I love the easiness of eating healthy in summer. I eat fruit galore in the summer, whole bushels of blueberries and raspberries and blackberries. Peaches regularly visit our grill. I hate watermelon, but there's usually a lot of that around our house too, since Philosofette is silly enough to enjoy it. We eat tons of veggies too. We get a half-share through a CSA, and... wow. I can't recommend it enough. We've hit the point of summer where we have more vegetables than we know what to do with, and we really try to get our way through the bag every week. They become snacks. They become breakfast (kolrabi? Eh, sure.) We'll usually do several CSA-inspired recipes a week, and then a stir fry or pasta or something that combines pretty much whatever else we've got left over around the end of the week.
The point being that eating healthy is easy enough when there's a plethora of healthy food available at your fingertips. Since I've come back from vacation I haven't gotten back into calorie counting, but I've been eating well, and that's helped me to maintain my weight. I've been pretty consistently around 203 the past week, and that's where I was again this morning.
On the other hand, it has been crunch time for Philosofette with school. Which has meant no workouts for me, since I'm taking care of the kids. It has also meant, for all the above discussion about eating healthy, far too many unhealthy snacks. Ice cream and soda, especially (and once, root beer floats, combining both!). There have been a few too many fast food/junk food meals too, since Philosofette is the kind who forgets to eat when she's working, and then suddenly is really hungry, and the easiest option is to go with something quick and/or ready-made. So, these things have undercut my healthy eating lately, but there's an end in sight (Friday!).
I also am going to start working out again next Monday. One more week of finals equals one more week of not working out equals a week of gearing up to starting again. In addition to running and biking, I'm going to include some weightlifting at the outset. When I made my fitness push in the winter/spring, I did lifting, and my arms got into a decent state. I have noticed the loss of muscle mass lately (which I'm sure is helping me artificially maintain my lower weight level), and I hate it. So in 1 week, I begin again in earnest. And until then, I'm going to try to cut back on soda and ice cream.
Hate watermelon? That's Un'merican!
Also, this recipe for watermelon salad with bacon is delicious. Did I mention that it has bacon? But it's salad, so it's diet bacon.
In a large bowl, combine the fruit. Whisk the oil, lemon, salt and pepper together in a small bowl. Drizzle over and toss lightly. Scatter the bacon and basil over the top and serve.
hate watermelon? *slowly raises hand*
It has all the great flavor of water, with the added bonus of refreshing pulp texture!
to paraphrase an old friend from undergrad, bad watermelon is bad, but good watermelon is good!
also, watermelon-flavored jolly ranchers are one of the greatest things evah!
Maybe these two just keep getting pieces of watermelon that are right by the rind, instead of out towards the delicious middle.
I've eaten enough watermelon in my life to know that it's all pointless. I'll go drink a glass of water for all of the upside with none of that awful texture.
I am fully prepared to make bS's recipe above to prove you wrong (in my own mind.)
Deliver, and I'll even give it a shot. Heck, I'll even make you a watermelon recipe of my* own.
*Jose Andres, stealing from Ferran Adria.
Instructions: Fill with vodka. Serve.
See, I love that texture. Sweet watermelon is one of life's great pleasures.
Ditto. A good cantaloupe is also a fave. Living a few years where they filmed Mr. Majestyk was awesome, midnight forays into the melon fields were not unheard of. I can't wait for the Rocky Fords to get here.
you are welcome to all the watermelon flavored hard candy that's piled up here.
Made it tonight. It was very delicious. I'm very glad watermelon is in season again.
and bacon is ALWAYS in season.
I have to concur on the fresh fruits and veggies thing (though I'm a big fan of watermelon) this time of year. I can't wait until the local tomatoes start showing up in the produce stands and farmers markets. God how I love a fresh ripe tomato. I used to pick them in the garden when we had gardens, wipe off the dirt with my shirt tail and eat them on the spot, warm off the vine.
I can confess to not liking tomatoes until about 5 years ago. I still don't like tomatoes by themselves, but I adore cooking with them (or having them fresh, with other things). I made bruschetta a couple nights ago, and I don't know that I've ever enjoyed tomatoes more than I did that evening.
I love many different tomato-based products, but I still can't stand tomatoes themselves.
Fresh tomatoes from the garden, with a little pepper... man.
My wife planted 6 tomato plants (two each of Romas, Celebrities, and Cherries). Many are going into salsa or hot sauce (assuming the ghost and scorpion peppers come to fruition), but that still leaves a great many tomatoes. I wondered aloud what use we'd have for so many tomatoes, and was told that I needn't worry about that. Linds could probably eat a meal of only tomatoes for supper.
Simplest best meal ever: chop up tomatoes and whatever other veggies you have on hand. Throw them in a frying pan with a little garlic, balsamic vinegar and wine, serve over pasta. So many variations to try on it, but that's the basic after-the-farmer's-market meal we make once tomatoes come into season, and I never tire of it.
I didn't like tomatoes for a long time (well, I was one of those annoying picky eaters, so I didn't like lots of stuff), but I've definitely come around. I'm eagerly awaiting the tomatoes from our garden so we can make this panzanella recipe (with fresh mozz rather than ricotta). It's great right away and it also keeps well, so the leftovers are delicious too.
I never considered myself a picky eater, but over the past six years, I've come to the conclusion that that's because my taste mostly matched my parents' (distaste for stir fry and and ravenous taste for rare-side-of-medium-rare steak aside), and they simply didn't cook things they didn't like.
The good news is that you can expand your palate. In addition tomatoes, I used to not like cucumbers either, but that's a growing taste for me too. I'm currently working on olives.
Also, when I lived in Greece, not liking tomatoes, cucumbers and olives made life quite difficult.
Cucumbers are delicious, olives are quite tasty, as well.
I'm not even sure I'm going to start working on tomatoes.
somewhat apropos, I started making these sour pickles last night.
I should know in another 3 days whether they were successful, and another day or so after that whether botulism will kill me.
During the summers my parents just eat sliced tomatoes on buttered toast for dinner for one or two meals. This meal plus bacon is a once a week occurrence, and it's always delicious.
My parents always had a pretty big garden. Lots of late-summer dinners consisted of whatever plus a ginormous bowl of peeled, sliced beefsteak tomatoes.
I frequently had issues with the roof of my mouth getting raw from the acids of eating so many tomatoes. But oh, so good.
I have been deliberately silent on the WGOM Fitness for a while. Thursday marks one year from when I started my fitness plan. The last year has been mostly a success, but the last month or two, not so much. I am aiming to reboot my fitness plan again on the one year anniversary of this plan to finally get down to my goal weight and reintroduce the workouts that have been kind of cast aside. So, mark your calendars for July 25th. Oh, and I'll be in the Capital City that day and the next, so the workouts will be delayed a little.
Good to hear. Looking forward to it.
I'm also planning a reboot, been working on the bike this week and think I'll start this weekend. I did well up until the holidays last year the fell off the wagon. Lately, though, I've been feeling real sluggish and I know it's due to being sedentary for too long.
The last three weekends have (outside of my long bikeride on Saturday) been very bad. I could use a reboot, too.
And I'm rebooting my workouts on Monday. Seems like we've all hit a summer lull.
Pirate, I could do a bikeride Sunday if you're willing.
We got a subscription to this website thru the csa. It has been pretty good.
http://www.localthyme.com/