Today, I cooked the best meal on my Mayo Clinic experiment with a better relationship with food. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I didn’t expect to love the cooking and eating of this very new and radically different food plan.
I stopped to see Rick at Moby Rick’s fish store in Saratoga Springs the other day.
I got a can of lump crabmeat from Indonesia and a pound of the sole. The sole was beautiful; it was a light and delicious fish.
We had it along with a garden salad.
I asked Rick for help choosing some fish to add to our growing repertoire of excellent and healthy food. Tonight, we’re going to start making pea soup and soak more barley. I’m enjoying organic vegetarian potstickers, three or four with some meals.
But today, I went a step farther; I made a crabmeat stir-fry with quinoa and about a dozen different chopped vegetables, plus some olive oil and plant butter. It was beautiful, we both loved it.
Our cabinet is filling with grains and oats and beans.
Maria loves to chop vegetables – kale, carrots, peas, red peppers, etc. – I like to cook and stir them and warm them up in a pan. This tasted better than almost anything I can recall eating in a long time.
As the Mayo nutritionists recommend, about one-half of every meal is vegetable, mostly chopped up or served in salad bowls. The rest is fish, grain toast, and various grains and beans.
I’ve lost my appetite for snacks of almost any kind; they seem heavy and oily to me.
I’m taken aback at how good this new way of eating tastes, and I can eat as many vegetables as I like. Although I have to be careful, I also eat fruit, as some fruit has a lot of sugar, and I have diabetes.
I never thought of carrot and celery sticks and cucumber as a snack before, but I think that we’ll stick.
I’m having multi-grain toast with cottage cheese, almond butter, and sliced banana tomorrow morning. I’ll have a berry bowl with that – black raspberries, red raspberries, and blueberries – in small amounts, great food for people with diabetes.
This is both exciting and feels very healthy. Better late than never.
Hi Jon & Maria,
I’ve been following your experience with the Mayo Clinic menu wirh interest. My daughter, Son in law and I began the “Whole 30” challenge on Jan. 3. Now at a bit over 1/2 way thru’ I’m pleased to say I actually do feel better and am enjoying this way of eating. Whole 30 is basically an elimination diet/process which at first seems austere, but I’ve yet to feel hungry or deprived. Thanks for sharing your experience & lovely food pics.
Cheers,
Patti
I loved Patti’s descriptive word *austere*……because when one changes to a healthy eating pattern and diet, it almost does seem austere at first. But it doesn’t take long to grasp the concept that nutrition for sustenance and health……..CAN taste good…… it took me a while to *get* that…….but it brings a whole new aspect to shopping, cooking and eating. Your changes in diet have been an inspiration to me…..and I thank you for that reminder!
Me too Susan, we are having the exact same experience..
If you’re interested in beans, the Rancho Gordo is an online store that sells heirloom beans. They also have recipes. I’ve had some of their beans and they are delicious!
For years And years we have cut butter 8 ozs with 10-11 ozs of cheap, light olive oil. This not only keeps the butter taste but spreads right out of the refrigerator. We also don’t bother to refrigerate almond butter. This keeps just fine and I remember eating it in my grandmother’s house and mostly she only used the refrigerator for ice cream , left-overs and some desserts.