day seven

check out all of this produce i bought yesterday! i am working on getting a little healthier, following the lead a bit by alton brown (that weird scientist-chef on food network). he lost a lot of weight on his own, made-up diet and reading about it made a lot of sense to me. the basic premise is to fill up on really healthy, nutrient-rich foods so that you don't have much room for anything else. he had 4 lists: one that listed foods he had to eat every day, one with foods he eats 3 times a week, one with foods he eats once a week, and foods he never eats:

daily	3x/week	1x/week	0x/week
fruits whole grains leafy greens nuts carrots green tea	oily fish yogurt broccoli sweet potato avocado	red meat pasta dessert alcohol	fast food soda processed meals canned soups “diet” anything

all of this just seems really reasonable and logical to me, so im gonna try to loosely follow it. he also has a few recipes, such as this sardine-avocado tartine (or the sardicado sandwich) which i tried tonight:

- makes 4 open-faced sandwiches -

Adapted from Good Eats

Ingredients

2 (3.75-ounce) tins sardines in olive oil (mine were in tomato sauce; that works too)
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon vinegar (he suggests sherry vinegar; I used apple cider vinegar)
Zest from one lemon, and the leftover (naked) lemon cut into 4 wedges
Freshly ground black pepper
4 slices good bread (I used wheat, he did sourdough)
1 ripe avocado
Sea salt

Procedure

1. Drain the oil from 1 tin of sardines into a small bowl and set aside.

2. Drain the oil from the second tin into another small bowl and mix it with 1 tablespoon of parsley, vinegar, lemon zest, and black pepper. Add the sardines and stir. Let sit for a bit so the flavors marry.

3. Toast your bread in a normal toaster or, if you want to be all Alton-style fancy, heat the oven to the broiler setting on high and place oiled-swiped bread (using the remaining sardine oil) on the rack. Only keep them in there for 2 to 3 minutes, otherwise they will go from golden brown and crisp to charred and sad.

4. Halve the avocado and remove the pit. Smoosh the flesh in each half with a fork. Spread this green goodness evenly onto the toasted bread, then top with a nice scoop of the sardine mixture.

5. Pour any remaining sardine oil dressing on top and garnish with the remaining parsley. Season with sea salt and a nice big squeeze from the lemon wedges.

i made it with tarragon instead of parsley, because i had it fresh and dont really like parsley. it was actually pretty good, and i halved the recipe, which made 2 pieces of toast, and i could only finish one and a half before i was full. i thought the sardines would be really strong but they were milder than even tuna. tip: if you halve the recipe, you only need half an avocado, half of a lemon's zest, and a little of it's juice- save the other half of the avocado (with the pit in) in a ziplock bag and squeeze a little of lemon juice over the fruit it to save it for a couple days.

i also made his spiced almonds and a fruit smoothie for breakfast tomorrow. we will see how it goes. i just like the idea of focusing on what to eat instead of what to avoid.

i am also working on de-cluttering the house. i have been watching a lot of hoarders and it has made me wonder if i am a bit of a hoarder- clutter doesn't bother me (dirtiness does, though), i leave my clean clothes on the floor most of the time, i love to shop and acquire things, there are piles of mail and things without a home on all my tables, and my guest bedroom is full of crap that i don't know where to put. its not that i want to hang onto anything, its just that i dont know where to put anything. anyway, i want to try to nip this in the bud before i end up like one of the crazy people on that show with dead cats and (needed) dentures underneath decades worth of trash. wish me luck!