Another Lost Weekend! (kind of)

Hello, faithful readers! 

I spent the weekend in New England, visiting my bestie Katie and her sweet family. Katie's a vegetarian/darn-near-vegan, so I wasn't too worried about slipping too into processed food land. Plus, you may remember, I set out to do Unprocessed Weekdays only. 

I spent most of Thursday in airports, but I brought snacks to sustain me and was really happy not to have to buy shitty airport food. All in all, I was about five hours delayed to Boston, so when Katie picked me up armed with a leftover piece of pizza wrapped in foil, I thought nothing of gobbling it up. It was a slice (or two?) of veggie pie from Trader Joe's, so I choose to believed it was as unprocessed as frozen pizza could possibly be. 

The next morning Katie made us all oatmeal with walnuts, banana and honey. We took her baby girl to the pediatrician and then treated ourselves to the Whole Foods salad bar. I was on vacation so I didn't pay attention to the weight of grape tomatoes or anything (I'm usually pretty skimpy on the weightier toppings in an effort to save cash). I was pretty hungry so any food that looked remotely good went into my cardboard carton.

My favorite find was a Mediterranean tuna salad, which I think I'll make at home as soon as I remember to buy capers. Other goodies included cranberry quinoa salad, marinated mushrooms and shredded beets. 

Friday night I had my first experience with brown rice pasta. We tossed it with chickpeas and sun-dried tomatoes. I'm making a similar dish at home tonight and still find brown rice pasta a fascinating concept.

Saturday we went apple-picking! It was a quintessential New England experience, and the weather couldn't have been better. 

We picked a bunch of varieties and sliced some up when we got home. They paired perfectly with almond butter and crackers. I've really missed crackers, by the way. I'm sure I can find some decent unprocessed ones, but I love stone wheat thins and they have all kinds of mysterious ingredients. 

Dinner Saturday night was a mushroom burger at a local bar. It wasn't the best thing I've ever eaten, but I was getting my once-a-week red meat fix and it did the trick. I ate the bottom bun but not the top, and I helped Katie go to town on some sweet potato fries. 

Sunday I had a delicious Chicken Cuban sandwich from a local bakery. Not the worst thing I could eat but it broke some rules. Then I caved at the airport and ate dinner at Subway. 

Not the best track record I've recorded, but I still feel good and am back on the wagon: I had my usual breakfast, a big salad with chicken, chickpeas and tomato for lunch, and brown rice pasta, sauteed mushrooms and kale are on the menu tonight. 

And now for a gratuitous photo of the star of the weekend, Baby E! She sticks her tongue out when she smiles, and it's pretty much the best thing ever.