If you have read my Resolutions post, you will know that I am giving up pork for 2011. This is mainly for ethical reasons, as the pig is my most favourite of the animals to devour. So versatile! So compatible with eggs! And eggs, afterall, are another one of my favourite foods. I just love anything that comes in its own package. And they are so cute! And also versatile. Maybe I love versatile food? Hmm. I also love sea salt. And goat’s dairy. And tomatoes. And lemons. And cilantro. And hummus. Actually, if I had to pick only one food to eat for the rest of my life, it would be hummus. I honestly eat it with my fingers. No time for pita! Get me straight to the source!
Anyway, the point is, if you take yourselves a gander at my favourite foods, you will see that they are all relatively healthy. I do not list hamburgers or chocolate milk or Jos Louis up there. My body craves natural foods. And it works at its best when it receives them.
I know it’s hard to always eat healthy. Since I returned to my apartment from the ‘rents house for Christmas, I was surviving mainly on Turtles, Orange Pekoe, and toast. Not good. So I decided enough was enough, and after watching a program on W late the other night about which foods are toxic for you, I decided to get thee to a grocery and stock up on the healthy stuff. Because it is not a chore for me to eat well – I’m just incredibly lazy and will always eat whatever is closest to reach. If my fridge is full of stupid fruits and vegetables – I mean, delicious healthy snacks – then I will choo-choo-choose them over the Turtles. Well, for the most part. (I did sneak in an after-breakfast Turtle this morning.)
Mmm… I love breakfast.
I am aware of what is good for me and what isn’t. I believe that everyone has their own Grocery List of what is best for their bodies. I have been mainly vegetarian since I was 16, and although I do eat meat, I only consume it on average once a week or less. (When I live with my parents, who are carnivores, I do eat it more often, but usually come to regret it.) Red meat is my favourite; I don’t like white meat at all. But since I do not eat beef anymore (6yrs and counting!), and I can’t afford to pick up lamb or game at the butcher shop on a regular basis, I actually eat red meat probably four times a year at most. In London I could pick up a venison pie at the local fish-n-chips shop, or game soup at Sainsbury’s. But there are strict rules about game in Canada thanks to the Wildlife Act. Which sucks because we have tonnes of delicious animals roaming our land, just meandering to be masticated. *smacking lips*
The thing with meat, for me anyway, is that it changes my entire diet. If I’m eating pork, I will have a ham sandwich for lunch. Usually with cheese, bread (duh), and mayo. But if I’m not eating meat, I will have hummus and veg instead. Or goat’s cheese, tomato and basil salad. My meat-eating diet revolves around three major food groups: MEAT, CHEESE, BREAD. Whereas my veg diet revolves around LEGUMES.
I have been fully vegetarian before, even vegan for six months when I was studying at Uppsala University. This was very hard because my body CRAVED cheese (clearly not getting enough calcium), and one night after a fest at Stockholms Nation, I bought what I thought was a vegetarian baguette (they sell baguettes after the bar in Sweden, like how we in Toronto sell vendor dogs… no wonder Swedes are better looking than us). I took a bite whilst walking home with a German friend, and thought to myself how delicious the red cabbage was… when it hit me… MEAT!!! It was a ham baguette. My friend asked if I wanted him to take it away from me, and I honestly snarled at the guy. My veganism ended that night, and I pretty much had a ham sandwich every day for breakfast for the rest of my time there.
It is hard for me to commit to vegetarianism since I do love to eat meat, but I found it wasn’t as hard to give up as when I detoxed off coffee in 2005! I had a headache for three months. Though I haven’t drunk coffee more than a handful of times since then. I would like to get back into it, but not in the “double-double” way. I prefer my coffee thick and strong and bitter, like Turkish coffee or proper Italian espresso, and always after a meal. Not as a pick-me-up on my way to work. And I don’t put cream or sugar in there. I love the taste of coffee. Especially when paired with a lemony dessert.
Speaking of delicious lemony desserts, my friends and cousins M&M and I were out in Oakville shopping over the holidays, and stopped for lunch at the most charming crêperie! It is called The Crêpe Kitchen and is on Dunn Street, just south of Lakeshore, near Trafalgar (the cute part).
M&M and I each had our own savoury crêpe, and then shared one with lemon and sugar for dessert. That is my favourite of the crêpes as it always reminds me of being a child at Frieth C.E.C. School in the U.K., where we had a cook (the ancient Miss Butler) who prepared all our meals. I had lemon-sugar crêpes there, and every time I’ve had them since, it always brings me back to that one-room schoolhouse in the Chiltern Hills.
Anyway, I’m getting off-topic here. What I wanted to share with you was my detoxification Grocery List that I hope to stick with for the next 4 months or so:
– Goat’s milk (homo)
– Coconut milk
– 10% M.F. plain yogurt (I was going to buy the goat’s yogurt but it was half the size of the cow’s milk, for the same price. I told myself I can’t afford to detox that thoroughly right now. Oh and I always buy high milk fat yogurt. Will not eat 0% M.F. as it’s usually made with gelatin, and honestly I despise the goupy-ness of it. High milk fat yogurt tastes like a dream in a plastic tub.)
– Frozen O.J. (the only juice I buy, other than Mott’s Clamato lol)
– Chick peas
– Red lentils
– Tinned tomatoes with Italian herbs
– Frozen fruit blend (strawberries, grapes, melon, etc.)
– Frozen peaches & cream corn (frozen veg is better than tinned because it doesn’t have the added salt or sugar)
– Frozen chopped basil (my sneaky cheat, have the cilantro one too)
– Ginger, Mint & Fennel tea (to add to my 35+ tisane varieties)
– Sundried tomatoes in oil (a splurge at $3.49!)
– Sweet basil & tomato pasta sauce
– Blue corn Tostitos (am addicted to salsa)
– Triscuits (they were on special at $1.99, and who doesn’t love a Triscuit?)
– Vegetable hummus
– Eggplant hummus
– Soft goat’s cheese
– Bag o’ carrots
– Baking potatoes
– Sweet potatoes
– Bananas
– Savoy cabbage (so curly!)
– Celery
– Garlic & ginger root
– Baby arugula
– Grape tomatoes
– Bag o’ lemons
– Red Delicious apples (my favourite kind, and actually the most nutritious, due to their dark skins… however, also the easiest to taste woody if you don’t eat them when they’re fresh)
– Red grapefruits (these were covered in a strange sparkly coating, I think maybe the wax to make them shiny? Just shows you to thoroughly wash your fruits ‘n’ veg after purchasing at supermarket. Also why I prefer to buy organic, but can’t always afford them.)
I already have on hand things like frozen fish, shrimp, quiche (made with farm-fresh eggs), veg stock, Indian spices, tahini, nori – you know, your average pantry items :o)
And for breakfast today I had organic green tea with jasmine, orange juice, plain yogurt topped with honey, cinnamon, and muesli, and half a red grapefruit (thoroughly scrubbed). Oh and of course my dietary supplements de choix of acidophillus, fiber pills, Vitamin C chewable tablet (mmm…so good), and Greens+ Glow multi-vitamin. Not a bad start to the day.
Will keep you posted (pun intended) on my detox progress. I did have a glass of Californian Pinot Noir last night at dinner (rigatoni with sundried tomatoes, goat’s cheese, and arugula). Have decided Cali Pinot is my fav red. It used to be Cali Zinfandel (not the pink stuff!), but I’m heading back to my old medium-bodied ways methinks. Anyway, will blog about wine some other day. In the meantime, if you want to increase your oenological learnings, I recommend visiting the website of the lovely Angela Aiello of iYellow Wine Club.
Bon apétit!
x