Part III “Sunday night. The Ghost of Shopping at Five Grocery Stores in one Weekend”

Right. So, if you buy food at 5 grocery stores there is a quantity of cooking to follow. Here is what I started with:

1. The scaffolding for that salad of roasted red pepper/sun-dried tomato from the radical feminist vegetarian cookbook (that whole pendulum swing thing you know? I really like men now, and meat, of course) . I roasted a bunch of cheap red peppers from Costco over the burner on my stove. I contemplated firing up my grill, but lighting a fire of real wood demands my appreciation in the form of a good oatmeal stout and a couple hours of sitting outside next to it, so I opted out. I soaked sun-dried tomatoes ( a raw food) in warm water to rehydrate them. After covering the roasted peppers in foil to steam I pulled out the stem, slid off the burnt bits and cut them up. I added the soft squishy dried tomatoes, drizzled on some olive oil , sprinkled on sea salt and some minced parsley. A quantity of minced parsely. Very good for you. I will use this throughout the week on top of sunflower sprouts or the baby heirloom ruby lettuces I found for .79cents each. It also goes very well mixed up with ground beef or shredded beef.

2. Scaffolding for an orange/beet salad. I steamed 2 large beets while I was doing the peppers. Dice them up and add 4T raw apple cider vinegar and the juice of 4 clementines that had shriveled up too much to eat normally (or squeeze some fresh OJ). This is a great topping for any type of lettuces or greens you have and will last several days in the fridge.

3. Thai Soup. I went all out on this one. Many unusual ingredients, all paleo. Restaurant quality. But it was stupidly easy. Do this:

Pour 2 cartons of organic chicken stock (or use 2liters of your own) into a heavy soup pot. Add 8 kaffir lime leaves, 3 inches of ginger in peeled slices, 3 stalks of lemongrass and 1/4t red chili flakes. Boil. Turn off. Let sit.

In a separate skillet melt a spoonful of coconut oil and sauté up 6 chicken breast halves, chopped into large bite-size pieces. When the chicken is cooked through, but not browned get out your strainer (a tea one works fine or larger). Pour the chicken stock into the chicken straining out all the aromatics. Bring to a simmer. Add 2 cans whole coconut milk. I threw in 10 baby yellow, red and orange peppers sliced thinly as well as about 3c sliced oyster mushrooms. Thanks Aqua Vita. Oyster mushrooms do not get mushy and disgusting like button or crimini mushrooms. They have backbone. I also added about 1/4c of ribboned fresh basil from Trader Joe’s and finally, add 4T fish sauce and the juice of 1 lime. Top each bowlful with a pinch of fresh minced cilantro.

All this took me 2 1/2 hours. I listened to Sinead O’Connnor, The Lion and the Cobra and Bob Marley’s Catch A Fire (soul-nourishing) and made a schedule for my kids’ homeschool work for the week. I also cleaned up after myself. And put together the schedule for my CrossFit Affiliate. No excuses. It Can Be Done. You can do it. I can do it. We can do it.