Next Steps Part III: Getting Out of the House (and RECIPE ALERT)

Ah, Summer.  It officially rolled in in the form of Memorial Day and warm, sunny weather just this past weekend. In my home, it was officially inaugurated on Monday when I planted my back deck full of flowers, herbs, and veggies.

And with this season of living an easier Au Naturale lifestyle, as the farmer's market options grow more numerous by the week, I make a promise-- nay, a pledge-- to you, oh loyal readers, to write more posts than I did in May.  My apologies: my brain was actually filled with good post ideas, I just simply got very busy during my free (heh, "free") time and ran out of hours in the day to put those ideas down on virtual paper.

In any case, I did think long and hard about other small changes I could make to my pantry and I really couldn't find anything significant. Looking at the contents of my cabinets and fridge, I felt very confident that I had successfully cleared my food supply of processed and packaged crap and replaced it all with nothing more than the building blocks of food and nutrition, or as much as I knowingly can.  Truthfully, I felt pretty good.

But something was still nagging at me, a feeling like I wasn't quite there yet. And the more I thought about it the more I realized that a fully Au Naturale lifestyle only existed within the walls of my home.  As you may remember, I had decided early on that I was going to have to make the necessary excepions for restaurants and friends/family's houses. I couldn't see into the kitchens of every restaurant and goodness knows I wasn't going to grill the generous friend who invited me over where she purchased her chicken. But that was just the thing: I eat out every day at work for lunch.  I also eat out at least a couple of times a week for dinner.  Based on my calculations, really not much more than 50% of my total weekly food intake (70% on a good week) could be guaranteed as natural as I wanted it because it was not prepared by me in my home.

So what to do? Truly, I enjoy dining out with friends.  I enjoy dining in with family.  I am certainly not going to torch my social life and become a food hermit. If I can't always go to the Au Naturale, perhaps I can bring it with me. So I decided a big change would have to be the meal I eat out-of-home most often: the weekday lunch.

Truthfully, I should do it anyway. This is not a new concept. Eating out daily takes a toll on the wallet and especially so if I want to be picky and eat at Hannah's Bretzel (delicious, but certainly not cost-efficient).  But for me the cost isn't the issue. It is the cleanliness, so to speak, of the food. So now I make a pledge to myself to do what most people do for economic reasons: bring my lunch to work. The easiest way to do this, again, is not novel. I simply need to take what is in my fully Au Naturale kitchen, mainly in the form of dinners, and expand them for lunch leftovers. Sure, I won't be able to do it every day, and especially while I'm traveling.  Sure, it will get monotonous at times. But I guess that's just a challenge to make my meals that much more interesting.  And that's good for you! More recipe alerts!  You're welcome.

So, as I sit here enjoying a simple salad for dinner-- made with either all-organic or all market-based veggies, natch-- and a tangy homemade vinaigrette, I feel confident that tomorrow's lunch is the first of many to be eaten this way.  The extra salad and vinaigrette in my fridge tells me so.

Speaking of which... I haven't provided a recipe in a while. See below for a perfect complement to a summer salad. You can use sherry vinegar, which I think would have been fantastic, but since I didn't have it I opted for a homemade red wine vinegar we get from a family friend.  The red wine version gives it a nice kick, in my opinion, without overwhelming it. You can (and should!) add herbs such as basil or oregano to give it a little something extra, if you desire.

Vinaigrette Recipe:
2 TBS red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
2 TBS fresh lemon juice
large pinch of salt
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp fresh pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced

combine all in a jar and shake vigorously to blend.

Again, you're welcome.