The Washington State Diet: Week 4

 

I made it to the final week of The Washington State diet, and let me tell you, it wasn't easy. There were moments where I really didn't want to do it any longer, because it became so monotonous and routine. The same things every single day, and over and over. I love berries and salmon  - so, so much - but I will be glad to say goodbye to them for a while.

I tried to get creative as best I could, but unfortunately I was left with little imagination by the week's end, and my wallet cannot withstand some of the costs that are continually going upward, and it seems there are going to be more hikes upon the horizon.

There were several items I just simply could not afford to buy as they are prohibitively expensive. As it was, just buying salmon and butternut squash were in the double digits and that was just a couple of items - I wish I were exaggerating.

Having said all that, I did come up with a genius recipe (if I do say so myself), and I will gladly make it again in the future. I would like to repeat what I said a few weeks ago though, which is that some of these dishes I created would indeed work better (my sense is) with olive oil rather than with sunflower oil, but nevertheless, there we are.

Butternut Squash Purée with Venison Bites

This dish will knock your socks off, and I'm quite pleased with myself. Warning to those out there that do not like garlic - you may hate this. It is nothing but garlic...pretty much....

Ingredients:

5 heads of garlic

4-5 carrots, cleaned, peeled

1/2 lb. 100% grass-fed venison

handful of watercress for garnish

3 sprigs fresh mint

salt to taste

1 1/2 cup organic sunflower oil (or sunflower seed oil)

1 butternut squash (approximately 2 pounds)


Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F"

2. Cut off ends of butternut squash, then peel the skin off

3. Cut down the center, and scoop out seeds 

4. Dice into cubes, place in a glass baking dish 

5. Add a small amount of sunflower oil and salt to taste 

6. Bake for approximately 45-50 minutes or until squash is soft to the touch of a fork

7. On a small cooking pan place tin foil and place 4-5 heads of (unpeeled) garlic with a generous amount of sunflower oil on top. Cook alongside the peeled carrots (you can also add a tiny amount of sunflower oil to the carrots as well to help them soften) and remove approximately 20 minutes or less after placing in the oven. If the garlic is golden brown on the skin, and can be punctured easily with a fork it is cooked; set aside and let cool

8. In a medium bowl, mix together 3 cloves chopped garlic, venison, mint and salt to taste 

9. Form into small ball-shapes 

 10. In a small cast iron skillet, heat 1/4 cup sunflower oil; add ball-shaped venison bites 

11. Cook on medium-high heat on each side for approximately 7-8 minutes or until nearly cooked through completely

12. When butternut squash is 10 minutes from being completely cooked, remove the cast iron skillet from stove, and place immediately into oven 

13. Once the squash is cooked, remove both the venison bites and the squash from oven 

14. In a small sauce pan heat up sunflower oil until hot

15. In a food processor, place butternut squash, peeled garlic, and salt to taste

16. Close lid, and hit pulse a few times before setting to "low" speed.

17. While it is processing, gradually add the heated oil to the puree 

18. Place the venison on top of the puree and, adding watercress on the side for garnish, and carrots as a side vegetable

So my week was pretty standard as far as the diet went. As usual I had berries and some nuts for breakfast each day; nuts as a snack if I got hungry - walnuts and hazelnuts - and for lunch some left over cold salmon and watercress. One day, because I'm "po", I ran out of salmon at home and was reduced to eating a can of plain albacore tuna in water. That was indeed lunch. No salad. Just tuna.

Though I prefer sticking with the fresh stuff, albacore tuna is indeed on my list of things I can eat on this diet, so it worked out fine - and amazingly, I was not as hungry later as you might think.

I was upset that evening though, because my oven was out of order, and I wasn't able to bake my salmon...instead, I had to...cook it on the stove.

Blah. I cooked it in lemon and water. Blah, blah. It was so bland and dry, but at least it was cooked and I didn't get sick.
 

 

The real highlight of my week was Friday...my cheat day.

As usual, it was glorious. Two weeks earlier on my cheat day I'd completely spaced that I had some leftover Colomba from Easter, which is a dessert bread from Italy. A good friend of mine had shipped it to me, and Colomba stays good for MONTHS. So I was pretty excited when I remembered I had it stashed away, and nibbled on it that morning with some highly anticipated Nutella.

When I walked into my office that morning, I said to my staff,

"Today is my cheat day. I have Nutella in my bag. And this is my happy face."

Even the doctor had the smiles of a child when he tasted the bread, of which I allowed him to partake. Mouth full, he giggled and said,

"That's really good..."

Indeed, indeed it is.

Lunch was spent with my colleagues at a local Five Guys, and someone said they were enjoying the music in the background. What I wanted to say, but didn't, was that they could have been playing Charles Manson's greatest hits and I would have enjoyed it, because of how tickled pink I was with the food. After 2 weeks of fish... that cheeseburger was some kind of a dream come to life.

And then of course there was dinner. My friend and I went to my favorite restaurant in town, which just so happens to be Indian. I am slowly coming to the acceptance that Indian is probably my favorite cuisine. It's not just the flavors that are so incredible...it's also the colors...

I took the leftovers home, and didn't even feel guilty about finishing them that night.

The next day it was business as usual... more salmon...more berries... more butternut squash...

Sunday though, I may have been a little bit bad. My friend invited me to go to Chicago with her last minute, and since I hadn't eaten anything I was definitely hungry once we got to the windy city. She took me to an outdoor cafe, Serbian, which transported me back to my European days. Everyone speaking in a different language, sitting outside, and enjoying a lovely, sunny day.

I tried to be good, and ate only half the Caesar Salad that I ordered (though I know that's full of calories, and not at all on my diet regime, it was the healthiest thing I could find). But I did finish my cocktail...

That was it though until late that evening when we got back, and I finished up my leftover salmon and berries that I had in the fridge. The next day would be the start of my third diet...

"For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude." - 1 Timothy 4:4