Last week’s hacker attack that disabled my ability to do anything productive with CCR and for that matter many other things in my life seems to be all clear now. In addition, from a recent Google news search on the subject, turns out that the web hosting service provider that I use also fell victim to similar threats as hundreds or thousands of hosted blog’s were affected in a similar manner.

In fact, the frustration is that today (Wednesday, April 14, 2010) is actually week 3 and day 4 on our Eat To Live lifestyle.  Many more success stories to catch up and share with you in the coming days!

Moving on…

ETL Week 1, Day 6 (Friday, April 2, 2010)

Ryan: lost 1 pound and at 226.5

Monique: lost ½ pound

Breakfast

Mixed berry fruit bowl with strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and added pineapple and sliced kiwi fruit. The photo was taken with the low early morning sun and shining through the eastern window in our breakfast nook. Again, our hot tea with honey and a splash of skim milk and a ½-cup of orange juice.

After breakfast and a quick change of clothes, we took our short 1-loop 30 minute walk around the neighborhood.

Lunch

We were both off for Good Friday and wanted to make our annual seafood run in appreciation of the last Friday in Lent. On our way to dropping Ben off at a friend’s house, we met the parents and talked for about an hour; turns out, they have a stash of Blue Bell ice cream, not found or sold around these parts. We used to buy Blue Bell in New Orleans and had not had any in over four years. Therefore, when they offered us some it was hard not to turn down, Monique and split a small bowl of mint chocolate chip. So we digressed from the formal ETL diet a bit, but the split bowl was half what we used to eat and a small portion too, possibly a quick slip off the horse.

Grocery Shopping Fun

Since it was Good Friday, we had made plans weeks ago to get some fresh seafood at Earp’s Seafood Market on South Saunders Street in Raleigh, and while on our way, we decided to make a run to the new Trader Joe’s in Raleigh.

This was our first trip to Trader Joe’s, and we were like kids in a candy shop. However, we were good! I mean, we pretty much stuck to our shopping list and did find a few things that were not on the list, but which also met our ETL dietary requirements. Fresh Hass avocados from Mexico, in packs of four for only $2.99, some TJ’s Blueberry Muesli for $3.49, bags of romaine lettuce leaves for $2.49 each,  Medjool Dates for $4.49 per pound, fresh Kumquats for $2.99 a pint, Golden Roasted Flax Seed for $2.99 per pound bag, bananas for 0.19 each, or eight for only $1.52. We spent only $38.16 with tax, and most of these items sell for much more at our regular grocery store. Trader Joe’s is our new favorite grocery store.

With our TJ’s spoils in the ice chest we headed to Earp’s for some tasty seafood delights, the list included getting fresh catfish, shrimp, and raw oysters in the shell. They had all three and then some. The head-on shrimp were the freshest I have ever lain my eyes-on, the heads were tight and intact and were amazingly sweet smelling. We got five pounds of the shrimp.  The raw oysters in the shell were available in three quantities, $12.00 for a peck, $22 for a ½ bushel, and $40.00 per bushel. We opted for the peck of in the shell raw oysters. The whole catfish looked great, so we ordered four pounds of filets, some of the freshest catfish around indeed. After bagging our fruits de mere (fruits of the sea) and paying only sixty dollars and some change, we were on our way home.

I bet you were wondering if we only ate ice cream for lunch! Good catch, because I had made a quick bag of trail mix with some walnuts, macadamia nuts, and raisins along with some water we took along for the ride. Once home and after stowing away our spoils, I made a batch of guacamole, see recipe linked below. We snacked on some hummus and guacamole with our cucumber chips and drank water like fish.

Dinner

We peeled the fresh shrimp, just removing the heads and proceeded to make a shrimp stock with the heads. See the recipe linked below. We also took the oysters in the shell and washed them off outside with the garden hose to remove the mud and stuck on shell pieces. Turns out, we got almost 2 pecks of oysters for the price of one; we ended up with about 65 whole oyster shells. Moreover, while the stock was simmering we ventured to the front porch to read and delight in the wonderful outdoor spring weather.

After the shrimp stock completed, I strained it and saved some of the liquid to use for the shrimp boil for dinner. See the recipe linked below for boiled shrimp.

Having shucked my fair share of oysters I can tell you that three dozen oysters takes me about 20 minutes to shuck now, still not as fast as your seasoned oyster shucker, but still quite good enough for family dining. I also take the time to remove any loose shells and mud that might find its way into the tasty bivalve’s half-shell bed. These salty gems are served up with a tasty and quick cocktail sauce, see the recipe link below.

Recipes referenced in this post: Recipes will be posted in the coming days, still struggling to catch up to the back log since security and protection has become the major focus of activity in the last 7 days.

Guacamole

Shrimp Stock

Boiled Shrimp

Cocktail Sauce