January 16th, 2010

The Wagon

So, I am back to doing the right thing. I ate two primal meals and kept moving as much as possible today. I even managed to be rather productive and cross off a few things on my wife's Honey-Do list. Anyone else hate calling it a "honey do list." It makes me think I am shopping for melons.

My Meals Today:

Breakfast:
12 oz. Tri-Tip
B.A.S. (Big Ass Salad)
1/2 Avacado
6x Cherry Tomatos
3 tablespoons of Marie's Ranch

Snack:
4 oz. Whole Milk

Dinner:
8 to 10 oz. Beef Liver fried in Butter
1/2 sliced Yellow Onion
1/2 pound of Asparagus Spears
1 tablespoon of Mayonnaise
2 oz. Bacon

I can now say that I do not care for liver. It's just got the wrong flavor. I did not spit it out like I would have if I were say a 1 year old who eats anything she finds on the floor. I just felt like I need to do something with it to make it palatable. I need to put it in something not eat it straight up. My wife thought that it tasted ok, but that I had overcooked it which gave it a strange texture.

Strangely, I cooked liver we bought at both Raleys and at Whole Foods. The thicker cut liver from Raleys was actually better tasting than the fancy-pants liver from Whole Foods.

A few recipes that I found online suggest cooking the liver in bacon grease or in a casserole with bacon. I am not one to turn down bacon under almost any circumstances, but frankly I am at a loss. Why eat the liver at all if I am just covering up the flavor with bacon? If I cook it again, I will most likely soak it in milk for a few hours to leech out some of the bitterness and try cooking it with bacon. Just to give it another shot.

Liver is too good a source of vitamins A, B (all B vitamins), and copper. Copper is a very important metal for the human body and most people are copper deficient without realizing it. We get so much zinc from consuming muscle tissue that it blocks copper absorption.

While at Whole Foods today I picked up two New York Strip steaks from their selection of Grass-Fed meats. I asked the butcher for a cut that gave a good profile of the grass-fed beef flavor. My wife and I are considering buying 1/4 of a grass-fed cow, if an economical option presents itself. Neither of us know exactly what to expect when it comes to how it will taste. She is very resistant to anything that tastes gamy. The higher concentration of omega-3s in wild animals gives them that gamy taste. We fear that will be the case with the grass-fed beef.

I also picked up a small container of whole milk. Dairy is not strictly primal, but I have read a lot about how different whole milk tastes and the benefits of non-pasteurized dairy. The result: my wife won't touch it. Since it is unpasteurized she fears for our unborn son. She also will not let our daughters drink it. I tried it. It tastes almost like every other glass of milk I have ever tried. If anything... it has a subtle butter-like taste. Not unpleasant, but I do not drink milk regularly. I am semi-lactose intollerant, yet hours later, I have had no ill effects.

Review:

1. No Sugar. I get an A today.
2. No Grains. I get another A today.
3. Move around a little every day. I will give myself a C. I did lots of little tasks, but no real distance.
4. Move really fast every once in a while. I may as well just drop this category, since I do not seem to ever use it.
5. Lift heavy things. I will give myself a D. I moved some boxes and a bed, but I did not do any of my body weight exercises.

Overall Grade: C+/B- I did pretty good. I need to move around more.