This is becoming the how long can I eat the same thing every day journal. Lol
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Ah! I forgot to snap a photo today. I grilled up some vegetables, zucchini and asparagus with beef burger patties as a protein source. There was some flare ups with the grill. I need to take the grill apart and clean it out. I really enjoy eating zucchini with my meals. I feel pretty good after. I need to look into it a bit more and understand what it does to the body but I might start eating a lot more of it :)
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Lost control of the BBQ this evening because of a grease fire. Was a really good learning experience and I was able to put it out. I still feel pretty down about it. Tomorrow I'll be taking this thing apart to form a better understanding so that doesn't happen again. I'm pretty shook up about it and disappointed.
It is a bit crazy to think that I only started this Journal on Jun 14th. It feels like I have been eating like this for a long time. Some thoughts:
(1) I do not like how much meat I am grilling. As I learn more I will figure out how to eat more sustainably.
(2) The best part about cooking for yourself is having ultimate control of what goes into your body. I have been eating really clean and seeing a bunch of benefits.
I let myself have a slice of that pizza ↓, first time having a grain in almost 2 months.
I forgot to snap a photo today! I was too busy looking up at the sky and reading this book about Patagonia. There was a pretty beautiful storm here. I grilled up some vegetables today in my skillet. Cauliflower, asparagus, carrots and peppers. No oils or anything. Just diced, washed and grilled them. I'm happy to have another day to eat.
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It’s interesting I never really cared to barbecue or grill food or anything but I find it to be such a calming part of my day now. Sometimes the food is great, sometimes it’s just good. Sometimes it’s off. It doesn’t even matter I just enjoy the process of preparing and grilling the food. I’ll read a book while I’m grilling. Lately always about Zen. The whole process makes me so happy.
Grilled some chicken while chatting with @lucas on the phone.
Ah man! I got distracted and forgot to snap a photo today! I’m running an experiment where I’m trying to cut out grains (and as much processed sugar as I can) to see what happens so I’ve been grilling a bunch just as a simple way to eat meat and plants. I grilled a burger patty, asparagus, corn and broccoli today. It is difficult to not eat grains but I want to do it for a month and see what happens.
Grilled chicken. Indirect at first for 6 minutes each side. And then direct for 2 mins each side. I think next time I’ll do indirect for 8 minutes each side or even 10 until it’s at an internal temperature of 160 then direct grill it for 2-3 means each side until the internal temperature is 70. I want to experiment with much longer indirect grilling times to see what happens.
Learned from what I did yesterday. Pre heated the BBQ hot again but this time, indirect grilled the sausage for two 4 min intervals. And the directly grilled them for another two 4 min intervals. This I find is currently the best mix for a gas grill. It gives you a kind of hybrid BBQ and Grill effect while reducing the margin of error by using indirect grilling. Peppers and Asparagus were grilled directly. Asparagus is good and tastes the same as yesterday. Same method used. Peppers I still gotta figure out!
Grilled pineapple. These tasted really good but I could’ve put them on for a few minutes longer each side. I’ll try again soon and see if I can get these right! They’re fun to make!
Also covered these pineapples in coconut milk, sugar and cinnamon. Need to play with that combination. I want to drop the sugar.
Pork chops, asparagus and zucchini. Pork chops need to be marinated for longer. In general I’ve read it’s hard to cook them without them being dry. I cooked the zucchini for a longer and more focused duration. Big improvement on them since this morning. Asparagus was cooked at a similar but shorter duration. Texture is pretty good!
Chicken wrapped in bacon. Added mushrooms, zucchini and peppers into the mix (and corn, not photographed). Cooked the chicken indirectly at around 350 - 400 for 25mins. I kept the corn on the top bay the whole time. Then when the chicken was ready I moved it to the top bay and moved the corn down to the main grill. Then I grilled all of the vegetables directly for under 10 mins. I think. I could’ve grilled the vegetables for longer. They can probably improve a bunch by increasing marination time. I need a brush to apply specific butters to the corn as I’m grilling them.
Stuff tastes fine but seems like it could be a lot better with some tweaks!
I used the grill to reheat some of that Tandoori Chicken below for lunch today. It's better than a microwave! I had never cooked a chicken breast on the grill in my life prior to making that thing.
I was a Vegetarian for about 7 years, but left that behind after I learned I have a genetic blood disorder called alpha-thalassemia. Experimenting with meats like is this kind of weird for me, but I'm going to see where this process goes. I often tell myself I'll experiment with a vegetarian diet again soon. Maybe this a gateway into thinking about how sustainable what I eat is.
Tomorrow there's some complexity I have to figure out. I'm making pork chops for others and I need to figure out a cool way to grill Asparagus as well.
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Tandoori chicken. Hovered at 350 sometimes at 400 it’s tough to just chill on that 350. The chicken was grilled indirectly. I threw the peppers on later in the process and moved the chicken to the top for a bit while I grilled the peppers. Then brought the chicken back down and turned the middle burner real low and kept the chicken on it. I moved all the peppers to the left and right burner on the highest heat and let that run for a bit with the lid closed for 2 mins. Everything retained their flavours well. Chicken wasn’t dry. Peppers are good. Can marinate everything longer next time!
A couple burgers grilled. One is chicken the other is beef. Floated around 450 degrees sometimes hitting 500. This was all indirect I keep the middle burner on the lowest setting now always and just wait it out. These took about 20 minutes. On the last 5 min interval I threw on the cheese. Chicken obviously cooked an interval slower than the beef.
Chicken breasts wrapped in bacon. Used indirect grilling again. Again same properties it retains the internal flavours without getting dry. I flipped at 5 min intervals. I tried to keep the temp floating at 400 but struggled with that. I found it floating around 450 or then lower around 350. So I’ll need to be more disciplined about that.
Overall not bad for day 2!
