Can I just say how happy I am with the way we’re eating now? Both Brett and I feel great, and some (but not all) gastric issues I experienced before have all but disappeared. I am enjoying cooking again, trying new things, and I’m having fun finding new recipes and creating new favorites. We’re getting more for our money when we food shop too and have fun hunting for new vegetarian or vegan things to try. We still have a few more weeks to go to use up the meat, but I think I can safely say now that it will not be missed. We’ve completely stopped eating eggs and all dairy except for cheese in limited amounts. However, cheese will not be disappearing – neither of us can imagine a life without cheese.
When our daughters come for the holidays I will be cooking meat again for them. I’m already starting to think about dishes that Brett and I can enjoy without meat while the girls enjoy meat with/in theirs, but I know on some occasions we will just eat meat along with them although in very limited quantities. Meiling’s all-time favorite meal is vegan though, and WenYu eats nearly vegan these days because of her boyfriend’s allergies, so think we’ll be fine presenting a few vegetarian meals while they’re here.
Below is what we enjoyed for dinner this past week:
Sunday: Hamburgers; 3-bean salad; watermelon
Monday: Zaru soba; chilled tofu (hiyayakko); Japanese pickled cucumber salad (namasu)
Tuesday: Barbecue chicken & coleslaw pita sandwiches; 3-bean salad
Wednesday: Pasta with creamy red pepper Alfredo sauce; roasted zucchini
Thursday: Mini pizzas with roasted vegetables
Friday: Cheese board
Saturday: Curried lentils; brown rice; sliced cucumber; Hami melon
Dessert this week was a pumpkin spice baked oatmeal – delicious! I’m trying a recipe today for peanut butter-banana baked oatmeal to see how we like those flavors. I’m also planning to make arroz con leche toward the end of the week: simple and yummy.
Below is what’s on the menu for dinner next week:
- Orange ‘chick’n’ with fried rice
- Falafel sandwiches
- Basil beef stir fry
- Mabo tofu
- Cheese board
- Mini pizzas
- Sweet potato enchiladas
I’m trying two new recipes this week: basil beef stir fry, which will use up some more of the ground beef we have on hand, and sweet potato burritos. We picked up the orange chick’n at Costco last time we were there and are eager to give it a try, and I bought falafel mix last month and am finally getting around to making those, so a good week of new things overall, I think.
We had an absolutely awesome week of walking last week, with six days in a row of walking the golf course perimeter. We almost got rained out on Monday and Tuesday, and barely made it back to the car before it started pouring, but the next three days were sunny and breezy – perfect walking weather. Saturday threatened rain again, but we made it the whole way before the drops started falling. Most days we walked counter-clockwise around the course, but on a couple of days there were no golfers out on the course and we were able to walk clockwise for a change of pace. Clockwise is slightly uphill the entire way, so a slightly better workout, although going counter-clockwise means we have to climb the big hill to get out on the course, so I guess it evens out. We found an amazing 19 lost golf balls last week, seven of them Wednesday, five on Friday, and the others spread out on the other days.
This week we have our fingers crossed that we will be able to walk the Maha’ulepu Trail, another part of the Koloa Heritage Trail system. The trail is 3.7 miles out and back, the same distance when we walk the perimeter. We’ll have to do this hike the morning because afternoon it’s in direct sunlight. The trail is quite rocky so I will be walking with poles to hopefully keep my bursitis from flaring up.
The Occasional Nomads 
With all your new cooking styles and flavours, you won’t miss the meat! At our house, Link cooks their own meals with meat if they don’t want the vegetarian or vegan meal we’re having. We very occasionally will have one of Link’s meals (like katsudon).
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We hardly miss it now. I will honestly be glad when it’s gone although we will continue to eat fish now and again. I honestly wonder how it will go when the girls are here. We’re lucky in that they will eat anything and everything, but at the same time they love when I fix their favorite dishes from the past, and most of those contained meat.
Katsudon is one of my all-time favorite Japanese meals. I will eat it again when we go to Japan, no matter how we eat at home.
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I’m curious how you are liking your Hoka shoes now that you’ve been wearing them awhile. Is the padding helping your feet? I keep meaning to try them, but haven’t gotten to it.
The two stalls offshore remind me of our last trip to Hawaii. We were eating on an outdoor patio for our one big splurgy dinner and watched a stall sit offshore for the entire meal. Needless to say, we were prepped to run, but we never had to. 😊
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The Hoka shoes are OK. I still seem to have plenty of cushion, and I like that the toe bed is nice and wide. I will buy another pair when these start to wear out.
We have gotten caught in a couple of squalls when they moved onshore – they are pretty fierce and we were drenched in moments. Fun to look at from afar, but I wouldn’t want to run into one on a boat.
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Glad to see you are feeling better with your new diet.but a lot of things have gluten in .Have you ever been checked to see if your a lactose intolerant celiac where gluten and dairy mess up your system.i have a few friends that our lactose and gluten intolerant. They eat a lot of vegetarian items from Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s and some things they get at Aldi .They buy coffee low acid called Simpatico online.They eat vegetable gluten free pasta . So many veggies items to explore.
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Neither I nor my husband is lactose or gluten intolerant. We have cut out all milk products though except for cheese, which we try to eat in moderation, and same for wheat products. I love vegetables, but am enjoying trying out different plant-based products and different bean dishes.
I am going to see if I can order that low-acid coffee and get it sent here – thank you for mentioning it. I’d give anything to have an Aldi or Trader Joe’s here, but it will never happen.
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These dishes look awesome! Who says eating healthy can’t taste great 🙂
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Thank you!
I agree! I am having a wonderful time figuring out healthy meals that look and taste great. We’ve definitely found a few new favorites that we want to have again, but I’m having to balance that with trying out new recipes.
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