Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Focus

Yesterday was a long and winding day, beginning with a four-mile walk that ended in the rain, and moving on to a five-hour Sam's Club/JoAnn's/Kroger mission that began AND ended in the rain. On tap for today? MORE RAIN.

There was an inch of rain collected in the gauge this morning. I sure do wish I'd gotten the garden in prior to this week. But it's easier to plant and pull weeds from wet ground than from rock-hard soil. Counting my blessings.

My focus the past month (I began the paleo plan April 6) has been spot-on, and it's working.

Less than a quarter-mile to go. At this point I'd been walking in the
rain for 20 minutes, so when my husband called to see if I needed
him to come pick me up, I declined. I was already soaked!
What have I focused on? Basically eating protein, vegetables and fruits; not eating grains, legumes, dairy and sugar, and getting some kind of daily workout done. The eating part has been STELLAR. Astonishingly so.

For instance: I have two packages of lemon sandwich cookies in my car, left from a long-ago road trip. I don't even have to take my eyes off the road to find them, open them and eat them. That's how road-trip food works, right? Well, I've been on several solo road trips since those cookies landed in the car and I don't even think about them. They'll most certainly outlive me. Because I'm not touching them except to pitch them next time I clean the car.

Part of yesterday's mission was to find spaghetti squash, which is classified as a winter variety and, thus, hasn't been available at Tiny Kroger. Giant Kroger had plenty of them, pricey but still … I was so happy to see them I put three in my cart. (Spaghetti squash keeps well and you can cook and freeze it, as well.)

You can bet I'm planting plenty of spaghetti squash (and butternuts. I picked one of those up at Giant Kroger but returned it to the bin when I realized it was going to cost $7.50!).

I was also on the hunt for coconut flour and almond meal, both of which were on the shelf at GK. I was not surprised to find them there, but was astonished at the price – nearly $9/lb for the almond and $10/lb for the coconut. I've read online that Trader Joe's has coconut flour for $3.99/lb, so I'll be stocking up next time I'm in the vicinity of one. Which will be the end of this month. YAY!

Theoretically I could make my own almond meal. I've tried in the food processor, but not in a coffee grinder. I have made almond butter. Once the almonds begin to release their oil, you might as well keep processing.

I ended up buying one bag of each of the flours, despite the high price. I'm in an experimenting mood and getting a little bored with the morning bacon-and-egg routine. Since I was too tired to bake anything last night, that's what breakfast will look like this morning (SOON!). But tomorrow? Banana pancakes or bread, maybe?

Film at eleven!

4 comments:

Mindy said...

Here's another source...not as cheap as TJ but not as expensive as the store. Excellent and fast customer service. They have LOTS of great stuff. Fun browsing throught the items. Next day delivery...

http://www.nuts.com/cookingbaking/flours/

D said...

I bit the bullet and finally ordered a 5 lb bag of almond meal/flour. Super quick shipping, and tastes super yummy in the egg-free, dairy-free, gluten-free recipe for waffles that we've been making weekly for the last month.

http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/blanchedalmondflour5lb.aspx#.UYmm6Mu9KSM

Debbi said...

Thanks for the link, D. The reviews for Honeyville's brand are glowing. I appreciate the recommendation.

Debbi said...

Thanks, Mindy! I'm still a little reluctant to bake, because I'm not sure where it would lead. Hoping to keep it to a minimum ... but I'm definitely ready for some breakfast alternatives!

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