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Day 2 was way better than Day 1. I found this surprising as I expected every day to be harder than the day before. Yesterday's pepper fiasco really made anything today seem easy. My stomach seemed to have reset overnight. No more frequent bathroom visits! I had to take my truck to the shop today for new tires and that may have been just enough distraction from being hungry. I am proud to say that I didn't breakdown and get Taco Bell while I was out in town.
The morning started with a 3 egg omelet. The chickens gave me 5 eggs today and I am trying to supplement my diet with no more than what they give me a day. In the omelet I added spinach and peppers. I was careful to remove seeds and cook the peppers before the omelet. I must have not been as meticulous as dinner last night because that thing was still pretty hot. Unlike yesterday, it wasn't making my whole body sweat. My stomach was also fine afterwards. But man did it still pack a punch. Another reminder that we need more sweet peppers.
Breakfast was around 10 am and I really wasn't hungry for lunch. Plus, I was out in town and didn't pack any snacks. I don't think I have enough food to pack for snacks. Ahh it is going to be a great week!
I got home around 5 pm and hunger kicked in immediately. Fortunately I had some recently picked bananas that somehow ripened just in time. I ate two. Next, I made myself a salad with purple kale, dinosaur kale, celery, longevity spinach, and one boiled egg. I thought about adding pigeon peas. My recent harvest was not very bountiful forcing me to save them. Plain Jane salad it was. A little Italian dressing was added. I'm not a criminal.
About 30 minutes later I was craving something sweet. I at a few blackberries I had picked yesterday and put in the fridge. That supply is low too, which was the only thing stopping me from eating more. I decided to go outside and scavenge for more. Jackpot. I found 5 more ripe ones I ate right away. I felt pathetic.
After thinking about dinner all day, I decided to reattempt cooking nopal (prickly pear cactus). This time I rinsed it, then boiled it for 10 minutes, then rinsed again. I finished it in the skillet with peppers and kale seasoned with society garlic and salt. This time, the nopals were more soft and tender. Still no real flavor. I don't think I boiled all the inner "goo-like" slime out. Next time I will boil for 15 minutes and see what happens. Still, the texture (other than the slime) reminds me of cooked bell peppers. Great.... more peppers.
This meal was also the first time I have eaten pigeon peas from the yard. I harvested them when they were red-brown and hard. Yesterday they soaked in water until the evening when I boiled and simmered them for around 1.5 hours. While eating them today I wish I had cooked them just a touch longer. Most have a good texture similar to a lima bean. But some are still hard and I have to be careful chewing too hard.
Again, this dish is packing heat. But its tolerable. I've noticed that if I cook everything in oil together the heat seems to attach itself to everything. But when I cook the peppers separate and then add them in.... like the omelet.... the heat is much lower throughout the dish. Maybe I will learn my lesson tomorrow.
Things I wish I had to add variety to my pepper centered meals:
Eggplant - not ready to be picked yet
Seminole Pumpkin - at least 2-3 weeks from being ready
More fruits!!!!! - Bad year for blueberries so I have none. Strawberry Tree hasn't ripened yet. Too small of a mulberry harvest this year - dang birds. No citrus. Starfruit trees haven't begun producing. Pineapples need more time. Mysore raspberries stopped producing. Passionfruit is still growing (new plant). Bad year for peaches so I have none. Grapes are still a ways off. BUT, I have bananas and more soon to cut down.
More beans for protein - Pole beans are just now setting flowers. Shows me I need more pigeon pea trees. Ice cream bean is brand new.
Tubers - Sweet potatoes aren't ready but I've been eating the leaves. Cassava plant was accidently mowed a couple of months ago. Looking into African potato mint.
Things my body has craved:
Something sweet - need more fruit!
Something with texture like meat - I have deer meat from last season in the freezer so I could use that and still follow the survivalism theme. But, that's not what this challenge is about. Its to test the limits of the foodscape.
Things my body hasn't craved:
Grains
Meat itself - just craved the texture while eating
Dairy
See you.........................