Today's weird breakfast: the salmon chowder I made for dinner last night. It's amazingly good, despite being a real pantry-staples recipe: canned salmon, evaporated milk (the recipe actually called for it, and I had some on the shelf as part of our emergency rations --- but you could use a splash of heavy cream instead, or coconut or some other non-milk milk), vegetable broth, a mix of canned and fresh vegetables, including hot peppers from the garden, and a little bit of low-fat cream cheese and shredded cheddar. My husband raved about this chowder, which surprised me almost as much as how good it actually was. He's not normally a fish person, but said, "I would eat this even if it wasn't Friday."
I had challenged myself to produce a very low-budget meal from what was on the pantry shelves, which I've been stocking for months, little by little, with canned goods to have at hand. And I have to say, dubious though I was, this meal was not a disappointment. I drastically reduced the amount of cheese the original recipe recommended, from a half-pound to about a quarter cup, which I think was a good move. A little cheese for flavor: yes. But this meal didn't really need to be 500 calories per serving, when I knew we'd probably each want two helpings. Next time I'd probably omit the evaporated milk --- although honestly, in the context of the recipe it didn't taste like milk out of a can, which was encouraging --- in favor of slightly more Neufchatel cream cheese to make it creamy, or a tablespoon or two of actual heavy cream, which I didn't have on hand last night. The recipe didn't call for hot peppers, but they were a good addition. I used three, with the ribs and seeds removed, so they weren't super hot, just added a little zest. I did not use creamed corn, just plain canned corn, because again, I had it on the shelf. Vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, because Friday --- technically you can eat chicken or beef broth on Friday, because I guess "meat" means solid, not liquid, but I had the vegetable broth on hand. Seasoned with salt, paprika, and a dash of chili powder, though you could season it all kinds of ways. The actual recipe called for dill. You could easily make a curried version with coconut milk. And so on. Anyway, again, as a dinner concocted out of things we don't normally eat (i.e., food from cans), this was surprisingly delicious, and the reason I had it for breakfast was that I'd woken up still thinking about it. Also, I'm tired of hard-boiled eggs.
I've been consciously making myself eat breakfast this week, because I so often just forget to. I'm not really hungry when I first get up, and can go on not being hungry, or at least not paying attention to the fact that I am hungry, until lunchtime, especially if I drink enough coffee all morning. This . . . is not really good for anybody, so I have been trying to program myself to expect to eat in the morning, and to eat protein when I do. Hard-boiled eggs are easy, not requiring much in the way of conscious effort beyond the work of peeling them, and they get the job done, which is really all I want --- but they do get boring. Their chief virtue, other than being obviously nutrient-rich, is that they make it easy to track calories. I have been charting my caloric intake this week on an Excel spreadsheet, and what I've learned by doing this is that while sometimes, like on days when we eat out, I go way over the number of calories I can burn in a day, most of the time it's a struggle to make myself eat enough. I did an online metric that gave me something like 1700 as a caloric limit if I want to burn fat, but in tracking my intake I've discovered that I have to TRY to eat that much. Left to myself, I'll just not eat, because it seems like too much trouble. No wonder my metabolism wants to lie down in the road.
Feeling better today and putting together my packing list, which includes (besides the requisite underwear, nightdress, and toiletries):
Sierra
Maggie
Camellia
duck-egg-blue Loft cardigan
emerald-green cardigan
blue marl longline cardigan
light-blue shrug cardigan
tan belt
blue EVA Birks
Xero Colorado sandals for walking in the mountains
red Xero Cassies
wedge-heeled fisherman's sandals, in case I panic and decide I need to wear heels with a dress at some point
maybe a scarf or two, just in case
I think I'll put in a pair of leggings as well, because I'll be in the mountains for a couple of days, and it's about ten degrees chillier up there, at least at night and in the mornings, than it is here. Maybe my fun stripey bamboo ones . . .
Doing laundry right now, but I'll lay everything out as soon as it's dry, to see what I think of this capsule. I'm giving myself more options and latitude this trip, since I'll be in so many different situations and temperatures. I'm thinking I might even take a pullover for the mountains. In fact, as I've allowed myself a bigger bag, I'm actually going to toss in more cardigans than I know I'll need, but they'll all go with any of the dresses I'm packing. I just don't know how much warmth I'm going to need at night in the mountains, but it would be good to have extra layers. Shoes will dress things up or down as needed. So it's still a capsule, just not quite as tight a capsule as I've packed in the past.
I'm also prepping tonight's dinner, which I want to be nice since it's the last night before I depart. I'm currently marinating a big piece of top round steak, which is a good value as beef prices go right now and performs nicely on the grill. I'm soaking it in a mix of garlic, steak seasoning, thyme, and balsamic vinegar. Probably three minutes each side on a hot grill will do it. Top round is a nice cut in that even though it's cheap, it's good medium rare, rather than needing to be pot-roasted into oblivion (though I do love a good pot roast). I found a recipe for sliced eggplant on the grill that includes a period of brining, so I'm doing that as well. You brine the eggplant, then brush each side with a little oil and seasoning, and grill it for a couple of minutes each side. I might marinate some onions and peppers as well, as long as I'll have the grill fired up. There are probably some cherry tomatoes ready to eat, too.
Wearing today, meanwhile:
My Sierra with this thrifted blue cotton pullover that last got worn in, I think, March. It was cool this morning when I went to walk the dog, and rather to my surprise, I still haven't taken it off. It's the perfect weight over my sleeveless dress (even though the dress is relatively heavy wool), while my legs are bare.
Washed my hair, and it's still drying. Film at 11.
Travel capsule, more or less:
I might add my blue shrug cardigan, since I have plenty of room. And I'm wearing my Sierra right now, so it's not in the photo. I KNOW I'll wear these three dresses, and have plenty of options to mix and match to make outfits with them. Thought I'd add one more pair of leggings, too: these charcoal-gray ones that go with everything. I might or might not need leggings at all, but better to have the extra layer and not need it than vice versa. Anyway, a palette of blues shading to greens in cardigans, blues and grays in dresses. I'm including that teal cashmere cardi, which I haven't worn since early last spring, just in case I need a really warm layer. Everything else is pretty lightweight. Oh, and I've thrown in my tan belt as well, so I have that option. Not sure I'm going to pack a scarf, because I bet I wouldn't wear it.
At any rate, I'm not challenging myself to pack that lightly this time. I guess by some people's measure this does seem like pretty minimal packing, but for me it's really not. The main thing is that I'm not bothering with tops and bottoms, just dresses and things that go with dresses, giving myself more choices than I might otherwise do if I were seriously trying to pack light.
It's hard to believe that this conference trip, which I've been anticipating since last spring, is finally upon me. I'm looking forward to a few days in the mountains catching up with Marly, then seeing and meeting many friends at the conference, then visiting with my mother on the way back. As much as I really kind of hate leaving my house, I am excited about what lies on the road ahead.