Shaking Things Up

So, I managed to get back on my diet. But now I've quit my job; which means I'm trying to get away from the restaurant-centric diet, and do more cooking at home, to save money.

So, instead of focusing on salads and macrobiotic/vegetarian meals, I'm shifting to foods that are relatively easy to prepare at home. I can cook pretty well when I have to, but honestly I just don't want to spend all that time doing it. My preference is to cook up a big batch of something-or-other, and then eat that for a few days, before cooking up another batch of something else.

Vegetables are still super healthy, and super low calorie; so I'm incorporating them into my new diet. Mainly I'll buy many bags of frozen veggies, and steam them. Whole Foods has organic frozen veggies, that are actually priced competitively to the lower-quality Western Beef options, that my roommate had kept recommending to me. (When he first came with me to Whole Foods, he couldn't wrap his head around it for awhile, then finally said he might start going to Whole Foods for his frozen veggies.)

Aside from that, the really healthy foods are whole grains, and beans. Both of which Whole Foods has in bulk, and organic.

So, for example, consider this collard green, mung bean, quinoa, sardine arrangement (not all mixed together, but just in terms of quantities):

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/recipe/1847443/2

It's 1600 calories, and it's basically everything I need for the day. The 1 cup of beans and the 1 cup of quinoa probably cook up to about 4 cups of actual chomp material. So that and the vegetables and sardines add up to a really huge feast. Plenty to last through lunch and dinner.

The 1600 calories is actually a bit lower than what I want; so that leaves room for some nuts and fruit, if I want to give in to the snack urge.

But the above recipe isn't actually something I spent a lot of time designing; it just so happens that when you mix up a vegetable, a grain, a bean, and a tin of sardines, you're very likely to get a fairly complete meal. Though those particular choices are healthier than most.

The problem is that this is a pretty big change for me. For the past long while, grains and beans have been a very small part of my diet. I'm not sure what kind of effect it'll have on me, to change it up like this, all of a sudden. Hopefully it won't induce those awful cravings, or bring back the exhaustion.

And hopefully I won't get too bored of the dull flavor of my own home-cooked meals.

I still need to figure out some cooking protocols, so I don't have to make too much of a mess, or spend too much thought on storing the foods once they're cooked, or worry about how to measure out the proper amount for any given day.

All that stuff needs to be attended to.

So basically I'm going to keep my eyes open, and watch for signs that I may be losing balance. The last time I tried cooking for myself, it precipitated falling off the wagon. This time, somehow, I think I'll be able to make it work. Yesterday I actually cooked and ate the recipe above, and it was excellent. It's a lot blander than I'm used to; but I don't really mind. And I'm looking into herbs and spices that'll hopefully add variety to a set of staples that wouldn't otherwise have much variety to them.