August 2010 Whole Foods Lifestyle Chat
 

It's August! In my part of the world, this is one of the best months for eating from Farmer's Markets and gardens. Let's share our whole foods adventures this month!

We're headed out of town for a few days, so I got creative about using up things for lunch yesterday. Tempeh sausage crumbles with diced roasted Majestic Purple potatoes from our CSA box (they really are purple!), and a quick salsa of sauteed onions and peppers (bell from the CSA box, jalapeno and peperoncini from my garden) and a yellow tomato from the Farmers Market.

I mixed it all together and it tasted good. Next time, I'll make a little more effort with presentation -- roast potatoes on the bottom topped with the tempeh and then the salsa. It will look prettier and I think the textures will be more apparent when they aren't all mixed up.

Still trying to use up stuff before we leave tomorrow.

Breakfast: a variety of peppers sauteed with some leftover tempeh sausage crumbles. I added basil from the garden and sprouts that I grew on the counter at the last minute. Then served the whole thing over some re-heated leftover brown rice. Odd breakfast food, but it was tasty!

Lunch: the last of the tempeh (although I put a whole other package in the freezer -- hope that works!) with more peppers, basil, and sprouts. This time with the addition of roast eggplant from my garden and the juice of half a lemon which gave it all a nice bright flavor. I served it over roast potatoes, which is definitely better than stirring the potatoes into the saute pan, the texture held up much better. For dessert, a very juicy nectarine from the Farmers Market!

Supper: with a bit of bad timing, we picked up the CSA box tonight, although were leaving town for five days tomorrow. I'm going to roast as many vegetables as appropriate, saute onions with yet more peppers, add the chicken breast (the last of the chicken from the Farmers Market) and toss everything with a bit of pasta. Should be yummy.

I'm off to Kansas City. We'll be trying restaurants with interesting chefs. If this thread hasn't died a graceful death by the time I get back, I will report on what these chefs are doing with whole foods.

Oh I would love to hear about the chefs. Hope this is still here when you get back. Your eating sounds so yummy.

I am new to eating clean. I would really like to follow that lifestyle. It sounds so healthy. I am still having a hard time adjusting to only eating clean foods. It takes a lot more planning on my part. This week, I plan to switch back to clean eating. :)

Hi Jessica! I'm new, too. I started last Monday (August 2nd). I'll be honest, I've had some not so clean meals, but overall, I'm making great choices!
How is everyone doing today?

Well, I think I've found a new home on 3FC. :) Over the last 3 weeks, I have been eating "clean," although I just discovered that term. LOL Trust me to be sort of the last to know any cool stuff or trendy terminology. Long story short, I calorie count, but within that, I eat whole foods.

It feels great, I have to say. I do get hungry for my meals, but not unpleasantly so--there's a difference between hunger and craving.

I'm loving summer and all the wonderful fruits and vegetables available now. My favorites are probably summer tomatoes and peaches, although blueberries and melon are also wonderful!! We're in an area with some very nice upscale groceries that have good selections of organic (and local!) produce, plus there's a farmer's market that I plan to hit this week. Seafood is great here, too, although not so much local because of the oil spill--gulf seafood is much more expensive now, when it's available at all.

Well, nice to "meet" y'all--I think I'm going to enjoy catching up on the rest of this wholefoods forum. :)

Back from Kansas City with some reports of favorite dishes in good restaurants. Thanks, all, for keeping this thread going!

One of the best uses of local ingredients was a simple appetizer -- sliced heirloom tomatoes served with mozzarella stuffed with ricotta, both cheeses house-made from local milk, and a drizzled balsamic reduction. All served chilled. It was amazing.

Another lovely salad reminded me that layering can be a wonderful presentation. It was mozzarella on the bottom, with a layer of spinach on top, then a layer of thinly sliced ham, and topped with pecans.

The best entree was spare ribs, but the meat was taken off the ribs and pressed into a kind of cake. The meat was charred on the edge and so tender. Really delicious and such a non-messy way to eat ribs! It was served on potato gnocchi with ratatouille ringing the plate. Very pretty!

I wasn't sure I had enough food in the house to make supper last night, but the sourdough starter needed feeding and there was an eggplant ready to harvest in the garden and some tomatoes starting to go bad on the counter. So, I made my veggie pizza . There were also some cucumbers from last week's CSA box that were still good, so I made a cucumber and tomato salad that I let marinate in apple cider vinegar and a little agave nectar for a couple of hours.

I hope to get by a Farmers Market later today so we have more options.

Gardenerjoy - sounds like you had a lovely, and tasty trip!

Jessica and Ade - I recently switched over too a few months ago, it's been an amazing change. I still am not perfect, but I began by gradually making changes. I just FINALLY gave up my light and fit yogurt for a more planet friendly and healthy brand. Last to go is going to be my cheese addiction...

It's wednesday! Hope everyone's week is going well. I just got promoted to lead teacher at the preschool I work at so I'm excited to have my own classroom in September! I hope to make it as green as possible by using lots of recycled goods :) I'm excited! First year teaching gitters are coming on strong though.... ahh!

All this food sounds delicious. I just had a big salad with lettuce,carrots,cukes,peppers,red onion, and homemade balsamic vinaigrette, and pasta with caramelized onions, garlic and sauteed zucchini and gorgonzola cheese mixed in at the end. Sooo good!
garstar- some big similarities btwn us lol. I too have switched to a better yogurt, am addicted to cheese (hence the gorgonzola :-)) and have also just been promoted to lead teacher starting in september! Congrats to you!! I am very excited and also getting very nervous. I am currently the assistant in the toddler room at my job and have tried to bring a lot of natural materials and homemade toys into the room. I hope to do even more this fall! I am very lucky to be moving up with my kids in September ! Maybe we could share ideas? Do you know of any ECE message boards? I have ben trying to do alot of research online. Would love to know what you think!

I started eating clean again on july 31st. I also started walking again. It is just 2 weeks in and I feel 100% better!! I am kicking myself for letting myself go for so long on the wrong path. oh well I am on track now.
The Sept/October issue of clean eating is great, it has a lot of wonderful recipes. It has the best alfredo recipe in it. My husband loves that but I cringe at the fat in it. This one is made with skim milk , thickened with arrow root. you than add yougurt for a little tang. I made it and added tons of vegtables and a little pasta and the family loved it.
There is a menu to feed a family of four for five meals at $50.00. It cost me 80.00 but so far every recipe has been great and I will make them again.
Magazines can be costly but this issue is well worth it.

I just started clean eating a few weeks ago and i love it. Although out does take more planning, I find that I actually enjoy that also. then it's off to the farmers' markets and natural grocer for the weekly shop. I thought I'd have trouble getting dh on board with it, but so far he's enjoying it also.

This past week has been a breeze...the magazine had a shopping list. Hubby went to the store with me and helped pick out the ingredients. i believe this made him even more open to the recipes. I liked haveing a plan for each day so far in advance. However I am learning it wasn't so much what I ate before that got me into my current weight problem , it is portion. I know the plate rule of half for vegies ect... still I would give each person a chicken breast. tonights recipe had you split a breast between two. I was quite satisfied at that.
I am glad we tried the new recipes and I am sure I will make each of them again. Now I need to make my own meal plan for next week, tomorrow is farmers market day ;)

This week's CSA box had a cucumber, a big zucchini, a lovely pumpkin shaped colorful pepper, jalapeno and habanero peppers, onions, purple potatoes, and a selection of tomatoes. Wonderful!

garstar: congrats on the lead teacher position!

Natasha629: Your salad and pasta sound wonderful! Congrats on your promotion, too!

alilsomethin: so glad that you're getting good results from eating clean! I also discovered that just eating clean wasn't enough to lose weight -- I had to work on portions, too, including smaller servings of chicken!

kaygee41: good job with your planning that makes the clean eating work.