Crazy Daze

We are mostly following the menu but not on the correct days, and now I am all confused.

Just an overall note, first. I find that for the most part we are skipping many of the snacks, and we have very few of the desserts. We finished up the cocoa bark within the first week since we shared it with our guests two nights in a row. But The Mr. and I have both been completely satisfied with the meals, smaller portions and all, and we never really have a craving for much in between. Progress!

I am pretty sure that on Wednesday morning I had the banana almond smoothie. I made a scramble for The Mr. as his job these days is pretty labor intensive and a smoothie would have had him heading for the nearest to-go restaurant on the way to the demo house. The smoothie wasn't bad, though I may have to switch to almond milk, since my coconut milk isn't super flavorful. I'm also wondering if maybe the almond butter I used might have been a little off. But I will definitely make it again. So in addition to using coconut milk and old almond butter, I added in some almonds and maybe a date or two to provide a little extra sweetness.

I loved, loved, loved the leftover chicken salad with mangoes. Nuff said!

Now the meals start getting a little confusing. I couldn't find tuna at the market, so we cooked up Thursday night's dinner of roasted tofu with bulgur/cauliflower salad on Wednesday. The tofu was pretty tasty, though I'd probably cut back a bit on the salt next time. Actually, I might throw that extra salt into the salad, as it needed something to kick it up a notch. Maybe if I'd actually measured out the herbs instead of estimating that would have helped.

The next morning I repeated the muesli/parfait, but without the toasted coconut, as I was feeling a little lazy.

The leftover salad on Thursday was much better than the meal on its own the night before. I had mixed it all together right after dinner, so all the flavors sat together and melded, and the addition of the Asian pear (YUM) and the mustard dressing provided exactly what had been missing.

On a side note, I am loving the habit of making a dinner that serves four and immediately setting aside two servings for the next day's lunch. The Mr. has started a new venture, and he is out of the house everyday. So this way I can ensure that he's getting a filling, delicious lunch, and he doesn't feel the need to swing by a fast food place to get a quick fix for his hunger. I am hoping it's a habit I can maintain.

Before dinner last night, I threw together the avocado smoothie (with fresh orange juice rather than lime juice). Then  we walked down to Whole Foods (about a 3-mile loop) to find some albacore or mahi mahi. But once again, no luck. They had frozen filets, but nothing fresh. So instead we got lamb shanks. Yeah, I know ... Not exactly a lean protein, but the price was right. We also bought the frozen fish so it could defrost in time for another dinner. So last night was grilled lamb shank with the greenest tahini sauce. I also sauteed the mustard greens that were supposed to go with the fish. They aren't my favorite green, but maybe it's because I flavored it with the leftover chimichurri, and that made it a little bitter/tart. I quick roasted some carrots (instead of steaming) as well. Instead of eating an entire shank, The Mr. and I shared one and then split up the leftovers for lunch. Again, progress! [Confession: The Mr. was pretty starving by the time we got to W.F., so he indulged in a slice of pepperoni pizza. And I took a rather large bite. Ohhhh, cheese and pepperoni. So yummy!]

This morning was 10-grain cereal with dates, pomegranate seeds, and the pepita crunch. I topped it off with a splash of coconut milk. Not bad.

And tonight we can finally have the tuna, though with the sides for the mussels.