I'm currently on day 22 of the Whole 30 and it has truly been an interesting and somewhat all-encompassing experience so far. I know I mentioned this in my last update, but I think about food and meal planning a LOT more than I normally do and spend a good amount of time searching for compatible recipes that mesh up with what I have in the house or are expecting in upcoming produce boxes from Farm to People. I've discovered a few websites with great Whole30 compatible recipes, many of which which lean heavily towards Asian cuisines, which I love and cook a great deal. Nom Nom Paleo has meal plans in addition to recipes, I Heart Umami, which has a Whole30 compatible potsticker recipe that saved me during a particularly fierce dumpling craving, and The Defined Dish, which gave me a hearty and comforting bolognese. These websites have been chock full of recipes, ideas, and inspiration -- thanks to the women behind each of them. 

I've also been posting pictures of all of my meals and snacks on my Instagram story -- you can find all of them on my highlights. I hope I can inspire others who are interested in Whole30 or who are just looking to incorporate more veggies into their world. 

People ask me if I'm feeling any different. Truthfully, I'm not sure. I feel less "puffy" and have probably lost weight (no scales allowed on Whole30 and my sweatpants all still feel the same) -- I still wake up during the night and can't get back to sleep for a bit, but it seems to be slightly less often. My energy levels are back to normal (they most definitely took a dip in the beginning), but I can't say I have the TIGER BLOOD that everyone talks about. I'm also really missing the foods I haven't eaten during the program and I'm looking forward to (slowly) reintroducing them soon. Here are some of my more picturesque meals since the last update.

Well, it's been a minute since I last posted. I figured you had your fill of my cooking adventures, but for the past week, I've been doing a round of the Whole 30, which has both challenged me in the food/cooking department and made me focus much more intently on food and meal planning. What is Whole 30? It's a 30 day dietary reset of sorts that eliminates foods that either tend to irritate people (gluten, dairy, soy, additives) and/or that create cravings (sugar, booze). At the end of 30 days you reintroduce each category one by one to see how your body reacts both physically and mentally. On a practical level it means that you are eating meat, seafood, eggs, veggies, fruit, nuts, and healthy fats like olive oil, and avocado. And coffee is allowed, thankfully! For me, I've gotten into some less than healthy eating habits during the pandemic and wanted to reset.

That said, the Whole30 is extreme. It doesn't allow legumes (beans) or grains, and between that and the other restrictions it is NOT intended to be a forever shift in your eating. And given how much I LOVE food, it is not something that would ever be sustainable. I'm looking at it as an experiment and a challenge, and it's definitely easier to do now, during the pandemic, when I'm not going out and have no social or professional obligations that involve food/drink. 

Lessons learned so far: 1) If I had to do this during normal times, it would involve a massive amount of weekend meal prep to keep up. Even now, I'm prepping stuff constantly to ensure that I'm meeting meal guidelines (protein, veggies, plated healthy fat); 2) I am blowing through produce like a maniac, which is no doubt good for me; 3) I'm sort of enjoying the challenge of cooking this way, but I'm already really missing some of my favorite foods, and I'm only on day 9; and 4) I can't decide if, given the state of the world, this was an ideal time to give up booze. ;)

If you want a meal-by-meal showcase of everything I'm eating/cooking, I've created a highlight called "Whole30 Meals" on my Instagram page. Otherwise, here are some highlights so far:

Honestly, I've stopped counting. The summer is winding down, which is astonishing. This has somehow been the longest shortest year ever. Since August 1st, I've been up in Maine, spending time both at a cabin on a lake in Casco, Maine, and at my family's house in Portland (after negative pre- and post-flight covid tests). So what has this meant for food and cooking? I started with an online shop that my sister picked up curbside for me in Portland, and when we drove out to the lake from the airport, we packed that up along with some odds and ends. Near the cabin, there's an amazing organic farm which I knew I'd visit, and there was a lot of sharing with whatever my parents had in stock. I ended up cooking a ton for my parents, taking advantage of all of the abundant produce (corn, tomatoes, zucchini, lettuce, more corn, more tomatoes) and the grill (which they don't use as much when I'm not around), and of course, eating lobster several times. One huge sleeper hit that I made for my family (including young nephews) was barbecue pulled chicken (served with tomatoes and corn, naturally, but without smoked paprika this time). I make this recipe a lot at home, and you can use any barbecue sauce you want or make your own. At home, I've used Trader Joe's Kansas City BBQ Sauce, but here I used Stubb's Sticky Sweet BBQ Sauce. Equally delicious.

I've never stayed up in Maine this long in the 20+ years my family has lived here. Ever. And for the majority of the time here I didn't have a car, so I basically stayed put for a few weeks and used what I had/what was brought to me or shared with me. It didn't suck. When I relocated from the cabin to Portland, they were pretty much in charge of purchasing, but I did a lot of the cooking. Once again, tons of fresh summer produce was our guiding principle. Pasta with fresh tomatoes, lobster, and a dollop of ricotta, grilled rib eye steaks with roasted potatoes, grilled salmon tuna nicoise salad, and grilled pizza (plain and white pizza with zucchini). I also ate out for the first time since the pandemic started -- at Chaval -- which was a real treat, and got take out along the way. Dumplings and more from Bao Bao and fried chicken, slaw and biscuits from Figgy's.

That said, I miss being in more control of my food shopping/cooking/intake (I miss you, Trader Joe's!), and it's starting to get colder, making me think more about my Instant Pot than the grill. I'll be here for a bit longer and plan to get the most out of the last of summer until I return to NYC.

Yes, I've been cooking. A lot. Still. Have I been cooking anything particularly exciting? Interesting? Photo-worthy? Not really. Some stir fries, a really tasty smashburger (served with to-go fries and a piña colada from The Happiest Hour), chicken saltimbocca with roasted baby artichokes, lots of salads with my produce deliveries (some with Trader Joe's sriracha ranch, which I finally bought, and love, but they are discontinuing, and some with homemade Mexican Goddess dressing. A lobster roll lunch picnic from Bar Sardine, bagels with cream cheese and whitefish salad (2 "mini" bagels w/spreads on one = 4 days' worth of breakfast once redistributed) from Brooklyn Bagel, delivery from Ayada Thai (thanks J&D!), chicken gyoza and scallion pancakes from Trader Joe's, brunches of TJ's protein waffles (made extra for the freezer) with sausage, and bacon, eggs, & hashbrowns.  And, of course, leftovers galore from a lot of the above and tons of fresh fruit. I think I've finally, legitimately, gotten into a better food supply groove. Until yesterday, when my Imperfect Food delivery never arrived. Grrr. . . 

Oh -- almost forgot. I pickled some beets, but haven't tasted them yet, and bought a little hand-held spiralizer, which I also used on some raw beets to put in salads (I am flush with beets at the moment).

Not really. Still generally getting too much food at once and jamming it into my overstuffed fridge and freezer, but I'm plugging along, and find that I do like the challenge of looking at everything, figuring out what needs to be cooked first, and planning from there.  The Imperfect Produce box worked well, because it's completely customizable. I'm still working on the snap peas (they're sturdy so they last long and I cut them up into salads, so I only use a few at a time), but I really liked having more fruit around than I usually do, and I went through it pretty quickly. The day after my last post I went to my beloved Trader Joe's -- for the first time since the lockdown -- and went a bit nutso there (see photo above). I got a LOT more snacks, sweets etc. than I would get in the before times, but it had been a while and the Patio chips were back so sue me. A few days later, I received my Butcher Box. I had made a concerted effort to make room in the freezer (all the meat arrives frozen), so I had room for 3lbs of chicken breast, pork tenderloin, two ribeyes, and 2lbs of ground beef, but there was no way in hell that I could squeeze in the last item -- a 6lb beast of a pork butt -- so I stuck it in the fridge to thaw. The day after that I got a box of produce from Farm to People (see below), which allows some minor customization. At that point my fridge and freezer were packed to the gills, and I had my work cut out for me. 

Here's an abbreviated rundown of what I've been eating since my last post: adult spaghetti-o's (defrosted from freezer) and salad (Imperfect); lamb korma (Imperfect) with (frozen) peas, (frozen) naan, and brown basmati rice; breakfast tacos (breakfast sausage from Imperfect, eggs, cheese, scallions, cilantro, salsa); NY strip (from months ago Butcher Box) and frozen veggies (pre-pandemic hoarding); buffalo ranch salad mix from TJ's; pasta with tomato (Imperfect) basil (TJ's) and mozz with more frozen veggies; avocado toast (avocado from Imperfect; bread from TJ's); egg roll bowl (to use the napa cabbage from Farm to People; made with 1/4 lb ground turkey from freezer); TJ's dumplings; chilaquiles; pressure cooker pork carnitas; charred zucchini and corn salad (frozen charred corn from TJ's, zucchini from Farm to People, feta from TJ's); cilantro lime slaw (more napa cabbage, cilantro from Imperfect); eggs, bacon and toast; yogurt (Farm to People) and everyday granola (used up a bunch of oats, dried fruit, and nuts from the pantry); bread and salted butter with sliced radishes (from Farm to People); pierogies (random substitution from Wegmans); leftovers of all of the above (I will be eating the carnitas forever; just put a quart in the freezer) and takeout from Loring Place, which just started doing takeout this past weekend.

It seems ridiculous to post about food at the moment given everything going on in our country right now, so before I get into it, I'm just going to acknowledge the collective pain we are going through, and recommend some resources that have helped me to learn more about the institutional racism that is rampant in the US: 13th, So You Want to Talk About Race, Evicted, and Just Mercy. Additionally, a fellow Prepare instructor has written a book to address this topic with 8-12 year olds called Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness, which is being offered as a free PDF download through June 19th.

I know for a fact that I turn to food for comfort, and this week has been no exception. Also as I mentioned before, during this pandemic, food is one of the few things we can control to some degree, which is why there has been so much focus on it these days. Everything I've been eating has elements of what makes food comforting to me -- quality ingredients, melty cheese, roasty potatoes, warm bread, noodles -- all while continuing to work through the food on hand before new supplies arrived. 

As part of my Wegman's order a few weeks back, I got a jar of Mexican style red chile sauce and a stack of corn tortillas, so I started off the weekend with one of my most favorite comfort foods -- chilaquiles.  While the tortilla chips were baking, I put together a dish of cheese enchiladas and set it aside for dinner the following day. I also did some baking, which is rare for me (as someone who lives alone, I generally don't need/want a whole cake or dozens of cookies lying around), but I made the Ovenly salted peanut butter cookies and froze half of them, and I'm very glad I did. Saturday's dinner was an easy sheet pan dinner of roasted potatoes and turkey sausage and I threw in some frozen broccoli and cauliflower. This weekend I also treated myself to another batch of fresh baked baguettes delivered to my door -- just as delicious this time around. 

During the pandemic my friend Karen has been getting boxes created by Blue Hill -- fresh produce and pantry items from their amazing farm upstate.  She found herself with way too much asparagus for one person and some hard and soft boiled eggs and a cucumber (which she hates), and I was the lucky recipient of those items. I used the soft boiled egg in my favorite ramen from Sun Noodle, made a smashed cucumber salad to go with the leftover enchiladas, and ate the hard boiled eggs for breakfast. These are the only new groceries I got until yesterday, when I received an order from Imperfect Foods. I got about 5 1/2 lbs of produce, some ground pork, cubed lamb, breakfast sausage, and a bag of tortilla chips for about $50. It's a subscription service, but they have small boxes that are customizable, they offer both organic and conventional produce, and you can adjust the frequency to suit your needs. I'm going to pause it for a while to try Farm to People, and then compare the two to see which is best for my needs. Using some shitake mushrooms from the box, Karen's asparagus, and some Butcher Box scallops from the freezer, I made a stir fry of the three with black bean sauce and some brown jasmine rice (made a big batch; half will go in the freezer for the future). Looking forward to eating through the rest of the newly arrived goodies.

Just plugging away at using the food I have. My last Dinnerly box dish was beef shawarma, so I've pretty much been eating that and leftovers from the earlier Dinnerly meals, and adding on slightly with what is in my freezer/fridge/pantry. I have a produce box from Imperfect Foods arriving on Wednesday, and the goal is to try not to buy much of anything between now and then to make space. Yesterday was my first non-Dinnerly day all week -- breakfast was a scrambled egg and toast, lunch was tuna in a pita with shredded carrots and sliced cucumbers and a side of onion rings (freezer). Dinner was Budget Bytes pork and peanut dragon noodles, made with ground turkey instead of pork and fresh (not dried) ramen noodles, both from the freezer. There finally seems to be some room in there!

The thing with meal boxes like Dinnerly or Blue Apron is that they are designed for two people, so there are always leftovers. One box basically takes over my entire week. Although that means zero meal planning, it doesn't really allow for much flexibility, and it does lend itself to a bit of meal fatigue. I rarely want to eat something for three meals during the course of a week and I definitely had to do that with this last box. I'll probably keep them on hold for a while and stick to other grocery/food options.

This is a rhetorical question - please do not leave your guesses in the comments.  In the before times, I really didn't have much difficulty regulating my food shopping/consuming in the same way I am now. I'm thinking that it's because it was always easy to just pick up a thing or two, as compared to now, when the goal is to stock up/shop less often/only go into a store if/when necessary. But as one person with limited storage space, there is a very fine line between stocking up in an appropriate fashion and not having room to store things you've purchased, and potentially engaging in food waste. I'm still figuring it out, three weeks in to being back in my apartment. I mentioned in my last post that I got a Wegman's order, but I also got a Dinnerly box on Saturday. This is a very simple and inexpensive meal box containing 3 meals, each meal consisting of at least two portions. Between that and trying to eat through everything I have, I am all set for this week and potentially into next. The only thing I'll really need at some point early next week is fresh vegetables. I even scored some yeast so can (theoretically) make bread when the loaf in my freezer is done.

Despite my bounty, I keep looking at shopping options. I've signed up for deliveries from Butcher Box (meat/poultry) and Imperfect Foods (produce) but keep pushing them back so that I'll have enough room in the freezer/fridge. I'm also looking at Farm to People and Fellow Farmer for produce box subscription options, but I fear that even the minimum will be too much for one person (although I really should be eating more veggies). I also miss my faves at Trader Joes -- if I get some of these delivery options, I'd still want to go there for certain things, not to mention it's the most affordable option for pantry items and more.  And then, like many, I'm looking for variety in my meals, I want to support the businesses I care about, and sometimes I really just don't feel like cooking. For some reason, all of this has become somewhat paralyzing to me, and I'm not sure why. In the meantime, I'll keep plugging through what I have so that when I pull the trigger on the Butcher Box order in particular, I'll have space in the freezer to handle it.

Dinners and lunch/brunches these days included beef and corn quesadillas and pork tenderloin with buttery corn and tomatoes, both from the Dinnerly box, leftover dim sum from Saturday brunch, tomato and cucumber salad, scrambled eggs with spinach and cheese served with crisp bacon, and lots of fresh pineapple and mango. I have one more recipe to make from the Dinnerly box, and then can get to work on the freezer. 

I will also note that this weekend I got an unexpected and generous gift from some dear friends -- a GrubHub gift certificate -- which gives me a bit of flexibility if I don't feel like cooking every single day. Many thanks and much love to J&D. Not as much fun as eating with you, but it'll have to do for now.

Here's the thing about cooking for one -- there's a fine line between having/wanting leftovers and making sure you don't make so much of something that you get sick of eating it. I was a little off-base in my calculations this week. The Indian butter shrimp, delicious as it was, ended up being lunch for 2 days after the initial dinner (and I had halved the recipe), so I was kinda bored of it by the 3rd dose. In some cases, I would have frozen a few portions (like the adult spaghetti-os), but I didn't think it would freeze well, especially because the shrimp were previously frozen. Because I'm making a concerted effort to make a dent in the food I have, I attacked the freezer bit by bit this week. That said, I of course ordered more groceries because, well, because I was running out of some things so I might as well. It was my first experience with Wegman's via Instacart; the other Instacart orders I have done were quite limited, but this was a proper grocery haul. My experience was very mixed. It was easy to get a spot and I was very happy with the quality of the items, especially the produce (I got a perfectly ripe pineapple, much to my delight) but they made a number of weird, non-approved substitutions (garlic pierogies instead of pork dumplings?). Probably won't be doing that again, although now I have some credits from them, so it's tempting. 

A few months back I purchased a Mealthy CrispLid, which effectively allows me to use my Instant Pot as an air fryer. I've been playing with it a little and I'm not sure I see how it's wildly different from the oven, except that it's a bit quicker due to the convection. Anyhoo, Wednesday I made an air-fried chicken sandwich and served it with some frozen onion rings. Due to poor planning I had taken out some hake from the freezer to make air-fried fish and chips Thursday night. I should have made something else with the hake -- partly because I had just had the fried chicken sandwich and partly because when I took the hake out of its package, I noticed it had skin on one side. For some reason (maybe because I had already cut up the potatoes, seasoned the flour and breadcrumbs, and cracked an egg?) I skinned the hake filet (poorly) and went on my merry way. I also realized that a pound of hake is a lot for one person, resulting in leftovers. Friday night I was cranky and in need of some comfort food -- so I made carbonara, one of my go-tos. Saturday morning, I treated myself to an order of dim sum from Nom Wah Nolita. Any other meal I didn't mention (except breakfast, which was either a slice of toast and pineapple or I didn't eat it) was leftovers of something I mentioned above, sometimes with a spinach salad.  Once I finish up all the leftovers I can continue trying to dent the freezer, except I've already made that challenging for myself. I'll explain tomorrow.

As I mentioned in my last post, I need to start making a dent in my freezer/pantry before doing too much restocking, so I made a concerted effort to start digging in. I think I mentioned a while back that in order to make it through all the milk before it spoiled, I made Greek yogurt in my Instant Pot, so breakfast on Monday was some yogurt, fresh mango, and a drizzle of honey. For lunch, I made one of my faves -- a tuna melt, using sliced sourdough from my freezer, tuna from my pantry, scallions, shredded carrot, and the last of the gruyere, with chips on the side. For dinner I thawed some of the frozen scallops I got pre-pandemic from Butcher Box, and seared them to top off some risotto with (frozen) peas and lemon (made with chicken stock from the freezer as well). Before bed I took out the frozen shrimp that I got from Pierless Fish and put them in the fridge to thaw for Tuesday night's dinner. 

Breakfast Tuesday was a quesadilla (like I said, I love a Mexican or Asian breakfast) with the last of my small flour tortillas, lunch was a hodgepodge of a bit of leftover tuna, the last scoop of risotto, and a mixed green salad. For dinner, I made one of my Instant Pot favorites: Indian Butter Shrimp from Melissa Clark's Dinner in an Instant Cookbook, using the shrimp I had thawed, and served it with some brown basmati rice from the freezer that I had also defrosted and reheated. Pro tip -- any time you make rice, make extra and freeze it in small portions. 

Before bed I took stock of the fridge and freezer again, and took out a lone frozen chicken thigh left over from the ones I bought to make chicken shawarma a few weeks back, and left it in the fridge to thaw. . .