I thought Day Three requires a bit more creativity. Here’s what I came up with last night. Come on, Julie and Julia would have liked this one!

• boiled potatoes (red and yellow)
• boiled eggs
• breaded chicken strips
• salad greens (whatever Paul prefers)

I whipped up another mayonnaise-based dressing with honey mustard, lemon juice and a few herbs. Mixed the potatoes with the dressing. Served everything on a bed of greens with the chicken strips on the side.

It was yummy!

I hate migraines! Yesterday afternoon, one of those nasty migraines hit me again. As much as I wanted to just crawl into bed and try to fall asleep so I wouldn’t have to feel the pain, I adore, love and respect my husband so much that I wanted him to get a proper meal after working hard for his family all day. Could I get a pat on the shoulder, please?

To keep this post short – another migraine sucker seems to be on its way to my brain – I used some magic and the following ingredients for my salad creation for Day Two of Salads Only Week:

• salad greens (whatever greens Paul prefers)
• organic strawberries – sliced
• tomatoes – sliced
• steak – thinly sliced and marinated for 20 minutes in olive oil, garlic, pepper, salt and more garlic before grilling briefly in a skillet
• freshly baked whole wheat bread (not the soft kind) – “toast” it in the skillet with the steak for 1 or 2 minutes. The bread will get crunchy and soak up the marinade from the steak – yum.

For the dressing I whipped up another creation of mine:

• a few spoons of low fat mayonnaise
• a splash of organic milk
• a few spoons of lingonberry sauce from IKEA (any cranberry or raspberry preserve will do)
• balsamic vinegar
• pepper

Serve salad with the sizzling steak on top, drizzle dressing on top. And because we love shaved Parmesan, there’s always a bit of that cheesy garnish for (almost) every salad.

The best part: Since I grilled a bit too much steak, I used the leftover meat and dressing to make Paul a delicious sandwich for lunch today.

Paul and I decided to eat healthy this week. Ever since we found out that I am pregnant, we’ve been watching (well, I have been watching) what we’re eating. There are enough mysteries about growing this tiny human inside of you that I believe you shouldn’t add any extra excitement (read: risks) by eating food that is not good for your baby.

On that note. Who would have known that I wouldn’t miss alcohol at all? Sure, when Paul pops open a chilled bottle of delicious California microbrew, I do get a bit envious and there may be a bit of saliva exiting my mouth. But overall, I’m fine with my abstinence.

Soft, non-pasteurized cheeses, on the other hand, not so much. When I pass the cheese section at Whole Foods, I just want to cry. I love, I mean, LOVE soft-ripened, triple crème, buttery French cheeses that are very rich and mild and for best flavor, are served at room temperature. The smellier, the better. Please someone serve me a fancy cheese platter on my delivery bed!

But I digress.

Our recent and frequent consumption of fast food items caused Paul to pull the (fat) break and declare the Week Of Salad Only Dinners. They certainly won’t be all vegetarian but at least we’ll follow a few basic rules of healthy nutrition.

Grilled Nectarine (and Shrimp) Spinach Salad

Tonight, we’ll start with a Grilled Shrimp and Nectarine Spinach Salad
(with candied walnuts and shaved Parmesan).  Recipe by me.

Come back to see what’s cooking for tomorrow…