Remember how I had to go to Whole Foods last weekend to buy eggs because there weren’t any at the Farmer’s Market? And do you remember how I told Andy the 3 dozen we bought should be enough to get us through until Wednesday?
It turns out, it wasn’t enough.
Let me give you a little insight into our meals/preparation.
Andy: Are we having eggs with breakfast this morning?
Me: Yeah.
Andy: (Pulls out container) There’s only 9 left.
Me: Guess we’re not having eggs.
I know it SEEMS like a lot of eggs, but we make at LEAST 6 eggs in the morning. And those eggs are absolutely ESSENTIAL on breakfast mornings with bacon, because bacon counts as a fat, not a protein. This morning, we were having breakfast hash with ground pork, which does count as a protein, so the eggs weren’t as necessary. Tomorrow is bacon morning.
We needed to SAVE THE EGGS.
Thank goodness I keep it all straight with my handy menu.
Here’s a very grainy shot of the menu that is hanging on our fridge for this week.
I’ve been making menus for a while, but it’s only been within the past couple of months that I’ve added breakfast and lunch. Usually lunch is just leftovers, but breakfast takes planning since we need to make sure we have enough meat, eggs and vegetables for the week.
So, on the back of the menu is the weekly shopping list. I write down how much to get at each Farmer’s Market and the grocery store. Plus I try to take into account what comes in our CSA. Most of what we buy is fresh from the produce section or farmstands. My shopping cart is loaded with vegetables.
(On a side note, did you see the gov’t's new dietary guidelines were released? I have fundamental differences with the feds over what people should and shouldn’t eat, but at least some of it’s sound advice. Too bad most people are unlikely to heed it.)
Sometimes it feels like I spend too much time preparing, eating — even reading and thinking about! — food. I’m getting to be an expert at chopping vegetables. And Andy says — while I’ve always been a decent cook — I’m really coming into my own.
I guess you have to be that way when you eat like we do. It would be OHHHHH so convenient to walk into a restaurant and pick whatever off the menu. But we don’t do that — especially now that I’m on this challenge and I’ve decided not to allow myself even the smallest indulgence. No wine! No dairy! No chocolate! NO SUGAR!
Even fruit is a rarity. It’s my only indulgence these days.
But to be honest — everything tastes… really good. At first I missed cream in my coffee. Then I started to actually taste coffee, and it was good! And all the vegetables — I can TASTE them — and they’re actually kind of sweet! And nuts are the ultimate. Even walnuts are sweet now.
It’s amazing how your sense of taste changes when you get rid of sugar for a while.
I can’t wait to pick up our eggs from Richardson tomorrow. I hope they have extra dozens — because I need them! I can taste the difference between Farmer’s Market eggs and grocery store eggs (even so-called cage-free from Whole Foods.) Believe me — the Farmer’s Market eggs are worth EVERY penny.