Monday Munchies, Part 28: The Definition of Insanity

This post is a continuation of the Monday Munchies series where I show everything I eat over the course of single day. These eats took place last Friday and reveal a little secret about me *gasp!*

First, Maddie wanted to thank you for your wonderful reactions to Dog Week.

On to the day’s eats!

Breakfast, 7:30 am:

Bircher muesli with a yellow peach and chia seeds. Served with hot Yorkshire Gold and skim milk. I’ve been choosing tea over coffee lately because I’ve noticed I don’t have that “fuzzy head” feeling in the morning when I skip coffee for a while. Coffee never helps me feel awake, but boy, can I tell when it’s gone. I’m going to lay off the coffee for a while and see if this awesome, non-fuzzy trend continues.

(By the way, remember this vintage THIH post? I got into the habit of drinking coffee to survive my daily 1.5 hour commute. Haven’t done that for years, so why drink coffee when I don’t even want it?)

Lunch, 12:00 pm:

An incredible spicy whole grain pasta (stop by on Wednesday for the recipe!) and 1/2 head of kale sauteed with olive oil and drizzled with a little maple syrup. Served with skim milk.

Isn’t it amazing how much leafy greens cook down? Even though I’ve been a dietitian for a while, I still get a kick out of how many greens I can fit in a single meal. If you’re having trouble chewing that many greens, give ’em a quick saute. So easy.

An after-lunch sweet:

Bonairean dark chocolate with hot lemon ginger tea.

Dinner, 6:30 pm:

(Why yes, I do eat salad with chopsticks. I dare you to try it.)

I’ve been skipping an afternoon snack for a while and haven’t missed it. I used to be an advocate of eating something every three to four hours, but in my self-described maturity, I’ve found not everyone needs to follow this schedule. Including myself. Learning what works best for ourselves often involves the twin tasks of self-reflection and trial-and-error (both somewhat lacking in this age of GO GO GO).

So, dinner. Peter was away at a conference this past weekend, and before he left, he insisted on making an inhumanly large batch of brown fried rice. Why?

Because I would probably eat balanced-yet-bland meals otherwise. Although I enjoy cooking most of the time (and baking 100% of the time – if there’s chocolate in it), I’m an inattentive cook. If Peter wasn’t around, my meals would consist of plain brown rice or whole grain pasta, some chopped tofu or beans, and a mess of veggies, all laid out in a vague MyPlate.

It’s not a stretch to say: If it wasn’t for Peter, THIS BLOG WOULD NOT EXIST. True fact #1.

He pushes me to try new recipes and has helped me appreciate the flavor of quality ingredients. Before I met him, I thought Kraft singles in plastic were totally legit. True fact #2.

My diet would be pretty monotonous without Peter’s refined tastes. That’s one of MANY reasons why I’m always thrilled to see him after an absence. For example, while I was in China, the ease of eating in the university cafeteria or out at restaurants is the only reason I didn’t down several spoonfuls of peanut butter and call it a day, like in this post. True fact #3.

It’s like Peter is my culinary compass and without him I have a distressing tendency to lose myself in the wilderness of too many food choices. I’m usually an “eat to live” kind of person. Thank goodness for a scrumptious (in every sense of the word) polar opposite.

So, in the middle of last week, Peter asked me what I wanted to eat for dinner over the weekend. I refused to answer his question, instead saying something along the lines of: “Don’t worry, I’ll cook something.”

What was that quote?

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Yep. That sounds about right. That’s why I enjoyed this brown fried rice with a large salad and skim milk on the side. The salad had chopped homegrown tomatoes and a pretty-good blue cheese dressing. I plan to make my own dressing soon, and I suppose I can thank Peter for that idea.

To celebrate Peter’s awesomeness despite his absence, I enjoyed several flavors of homemade ice cream, including vanilla bean, chocolate peanut butter, and guava. Yes, all handmade by Peter.

Toodle pip, dear reader!