Andrew and I don't often go out to eat anymore because we have such a hard time finding places that serve paleo foods and it can also be pretty pricey. On Monday night, it inadvertently slipped my mind to take the meat out of the freezer to thaw in time. When Andrew phoned from his cell on his way home and I told him to meet me downstairs so we could leave right away for the grocery store to pick a substitute meal up. While he was waiting on me, he checked the mailbox and found that a card from his sister Leslie had arrived. Since she never knows what to buy Andrew for his birthday, she sent him a check enclosed inside the card. Andrew decided to let her treat us to dinner at the Olive Garden. We had to compromise on what we ate. I ordered water and Andrew had unsweetened tea to drink. Andrew wanted the salmon since we rarely have fish at home (I don't like seafood, but since we need to have omega-3 fatty acids in our diet, we take fish oil capsules instead) and steamed vegetables. I ordered the stuffed (with Italian Cheeses) chicken breast, which complied with the diet more than anything else I could find on the menu (ignoring the salmon). While we were waiting for our order to be served we were given some salad and bread sticks. I had requested that the dressing be placed on the side and declined the grated cheese when the waiter offered. We're not supposed to eat any dairy at all and most salad dressings have salt and refined sugars listed in the ingredients label, which we also try to avoid altogether, but it is slightly more difficult to do so. We're not supposed to be eating grains either (at least we should limit our intake) and I've probably missed that the most since we began this diet. We decided to indulge. I personally couldn't believe how salty the black olives in the salad were. We usually buy the canned sort and rinse the salt thoroughly off in a strainer in the sink. Andrew thought the bread was salty. That was about my upper limit for salt tolerance. It's amazing to me how well my body has been adapting to the paleo diet. When our meal arrived, Andrew's steamed zucchini and squash were topped with a sauce containing butter. I seem to remember that there was nothing unexpected about the fish itself. It was seasoned with lemon and pepper. Andrew gave me a bite to try and it was so good I actually insisted on being fed another. My chicken had the cheese in it that I was aware of when placing my order, but without my prior knowledge it arrived served atop some pasta (which is made from grains), and those salty unrinsed black olives were in replete supply in the pasta sauce. We completely destroyed our diet for the evening when we ordered dessert and brought it back home with us: raspberry swirl cheesecake and chocolate lasagna. It's okay that we did because it's not a habit with us anymore.
After we dropped by home to put the dessert in the freezer, Andrew wanted to go over to the Sports Authority, which is located in the same complex as the grocery store that we still needed to visit in order to pick up some meat to have with our breakfasts and lunches the following day (we eat meat at every meal). They were having a sale and we had discussed and decided over dinner to get Andrew the bowling ball, bag, and shoes, that he didn't get before his birthday, with the extra money his sister sent him. He picked out a pre-drilled, fourteen pound, and very colorful (mottled with bright oranges, yellows, greens, and blues) Ebonite Zoom Glow ball (it reacts to ultra-violet light). He expressed some concern about the ball slipping off his thumb (the hole is just a little too big) so I found an Ebonite Ultra-grip Rosin Bag to help him out with that. The price tag said $49, but we later discovered at the checkout that it really was on sale for only $36. The bowling shoes Andrew deemed the most comfortable and the least eyesore-inducing were size 9 ProV2s, on sale down from $39 to $20. I found a really cool retro looking black cloth bag by Brunswick for $11.99 to stash it all in. Andrew was happy with it and so we purchased it for him. My Brunswick Cosmic ball has deeper colors that Andrew's, but it also glows when exposed to black light. We have a date to go glow bowling this weekend. I can't wait!
-- CrystalShiloh @ 01:37 PM