Leftover roasted vegetables
Bacon
Leftover tofu patty
Avocado
Poached eggs
Smiles

Another late night dinner means another mod meal.

This was supposed to be indian spiced turkey burgers, but my Safeway didn't have ground turkey and I wasn't in the mood for pork or beef. Instead, I went for tofu patties. Not very paleo, but I haven't been 100% paleo anyway. Unless, I missed the bit about being able to eat chips. I've been eating chips.

Tofu patty:
Tofu, mushrooms, breadcrumbs, eggs, onions, parsley, almonds, cumin, miso, cayenne pepper, and pepper

Indian spice:
Coriander, oregano, onion powder, pepper, sea salt, cayenne pepper, cinnamon

This was messy as heck. The slippery portobello mushrooms didn't really hold together the soft patty. Good thing I don't care to look good while eating, because I was not a pleasant sight. Not at all.

My Safeway did not have lamb in their meat fridges, so I settled with pork. If you're already familiar with my less than enthusiastic interest in lamb, then you will know that I was not disappointed with the substitute.

The winner of the night was the avo-ziki.
Avocado, cucumber, olive oil, lemon juice, dill, and cilantro (my own addition). All dumped into the food processor.

The romaine lettuce didn't really have a scoop like structure, so I ended up chopping up the lettuce and mixing it all in to a bowl.

Yam dollars to add a bit more colour.

I don't think I've ever had pesto before, so I have no idea what it's supposed to taste like. If what I made was accurate, then I do not like pesto.

Squash pesto. I have about two more meals left of it to eat. Not looking forward to it.

With very little time to make lunch, I grabbed the nori, an avocado, a cucumber and frozen salmon and packed it up for work.

I threw the salmon in to the mini oven at work and boom... Lunch!

Do not judge me by the photos. I shared with coworkers.

My first meal repeat.

Two successful meals.

First: beef stir fry with cauli rice. This one wasn't out of left field. Everyone knows how to make a stir fry. I needed a reminder that I don't always need soy sauce to make it taste good. It did help that I let it simmer in turkey stock that I made from the turkey leg bones.

Second: spaghetti squash bolognese. Why have I only heard about spaghetti squash just now? I'm well over the pasta hump, but every so often I still crave pasta sauces. Fun to make and fun to eat. I will return to thee.

Eating food I don't really enjoy continues.

The list so far is: beets, asparagus, nuts.
Adding to that is lamb.

None of these taste horrible when I eat it, but it's funny how when you've set an opinion on how you feel about certain foods, it sticks. There's no chance I've tasted lamb, asparagus and beets cooked in every variation possible... But all it took was that one time where it just didn't taste great with each of those ingredients.

I'm trying my best to turn it around, but whenever possible, I'm still going to stay clear of those three.

Nuts. I think nuts are fine with sweets, but they have no place in any of my breakfast, dinner or lunch meals. I'm going to be dramatic and say that they have ruined eating experiences for me in the past. I still remember this one salad that had great potential, but I forgot to ask to hold the nuts, seeds and fruit. Ugh. Aaagh. I might say, top five bad meals of all time. Top was when I tried to substitute all ingredients in a scallop potato recipe that I found online.

These lamb dolmas were cooked with lamb (of course) and currants. Two ingredients I don't enjoy, but I will admit I wished I made more than three.

One whole turkey leg for little ol' me.
I swear this leg was bigger than my face.

I've refused to run to fast food as my solution for feeding my hunger when I get home late on the weekdays. There was a time not long ago when I'd order two medium pizzas and twelve wings for delivery. Late work day, too lazy to pick-up and minimum order for delivery. All weak reasons to justify that monstrous meal. No, I did not finish everything in one sitting. There are some lows that I have not visited... Yet.

Now, even when I am home past 9pm, I will still make a meal from the book. As unhealthy it is to eat so close to bed time, one of my goals is to eat out less... So if the meal takes an hour to make, then so be it.

With the turkey, it required cooking for three hours, but I had to stick to the plan. Sticking to the plan meant dinner time was 1am. Nothing better to put me to sleep than turkey.

Just like Naomi warned me, the swirly crustless quiche recipe was unsatisfying. That dish was sadly big enough to last me a week. It was not terrible enough to throw out, so I had to eat this every day for breakfast my first week.

It doesn't quite qualify as a real problem in life, but I here I will stand, twelve eggs full of complaints. Twelve eggs just doesn't sound right.

The other picture is of my cart. It sure doesn't look like $95 of groceries. I wonder if they will barter with eggs.

What I learned mainly from the juice week of hell is that not everything I eat makes me feel bad. Up until now, I thought I had a bad reaction to all foods. There was a time where I thought it was because of the amount I was consuming, but ever since my cousin's cruise, I have been eating significantly less. There is such thing as eating too much, and I reached that limit during those seven days out on sea. Ordering a couple of main courses in one sitting will do that to you.

The next step now is figuring out exactly what foods is in the way of me fully enjoying a meal. Knowing dairy is a culprit and suspecting gluten is its partner, I decided I need to try to cut out both. Based on a recommendation from my cuz, I have been trying to cook based on the book, "Practical Paleo".

The next few days is when you'll see where I have been spending too much money on groceries. I had to come to terms that 10 for $3 on meat is good deal for no one's body.

Grilled Garlic Flank Steak with Peppers and Onions, Baked Beets with Fennel.
I do not enjoy beets or fennel, but I've agreed to myself that I would try anything in the book. Nuts is where I draw the line. I will cook them, but you can never make me eat you, you waste of space almond!!!

I was going to post my juice adventures every day, but then I started doing it and realized that I didn't really want to document my misery.

The juices tasted amazing, but after three days, ingesting only cold liquids got old. As filling as six juices a day were, it became clear to me that I have an addiction to eating or to the act of chewing. I never felt hungry. I just wanted to eat.

Five days later, my body felt great and my mind was completely on edge. Someone could ask me for a tissue and I would probably throw a chair at them because they got to eat a raisin that day.

Will I do this again? Yes, because it was the first time I went that long without having an uncomfortable stomach. The one requirement is that I be isolated in my apartment and not be in any contact with people. Protection for others.