The Washington State Diet: Week 2

 

Week 2 was...well, I'll just say it: boring. I ate the same things it seemed day in day out...and while it may not have been the most exciting week of food, it is definitely paying off! I can't even believe how much smaller I am getting, and the fact that I came up with these diets is the most exciting part possibly. That and being able to fit into skirts and pants I wasn't able to even get past my ankle a few months ago. So, yes, I was right: fish and berries will make you thin. Even if you eat berries twice a day like I've been doing. It's still a great way to take off those pounds. All of the foods that I've been eating have been super light in calories and very rich in anti-oxidants. And aside from having a little food poising episode last night (we'll get to that soon enough) the diet has been going swimmingly well.

We've already covered in my first entry regarding The Washington State Diet the items I've taken special liberties with by incorporating them into the regimen - but let's talk about all of the items that are allowed on the diet. Some of which I will not be doing because I'm simply too chicken to make it myself for fear of doing it improperly (and no, chicken isn't on the menu, sadly).


1. Salmon: pretty much any kind of salmon you can think of - that's what's allowed. Apparently Washington State gets a whole bevy of salmon just flip flopping around and I couldn't be any happier, considering it's my favorite (or at least very close second favorite) fish.

2. Mussels: Much to the chagrin of my mother, mussels are my absolute favorite seafood. However. I will not be making them on this diet, as I have never made them before and it's way too "dangerous" to get it right in my opinion. And talk about hassle! You have to check to see if they open. If they don't open, make sure to discard them. If they have lumps on them scrape it off. If they open while you cook them then they're alive... I'm sorry. It's just too much. And I have a sensitive stomach. I will stick to salmon and other fin-tailed fish.

3. Oysters: I only like them cooked, and as I do not have a grill that's not happening.

4. Clams: The only seafood I genuinely hate, so that's also not happening.

5. Crab: I will try at some point to make some, but apparently with the prices as they are these days, 12 oz. of crab meat is just slightly less expensive than a root canal.

6. Shrimp

7. Trout - we'll see... 

8. Char: This is absolutely the best, and I think I might actually like it better than salmon. Though it's more or less the same, char has a finer finish to it I find than salmon.

9. Cod

10. Pollock

11. Rockfish 

12. Halibut: This has become my new favorite fish. Though it's expensive, it's worth it now and again for a special treat. Halibut is much more flavorful than cod, but still has that light aspect to it that I really love. 

13. Albacore Tuna

14. Steelhead (unavailable)

15. Walleye

16. Large Mouth Bass (unavailable)

17. Small Mouth Bass (unavailable)

18. Lake Trout (unavailable)

19. Huckleberries (unavailable)

20. Blackberries: These are by far and away my favorite fruit, and I'm so excited that they are on the list. 

21. Raspberries: My second favorite fruit.

22. Strawberries

23. Cranberries: impossible to find fresh. Have you actually ever even seen a real cranberry - fresh?

24. Elderberries (unavailable)

25. Chokecherries (unavailable)

26. Dogwoodberries (unavailable) 

27. Hazelnuts

28. Walnuts

29. Butternut Squash

30. Wild Mint

31. Wild Carrots

32. Licorice

33. Rose Hip

34. Dandelion: I tried it once this week, and that will not be a show we repeat.

35. Mountain Goats (unavailable, needless to say)

36. Big Horn Sheep (again, unavailable)

37. Duck: I am planning to venture out and try my hand at this, depending on the cost, and all that is involved.

38: Venison

39: Chicory (unavailable)

40. Jerusalem Artichokes

41. Mustard Greens

42. Watercress

43. Indian Celery (unavailable) 

44. Crabapples (unavailable) 

45. Indian Plum (unavailable)

46. Salmonberries (unavailable)

47. The Oregon Grape (hence the wine...)

48. Holly Berries (oh wow, I just realized...that's the actress' name... anyway, both are unavailable)

So while it may seem that I have a lot to work with, I really don't. A ton of fish, 2 leafy greens essentially, a few vegetables, and a bunch of berries. That's about it.

Therefore, due to my limitations, I have been eating a lot of the same thing each day. Berries for breakfast. Fish for lunch. Nuts as a snack. Fish for dinner. Repeat.

But here are the recipes I came up with this last week, and I do have to say try these out, because they were absolutely delicious!

Shrimp-Salmon Burgers & Asparagus-Watercress Salad

If you haven't tried anything from this diet of mine yet, and you are looking for just the right dish - look no further. This is it. I really slammed it out of the park with this one, and my good friend came over and concurred that this was, like, amazing.

Ingredients:

For the salad:

4-5 asparagus spears
4-5 cloves garlic, minced 

juice of 1/2 lemon 

salt to taste

1/2 package fresh watercress 

a few organic walnuts 

1/4 cup dry white wine 

3 tbsp sunflower oil

For the burgers: 

1/2 lb. fresh, wild caught shrimp 

3 oz. fresh char or king salmon 

handful of fresh watercress 

2 cloves garlic 

juice of 1/2 lemon 

salt to taste (though I wouldn't recommend any, or if you must, just a pinch) 

1/4 cup grated walnuts 

sunflower oil 

Instructions for Shrimp-Salmon Burgers

1. In a food processor, add walnuts; switch to low until finely ground 

2. remove walnuts from machine, and place on a plate; rinse out machine and then add shrimp, lemon, salmon, salt, garlic, watercress and garlic

3. Set to low, and then periodically on "chop" until smooth, creamy paste forms

4. Form small patties out of the seafood mixture, and then coat with walnuts

5. In a skillet, add a generous amount of sunflower oil, and turn burner up to high heat

6. Add the patties to the skillet 

7. Once one side of the burgers browns, reduce heat, and flip.  Continue to flip them until they are cooked thoroughly (roughly 10-15 minutes)

8. Serve with lemon and finely chopped watercress on top for garnish


Instructions for Asparagus-Watercress Salad:

1. In a skillet, add sunflower oil and garlic 

2. Sautee until brown

3. Rinse Asparagus spears, and dice up, removing ends about 1/4 of the way in.

4. Add Asparagus to pan; add juice of lemon

5. Stir continuously on medium heat for approximately 10 minutes, adding wine intermittently when liquid begins to dissipate 

6. On a plate, add fresh watercress; Add the Asparagus mixture on top once Asparagus is soft to fork

7. Sprinkle a few walnuts on top for garnish

Venison Fall Stew

This was my first time making venison, and I have to say it turned out delicious! Unfortunately the only venison I am able to find is ground, however, I was lucky enough to locate 100% grass-fed venison which is the most important part. Make sure when you are cooking with meat/fish you never buy anything that is not 100% grass-fed, cage-free, or hormone free. You don't want anything in your body that has had hormones pumped into it, or antibiotics. Oh, gosh. Think about what that must do to our bodies! I shudder to think. I can attest to the fact that ever since I made the switch last year to 100% grass-fed everything, I feel so much better. You will too, I promise!

Ingredients:

1 lb. 100% grass-fed venison

1 small butternut squash

fresh mint

5 Jerusalem Artichokes

4 carrots

Red wine (I used a Pinot Noir)

salt to taste

5 cloves garlic

Organic sunflower oil


Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees

2. Scrub and clean the Jerusalem Artichokes well, and then chop them up thinly 

3. In a baking dish with tin foil, add the Artichokes, with 2 diced cloves garlic, salt to taste and sunflower oil 

4. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the Jerusalem Artichokes are super soft with a fork

5. In a glass pan, similar to a meatloaf baking dish, add chopped up butternut squash, adding just a little bit of sunflower oil to the pan so that it doesn't dry out/burn. Bake at the same temperature as the Jerusalem Artichokes for approximately 60 minutes.
6. In a frying pan, add the rest of the garlic, chopped, with sunflower oil

7. Stir until the garlic is lightly brown, and then add the venison

8. Stir until meat seems dark, and then add red wine (start out with 1/4 cup, and then add continuously throughout the course of cooking the dish when the wine begins to evaporate - you don't want the meat sticking to the pan)

9. Prior to cooking up the meat, peel and clean carrots, and boil them

10. Add the carrots to the meat mixture, and then add the Jerusalem artichokes

11. Add just a few pinches of fresh mint; salt to taste

12. Continue to cook for approximately 25 minutes, or until meat seems tender

13. Place butternut squash on a plate, and add the meat mixture on top 

14. Add fresh mint on top as garnish 

I did make mustard greens one evening, sort of stealing a recipe I'd found online and changing it up a bit to go in line with the ingredients I was actually able to use. I did not like them. However, I decided it was important to try them raw as I am so limited in what I can eat right now. I would say that mustard greens aren't my favorite thing in the world (however, they are indeed much better than dandelion. I'm not doing that again). But, since they were tolerable, I will eat them from now on with my cold, pre-cooked salmon fillets at lunch while I'm at work. Sad lunches make for happy waistlines, that's all I can say.

Friday was my cheat day. It was absolutely glorious. I started the day off right with two (that's right, two) chocolate croissants for breakfast. Oh, I forgot to mention too, that while I know the Native Americans didn't drink coffee, ha, I do. Therefore I have been drinking coffee every morning (cheating, I know) but - and this is a big but - without anything in it. Yikes. Black coffee looks like mud. Luckily my imported Italian espresso is still delicious without anything in it, so it's manageable. However, on Friday morning, I woke up to some delicious coffee with...half n' half. And it was marvelous.

When I got to work I had those croissants...

Let's just say, I was a happy camper before lunch even happened...

Now, the doctor that I work with is generous enough to take the staff out to lunch once every two weeks as a reward for our hard work. He doesn't have to do that, but he does. God bless him. And these days, God bless him even more because I love having a cheat day twice a month. On Tuesday, three days before my cheat day, I asked him if we were planning on going out on Friday. He came back to my office a few minutes later to confirm and asked,

"Do you like seafood?" I squinted and said,

"Yes, I love seafood...but that's all I've been eating on this diet for 2 weeks." He threw his head back in frustration and smiled, telling me I would still love where we were going.

And I did....although afterward, I really didn't feel super great. I think it was a bit heavy on my now, very sedate, tummy.

We had Cajun seafood boil and it was kind of spectacular. I'd never had anything quite like it, and it killed me that I had to stop at some point. As an appetizer I ordered French fries, and even had a Pina Colada because... well, because.

Mussels and Shrimp, as it happens, are on my diet.  Just not the thousand pounds of butter, the sausage or the corn that came along for the ride...

I had a lengthy appointment after work, and knew I wouldn't be eating until much later in the evening. That was just fine, as I wasn't even hungry until it got to be about 8:30. I decided to order some pizza from a place I'd never tried before...oh my gosh. I was not disappointed. When I went to pick it up I was surprised with how tiny it was, but honestly I was just barely able to finish it. It truly amazes me how much your body changes (for the better) when you make those difficult adjustments. There was absolutely a time when I could have finished a medium pizza all by myself (maybe 10 years ago, even a large), and now, I was struggling to get the last piece of an individual into me.

This pizza was amazing though, Chicago deep dish style, and it will definitely be happening again in the future.

To top off my night, I had a few bites of vanilla ice cream with Nutella, and it was pure heaven.

It's always bittersweet the next morning.  On the one hand, it's sad that cheat day is over, but on the other hand you feel kind of ready to go back to detoxing. So it works itself out.

Salmon Burgers

So, here's where I got sick...just last night. I made the exact same burgers that I'd made a whole week ago, the exact same way. The only difference being I eliminated the shrimp, and used fresh salmon fillets.  Either the salmon was bad, and I didn't notice (which seems unlikely) or I did not cook these burgers long enough. Oh sweet Jesus. I got so sick after eating this. It was truly delicious. Also truly evil. I would say that I still recommend making them - but definitely ensure that they are cooked thoroughly. When you get sick from food, it's the absolute worst, and no one needs that in their life.

I will say that the sicker I got, the harder I prayed. And just like that - God took away my sickness. It was quite miraculous but honestly, a helpful reminder that He is always listening and answers prayers.

"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." - Isaiah 41:10