Three Day Anti-Inflammatory Eating Plan to Improve the Festivities for Seventyish People
Or, Oh no, It’s seven days until Christmas and we already feel sick from eating cookies
When I was younger, it was common to feel stuffed at the end of a day of feasting. Or be ‘fed up’ by the end of the holidays. But these days my digestion is not taking any crap from me. Eat right or else, it says. I can’t believe I feel sick from too many cookies and stray chocolate kisses and things just sitting around the house and it isn’t even the Christmas Eve Feast of Seven Fishes or the Christmas morning breakfast or Christmas Dinner. Or the Chinese New Year feast we’ve planned for American New Year.
All I’ve been doing is baking batch after batch of cookies and eating a few to test them (haha) and a few, because they are so good dipped in red wine. Or a few because I have a few minutes to do my Christmas puzzle and a nice hot cup of coffee and wouldn’t a few cookies be nice. I have actually taken time to sit quietly this year and do a Christmas puzzle or sit in my chair and watch the birds. But somehow, since they are in abundance and so pretty and fresh this week, cookies have accompanied me.
Anyway, my plan is to package them up and deliver them to friends and family early this week. I will make up a plate of them for Christmas dinner and put them in the freezer. Empty all the tins and put them away. Meanwhile, I’m taking a step back and making a plan for eating lightly for the week. I came up with three days of meals from ingredients I have on hand that will hopefully get me back on track.
Here’s my plan. I wanted it to be fun and festive in keeping with the season, but not so deadly full of butter and sugar.
Day One
My husband, Don, had to leave early for work, so he ate a few leftover oatmeal pancakes and took a tangerine with him. I had time to saute some red onion, mushrooms, and spinach and throw in a scrambled egg for a delicious scramble which I ate with a scoop of guacamole I had in the refrigerator. Red and green, see?
For lunch I am defrosting some chicken soup and plan to add some leftover cooked broccoli and cauliflower to it for both of us.
Tonight we are making sushi rolls with family for supper. This is a fun tradition because no one has to cook, it is all rather informal and we get to be together. Because of Covid issues, we agreed to each make our own rolls and use gloves. Just in case.
We are each bringing our own ingredients to my daughter’s house. I have some big shrimp I will defrost, some nori and rice, and a lot of scallions. Plus a jar of pickled ginger. Others will bring different veggies and we should have a good assortment of stuff to make sushi rolls. One granddaughter volunteered to make Egg Drop Soup. I thought I’d make a salad also, as it would keep me from eating too many sushi rolls, or cookies afterward. My plan includes no cookies until Christmas. At this point, they are less tempting to me, thankfully.
Day Two
For breakfast, a vegetable stir fry would be fun and colorful. I have sweet potatoes and red onion and big fat mushrooms. Also more of that broccoli and cauliflower that are still raw. We have no brussels sprouts which are my favorite addition to this. I cut up all these things in chunks, saute them beginning with onions and sweet potatoes, adding things so they are all mostly done at the same time. I’ll throw in a handful of greens at the end or serve the whole thing on a bed of lettuce. This is good with an egg or just alone. I’ll see how hungry I feel.
For lunch perhaps a can of sardines between the two of us, some olives, pickles, dilly beans, rice crackers, and maybe a chunk of hard cheese will be an interesting and fun lunch. I may make it fancy by putting it all out on a tray with colorful garnishes instead of eating out of the sardine tin onto our crackers like we often do. We try to eat sardines or mackerel twice a week for lunch to get some good oils.
Supper will be a cauliflower risotto and carrot salad. (recipes at the end). If Don feels like he needs more protein I could easily roast a half chicken or chicken breast. Again, we’ll see how hungry we are.
Day Three
Breakfast
Today we could have some of the leftover veggie scramble from yesterday or just some spinach or other vegetables. I’ll definitely make a fried egg, put it into nice bowls, and add a dollop of plain yogurt and a dash of hot sauce. Don will probably eat this on a plate with veggies in one pile and a fried egg on the side.
Lunch
Today I will make a tuna salad with celery, red onion, a little mustard, a little mayo and use the oil from the tuna can. I have been doing this in the processor which cuts the vegetables-first, and then mixes the tuna into a salad with just a few pulses. I will have this on a green salad. Don may want a sandwich instead.
Supper
Tonight we can use that last piece of haddock in the freezer. I will defrost it in the morning and bake it on top of some of the leeks and scallions Don just dug up from the garden before the snow last night. Maybe add mushrooms to this, too. And, the baby kale in the greenhouse is finally ready to be picked so I will get some of that for a massaged kale salad. Which is one of our favorite things. And bright green.
Make your own Emergency Relief Eating Recipe
If you want to do some emergency relief eating before Christmas, look at your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer (and garden or greenhouse if you have access to one). What do you have already that would work for this kind of eating? How can you add something to a family meal that will make it lighter or more balanced for you? Sometimes you only need to add a few ingredients. Taking time to plan, being clear about your intention (no cookies, for instance), and knowing why it is important to you, are key ingredients of this recipe.
Risotto with Cauliflower Rice
If you happen to have some frozen cauliflower rice and coconut milk on hand this is pretty easy to make. If you don’t have all the ingredients, come up with something, colorful and healthy you can achieve.
Begin by sauteeing a few cups more or less of sliced mushrooms in olive oil until browned. Add a carefully cleaned and sliced leek, two shallots, minced, and a pinch of salt to the pan. Cook about 3–4 minutes. Add 8 ounces of frozen cauliflower rice and saute for about five minutes. Stir in 1 ½ tablespoon arrowroot starch (or flour) to thicken. Stir to cook the starch for about a minute. Add about a cup of mushroom, chicken, or beef broth (preferably homemade). Add more if it seems too thick. Boil till it starts to thicken then add half a can of coconut cream and reduce heat to simmering just to warm the mixture. Squeeze in the zest and juice of half a lemon and salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm with a generous helping of grated Parmesan. If there is any leftover, it makes great patties to fry and eat with (you guessed it) a nice fried egg for breakfast.
Carrot Parsley Salad
Do try this colorful and delicious salad any time of the year. It is incredibly good and full of nutritious stuff.
Peel and shred about ¾ pound carrots to make 2 ½ cups. Wash and remove leaves from stems from a bunch of parsley about 1 ¼ cups. Peel, crush, and finely chop 2 large cloves of garlic
Mix the dressing ingredients in a small bowl: 3 tablespoons avocado oil, ½ teaspoon salt, several grinds of pepper (white pepper is nice if you have it), and 4 teaspoons red wine or cider vinegar. Mix veggies in a medium bowl, pour on the dressing, and stir to coat well.
Bon Appetit! And stay away from the cookies
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