Salt and Vinegar Beets, Tiny Sprouts, and A Sandy Seed Spreader

Day 4 of 28 Day Refocus

It was in the low 80’s this morning and the beach was lovely. We walked with a neighbor and her dog for about a mile and then hung out like riff raff under the pier for a bit. On the way home, Codee found something that he just couldn’t get close enough to…

In The Gardens:

The balcony plants get a pretty decent amount of really direct morning sunlight this time of year and because they avoid the blistering heat of the afternoon sun, they do pretty well. I’m excited to see if this pepper comes all the way through ripening.

I don’t typically get any squash up here, but I think the plants are fun so I grow them anyway.

Just waiting on the last two little seeds to sprout in this lot of tomato plants….

Speaking of seeds…I give you The Ultimate Seed Spreader!

Sweating It Out:

What I Watched:

On The Plates:

My brunch plate was the greatest example of a silver lining to being single and only cooking for myself. It’s also a reminder that I would never ever recommend that anyone follow my eating plan because it is very specific to my…let’s say…uniqueness. I’m not saying that what was on the plate wasn’t delicious and remarkably nutritious, but who in their right mind wants to eat a plate of roasted beets and steamed broccoli?…Besides me, that is because I really enjoyed it. 🙂 I used a bunch of champagne vinegar and sea salt and the beets I cooked in the Ninja the other day were perfect! You have to be a big beet and broccoli fan for this one. I get it if you aren’t.

Dinner was another “pasta” plate, this time black soybean spaghetti. Now that I have leaned into the single ingredient alternative noodles, you can expect to see lots more of them in my rotations. I do this with most new ingredients that I get into…potentially eat it too often…but I’m reminded why so many people are drawn to making and eating pasta. Obviously, actual, real, good pasta is also amazing, but pulling a meal together with a base of pasta is SO easy and fast. The bonus with the alternatives is that you get the plant protein you want, the downside is that none of them are pasta.

The packaging is a little deceptive on this one in that it says black bean on the front, but the black beans that come to mind don’t have the protein content this product boasts about. It’s because the noodle are actually made from organic black soybeans, so be wary if you are sensitive to soy. I’ll say it a little louder for the people in the back…ALWAYS READ THE INGREDIENTS! Sorry, I don’t mean to be so aggressive about it. Anyway, at the end of this month long challenge, I will do a whole taste test comparison of a few varieties to actual pasta. The soybean ones have a little chew to them versus the chickpea noodles, but I really like most of the varieties that I have tried.

Tonight’s plate had the noodles, carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, sea salt, and dried thyme. I cooked the noodles in salted water, drained them, and tossed them in a small bowl with 1tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. I added my veggies and dinner was served.

Cronometer:

Time restricted eating saved me from myself again. I had entered in double of my dessert peanut spread and was still in the calorie range, but I was right up to the edge of 10PM with what I actually ate that I didn’t have the second serving. The calorie count wasn’t really the point, but I had already had a TON of food and really didn’t need to eat it. The genesis of that spread is that I was trying to find something to replace, or at least mitigate, the amount of my beloved peanut butter that I eat. I bought what is effectively peanut powder. It is a single ingredient product, but clearly HIGHLY processed. See? I have a bunch of exceptions to every rule, too! The protein powders and supplement powders, and coconut milk that I use fall into the exception category, though I do try to keep them single ingredient items, like the NorCal Organic Peanut Protein Powder. But here’s where my addiction shines through. I have taken to mixing it with full fat coconut milk instead of water completely negating the lower fat, lower calorie feature of the powder. Of course, when you mix it with water, it’s not nearly as yummy, but it’s dangerously close to higher in calories than peanut butter this way plus, the fat from the coconut milk is predominately saturated. At this point, I might be better off with actual peanut butter, but I have MAJOR portion control issues there so it’s never just one serving. With this spread, one is enough.

Garmin Says:

Stay safe and moving, y’all!