40 days without...

After quite a hiatus, what has made me break my internet silence? Maybe a memorable trip or fantastic food or an interesting local tour? Even though I've experienced all those recently, no. I'm here to talk about what I'm giving up for Lent, because putting yourself on blast on the interwebs is a modern requirement for accountability, right?

(Important sidenote:  I'm not Catholic or even particularly religious, but I do like the idea of challenging yourself. Hence, Lenten sacrifice for this self-identifying spiritual-not-religious girl.)

In past years, I've given up meat and last year I gave up my beloved soda, which were health challenges that turned into permanent lifestyle changes. 40 days (technically 46) of living without something seems to be the perfect amount of time to for me to reduce its importance and presence. Now, a soda is a rare treat and I'll only make an exception to eat meat if it's something I truly want (jamón most often falls into this category, really can you blame me?). 

Realizing that this is another good opportunity for me to make a similar health change for the better, I'm giving up (most) store-bought, processed foods. This isn't a restrictive diet, but rather a requirement that if I eat something processed, it has to be homemade. If I want a cookie, I have to make it. Same goes for pasta, bread, sauces, dressings, soups, pizza, desserts, etc. 

Homemade pasta - yes. 

Wine - yes.

What stays? Obviously, cheese, wine, and chocolate, since there is no practical way to make those at home and they are near and dear to my heart. Another exception - going out to eat, which is an important part of my social life here in Spain. Absolutely no meat though, and no desserts that I didn't make. 

Cheese - you'll have to pry it from my cold, dead fingers. 

Principe cookies - no. 

This isn't Whole30 or Primal or Paleo (never going to happen...see above regarding cheese, wine, and chocolate) just a conscious decision to learn how to be more proficient in the kitchen and to be mindful about what I'm eating. If anything, I guess it could be called the 40 Days of Homemade Challenge.

Cronut - sadly, no. 

So how am I doing after a day and a half? Breakfast is a bit difficult, since I normally just snag a granola bar on my way out the door to the gym, but I've survived with eggs and yogurt instead. I think the biggest key will be planning and cooking ahead, when I would normally opt for something easy and pre-packaged. Which means the first homemade challenge to be tackled will be granola bars. 

Yesterday's breakfast - garlic sautéed spinach with a hard-boiled egg and balsmic vinegar. Great, when I have enough time. 

And yes, I'm pretty sure Graham is convinced I've gone full-hippie after buying coconut oil and a giant bag of rolled oats. What's he giving up? A classic deadly sin - sloth, meaning he plans to workout every day, no exceptions.

Wish us luck! What, if anything, are you giving up or taking on? 

April catch-up

 

Besides lazing about, enjoying the great weather, what have I been up to lately? Lots, actually. I can't believe April is more than half over...feria season is just around the corner, summer is well on its way, and there's so much to do now that all of the dreary winter weather has been replaced by endless sunny skies, practically overnight. 

All that sun and playing outside has made me a bad blogger, so let's catch up. Here are some highlights from the first half of April:

-We met Spanish chef Angel León! He runs Aponiente, the (only) Michelin starred restaurant in El Puerto, where we celebrated our 6 monthiversary. 

The event was organized by the base and was really interesting - Chef León's concept is completely different than most Andalucian restaurants, focusing on the sea as a diverse and sustainable resource for creating modern versions of traditional dishes that would normally use meat. Yes, this chef is recreating the Spanish people's beloved pork products with seafood. We were immediately struck by how innovative and intelligent he is. 

Please ignore the fact that we both have terrible handwriting, like an angry 5 year old.

He explained the development of some of his signature dishes, while his team created them on the spot. Even better - we were able to taste them, along with sherry pairings! 

Carnaval in Cadiz

 I got back last night from a long weekend away in the countryside outside of Granada. It was fantastic, refreshing, and lovely, which means I have hundreds of pictures to go through before I can share with you all. But for now I have have some photos from Carnaval in Cadiz last weekend. 

Carnaval is a time of celebration before the beginning of Lent, which focuses on reflection and sacrifice and some people choose to give up indulgences (still going strong without one of my favorites!). Carnaval in Cadiz is one of the biggest and most popular in Europe. For 10 days straight the city is filled with revelers from all over the country and continent. 

Pancakes and giving something up...

Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday - in the States most people think of New Orleans, parades, beads, and drunken debauchery. Here in southern España, it's Carnaval time. Many towns have their own celebrations, with Cadiz hosting the biggest and most well-known, attracting revelers from all over Europe for a 10-day party. I'll have a whole post on that craziness soon.

Where I'm from Fat Tuesday is Pancake Tuesday. Churches host pancake dinners or people make breakfast for dinner (brinner!) at their house. The tradition comes from emptying your pantry of sugar, eggs, and other fatty deliciousness before Lent begins. For us non-religious folks, it's a good excuse to have a big midweek brinner, and so we invited some friends over to the casa on Tuesday night.

Scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon, pancakes, dessert pancakes. Yes, dessert pancakes - chocolate chip silver dollars, served with nutella, peanut butter, and strawberries. A friend brought pastries. More friends brought bottles of cava. To keep it light, we also had a fruit tray. And there were mimosas, of course!

It was a delightful feast with friends and a fun way to share a tradition. There was lots of good conversation and the question about who was giving something up for Lent (and what) was thrown about. 

I'm not Catholic, neither is Graham, or really any particular religion, but I like the challenge of giving something up for 40 days, sometimes it's good to test your willpower. So for the last few years, I've given something up. It also makes it easy if you get asked about why you're not eating/drinking/doing something you normally do - it's Lent. In the past, I've always given up eating meat. At this point, I hardly eat any meat at all (not never, I consider myself "flexitarian", still eat seafood often and meat rarely).

Last year, even though Graham said it was too easy, I gave up meat again, but I knew that really wasn't enough of a challenge this year. After thinking for a bit, I knew what a true test of willpower would be