Speaking of olive oil … a few years ago I added bottles for oil and vinegar to the kitchen table. Most of the time I use that instead of bottled salad dressing (which hubby still favors). It was an easy swtich. Added bonus - I have “reserves” if we ever run low on olive oil in the cupboard.
I’ve been listening to “The Splendid Table” podcast while using the basement gym. This sounded really good to me and a way to avoid too much mercury from tuna.
Doctors recommended that I try to limit my daily fluid intake to 40oz. Some days it’s a challenge. Oil & Vinegar salad dressings are a food staple for me, though I still use my beloved Catalina. I use Ranch and other creamy/fatty dressings infrequently. Whole apples are always in my refrigerator. I love dried beans; cowpeas, mayo coba beans and small red beans from Latin America. I use Cranberry beans for home made chili. Another source of fiber and good heart health for me is savory oatmeal at dinner, wherein I use spices and chicken broth to cook the oatmeal. For protein, lately I have reduced my red meat intake and replaced it with lamb. Fish has always been a wonderful part of my diet.
@LakeWashington Is lamb healthier than other red meats? It doesn’t seem like it would be too me. I love lamb, but I never considered it any healthier than a steak. I have not done any research on this, so asking if you know something I don’t!
I thought my son said he favors chicken, pork and lamb over beef… partly due to the environmental impact of beef/grazing. So I was surprised to look up the chart and see lamb worse - https://www.ewg.org/meateatersguide/a-meat-eaters-guide-to-climate-change-health-what-you-eat-matters/climate-and-environmental-impacts/
I aim for 60 oz or water today but usually get a little less I impressed about some higher totals quoted (perhaps for folks that exercise more than me, sweat it off). Usually I try to skew it earlier in the day, to have fewer night time trips to the bathroom.
Has anybody else been trying new combinations of ingredients during pandemic to use up excesses of food in the fridge?
Today I decided to try something different for snack (or depending on how you look at it… could be considered part2 of lunch, after my earlier salad). I’ll call it peanut butter banana “pudding”.
I had a lot of plain greek yogurt and aging bananas. So I mixed about 3oz yogurt with 2T peanut butter power that we had bought at the beginning of pandemic. Then I added half a sliced banana and 1T chopped walnuts. It was good. ( For a sweeter snack another time, I might add a bit of chocolate syrup of chocolate chips)
The snack gave me extra calcium (102mg) and protein (16g) and fiber (5g)… with a reasonable amount of sugar (12g… 7g was from the half banana). Calories - 203. (nutrition estimates per mynetdiary app).
Sadly we had a big storm this week that knocked out power for a few days so I had to toss everything in the freezer and most of the fridge 
DH is going more and more vegetarian/vegan, so we are having fun researching new recipes and ways of thinking about meals. This time of year, with so much good produce, it is easy to just throw veggies on the grill and call it dinner.
@surfcity _- sorry to hear about your storm loss.
DH does a wonderful job with grilled veggies (usually a big batch, with leftovers reheated another day). So far we have just done it as a side dish, but I’d like us to at least start changing up the ratio of the meals to be more veggies, less meat (unless the “meat” of the meal is fish… trying to do more fish).
Sheep is a ruminant animal like cattle, so it produces methane emissions like cattle. Other ruminant animals include goat, deer, bison, and buffalo.
Interesting timing. We had lamb last night, and I mentioned the chart to DH. I had not recalled it was only based on greenhouse emissions (which of course is a big factor)
Here are some other charts regarding protien sources vs environmental efficiency.
https://www.wri.org/blog/2016/04/sustainable-diets-what-you-need-know-12-charts
I definitely find myself wanting to use up things to the end and think I have creatively avoided much waste - a plus of COVID times.
Ok… this is not particularly nutritious, but I find this popcorn is a tasty option when I want a no-sugar snack with a lot of volume.
https://boomchickapop.com/our-products/
(serving size for nutrition label is 4c / 140calories … usually I only have 1 or 2 cups)
BLACKBERRIES - At Sam’s yesterday a display of blackberries caught my eye, and I took a chance on an 18 ounce package. They are delicious and have a surprising amount of fiber (3 ounces has 5g fiber, 37 calories).
Other benefits too - https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-blackberries
Unless your freezer dips below fridge temperatures you can usually eat out of it for quite a few days. During the big east coast black out, I ended up throwing almost nothing out. I had two kids at home then, so we got through it faster than we would now as empty nesters.
We made a really good tofu recipe that was in the New York Times. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020530-baked-tofu-with-peanut-sauce-and-coconut-lime-rice
Wash 3 cups of spicy greens.
Cook rice that has substituted some coconut milk for water (1/3 of the liquid).
Pickle one sliced bell pepper’s in 1/4 cup lime juice with 1/2 tsp of salt and set aside.
Make a sauce of:
1 cup smooth, natural peanut butter (I used crunchy.)
1 tablespoon red miso
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon fish sauce (optional)
2 teaspoons chopped habanero pepper, stem and seeds removed, or 1 tablespoon sambal
2 tablespoons buckwheat honey or molasses
1/4 cup lime juice
2 TB oil
(NYT readers thought sauce was too thick and suggested adding some water or reducing peanut butter quantity.)
Slice 2 packets of firm tofu 1/4 thick and top each slice with 2 Tb of the sauce. Stick it in a 450 degree oven for 18-20 minutes until caramalized.
There should be some leftover sauce to which you can add a couple more tablespoons of lime and use it to dress the salad.
Assembly.
Salad on a large plate.
Mound of rice
Top with 3-4 slices of tofu.
Sprinkle with scallions and lime zest.
Large firm blackberries are amazing. I buy them most of the year at Costco.
I glanced at my many cookbooks this week and pulled out “Eat This, Not That” thinking I’d take another glance and give it away. But I really like the photo layout / notes … gonna keep it.
Example - I am going to put Fiber One cereal on our next grocery order. A 2/3c serving has 18g of fiber (which was my average daily total, before I tried to start eating more fiber, less sugar) and 0g sugar.
I just discovered the individual packs of Starkist Tuna Salad. They are a quick lunch (with one of those flat round bread things) and taste really good! They have a bunch of different flavors and are around 80 calories (for the tuna salad).
There are tons of wild blackberries and raspberries all over the area where our cabin is. It’s fun to walk through the woods and eat as many as I want. 
I’ve been eating poorly for months now and gained so much weight. I’m looking forward to following this thread and getting some ideas as to how to eat better.
My afternoon snack during the workweek is hummus and fresh veggies. I used to love chips or crackers (crunchy foods), but I have replaced these with crunchy veggies and I feel better and have lost weight while working at home.