Texture Expedition

I have been extremely tired and have evidence to believe that it was hormone-related, and couldn't figure out why till I realized that I had been eating soy products almost every day. If you haven't heard, soy can affect your hormones, and I believe that it's more impactful to people with ovaries/uterus as their hormone levels fluctuate much more.

I hadn't put much credence to the idea but then I'd never had enough soy on a regular basis to find out if it really had an effect.

That said, it's possible if I continued to eat that way the my hormones would've balanced out and accommodated for the change. However, I want to see if omitting it would help. After a week of not eating soy with breakfast, I'm noticing my energy levels returning to where they should be for this part of my cycle.

The dip in energy levels for over a month was truly devastating as someone who also suffers from SAD and finally having those symptoms decrease for the season and being forced back into winter levels of fatigue.

Yesterday I worked a full 8 hours, ran errands and then did cooking and cleaning all evening and wasn't exhausted afterwards. I'd say the soy may have been a factor.

The reason I say this has changed my life is because of a few things:

- I can now go about my day having eaten well without much effort or thought

- I finally feel like I'm getting enough variety of nutrients and amount of fiber/protein into my system each day

- I only have to cook the rice every other week and as long as I have that, I don't need to do much in the way of food prep

- eating this much in the morning along with a prepped lunch means I'm now rarely hungry in the evening, freeing up time that would've been spent cooking

- It’s given me more energy

- rice/mixed grain, frozen and reheated for modified starch transformation to help curb blood sugar spikes (50% jasmine, 25% barley, 25% quinoa); carbs keep you full for longer too.

- soup with veggies for more protein and fiber, which both help with energy and feeling satiated as well as containing vitamins

- more protein, I chose to do soy eggs and tofu this week. Protein is a great morning food for me because I often exercise in the morning and protein helps repair and maintain muscle.

- something fermented, such as kimchi, yogurt, kifir, skyr, etc. I chose kimchi cause I wanted a more savory breakfast experience, but I could easily opt for a small yogurt bowl with chia seeds and fruit as well.

- bonus: (I did not do this) fish, for added protein and vitamins.

I was worried about this being too much food but I think it's just right. I don't have much appetite in the mornings, but despite that I always eat something. It can be hard to get through eating everything some days. But for this meal I didn't have any issues. Here's hoping I stay energized and satiated till noon.

I've never made a taco salad before and I wasn't sure how I would make it in a way that didn't just feel like a salad with taco meat. I decided on some ingredients that would keep well without getting mushy, as that is a texture no-no for me, and then went from there. I used taco and Cajun seasoning on the meat and chick peas which added a lot of spice and flavor. I should have bought taco sauce to mix into the pork but didn't think of it till after I finished shopping, so we used a mix of sauces we had on hand including barbecue and buffalo.

So my only problem with salads in general when making for future meals is they can get soggy, which makes a mushy texture I can't stand. The line between acceptable mushy and unacceptable mushy has always been unclear yet very thin. Slimy leaf is something that if I eat it I cannot force myself to continue. So I'm hoping that by assembling and leaving out the dressing to add when I eat it, that I will avoid this problem. 🤞🏼

For this cake I simply used a regular box white cake mix, cool whip (frozen aisle) and strawberries from Aldi. I decided to spruce it up by substituting the water with heavy cream I had on hand from the soup I made this week and melted butter instead of oil.

I've never made a box cake and not followed the directions so I did a bit of research. I wasn't planning on doing anything different but decided I was in the mood to risk it.

I threw in all the ingredients except the eggs and mixed with a hand mixer for a minute or two, similar to reverse creaming. Then before I added the egg whites, I beater them in a bowl along with two egg yolks to add some air, then mixed it into the rest for a couple minutes.

I was considering making a layer cake but I only have one round pan and decided it would be too annoying to make multiple cakes that way. Into the 9x13!

After it cooled I added thawed cool whip as a frosting and some stewed strawberries I whipped up real quick and let cool. Also threw a few of the nicer strawberries on top and swirled the toppings a bit.

There was several things that I hesitated on since I am not very experienced with baking, like using melted butter instead of softened butter (since I didn't have time to wait for that) and I'm glad I took the risk. I also added about 2 tablespoons extra melted butter after reading a reddit post on subbing melted butter for oil.

Anyway it turned out really well, super evenly baked through, really nice texture and crumb, really soft and moist, and the flavors are sooo yummy with the mild whipped topping and tart fresh strawberries & sweet strawberry sauce.

Cost: $5 ish for two boxes of strawberries, $1 cake mix, $1 cool whip, and then if you count the eggs, butter and heavy cream I already had on hand it was $3, $4 and $5 respectively but I didn't use up the whole carton of any of those so more like $11 total.

I remembered to thaw the last of my homemade broth a few days ago, setting the cracked jar inside a cheesecloth inside a pitcher. It was so much easier to deal with than the gallon jug.

I wish I had added some more seasonings, as the original recipe only used salt, pepper and some herbs. It kinda needs like some paprika and chili powder or something next time, hence me throwing in some sriracha. But I understand that the soup is probably meant to not be too complex in flavor, especially with wild rice having a unique flavor. I happen to be more sensory seeking with my flavors, but someone who likes simple, salt and butter flavors will like this.

My secret for cooking wild rice nice and fluffy and flavorful is to mix some chicken bullion into the water once it boils. (Don't use chicken broth/stock, it doesn't work very well for some reason) and cook it extra long. This time around I only had to cook it for 35-40 minutes and I washed it thoroughly beforehand and because it's a broken grain variety.

Our favorite wild rice is one we've only found up north, so every time we visit my family's tiny cabin we make a point to restock. The smell and taste of wild rice just feels like the cabin, and cozy nostalgia.

For the marinade I just used some sriracha sauce and some Taco Bell chipotle sauce in place of the peppers. It seems to have done the trick and was quite tasty, though probably slightly less spicy.

The corn salsa called for bell peppers, which I could have left out and added separately to my own but instead decided to go with radish. Raw radish is something both L and I enjoy and it has a bit of a bite to it- not quite the same kind of spice as a pepper, but it's a decent substitute we've used before. It's also nice and refreshing, so a perfect fit for the corn salad.

I may add spinach and/or arugula to my lunches to build it out a bit more as I had to stretch this food a bit further this week.

Anyway this was extremely tasty and I will definitely make again, perhaps soon. Next time I'll for sure make more of it. 😉 L kept coming through the kitchen while I was cooking and thanking me profusely for making the food cause it smelled so good and he was really excited for it.