Day 10 - meal day

I told my husband that while I'm on this program, what I prepare I don't consider cooking. to me, cooking is more than just shaking some seasoning on a bit of protein and searing/grilling/baking/roasting it. I miss my routine of doing food prep - chopping onions, mincing garlic, slicing veggies, measuring out spices - that will all come together into some kind of amazing sauce or be cooked into a stew, soup, or braise.

late afternoon i met with a client to go over some details of a dinner party I am catering in a couple of weeks. so nice to plan a "real" meal. i am going to relish every detail of planning this! the menu:

• hors d'oeuvres - a platter of assorted marinated olives, marcona almonds, manchego and quince, torta espanola with sofrito sauce, chilled gazpacho, piquillo peppers stuffed with a tuna confit salad
•  main - paella valenciana (with shellfish, chicken and veggies) and a second paella (fish, chicken and veggies)
• a mixed green salad of organic greens, cucumber, tomato, toasted almonds, shaved manchego cheese with a sherry or port vinaigrette
• dessert - mini pecan pies and mini berry tarts filled with mascarpone and seasonal berries.

After my meeting i stopped at the market and bought a couple of flat iron steaks. I nearly bought 2-3 lbs of grassfed oxtails so i could do a southern or carribean braise, but i need to calculate the nutritional value of all the ingredients so i can keep it all within my food regime. I should do that anyway, so I can maintain the practice after my 30 day transformation period is complete.

morning shake

mid-morning snack - two large hard cooked eggs sans yolks

lunch - pan seared chicken breast, steamed green beans, brown rice, salad. this was all quite filling. My husband said it was delicious. whatever.

mid-afternoon snack - flat iron steak, steamed green beans and zucchini. it was late when we ate (7pm) so I adjusted and didn't get to bed until after midnight.

dinner shake at 10pm

it is going to be a bit of a challenge trying to maintain my schedule while we're all converging in LV. luckily, my cousin is also on the yoli plan, so we can at least support each other. we're staying in a timeshare condo and have access to a full kitchen, so we can cook!