Supermarket Splurge

The last week does not really warrant more than one posting as I ate rather randomly and not particularly well although I did intend each day to start well of course.
Here are the highlights:
Sunday- I was invited for a BBQ at Ms P and Mr M's place. Originally I had offered to host a BBQ but the invite was reversed which was kinda funny. Ms P made her specialty pork tenderloin with spice rub which was cooked perfectly by Mr M and While it cooked we noshed on bread. I am not supposed to eat wheat but this was irresistible. The bread in question was the Waldorf loaf from Save-on Foods. This is the best french stick style bread EVER. I tried so hard to resist but then Mr M pulled out all the stops and presented me with some amazing EV olive oil in which to dip it and thus the defences were well and truly down. Ms P also prepared a delicious mango avocado salad with a sweet, fruity dressing she made for which I forgot to get the recipe but would like to.
The whole meal was washed down with a very special and expensive bottle of red wine that Mr M purchased in my honor (apparently i'm worth it). I felt well and truly spoiled. And full from all the bread. If I choose to eat wheat, this is the way I do it.

Monday-can't recall what I ate, probably oatmeal, salad, leftovers

Tuesday-Study group convened for our weekly session. I made the black bean mix to go with the chicken and salad. I also somehow found time to make a chicken curry to see me through a few meals in the week. It turned out great and I took leftovers to work for me and MJ the next day and we spent the whole lunch break talking about it. Yes, it was that good.

Weds-worked late as I had a photo shoot to attend for promotional stuff for work. I was in charge of purchasing snacks for about 20 people for the shoot. How awesome is that? I get to spend other peoples money on food that I get to eat and also get paid for my time to eat.I went for fruit and veggie platters, hummus, pita, cookies and 2 bite brownies. Let's just say I was in favour for the evening and maybe longer and have now been appointed the official snack buyer for future events.

Thurs-breakfast and lunch were uneventful but dinner was more exciting. I went to Commercial Drive to meet with Ms A for dinner and a catch up. We haven't seen each other since Jan or Feb and in that time she spent 3 weeks in Costa Rica which I was very excited to hear about. We decided to go to The Reef which serves Caribbean food. Click here to see the menu. We split an order of yam fries because, well, me and Ms A always do that. They did not disappoint. They were big chunky fries with no coating except oil and salt. We also were presented with a Johnny Cake which is basically a deep fried dough ball served warm with a herby flavoured butter. So much for going wheat free this day. Not gonna happen. For my main I went for lighter fare to offset the prior munchings and chose a salad and added jerk salmon to it for protein. The salad was big but simple with pumpkin seeds and a scrummy mango mint dressing but I felt the salmon portion was on the small side at about 2-3oz for $5. Or maybe it just looked small on the huge pile of salad? Anyway, overall a great meal with great company and I have always wanted to go there. It's taken 7 yrs but I can no check it off my list.

Friday-another non-eventful day on the food front, except for mid afternoon when I assisted in serving at the annual Strawberry Tea in the Seniors Centre at work. We dished up mini-quiches, salmon tarts, brushetta, ham and egg sandwiches (which were constructed and cut in such a way that I initially thought they were cakes), chocolate dipped strawberries and mini ginger molasses pancakes served with orange laced yogurt. Oh and then there was the dessert of Strawberry tart. Of course all the serving was hungry work and there were leftovers. I cannot resist free, tasty food and so indulged in some bruschetta and a couple of the mini pancakes, as well as half a salmon tart. I knew I was risking some reactions but I chanced it anyway. I headed straight for the Grouse Grind after work and didn't get home til after 6pm. I sort of grazed eating rice cakes with hummus, some nuts and a banana. Couldn't be bothered to cook and was going over a friends later so didn't have a lot of time. That is what the weekend is for.

Saturday-woke up with a very heavy, cloudy head and feeling of lethargy. Guess I didn't get away with my Strawberry Tea treats yesterday. This type of reaction is related to the egg component of what I ate yesterday and is basically a low level migraine that can last 1-2 days. My energy for the day was low, despite it being a glorious day so I canned my plans for a 2 hour kickboxing class and an afternoon bike ride in favour of pottering around the town and taking it slow. I actually ended up hitting up 4 different grocery stores during the day and stocking up all gaps in my kitchen. I should not need to go shopping for anything besides fresh produce for at least a week. I also discovered something of interest....ginger marmalade. It's made by Robertsons and anything with ginger in it HAS to be good. I bought some and spread it on a rice cake as soon as I got home. It was good, not overly ginger but then I like the hot ginger so anything less seems minimal to me. I also found a great deal on canned salmon at Save-on-foods. Usually a 213g can is $3.99 but they were on sale for $1.69 so over half off. I LOVE canned salmon, used to hate it, but love it now so this was good. I purchased 5, that will see my through a few weeks. I noticed 2 products that seem to be very pricey at the moment. Butter and apples. I don't eat a lot of butter but I do try to have it in the fridge and was surprised to see most packs in the $5 range. As for apples, at the supermarket they were approx $1.60 or more per lb but I held off and went to the smaller New Apple Farm Market on Lonsdale where they were over a $ cheaper per lb.
For dinner I made a salad with pan fried chicken although the pan was a little hot so it was more like char grilled chicken which I happen to like so no problem there. Sorry no pics today...will try to take more next time.

Supper worthy Salad

I could not get the olive oil taste out of my mouth last night! I tried cleaning my teeth, eating ginger,drinking water, drinking almond milk....nothing worked! I was very glad on waking to be free of it finally.

I had planned to bike to work as today is the first day of Bike to Work week www.biketoworkmetrovan.ca. But it was absolutely disgusting outside with more of the rain we've been having for what seems like weeks. I decided today was not the day and I committed to ride on Tuesday instead. Consequently, after waking and making my decision, I dozed in bed for a little too long and was running late so banana and squeeze pak almond butter were tossed in my bag to be consumed at my desk.

Lunch
Leftover chorizo pasta
I shared this with Ms MJ in the staff room and we were very impressed that it was impossible to tell that the pasta was of the rice variety vs wheat as it tasted so good. Cooking my own food is always a pleasure but sharing it with those I love is the icing on the cake (EVOO free cake, that is)

Snack
apple
crispy roasted seaweed sheets

The apple was a Gala that I bought on Saturday but it was not very sweet and I think I will revert back to my trusty Fuji's next time. A few weeks ago I purchased a giant Fuji apple that was probably 3-4 x normal size. They still had some in the store this weekend so I think I'll get another next time.
Another of my favourite snacks is the roasted seaweed sheets. They come in a small 5g package and the sheets are very thin and crisped up with olive oil and salt. They are really satisfying and cost about 50cents per pack. The big downside is the packaging though, there is way too much so I try to limit how often I eat this snack.
For more information click here www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=135 . Seaweed contains Iodine which is essential in any diet. It is added to table salt for this reason but with the increase in the use of natural sea salts and the like, some people may not be getting enough iodine so the seaweed is great for that. Personally I just like that it's crispy and salty...yum.

Chocolate
My office mate had a bag of chocolate covered blueberries and acai berries. She had me at chocolate covered.....I was going to be good and just have a couple but they were so good and so moreish and it was the dangerous time of the day (3pm) where willpower is at it's lowest and the physical need for chocolate is at it's highest. we both kept going back to the bag and I contemplated throwing it down the back of the desk but I knew that would not be enough. We caved and decided to finish the bag.

Dinner
BBQ Salmon salad

After a solid lunch and just a couple too many chocolate covered berries, dinner was planned to be light. I constructed a dinner-worthy salad of spinach, black olives, capers, avocado and shelled edamame. The main player of the salad was some barbecued salmon I bought last night. I made a quick vinaigrette from Clean Eating magazine which was exceptionally good and I think was maybe my favourite part:
Dijon Vinaigrette
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
3/4 cup EV olive oil ( I had just enough left)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp sea salt

I put it all in a tupperware container and shook it up to emulsify. Saves on washing up as no need for a whisk and then you can store it in the same container.

I used half the salmon and will recreate the salad for tomorrows lunch. I noticed that my meals have been heavy on the meat (steak, chorizo, chicken) lately so I'm aiming to go lighter with fish and vegetarian food for the next couple of days.
I have attempted to go vegetarian for a few weeks before but found it challenging seeing as I can't eat eggs or dairy but I may try it again soon, maybe for a week or so.