Tag Archives: Passover

Food Transitions

Posted on April 27, 2011 | 3 Comments

Yesterday I woke up excited for the last day of Passover. It’s been quite a journey over the past week, between trips home to Dallas and then activities going on DC. Not only that, I was excited for one last day of Passover foods.

Breakfast was some fruit topped with the last few spoonfuls of charoset. Plus I made matzah brei with 1 egg, about a third of a piece of matzah, salt, pepper, and some cheese. It was like a little egg pancake, topped with red pepper spread.

Lunch was another junk salad and then snack was more Greek yogurt.

For dinner I went to Austin Grill to meet up with friends to say goodbye to Emily and Casey who are moving to Seattle tomorrow. Since it wasn’t sundown I had another grilled chicken salad and broke Passover with a few tortilla chips that honestly weren’t so good.

Instead I kicked off the return to whole gluten free grains with a Food for life English muffin with almond butter and jelly plus some fruit.

Lunch was the last serving of shakshuka with spinach(recipe coming this week!) plus salad x2.

I had more yogurt for a snack plus a Passion iced tea from Starbucks while I ran an errand on campus. I couldn’t work out today (I overstretched my knee and my fave Aussie trainer recommended taking a couple of rest days to let it heal) so I stopped by Trader Joe’s on the way home from work. I needed to pick up a few things.

Dinner was a number of smaller “tastes” to suit my cravings – a small bowl of asparagus and broccoli soup with 1/3c brown rice and cheddar cheese mixed in, a serving of baked beans (which tasted so. good.) and some chicken and roasted cauliflower with BBQ sauce.

Afterwards I did some cleaning around the apartment and put my pantry back together. As you can see, it’s pretty organized and not really restocked. I’m not sure I’m going to fully restock since I felt pretty good eating less grains over the last week. We shall see.

I also put away the goodies my mom mailed me – Parmesan crisps, Cotswald honey from their trip to England, and dark chocolate almonds. The Kids are Alright arrived from Netflix and I’m probably going to snack on a pear before bed! Gnight!

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Posted in breakfast, dinner, lunch

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Junk in the Trunk

Posted on April 25, 2011 | 3 Comments

Or in the tote bag. And that’d be junk salads, thankyouverymuch.

Passover doesn’t officially end until sundown tomorrow night and leaving my current craving for an English muffin aside, I haven’t really craved any grains, beans, or too many potatoes. That has been a new experience for the most part and I credit having my gluten free matzah with the difference.

But enough about all of my eating over the past week. I want to focus on what has been my go-to lunch during the holiday: the junk salad. These things haven’t been small and I’ve loved trying different combinations of vegetables for my meal!

I’ve used romaine lettuce and spinach leaves as the base for every salad. They provide good nutrients, taste, and the perfect canvas for colorful toppings!

This salad had sliced carrot, English cucumber, red onion, artichoke hearts, red bell pepper, Feta cheese, dill, Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning salute, and a pickle on the side.

Today’s lunch changed up the mix a bit. The focal point was a beautiful roasted portobello mushroom cap that I roasted with Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute. I also had artichoke hearts, English cucumber, carrot, red onion, roasted cauliflower, Feta, black pepper, and green olives.

They take maybe 5 minutes to assemble, including washing an cutting some of the vegetables, and they take a good 25-30 minutes to eat (I’m a slow eater anyways) and I get to savor each bite!

With some extra (non-cheese) protein mixed in (beans, chicken) I am thrilled to continue toting junk salads for lunch throughout the spring and summer! They are naturally gluten free, healthy and all around satisfying!

What are your favorite salad toppings?

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Posted in healthy, lunch

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Grocery Shopping during Passover

Posted on April 23, 2011 | 1 Comment

I apologize if it seems like I’m killing the topic of eating during Passover. I find that folks have even more questions about eating gluten (and other allergen) free during the holiday because matzah usually is the first thing that pops into folks’ minds for meals. If nothing else, I’m hoping to prove that anyone can eat outside the box during the 8 day holiday and eat plenty of whole, clean, delicious meals that rely on little to no processed foods.

When I landed back in DC on Wednesday the first thing to do (after eating lunch, of course) was go grocery shopping. My fridge was pretty bare and there were things to pick up that hadn’t been opened and therefore would be kosher for Passover.

My Trader Joe’s haul:

romaine lettuce, spinach, broccoli florets, portobello mushroom caps, carrots, chives, cauliflower, vegetable broth, artichoke hearts, red pepper spread, feta, onion, bell pepper, cucumber, frozen berries, frozen broccoli

And, Whole Foods:

frozen asparagus, organic, local chicken breasts, sweet potato, Greek yogurt, red onion, coconut water, pears

My total was $63.15 including organic chicken and lots of fresh produce. This doesn’t include the special Passover foods I purchased a few weeks ago. Since I’m not eating out this week, feeding myself meals + snacks for this amount is pretty reasonable!

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Feels Like a Whole New World

Posted on April 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

During Passover there is a big focus on food. It takes a lot of attention to remove anything leavened, make with corn and soy, etc. out of the mix for 8 days!  Even though I’m used to devoting a good amount of thinking time to food it seems like Passover has kicked it up a notch for me. The discovery of gluten free matzah has also opened up a whole new world of meal ideas for me! Also going without my usual whole grain carbs is a good change of pace from what I feel like has been a carb-heavy couple of months.

There is a traditional breakfast called Matzah Brei which is matzah soaked with water then mixed with egg, sugar, cinnamon, and cooked in a frying pan. While I was home my dad tried his hand at an adapted version, mixing in about 1/3 of a piece of matzah with one egg, salt and pepper.

I recreated this with a pinch of cheese and had it alongside fresh cut fruit (and not sausage – that was my dad’s!) yesterday for breakfast before my flight back to DC.

This morning for breakfast I wasn’t sure what to eat. I woke up with a stomach ache and I’m not sure what caused it. I had some blueberries and pineapple with a spoonful of charoset and an egg with 1/2 a piece of matzah, half with red pepper spread to eat my egg with and half with almond butter and strawberry jam.

My stomach thankfully felt a lot better so perhaps it was hunger pangs? Either way, it was amazing to have a bit of carbs as part of breakfast to give me some morning energy!

I ate around 9 and my stomach was grumbling by 11:30. I grabbed some pistachios to hold me over until just past noon. Lunch was a hugh jass salad with roasted broccoli, asparagus, carrots, and sweet potato, olives, sundried tomatoes, and a pinch of parmesan cheese.

A couple of hours later I was hungry again and broke into my snack of plain Greek yogurt with cinnamon, pineapple, and a bit of strawberry jam mixed in.

Sure enough, by 4:15 I was hungry and picked up a small cup of vegan leek and potato soup. It was pretty tasty and I was glad to have something that finally filled me up!

I headed to the gym after work and did 35 minutes on the elliptical. This felt a bit tougher than usual, perhaps because of a bad night’s sleep or maybe because I didn’t fuel how I usually do on workout days. After stretching and foam rolling I headed home to relax a bit until I was hungry for dinner.

Around 7 it was time to eat. I started with small bits of potatoes and a dairy free squash casserole that I brought back from home. I also had deconstructed stuffed cabbage (meatballs and cabbage in a tomato-y sauce) with some horseradish. Man, I love my Bubbye’s (grandmother) cooking.

I wasn’t quite full so I had some kosher for Passover tomato sauce mixed with spinach with 2 little pieces of a basil cracker (gf matzah variety!) that my grandmother sent me back to DC with.

I’m snacking on some fruit and hoping that tomorrow when I wake up it feels like a whole new work and my body is a bit more energetic!

Do you tend to eat a lot of carbs / grains throughout the day? Do you miss them when you don’t eat them?

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Posted in breakfast, dessert, dinner, lunch, snack, Uncategorized

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