Gluten Lite - Day Two

Just as I thought, going "gluten lite" is proving to be tricky.

We had breakfast at our training this morning. Monkey bread and a fruit salad. I love monkey bread. Love love love it. It looked and smelled wonderful. I had the fruit salad, of course. That was also good. I looked up recipes for gluten free monkey bread, GF sandwich bread, and GF flour mix.

Lunch was junky. The line in the cafeteria was too long so I walked over to the shopette. I walked out with some cheddar popcorn. You know, Smart Food. Surpisingly I wasn't feeling all that hungry after the cup of fruit salad and coffee.

By the time I got home from work, I was STARVING. Cooked up some soba with a splash of tamari and pickled ginger. No stomach complaints... woohoo! Picked up a coffee for class and am now finishing the yogurt I bought with that coffee for my post-workout meal and part of my dinner. More soba for dinner. I should probably change it up a bit of I will get sick of that stuff.

Also, I need to buy more tamari.

As for working out, so much better to go to the gym later in the evening. Place was pretty empty so I didn't have to wait for a machine and I had real space between people over by the weights. These workouts are nothing like the WODs I used to do at CCCF. But it's been a while and this is a bit different. Tonight was back and biceps, tomorrow shoulders and abs.

Which definitely looks like I'll be doing later in the evening (if at all!) because I have the Shmaltz event after work. It starts at 4:00 so it would make more sense to go straight there. I guess I should dress more presentable, eh?

Giveth and Taketh

I don't remember why that popped into my head, but it did.

Today is Ash Wednesday.

Last year this was the worst day of my life.

Fast forward a year and I'm sitting in some random conference room learning about a new work system. I ate a gluten-free protein bar and I'm worried that my stomach will hate me for it.

From loss to boredom in 357 days. I'm not sure how I'll feel in eight days.

Thanks to some health issues I've had recently, I've been toying with the idea of greatly reducing my gluten intake for a period of time. I'm not saying eliminate it completely because I am in the brewing program and that would make it a bit difficult (plus I haven't had issues with beer). Traditional breads, pastas, cakes, cookies... pizza. Sayonara.

So I suppose this will be my Lenten sacrifice. And if I'm giving something up, perhaps I should take something on. Such as writing again. I keep telling myself I have no time, but honestly I just couldn't write. Most of these attempts I think are rubbish. But eh, nobody reads this anyways.

Give and take. We'll see how long this lasts.

Sneaky, Sneaky

As I’ve briefly mentioned before, the Lenten season lasts for forty-six days, with only forty counting. I never really cared about the days before, because Lent was Lent and you waited until you could have what you gave up. But then a priest (of all people!) told me that Sundays don’t count. Gimme days, so to speak. Not that I’ve used them.
Until today.
I had finished my volunteer gig and I was on my way home. I wasn’t planning on it, but I went to the Asian Supermarket to take a quick look around to see if there might be something I might need to pick up for dinner. And then I saw they had the steamed pork buns. Chicken buns. And they looked really good. And of course I was starving, so I ordered a few. And as we all know, it’s a ten dollar minimum in order to use plastic, so I went with roast pork fried rice. And at $7.55 I was thinking it had better be good.
And it was. Pricey, but good. The steamed buns were amazing, as usual – but the pork ones were maybe slightly more fatty than normal. Fatty but delicious… and so very naughty.
I’ll admit I was feeling guilty about it. But it’s Sunday! It’s my gimme day! Rest assured, it was all gone before midnight.

Black Bean Burritos

As much as I complain about being meatless, this vegetarian diet hasn’t been too bad. I already prefer my burritos without meat, so why did it take me this long to make them at home? I’m guessing it had something to do with finding the right bean recipe. Even with cooking the beans and making the rice, this was pretty easy to make! Other than the rice and cilantro, all items used were from Trader Joe’s (I hate how much I shop there).

I’ve brought it in for lunch a few times now – I just keep everything in separate containers and put it together just before eating. It’s definitely made a few co-workers jealous.

Black Beans

2 cans black beans (no need to drain)
2 garlic cloves, minced
handful of cilatro stems
salt
pepper

Add all ingredients to a pan and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for ~20 minutes.

Cilantro Lime Rice

You can use any rice you want, but I used parboil rice because I didn’t want sticky grains and because it would be fluffy. Cook rice according to directions and transfer to a bowl. Add oil (pick a good neutral one so the flavor doesn’t overpower), chopped cilantro, salt, white pepper, and lime juice. Start off with a little lime juice at the beginning and adjust after mixing all the ingredients together.

I was going to go with boring plain tortillas, but these were just calling out to me. Habanero? With a hint of lime? I’m all in.

I really need to watch how they roll burritos next time I’m at Chipotle. But here you go – rice topped with black beans, baby spinach and avocado slices. Sour cream, cheese, salsa is optional, but then you get into that burrito overflow and it’s not pretty.

No, Not a Burger

Recently at work it was make-your-own-burger day in the cafeteria. Usually I’m pretty amped about MYOB, but given the Lenten season I am stuck with the sole option of a gardenburger. Resigned to this reality, I went over and asked for said gardenburger with cheddar and fried onion straws.

“We don’t have gardenburgers today.”

What?!?

“Uh… uh… what am I supposed to get then?” There really weren’t other options – the soup had meat in it and the sandwich du jour was a meaty one.

“Sorry.”

So I ended up looping the islands of the cafeteria a few times. Looking, but not really looking. I grabbed a plate and piled it high with salad greens and toppings. Then I remembered the tuna fish salad. It’s not too bad, but the quality changes from day to day. Took a chance, and grabbed a hard roll.

In the end, it wasn’t too bad. And it was slightly cheaper than had I asked them to make it for me.

Five Guys (Nanuet, NY)

This was only my second visit at this Five Guys since it opened. On a Friday no less... during Lent. It was alright, but nothing extraordinary. I may pop in again for a burger, but I could always make one myself.

I ordered a single cheeseburger and a large order of fries. I don't remember where the potatoes came from that day, but it was a funny sounding place. Annnnnnnnd... there was some dude there that went to all the boxes of peanuts and kept dumping them into his bag. I thought those were for snacking on when you eat there... not for take out as well.

I convinced a classmate to join me and we dined in purgatory together.

Bulanglang

"Hey, who made the pinakbet?"

"That isn't pinakbet. That's bulanglang."

"Looks like pinakbet to me. What's the difference?"

"No bagoong."

Given that Lent starts... tomorrow, now would be a good time to start planning those meatless Friday meals (let's not get into the whole "but seafood is a meat blah blah blah" nonsense. Seafood was given the green light and I'm going with it).

As with any Filipino dish, there are tons of variations. My dad's version (he calls it Batangas style) calls for cooking the vegetables in shrimp liquid. To get the liquid, you take shrimp heads with some water and pound them in a mortar and pestle. Strain the liquid and add to the pot. Vegetables you add to this dish include, squash, tomatoes, green beans, eggplant, bitter melon and spinach. Whatever floats your boat. Bring the liquid to a rolling boil and cover until the vegetables are cooked.

Nathan's (Yonkers, NY)

Normally I see Nathan's in the mall. But a stand alone? In Westchester no less?

A and I went estate sale shopping over in Scarsdale and on the way back she wanted to hit up Nathan's for lunch.

The store is ginormous. It is big enough to have a children's play area and arcade. And not only is Nathan's sold there, but also Arthur Treacher's and generic pizza (which was closed). A ordered the hot dog combo, and I stuck to the meatless Friday rule and ordered a Fish sandwich. Not too bad.

Lenten Friendly Meals: Offshore Pier Fish Market & Restaurant (Rensselaer, NY)

For the seven Fridays before Easter, I find myself asking the same question:

Crap... what am I going to eat?

I could cook, but what if I'm not at home? I don't want to be stuck in the rut of buying the fish sandwich from McDonalds/Burger King/Wendy's/takeyourpick. Until everything goes back to normal, I am going to attempt a list of the places that I go to for my "meatless" meals.**

The first place I tried was the Offshore Pier Fish Market & Restaurant in Rensselaer. It's located at the corner of Rt. 4 and Third Avenue Ext, with a smallish parking lot that is usually full Friday evenings during Lent, and what seems to be almost every day during the summer. I stopped in late afternoon one Friday and it was pretty empty.

I'm not sure if the restaurant side is seasonal, but when I stopped in the sign that was posted said take out only. The inside looks exactly like any other fish market that has been around for a while. There were two cases that held their market offerings (one enclosed, one not), and I didn't think it looked that bad at all. Given where we are, I'm guessing most of the stuff was previously frozen, but there was no funky fish smell (which I did experience at Cousin's. Yuck!).

I was standing there for a few minutes when a gentleman came out from the kitchen. I ordered a pint of the Manhattan Clam Chowder and the Seafood platter. The platter comes with a choice of two sides: cold (coleslaw, macaroni salad, cottage cheese) and fries (shore, curly, regular). I picked the macaroni salad and shore fries, and went off to finish errands while my order was cooked.

When I got back fifteen minutes later, my food was waiting for me. The smell that was wafting from the bags were drool inducing, and I quickly ran back to the car. I was going to bring the food back to the apartment, but I couldn't resist and ate in the car instead.

 

I started with the Manhattan Clam Chowder. The soup was chock full of vegetables, and we're not talking the frozen variety. And unlike some other chowders, this one had good sized pieces of clam. It had chunks of very tender meat, which is a big plus. It wasn't too thick, and had enough broth for all the oyster crackers to dumped in there to soak up. So very, very good.

 

 

As I stated before, their seafood platter (this may also hold true for all their platters) comes with two sides. I ordered the shore fries and macaroni salad. When I picked up my order, the cook mentioned he couldn't remember if I wanted shore or curly, so he gave me both. Can't complain about that... except that I gave up french fries for Lent. And there was potato in my chowder... we get gimme days, right? Curly fries were good, the shore fries not so much. The macaroni salad was some of the best I've had.

As for the fried seafood, it comes with a fish fillet (I got paddock), couple of shrimp, handful of scallops, and clams. They are tossed with breading (I think you can buy theirs to use at home)and quickly fried. It is not oily at all, and the smell when you open the container... something only a seafood lover could love. I should have left the windows open a bit to air out the car... M was gagging. He still won't shut up about it.

The shrimps were tender, the scallops juicy, and the paddock flaky. The clam strips, which I am used to having more breading than clam, was the complete opposite. With a spritz of lemon and plenty of cocktail sauce and tartar sauce that comes with the meal, I quickly devoured half of it. I ate the rest the next day and it was just as good.

Platter and soup came out to ~14.00, tax included.

Offshore Pier Fish Market & Restaurant
637 3rd Ave Ext
Rensselaer, NY 12144
(518) 283-9880

** I put the quotation marks in there for M's sake. Because he likes to remind me that fish is also a meat.