The summer of slaws

photo by LaCheryl

I know everybody here is familiar with our (okay, my) fondness for food themes. Hummus, soups, salads, sandwiches, quiche...it seems like not a summer, especially, can go by without one.

I've decided that this summer will be the summer of slaws. I use that term sort of loosely, but basically to encompass the non-lettuce-based, often tangy vegetable medleys we've gotten into as of late. Coleslaw is one; this cooked vegetable hash is another. I found it one day looking for a way to cook brussels sprouts. I didn't expect much, but somehow all the ingredients really came together (especially after letting them rest for about 30min, which isn't called for but made all the difference) and it was just delicious. Here's the recipe:

Brussels Sprout Hash with Caramelized Shallots

• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, divided
• 1/2 pound shallots, thinly sliced (I used yellow onions)
  
• Coarse kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 4 teaspoons sugar (I used a couple of tablespoons of honey instead)
  
• 1 1/2 pounds brussels sprouts, trimmed
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup water

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in medium skillet over medium heat. Add shallots; sprinkle with coarse kosher salt and pepper. Sauté until soft and golden, about 10 minutes. Add vinegar and sugar. Stir until brown and glazed, about 3 minutes.

Halve brussels sprouts lengthwise. Cut lengthwise into thin (1/8-inch) slices. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sprouts; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until brown at edges, 6 minutes. Add 1 cup water and 3 tablespoons butter. Sauté until most of water evaporates and sprouts are tender but still bright green, 3 minutes. Add shallots; season with salt and pepper.

As I think I've mentioned before, having some kind of cooked or cold vegetable dish makes our main-dish salads feel much more filling, and this one definitely functioned that way. I think you could probably give other cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower) a similar treatment and it would be just delicious.

The funny thing about all this is that I've never liked coleslaw, potato salad, or other vinegary things until recently. I did love things that were tart and/or sour, but unfortunately my tastes ran more toward things like cherry pie or Sour Patch Kids. Now that I've made the effort to reorient my taste buds toward things that aren't pure crap, I've found that the tanginess of vinegar is amazing in egg salad, coleslaw, or the above "hash." Something else that works well in that role? Sauerkraut. We already eat it alongside our scrambled eggs every morning, and last night we whipped up a spur-of-the-moment skillet dinner comprised of onions, mushrooms, sauerkraut, and thinly sliced hotdogs. Might sound kind of crazy, but it was delicious!

Here are some of the types of recipes I'm hoping to try out this spring and summer:

Cabbage and lime salad with roasted peanuts

Broccoli slaw

Blue cheese coleslaw (scroll down)

Asparagus, peas, and radishes with fresh tarragon

And friends of ours introduced us to a wonderful corn, avocado, and shallot salad which is held together by sour cream and a little lime juice, and which never lasts long around here. We plan on making it at least once a week!

We're back!

Our trip to Kentucky was absolutely fantastic. While there was more screaming in the car than we'd like to have had (including an especially gut-wrenching hour and a half at the end of the trip home, following 8 hours of angelic behavior, and occurring prior to getting home and realizing we didn't have our keys, a long story I'll not revisit heere)--on the whole, the trip was wonderful and relaxing. I met up with an old (well, 1.5 years, since Frontier Bound) friend and made a great new one, and laughed more and harder than I have in years. Matt and Eden spent many hours together tromping up and down a mountain and through the woods, and we were able to eat three meals a day together (despite bringing much of our own food, we were actually impressed with the Frontier spread most days--seems as though there are a lot of people not eating gluten these days, so protein and fresh fruit and vegetables abounded) and spend most evenings together, too. It was nice to get away and enjoy such a beautiful setting for awhile. And last but not least, in terms of midwifery, Clinical Bound was, like Frontier Bound, incredibly inspiring. I learned a ton, and came back recharged.

Which is good, because I'll need it. The next few months might be somewhat grueling as I attempt to work and do clinicals and Matt leaves his job and we start providing childcare for a friend's baby. It's going to be a number of enormous changes in routine for all of us, and with that will almost certainly come stress. This is compounded by the fact that we STILL don't have a clear idea of where we're ultimately meant to live, or what exactly we're meant to do. We're trying to hang onto our faith, though, that if we just take it one day at a time, we'll eventually figure it out.

Freebies & hitting the road

We're getting ready to head out tomorrow on the closest thing we've taken to a family vacation-- driving down to Frontier in Kentucky for a week while I attend hands-on skills training prior to starting clinicals. (Oh, how it seemed this day would never come.) Since Eden is still mainly breastfeeding, she and Matt are coming along and we're making it a family affair! We're also planning to camp one night after we leave Frontier--either in the Smoky Mountains or Cumberland Gap, depending on how the whim strikes us after we leave!

Our changes in eating habits are still going along quite successfully--Matt's lost 15 lbs, and I've lost an additional 10 in the past few weeks; for comparison, it took me four months of counting calories and exercising daily to lose the first 10. We're feeling great, our grocery bill has actually shrunk, and we're looking forward to the farmer's market opening next month--at that point, we should be able to get almost all of our food either from there or the local farmer where we get our meat, milk, and eggs. We're also now eating in a way that could essentially be feasible if we were growing/raising our own food, which is a major long-term goal.

At this point, we've sort of transitioned from the GAPS diet--emphasis on bone broths, tight dietary restrictions--to the Primal Diet. I like the Primal Diet for maintenance because it offers pretty logical algorithms for eating--basically, eat like a caveman--versus the GAPS diet, which is a little bit more arbitrary (not that it isn't based on science, but it requires memorizing more than reasoning). From the site Mark's Primal Blueprint, here's somewhat of a breakdown:

Is it Primal?

You know the basics: Lean meats and vegetables are healthy, grains and sugars should be avoided. But what about everything else?

• Eggs – Yes (even raw eggs? Why not.)
• Nuts – Yes (Almonds, Walnuts, Soaking Seeds & Nuts)
• Seeds – Yes
• Coconut – Yes, in every way, shape, and form
• Coffee/Tea – Yes
• Whole Grains, Oatmeal, Brown Rice – No
• Beans & Legumes – No
• Dark Chocolate – Occasionally
• Red Wine – Occasionally
• Artificial Sweeteners – Not really, but not terrible [we don't eat these]
  
• Cheese – Not officially, but…
• Soy and Whey and Protein Powders – Depends [we don't eat these either]
  
• Chewing Gum – Depends

Here you can read about how this diet works for weight loss, effortless weight maintenance, and why the Food Pyramid results in an average weight gain of 1.5lbs/year for each American. (Hint: it's the 6-11 servings of grains!)

In that spirit, it's somewhat of a bummer that we won't be able to take advantage of many of the Tax Day Freebies--Cinnabon, ice cream--being offered tomorrow, but on the other hand, we look at that as a very good thing. We know our bodies will thank us for it! And,while we've mostly given up on coffee, even decaf, we do partake occasionally as a treat if it's free. And it's certainly a good time for that: we recently got two free cups from Corner Bakery (ongoing), we're going to Whole Foods (good April 14) later today, and are planning to hit several Starbucks (April 15 only if you bring your own reusable mug) on our trip tomorrow.

We'll be back in just over a week!

How are we doing?

I mentioned in this post a few weeks ago my goals for "spring cleaning" my/our lifestyle. One of the major changes we've made lately is to follow a restricted GAPS-style diet in an effort to jump-start our gut flora. (You can read more about the GAPS diet here, and the importance of healthy gut flora.) What does this look like on a day-to-day basis? Matt's following it more strictly than I am, but here's what we're eating now:

Breakfast:
Scrambled eggs (usually 3 each) topped with a pat of butter. Yum!
Tea

Lunch:
Me: Smoothie with homemade yogurt, frozen fruit, sometimes a cooked carrot or two, and coconut milk (for healthy saturated fat)

Matt: salad and a cup of homemade (chicken or beef) broth

Dinner:
Salad and broth, sometimes some kind of meat or eggs

We've also got probiotic capsules on the way (Bio-Kult) and will be introducing those soon.

We've both been amazed at how eliminating simple carbs and gluten have broken food's addictive hold on both of us. We'd heard people talk about how this way of eating actually made them more satisfied and less hungry, but it's hard to imagine for a couple of chowhounds like us (who really need something this restrictive or else we just give up and splurge). We do get hungry sometimes, but we're more able to make good choices about how to handle it, vs plowing through anything and everything that's available. We've each dropped several pounds and are feeling leaner and more in control. It's a good feeling!

We've also been hitting up the library frequently and I'm happy to report that I've already finished a book for March (The Mood Cure, which I found very interesting and a wonderful easy-to-understand resource on mood chemistry). I'm currently working through Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women and The Politics of Birth, and Matt and I are reading Bill Bryson's (very funny) The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid aloud. As you may recall, we did the same thing with some of his other books and enjoyed that immensely as well. As a result of our rekindled interest in reading, Food, Inc. has been sitting on top of our TV for several days, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.