Tuna fish lunch

In going with my keep it simple stupid...
I bought a ridiculously priced can of tuna the other day. The can of tuna contained nothing more than the fish itself, which was oddly pressed into the can, and sea water. No added salt, oil or preservatives.  Nothing artificial in this can of tuna and guaranteed to have less mercury.  The price -  $4.99 a can. I stared at the can of tuna for what seemed like hours. I think the store manager thought I was trying to decide if I should steal it or buy it. I walked away from it only to hear the damn thing calling my name from across the store. I returned to the tuna screaming shopping aisle, picked up the can of tuna, tossed it into my cart and decided I had spent more on a restaurant sandwich or a cup a coffee. Not to mention the time I had just wasted debating. What's the big deal?

The big deal is $4.99 is a lot of money for a can of tuna. When I think tuna, I think budget, watching my pennies. In this case, watching my pennies disappear.

I am hear to tell you that that ridiculously priced can of tuna with less mercury (like I have a lab in my house to test it) was good. After I got over the molded appearance, and wiped off the good for you omega fatty acids, I took a fork to the odd shaped mess and found a nice surprise hiding within.  The tuna was pink, chunky but also flaky and did not smell fishy at all. I placed my $4.99 tuna in a bowl, added a generous squeeze of fresh lemon, a bit of lemon zest, and a dollop of Hellmann's Real Mayonnaise.  Nut bread, fresh tomato and assorted greens equaled lunch.

Would I buy it again? Probably not because half the "good for you claims" are false and the price tag is robbery. I'd rather buy fresh tuna on sale for a few bucks more. 

Pizza

I'm going through a phase right now. A pizza phase.  I'm not really into traditional style pizza, you know, one smothered in red sauce and mounds of cheese.  Instead I've have a taste for non-traditional, fresh ingredients. I'm putting my motto to use too, keeping my new love for pizza simple.

Lately I have been shopping at Heinen's. I like the store. The store is clean and organized and the bonus kicker - the people are SO bleeping friendly. Just like Trader Joe's, but much closer to my home. I also shop at Kreiger's. It's a little neighborhood store that finally got a face lift and is now popular because of the buy local push.  The bad thing is their prices have sky rocketed.

One draw back for me is the meat case at Heinen's. It's hard not to pass because it sits in the center of the store like a small island.  I'm not really into meat, but I do eat it about once a month. I just don't like to look at raw meat, let alone a case of it. Touching it with my bare hand is out of the question, I have to wear gloves and I definitely can not think about what I am eating when I am eating it. If I see a vein or blood on the bone, I'm done.  I find myself turning my head away when I pass the meat counter, ignoring the cute butcher boy. Such a shame and a waste because he really is cute. Why couldn't he have been the produce manager or wine guy? Seriously. All right, enough about me and the lack of meat in my life, we're moving onto pizza. 

Pizza Pie Ingredients

Frozen whole wheat pizza dough that I bought at Heinen's. I will post the name of the dough I used, I just threw away the bag like a goof.  I prepared the dough as directed.
1 frozen whole wheat pizza dough, thawed
1-2 cups garden fresh broccoli
1 medium shallot
1-2 cups fresh mushrooms
Extra virgin olive oil
Lemon pepper spice blend
Parmigiano Reggiano

Wash broccoli  before you cut it and separate into bite size florets. Do not cut up and then wash broccoli, if you do you are actually washing away the nutrients; seriously, no kidding. Wipe mushrooms clean with a damp paper towel, do not soak in water, then slice. Wash and slice shallot.

Follow package directions on preparing dough. Roll out dough. Drizzle about 1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil on dough,  Using finger tips, spread olive oil evenly onto pizza dough surface. Top with fresh vegetables. Sprinkle assembled pizza with about 1 teaspoon of lemon pepper spice blend and freshly grated parmigiano. Bake on lower rack of a convection over, 325 for 25-30 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

Slice and enjoy with a glass of wine.

I ate half of this pizza in one sitting. The whole wheat crust was perfect! The shallots gave the pizza a nice garlicky onion flavour. The seasoning provided a sweet, sour, salty bonus. I liked this pizza and my new found frozen pizza dough so much I made another one using a white crust and topped it with 1-2 cups mushrooms, 1.5 cups washed and dried spinach, slivered almonds, dried blueberries, lemon pepper spice blend and extra virgin olive oil.  Add more or less ingredients to suit your taste.

Make sure to really dry the spinach and mushrooms to avoid a wet crust. Next time I would toast the almonds prior, and top per serving after. The almonds absorbed the moisture of the other ingredients while cooking, and I noticed they were a bit soft as I dove into the leftovers the next day. The refrigeration left them blah and damp.

My review of my own cooking is this:  I preferred the wheat crust pizza and toppings over the white crust pizza. The almonds subtracted from the experience, and I should have baked the white crust pizza a bit longer to dry out the ingredients a bit more. Both were good, but the wheat crust pizza was delicious.

Here's to moderation, ciao!

Motto

Lately I have been trying to simplify and focus. As in everything. Keeping things simple and on track. So I decided to adopt the three simple words "keep things simple" into my daily motto.  I added a kicker at the end to reinforce the fact that I am not dealing with rocket science here and I'm wasting more energy and time by over thinking, over doing, over stressing, and trying to please, please, please and make my imperfect world perfect.  I now tell myself daily or many times a day to "Keep it simple stupid". The last word offers a bit of insult, putting my passive aggressive nature to good use.

I'm going to try, really try, to keep it simple in everything I do. Working out, relationships, work, food. If I can stay focused and keep everything simple, limited, and in check not buying into the emotional bullsmack how can I not succeed?  If I can pull this motto off and apply it long term - I'll be so bleeping happy!

I've decided no shopping and buying crap just because I am bored or depressed or don't feel like doing what I really should be doing. In short that means lifting my fat ass off the sofa.  If I don't need something, I'm not going to buy it just to have it. If I already have it, but don't use it, I'm going to sell or donate it, but I'm not going to get rid of it only to re-buy it later. That would just be stupid and history would just be repeating itself for me. At least I'm acknowledging my fault, writing it down and admitting it to the world. That has to be part of some twelve step program!  There is nothing worse and it drives me completely nuts when a  friend (OK, I've been known to do this too) will declare how she cleaned like crazy, filled 50 trash bags of crap to cart off to the curb or donate only to shop, shop, shop days later for the same junk. I must add that most of the stuff that filled those 50 + bags was her husbands or kids, which resulted in much crying and insult. I'm all about getting rid of the old and useless (items) for a little bit of fresh and new, but with limits.  

So wish me luck on embracing my new motto. I just may crack if it doesn't take hold.