I bought a box of 1 quart Ziploc bags. I figure what I’m going to do is produce the basics for a bunch of meals at one time, and then freeze them. But let me skip ahead for a second, to finish out my first day’s meals. Dinner was pretty much a repeat of earlier meals. As I was headed off to bed, though, I was thinking about all the fresh spinach I was eating, the eggs, and the possibility of meat. Spinach salad, I thought. Nothing wrong with that!
Well, I got into bed, and was thinking about the spinach salad, and was getting hungry. So I got up and made a very rustic spinach salad. I smashed a hardboiled egg, added some spinach and some of the cooked beans. I lacked a dressing, but that was okay. With just a sprinkling of fine sea salt, it was pretty yummy. So much so, that I made a second one and ate it! Now, I could see that as a meal, with a bit of bacon. And warm. Heat some vinaigrette (following the book, if you use store-bought, make sure there’s no sweetener in it) in a pan, get it warm, add the beans first to warm them--they’re denser and will take longer. When they’re warm, add the spinach and toss with the vinaigrette. Add some crumbled bacon if you have it, and sliced or chopped egg, and chow down. Mmm...I’m getting hungry again.
Yesterday afternoon--I’m on the second day now, so we’re rewinding to the first day--I took the two chickens, put them in a roasting pan, and put them in the oven at 375. Here comes the chef part of me...I cooked them till they were done. If roasting a chicken is daunting, as doing the Thanksgiving turkey may also be, do exactly what I did. Put them in a pan, and put them in the oven. Be sure to take out the bag of giblets first. You can use the chicken livers for whatever pleases you. The gizzard and neck can be roasted with the chicken. If your chicken comes in a bag with juice, rinse it off first. Mine happened to be nice and dry, wrapped in butcher paper.
Yes, normally I would brush the chickens with melted butter and season them liberally with salt and black pepper before roasting them, and certainly I’d do that if I were serving them as roasted chicken, but I’m not, and I’m trying to keep it simple. Just be sure the chicken is cooked through before taking it out of the oven. Pull the thigh away from the body. There should be no pink juices at the joint.
I’m an avid fan of salt, as you might have deduced. If you’re finding this diet bland and not using salt, you’re missing out. Plus, I would guess a bit of extra salt might facilitate your wanting to drink more water. I like pepper, too, but I’m working in someone else’s kitchen right now, and I don’t have my spice mill with me, so I’m going without.
When the chicken’s done, pull it out, leave it the pan, and let it cool to the point where you can handle it. Pull all the skin and meat off. Chop the skin and chop or tear apart the meat. Put in a container and set aside. Reserve the bones and the carcass. Degrease the roasting pan and deglaze it with water. Heat it stovetop, or back in the oven. Use a wooden spoon to loosen all the golden bits on the bottom of the pan. Pour the juices into the chicken meat and toss. Now, the chicken’s way more flavorful with the pan juices. Bag up the carcasses and chill in the fridge, then freeze for later use. If you’re into it, you can make stock. Or, if you use store-bought “chicken broth” you can throw the carcasses into a pot with the broth and simmer it all for about half an hour, then strain. You’ll have much more flavorful broth. Or give them to a friend.
After dealing with the chicken, I cooked the rest of everything else, except the spinach and the eggs--with the exception of boiling a half dozen for a quick snack, or the above-mentioned spinach salad.
I cooked the rest of the beans. I sliced the ahi and cooked it and set it aside. I sliced the cauliflower and cooked it the way I did yesterday, and set it aside.
I set up a bunch of Ziploc bags. Taking the leftover, chilled beans from yesterday, I put a cup in each bag, followed by some cauliflower, and some ahi. I think I got three bags worth. Laying each bag on its side, I pressed down to spread out the contents and squeeze the air out before sealing. This will minimize the chance for freezer burn (not that I expect any of the food to be in the freezer that long), speed freezing, and subsequently speed thawing.
My idea with these bags is that I can pull them one-by-one, as needed, thaw/heat them, and then finish them in a sauté pan, scrambling eggs into them, then adding fresh spinach.
While the just-cooked beans were cooling, I bagged up the chicken, 5 ounces per bag. I sealed the bags and put them in the fridge. I got about ten portions. Then I covered the beans and put them away. Today, I’ll take the bags of chicken out, and add a cup of beans to each. I should also go and buy and prep more veg to add that to the bags, then freeze them. And I need more eggs.
By the way, I use a Pelouze 32 ounce scale from my restaurant for weighing the chicken. You certainly don’t need to be as exact! You could just as easily use a cup measure. And, the cup of beans is about 5 ounces. If your breakfast should be at least 30% protein, you’re at 50/50 right now. If you decide to use a bag and add eggs and veggies, you’re probably more than good to go with the 30%. I used a bag this morning, with three eggs, and three and a half ounces of spinach--which is quite voluminous--and got breakfast and lunch out of it.
So far, I haven’t really been hungry or craving anything, though I did get up to make the spinach salad last night. I just hope I’m not overeating. It’s only been two days, of course, but I don’t feel the need for a “cheat day” yet. I’m sure when the time comes, I’ll be looking forward to it, but I recall with less than great fondness a couple of different days in childhood when I ate so much I wanted to throw up. One of those days it was chocolate éclairs and hamburgers, among other goodies.
Speaking of “cheat day,” I have a huge amount of skepticism about this diet for several reasons, cheat day being one of those. The concept just doesn’t strike me as being healthy. I’ll probably get into some of the other issues on a slow day, but then I don’t want to appear as a pontificating blogger.
I’ve been recording the amount I’ve spent on food thus far, just out of curiosity to compare my costs with what’s in the book. That’ll come in this blog in a day or two, along with some thoughts on making the food yet more palatable and interesting.
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