Today turned out to be a big of a splurge! But it was fun 8)
Groceries
I went grocery shopping by myself and came home to freshly baked bread and clean toilets so I can’t complain!
Sourdough Loaf –
Potato Buns (the MOST doughy and delicious bread I have ever had!)
MY OTHER RECIPES
Here’s the visual recap of my trip:
Produce
(L to R)
- Butternut squash
- Avocado
- Zucchini
- Cuc
- Mango
- Orange
- Broccoli
- Lemons
- Pears
- Kiwi
- Apple
- Sweet potato
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Mushrooms
- Kale
- Okra
- Bananas
- Celery
All Else:
- Frozen green beans
- Frozen brussels spourts
- Dried beans
- All-natural bacon
- Pumpkin (lots!)
- Yogurts for hub
- Tomato paste (on sale)
- Jalapenos
- Feta
- Catfish
- Beer for hub
- Smart Deli Ham (I was so torn between this, the organic turkey, and the regular HT brand turkey. All were huge variations in price, health, etc. One was unhealthy, one was expensive, but the vegetarian experimental kind turned out to be the best deal. I hope I like it!)
Lunch
I wasn’t too hungry for lunch around 2pm but we needed to get going on our wine trip so I had to eat then or never!
Leftover squash and kale soup!!
And half a potato bun. Again, the best, doughist bun ever. I LOVE dough taste!
From above –
Wine Bar #1
We tried 4 kinds here, all were excellent.
Me:
Husband:
Wine Bar #2 – We Made Friends!
Freezing in the wind outside Under the Grape:
Tasted 7 wines – some were good, some not-so-good but all were fun to taste!
And we made friends! There was another young couple talkative about wines, which is kind of rare (it seems most of our wine tasting companions are always 30+!) So I thought why not ask them to join us for a glass!? We did and it was so fun!! the husband and I split a glass. They were very nice and we are planning to get together again sometime soon 🙂
An Experimental Dinner
So we decided on fresh catfish and okra for dinner (I remembered we had okra last night after I got home – whoops!). Anyways, we thought we’d do an experiment to see how cooking spray compared to an old fashioned fry method.
We breaded the fish in blue corn meal and egg.
Here’s the cooking spray piece going in (we did 1/4 in spray and 3/4 in oil)
And the vegetable oil/butter pieces:
Flipped:
So I had both and the husband had 2 fried pieces. Although I admit the fried pieces had a bit more flavor (understandably!) the difference was negligible. The fried piece’s crust held together better, but both tasted like cornmeal and fish. I have no idea what the calorie difference would be. I guess that would be the deciding factor!
Cooking spray on L, Fried on R:
We also made some oven-baked okra, but the husband forgot to do the milk/egg dredge so they were a little strange. But still tasted good! I dipped mine in ketchup 🙂 Here’s a dinner where we did the okra correctly –sooo yummy!
Lastly, I prepared a bit of sauteed broccoli. Nothing special.
Oh, and I thought beer would be fun (fish and chips style!) so I poured a 4 oz glass, but I actually gave most of it to the husband because I was a little alcoholed-out after 2 wine tastings and half a glass.
All together. I ate 3/4 of the fish (gave part of my fried version and the beer to the husband) and all the broccoli and okra. Plus some hot cinnamon tea to warm me up!
No idea on the nutritionals for today. I’m not really keeping track. I’ll be back to healthy habits tomorrow!
Off to watch Duke/UNC!
Wow, talk about a great “splurge” day!! Your groceries, meals, and activities all look wonderful/sound fun – enjoy the game tonight!! :0)
Wow. If this is a splurge day for you I feel like crud. All you had were a few small samples of wine and half a piece of fried fish. Watch out! I’m a little confused why this is unhealthy and you will be back to your healthy eating tomorrow. Isn’t healthy eating being balanced? I might be the only one but this would not be considered a splurge to me.
Kel,
The splurge is mostly referring to the amount of wine I had. It was definitely more than a few small samples – probably about 18-20 oz of wine (well over 3 glasses!).
Kath
Gotcha- I was just thinking it was a few sips. My apologies.
Mmmm…. I need to find some tastings in my area! Anybody know of any in Northern Colorado?
For an unhealthy day…..it doesn’t look bad at all!
Sorry to sound naive, but what do jalopenos taste like? I have had banana peppers before. Are the jalopenos high in sodium?
Kath, I have to say the picture of you outside the wine bar looks a lot like pictures of me at 25. Must be something about the partial squint?
Kath,
We need a photo of the two of you together! 🙂 You guys make such a cute couple!
Robin,
The pickled jalapeños don’t seem high in sodium. They’re spicier than banana peppers and are a little less “fruity” but overall, pretty similar.
Yay! Glad you had fun, Kath!
i agree with kay… next picture has to be with both of you. you guys are SOOO cute!!
The wine tasting sounds awesome!
Your hubby looks like a young Tom Cruise (like in times of “Top Gun” ;O) ) and you’re very pretty too.
Cinnamon tea? What brand is that? I love cinnamon (so much, I even put it on sliced apples).
I see the beans-have you ever sprouted? Last week I grew my first batch of sprouted lentils and was surprised how good they tasted!
I might give the “fried” okra a shot today-even though I am not really sure about the food prep (I’ve never seen okra until I moved to AL).
🙂
Kath, your catfish looks yummy. Next time try baking it in the oven for a more healthier option. It will come out nice and crispy… don’t forget to use a rack to let the heat circulate the entire fish. This will help it crisp up. I’ve tried it and it turns out delicious without the extra oil.
All those treats look delicious! I’ll have to try the catfish and okra. That’s a great picture of you in the bar, too!
Susa,
Tom Cruise! Wow! I’ve never thought that but they do have similar haircuts 🙂 I LOVE cinnamon too but I hate this tea. It’s too spicy for me. I forgot the brand – it’s not worth buying!
Never sprouted beans. More info please!
Yaz,
Yes, baking would probably have been best!
Thanks Grace!
Kath
Kath,
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1246214
http://onehotstove.blogspot.com/2005/06/primer-on-sprouting-lentils.html
This is where I got my info. It is really easy-but the biggest advantage is that they are much more digestible because of all the enzymes (and they get huge!).
And this
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x165/lieblingphotos/March2008/PICT2601.jpg
is what the lentils look like (sorry for the long links). I had another batch that I let sit for another day (I think it was around 3 days) and they were even better.
I put them on salad, used them in an omelette and today I had them warm with vegetable broth….they are very versatile.
Hope this helped! 🙂
Wow you two look sooo boring.