October 19

Oct 19
Lunch
Lunch was a collection of things in the refrigerator mostly.  We still had some leftover mix of chopped veggies in the refrigerator, as well as some mixed fruit and of course chopped greens.

Assortment of some food available for lunch

The brown rice was added, and what really made this meal a tasty lunch was what Farley did to the Japanese sweet potato.  I was simply going to throw it in the bowl, but Farley had a bit of the leftover chickpea curry.  She peeled and chopped the sweet potato and put the pieces into the curry mixture and warmed the lot in the microwave.  It was really a delicious treat.  I can picture that combo as a sauce that could be used in many situations.  Anybody would find it delicious.  Here is what everything looked like when ready to eat.

The curried sweet potato was a great idea

I had seconds because it tasted so good.  I also had some walnuts, since we had some after being out for a week or so.  I ate a bit extra because I was playing a college concert that evening.  I am playing trombone, which takes a lot of air.  I didn't want to be playing that evening with a full stomach, and knew that I would be returning home late, which I did at about 10:30 pm.  I was a bit hungry, but not ready to eat dinner at that time.  Too bad, because Farley invented something new to us, and she said it was delicious (she was home - is coming to the Monday performance where my son and I will be playing together in a joint band / orchestra performance).  I will write Farley's comments on dinner even though I didn't have any.  It did smell delicious.
Dinner
Tonight's dinner was something I dreamed up just today and was easy and fast to prepare, (and delicious!) then slow-cooked for 3 hours.

White Navy Beans and Banana Squash with Kale.

Ingredients:
Into a slow-cooker add
1 15 oz can of no-salt added Navy Beans, rinsed and drained
1 28 oz can of Roma tomatoes, chopped plus the juice
1/4 banana squash, peeled and cubed
3 ribs of celery sliced
1 orange bell pepper chopped
1/2 Cup of red wine (I use Zin or a Cab)
1/2 tsp dried Thyme
1 tsp dried Basil

Cook on high for 3 hours and then keep warm

1 large bunch of kale, washed, stemmed and chopped

Steam kale for 30 minutes until very tender.

I served this over brown rice, layered with the kale and then the bean stew. A splash of balsamic vinegar is just the perfect finisher.


Learning about my hunger
It occurred to me that I am learning the difference between true and toxic hunger and just about within the common time frame that Dr. Fuhrman discusses in his revised "Eat to Live."  (Did I mention that this is a fantastic book?)  A few months ago, I would have been feeling miserable missing dinner.  I would have felt weak, with stomach growling and probably head beginning to ache.  I would have been anxious to feed my toxic hunger.  Now, it is not a big deal to only eat one meal.

I am hungry as I write this (Oct 20 am), but it is not an unpleasant sensation.  I am really looking forward to lunch.  Because I am hungry, it will taste better.  I mean that literally, too.  Doug Lisle explains how our hunger mediates our pleasure response from food.  Our brain gives us more pleasure from eating when we are truly hungry - it is encouraging us to eat.  Eating when hungry makes the food taste better.  Between that, and becoming used to a lower calorie density diet, I think that I am getting more pleasure from my food than others who stuff themselves frequently with high calorie density SAD treats.  Plus I get the undeniable health benefits.  Learning what hunger is, and how to deal with it, was a real missing piece of the puzzle for me.