes and have to eat something immediately to avoid passing out. Perhaps with a chicken sausage on the side or stewed fruit or both. This might be worth exploring.
2. Egg Cakes are a variation on matzo brie that my family ate when I was growing up and which I have successfully adapted to gluten free cooking. They are heavy on eggs, but don’t taste like “eggs” to me so they might be a good choice if I can find some fruit or vegetable side to go with them just to increase the complex carbohydrate and fiber intake.
3. Grits. I love grits but grits alone do not a good breakfast make. Grits and eggs are good, but again we get back to the fact that I get bored with eggs every morning.
4. G loves leftover chicken fajitas for breakfast so perhaps I can come up with some variations on chicken fajita breakfasts with some easy side dishes, perhaps even grits.

I can incorporate tortillas, beans, cheese, and greens as well as rice and potatoes. In reading about the history of breakfast foods it seems that historical American Breakfasts incorporated a much wider variety of foods than the modern American breakfast does. Apparently having leftover rice or greens was fairly common and I remember broiled tomatoes for breakfast, but then again perhaps that was a dish reserved for special occasions or brunch.

So I have to get to work on some menu experimentation. If I have to come up with breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day, I have to develop a collection of basic lunch and breakfast dishes I can fall back on easily without much work, or with a little advance or weekend planning so that something is always easily available on those more stressed and busy days.