Day 38

Milk day.  Yay for Variations on Onion Soup!  I think?  I made a similar creamy onion soup with just milk ... oh, way back during the second cycle.  That seems so long ago...  Anyway, this time I used the thinner yogurt instead of milk, which yielded a thicker, creamier, tangier onion soup.  It needed more honey, and I went a little overboard on the white pepper, so at first it just kind of burned up my throat until I tempered it with more yogurt.  I'm not totally pleased with the combination of spices I used in it - I think I just used too much and simpler is better when it comes to onion soup.  It's exceptionally filling though - of the two cups of yogurt I ended up using to make the soup, between two "meals" of it, I only ended up eating about 2/3 of the yield.  Which means I didn't end up getting the full 20oz of yogurt for the day.  On the plus side, I'm totally not feeling hungry today.

I also made up a dish of yogurt to snack on (since 16oz went into the soup, I made up a 4oz bowl of yogurt).  Added honey and vanilla to it, and it was really tasty.  I really wanted to add a little cocoa powder to it.  Cocoa powder is a spice, right?  Right??   I'll have to ask Andre about that.  I know "chocolate" is a no-go, but what about cocoa powder?  Hmm...  Anyway, my cat sat watching me eat the yogurt with her "I'm cute, feed me some of what you're eating" face on, one paw raised in curiosity.  I kept telling her that it wasn't what she thought it was (I usually let her lick up the leftovers of ice cream, so I can only guess she thought that was what I was eating), but she kept begging.  So when I was done, I let her lick the bowl.  She took a couple of licks, made a face, and walked away.  And I said, "See, I told you."  She's a  fiend for milk and ice cream, but not so much for cheese, and apparently not so much for yogurt.  I'm sure she'll still beg for the next bowl and I'll have to teach her again.  Hmm... I wonder if I do that enough with yogurt, if she'll just decide eventually that she hates it all and stops begging when I have ice cream...

A girl can dream, right?

Oh, I almost forgot - the strained yogurt now strongly resembles cream cheese.  Now if only I could have a bagel to put it on...  or crackers...  There's a good amount of whey left too.  I still haven't decided what to do with it.  Maybe I'll try making ricotta with it... or maybe I'll just save it to use in place of water sometime.  Maybe the next onion soup variant trial.  But that will be at the earliest 4 days from now.  Two veggie days to go, and then it's back to a weigh-in, back to the 2nd sphere location (intestines) with the 1.5-hr rotations, and a new round of veggie/milk days!  And this will be the LAST ONE!  That's right.  I am currently sitting 12 days away from being able to have FISH introduced to my diet.  Woo hoo!  And then two weeks, and then... I'm totally done! 

Wait, that means there's still 26 days to go... yeah that doesn't sound as exciting.

I need to go buy belts.  Now.

Day 37

Milk day.  I went with lassis again today just because I was in a rush this morning to get out the door and couldn't think of anything more creative.  I put in a little extra honey and cardamom and only did one mint leaf.  That seemed to be a really good balance.  I'm finding, however, that I don't feel quite as full throughout the day when I make the lassis as opposed to the lattes, but I can't mix yogurt and milk in a day.  Why? I don't know, it's just one of the rules.  I also can't have yogurt one day and milk the next.  That's one of the weirder restrictions that I just don't get, but rules are rules.

I strained some of the yogurt before using it (since I had to get up at 3am to finish making the yogurt, I let some of it cool as-is, and some of it strain while cooling).  That helped with the texture of the lassi, I think - it made it thicker, for sure.  I'm keeping the leftover whey for an as-yet-undecided new adventure.  I'm also going to strain some more yogurt and just let it sit overnight and get really thick and see what happens to it.

Tomorrow, being Saturday, means I will have more time to be adventurous with the yogurt and try new things with it!  Which probably means "Variations on Onion Soup" day.  Are you excited yet?

Day 36

Fruit/Veggie day.  We ended up at Pei Wei for lunch.  I got the spring rolls and edamame, and just ate the insides of the rolls - not ideal, but not terrible.  Edamame is the perfect diet food, by the way.  It's a complete protein all by itself (unlike most veggies that require a mix with something like rice or another vegetable to make a complete protein), high in fiber, high in protein, and has good fats.  They're awesome.  I am now having some salted brown tomato.  I don't particularly care for the flavor of raw tomato, but I'm getting through it... I needed a fruit for the day.

Tonight I intend to make another batch of yogurt.  I have enough for tomorrow, but not for Saturday.  I'm going to thicken up some of the yogurt, too, by straining it, to see how it does.

Day 35

Fruit/Veggie day.  35 days already, wow.  So how do I feel?  I feel great.  My hair doesn't shed as much, and it's much less oily in the mornings than it used to be.  It's also grown about an inch and a half in the past month.  My face is clearer - still a couple of little pimples that pop up occasionally, but the ones on my chin have been gone and stayed gone for a couple of weeks, which is great.  And  the new ones don't stick around as long.  The psoriasis is meh.  Not as itchy, scaly and gross as it was, but it's still red - I'm sure the redness will just take some time to clear up.  These things don't just disappear overnight.  My fingernails are less brittle, and shinier - almost like I've got a clear coat of polish on.  The nasty morning breath isn't there anymore.  I find myself wearing my glasses less often - it seems my eyesight has gotten a little bit better - not enough that I'll go driving without them, but I don't need them for the TV to be watchable anymore.  I'll probably need to get a new prescription later this year.  I'm sleeping better at night - I don't toss and turn as much, and I fall asleep faster.  Getting up in the morning is still rough. 

I had the eggplant thing today.  It was quite good!  Needed some salt, and it could REALLY use cheese.  I wish I had made the sauce be just a tomato sauce - the carrots definitely made it too thick.  I steamed up some more carrots for a mid-day snack between the two servings of eggplant.  I forgot how much I enjoy plain steamed carrots with a little salt on them.  They're not as good as mom's buttered carrots, but they come close!

Baked Eggplant with Brown Tomato Sauce

2 baby eggplants (or 1 large eggplant) cut lengthwise into 1/4" slices
1/2 lb brown tomatoes, cut into chunks
3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
carrot greens, coarsely chopped (buy the carrots with the greens attached)
handful cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp dried basil
1 Tbsp salt
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, diced
2-3 green onions, chopped
water

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 2 cloves garlic plus a few tablespoons of water, until it is all bubbling and the garlic starts to become pasty. Add a half cup of water.  Spread out eggplant slices (only cook in single layer - you may have to do multiple batches) and cook until it starts to become tender and has absorbed the garlic-water.

Meanwhile in a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine garlic, shallot, and salt with a few tablespoons of water, and cook until shallot has become translucent.  Add the carrots, tomatoes, and dried basil.  When carrots have become softened, add the cilantro and greens, with about a half cup of water.  Allow to cook until greens are wilted.  Pour all into a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth.

In an 8x8 glass dish (or personal pan pizza plates, if you have them), alternate layers of sauce and eggplant (begin with sauce on the bottom) until you run out.  Top with green onions, then place into the oven and allow to cook for about a half hour.

Day 34

Milk day.  Made honey vanilla yogurt smoothie for today.  I received a tip on how to make the yogurt thicker without compromising the flavor - strain out some of the liquid.  So I think I'll give that a go for the next batch, which will likely be made Thursday evening - strain out half of it for eating and leave the other half liquidy for drinking.  Not much left of the first batch since I had less than half a gallon of milk left, but there's certainly enough there to get a new batch started.  Will have to buy more milk.

I stepped on the scale at work today and was encouraged - it read 3 lbs down from its reading on Friday, so that's good!  Working from home tomorrow, so I won't have a chance to do a mid-week weigh.  Maybe Thursday when I'm in the office again.  Muscles are sore from hitting the gym yesterday, but it's a good sore.

I cooked up some eggplant in a tomato-carrot sauce tonight for tomorrow.  What's that?  Tomato?  Yes!  I found brown tomatoes at the grocery store.  Yes, they're supposed to be brown.  And since brown is not red, I can use them, right?  I hope?  Well, I am.  The sauce came out really thick, so I think no carrots next time.  Just tomatoes.  It looks good - we'll see how it tastes tomorrow!

Day 33

Milk day.  Or as I like to call today... Lassi day!  The yogurt turned out AWESOME.  It's thinner than your typical store-bought yogurt, but that's only because I didn't add any thickeners like the brands do.  I made up a large vat of cardamom-mint lassi, and saved a little of my 20oz to have as yogurt, with honey and vanilla.

This is so much more filling than my regular milk day lattes.  I used a little too much mint, I think.  One fewer leaf would have been more than sufficient.  So in the recipe, I will give what I SHOULD have done, rather than what I did.  I'm just sad I can't add fruit to it, because that is the only way this could be better.  So tasty!!!

To make the yogurt, I followed the instructions at http://www.makeyourownyogurt.com/.  It was easy, you just have to be patient.  It's a really great way to save the remains of any milk you have that is approaching its sell-by date (or is already a day or two past).

Lassi
1 3/4 cups plain yogurt
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup water, chilled
6 ice cubes
pinch salt

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Serve as-is or over ice.  This is your standard salted lassi base.  To this, you may add spices, herbs, or fruit for variations.  For today, I added
1/2 tsp rose water, 1/2 tsp ground cardamom and 3 mint leaves.

This batch will yield approx. six servings - so spread it out over the day!

Day 32

Fruit/veggie day.  Success!  I found cardamom for a price I was willing to pay at the Indian grocery store.  Along with rose water, fresh mint, and tahini.  The tahini is not for the lassis.  They also had ripe mangoes for cheap, so I grabbed one of those for dinner.  By the way, if you're ever looking for spices, go to a local ethnic food store.  This grocer had DOZENS of spices, all fresh, and not what you typically find in your standard supermarket.  For much less cost.

Lunch was really tasty.  I cooked up my artichoke, and diced up an eggplant (one of the little ones) and sauteed it with some green onion, garlic and white wine.  Put a little too much salt into it, but it was still quite tasty.

Garlic Eggplant with Artichoke
1 baby eggplant
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup white wine
pinch sea salt
1 artichoke

Fill a medium saucepan with water, add artichoke and bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, place garlic and a little water in a wok over medium heat and allow to cook until water evaporates and garlic is fragrant.  Add the white wine, onions, eggplant, and salt, and saute until eggplant is tender.  Add water as necessary (use the artichoke water) to prevent burning after the wine has evaporated.

Remove eggplant from pan.  Add some of the water from the artichoke to the pan to get all the garlic bits, then return the water to the artichoke and continue to boil it until it has turned a nice dark green and the leaves are tender.  Drain the artichoke, cut off the sharp tips, and serve opened up like a flower alongside the eggplant.

Artichoke may be eaten by pulling off the individual leaves and biting off the meaty ends, or you can pull off all the leaves until you get to the heart, then scrape off the fuzzy stuff, and cut it up to eat.  You may also get into the heart of the artichoke and chop it up and add to the eggplant for a single dish.