…the journey so far.

Today’s lunch was 3 Bean Vegetarian Chili with Baby Carrots and Cheddar Cheese from PureFoods Fresh Start, gluten-free. Pretty dang good!

I put the chili (which is not thick like chili, more like a tomato-based three-bean soup) into a bowl to microwave, as instructed. The soup was still frozen in some places from the trip, so I did the 60 seconds, stir, 60 more seconds as instructed, then added another half-minute because it wasn’t quite hot enough.

The little packet of carrots was comical, not because of the quantity, but because of the “ashy” quality of the carrots, in the little package. I chose to trade out for my own baby carrots, because I like ‘em moist and fresh and a little heartier.

This was a really good lunch, actually, although the black beans from last night’s dinner had me a little gassy, and I suspect these will do that job too. Need to check out my week’s menu and be sure to plan appropriately for when I’m going to be out in public, as opposed to home alone. Also, I realize I’ve not had any red meat yet, in three meals. That means tonight’s dinner will be one of the pork or beef dishes, just to keep me from having a “too heavy” day for my tastes, down the line.

Feeling good!

Filed under: PurFoods, PureFoods Fresh Start, gluten-free, photos on December 31st, 2011 | No Comments »

Meal number two from my first delivery of gluten-free meals from PureFoods Fresh Start was the Vegetable Omelet and Gluten-Free Roll.

Another yum.

I chose to start with an egg dish because I recall some online reviews about how the eggs don’t always delight, and I wanted to take my most enthusiastic period of this diet to try something that may not be a hit.

No worries. It was great.

I generally do not like mushrooms, but in the past couple of years, I’ve been trying to eat them when they’re in dishes I otherwise would like, be cause I hate being “that guy” who orders things and asks for them to be “without this, add that, this thing on the side” unless I’m just really in a mood. So, I’ve been trying to expand my tolerance level of mushrooms and it seems to be paying off. The asparagus definitely helped!

I cut the gluten-free roll in half, put on a little butter, and had it toasting in two halves in the toaster oven while prepping the omelet. They say to heat the filling first, then add the egg, probably because they don’t want the egg to get rubbery, but I didn’t really want to negotiate all that, so I put the egg — opened up — on my little bread plate, evenly spaced the veggie and cheese filling onto the egg, and then nuked it for 45 seconds at full power, as instructed. Then I lifted up the egg and let the liquid that had collected under it drain off (I’m pretty anti-runny stuff, even though it was just “vegetable liquid,” I’m sure). Pat, pat, pat with a papertowel, then back in the microwave for another 45 seconds at full power.

I spread some raspberry preserves on my toasted gluten-free roll. Yes, this — plus the butter — surely added 150 calories or so, and otherwise, this breakfast would’ve only been 180 calories (remember, the gluten-free delivery doesn’t include snacks or treats, and is basically a 900-calorie day on its own). While my goal is to add things like fruit and nuts and skim milk and yogurt and such, that’ll be easy to do when there’s no bread involved.

Oh, and as gluten-free breads go, this one was good! Fluffy and light. Now, the waiting game of finding out whether their recipe is one of those that doesn’t agree with me or not. Without going too far into the TMI territory, there are some gluten-free breads that are better mixes of alternative flours than others. (This one was okay.)

Filed under: PurFoods, PureFoods Fresh Start, gluten-free, photos on December 31st, 2011 | No Comments »

My first meal from my first PureFoods Fresh Start gluten-free delivery was the Baked Cod with Thyme and Black Bean Salad. I decided to start with fish, because it probably is the thing I’m most “iffy” about, when long-term storage is at issue. So, the sooner the better, I figured.

Yum.

The fish was probably 4 oz. and very thyme-y, a little rosemary-ish. I heated it up in the toaster oven at 275 F for ten minutes.

The black bean salad is intended to be served cold, per the instructions, but I took a bite while the fish was heating up and was not impressed, so I decided to nuke the black bean salad for 45 seconds at half-power.

I put the fish on a bread plate (yes, I’m “small plating” for this diet; the portions are VERY small — especially compared to BistroMD, back in the day — and by putting my meals on these little plates, I’m teaching myself what a conservative portion size is, which is a good habit to get into, frankly) with the black bean salad, poured a tiny bit of “Real Lemon” juice over the fish, then nuked again for 20 seconds on full power, then let sit.

Again, yum.

However, the black bean salad was VERY onion-y, and — as before with the Chicken Fajitas on BistroMD — I’m not a huge fan of the onions, except in moderation. No moderation, here. In fact, I took an “after” photo, to show how many onions were left, after my meal. Also, the black bean salad was spicy (jalapeños and cayenne pepper in the ingredients, no surprise), and I *love* spicy food, so for me to say this was spicy… it was VERY spicy.

I will order this again.

Filed under: PurFoods, PureFoods Fresh Start, gluten-free, photos on December 30th, 2011 | 1 Comment »