Cruise Portioning

Just a quick post until I've had a chance to cook something.

Back from my cruise, and I barely remembered to take any pictures at all of the food.

I only put on about three pounds during the week, largely because of how I chose my lunches.  Holland America's dining room portions are proper and not too big.  Most of the time, I would have eaten more if it was on the plate.  In the dining room, they expect you to select several courses and they portion them accordingly.

The buffet is a different story.  I stayed away from the sandwiches and hot dishes, instead choosing one or two of the small plates.  (Although, I was rather upset that they were out of fried mac'n'cheese balls when I wanted them as a snack.)  These were also usually the vegan and vegetarian offerings.  If I felt the meal was too small, I'd grab a roll or slice of focaccia.

I know, half a marinated artichoke and a mini chickpea salad isn't exactly a filling lunch, but I ate an awful lot of desserts.  They were so pretty.  The one below is two meringue cookies sandwiched together with dulce de leche, garnished with a white chocolate spoon.  There was at least one kind of cheesecake every day, a constant supply of cookies and ice cream, and all sorts of other pastries.

The good news is that the weight is dropping off nearly as fast as I put it on, simply by going back to regular meals.  I'm assuming the first pound was water retention from all the extra salt I was consuming.  Proper hydration and going easy on the salt in my own cooking took care of that.

Next up is going to be my annual vegan Purim entrée.  I've promised myself to eat less meat for a week or two, after having it for dinner every night.  This is a good way to get started.