I shared a bit about how I eat, or my food philosophy, but one meal doesn’t make a lifestyle. Here follows a week of dinners. I love the pattern of the week, sort of a fall and rise of each day, with a different and traditional meaning. There is a rhythm, which is why many know that Wednesday is hump day. Not going to lie, the end of the week is more fun that the beginning, and the meals reflect this.
Sunday – weekend’s over but still feeling the weekend spirit, with time to invest in cooking and eating well.
Dinner – strip-loin steak, fried in 1 tsp butter, accompanied by 1 roasted sweet potato, 4 big flowerettes cauliflower and 1 sweet pepper1, and 1 stem steamed broccoli. Total calories2 about 700.
Monday – reluctant return to work and regiment. Getting up before you want to, dealing with unpleasantnesses like unhappy clients and snarly technology. In honour of the discipline required to be gainfully employed. This week, I’m cooking a big pot of something that will make nutritious, delicious lunches for the rest of the week.
Dinner – rutabaga chili, made with Italian sausages, onion, celery, kidney beans, tomatoes, mushrooms , pak choi, and spices (not in that order). And of course, with rutabaga. Calories estimated at 500, plus a couple of tbsp of sour cream (3% fat) for topping, ending up at 600.
Tuesday – a getting down to business day. In work mode, doing things, being practical and productive.
Dinner – same. Using up a bunch of leftovers. My fav approach is putting them in sauce and serving on a bun. Thus: steamed asparagus and Brussels sprouts along side sauteed onion, sweet pepper and mushroom in 1 tsp butter, with left over steak and broccoli, in 1/2 cup of turkey gravy, over a ciabatta roll. Calories: 500.
Wednesday – still working hard, getting stuff done but excited by glimmers of the weekend in the distance.
Dinner – feeling fish and chips. Doing oven fries (potatoes cut into wedges tossed in 1 tsp corn oil and spices), baked sole filets (wrapped in foil, sprinkled with spices and lime juice), sauteed broccoslaw – chopped broccoli, carrot and purple cabbage in 1 tsp butter. Plus a gifted half pepper stuffed with quinoa and cheese.
Thursday – I can taste the weekend coming on. It’s sweet and salty with deep fried bits. Despite having very flexible work, the day of the week matters to me. Even if the distinction is only in my mind, the weekend is for having more fun that the rest of the week.
Dinner – burger in a bun with steamed green beans, carrots and peas. Calories about 620. Almost all the calories come from the burger and bun – 510. The veggies contribute a lot of volume, but only 100 calories in total. The only thing on my burger is dill pickles (10 calories).
Friday – Woo-hoo! Celebrating the end of the work week and beginning of weekend.
Dinner – Doing something I’ve been doing on and off for decades. On the menu is ‘fried things’, otherwise known as appetizers purchased frozen and cooked to crunchy, slightly greasy perfection. Tonight’s offering: two types of fish nibbles, pakoras and samosas, with grape tomatoes, sliced cucumber and a salad of asparagus, mushroom, artichoke and preserved sweet pepper. The sweet pepper I put up myself last September, after roasting the veg and dredging in malt vinegar. Stored in the fridge under a layer of olive oil, they are plump, meaty yet soft, with the juices make excellent vinaigrette dressing. Total calories: 700 ish.
Saturday: Do what I want day. Chores are on Sunday – my choice – so Saturday is for freedom. Sometimes I cook a big pot of something frivolous, or self indulgent. Takes more time to make than is practical, or uses exotic ingredients3. But tonight, I chose takeout.
Dinner: Local Thai: hot and sour soup with chicken and salad rolls. Calories: no idea. Restaurant meals are generally heavy in sugar and fat. I go for the most vegetables, but accept it ain’t under my control how much stuff is added to the meal. Still, I skip the plum sauce with the salad rolls.
1 Not really a recipe but take the peeled sweet potato, cored sweet pepper cut into 5 piece, four large flowerettes of cauliflower and toss in almost a tbsp of corn oil, with generous sprinklings of garlic salt/powder, cayenne and nutmeg. Roast at 325 until caramelized, soft, browned respectively.
2 All based on calories counter at https://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-food-calorie-counter, or the info on the bottle or package and occassional google search for specifics, such as https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=how+many+calories+in+200+gm+striploin+steak&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8 for steak.
3 With our global economy, there isn’t much that’s truly exotic, obscure or rare these days. What I think of as exotic cooking ingredients are things like avocado, coconut milk, scallops, fiddleheads, okra, and fresh baked bread. These are what seems like treats to me, defined by my generation and cultural heritage. Anyway, Saturday to me is less practical, more fun.