Sugar and Spice and Manners are Nice!

Every year or so, our church hosts a dinner to teach manners to the youth.  It's good fun, and we were asked to be the "host couple" at one of the tables.

I ate lunch at about 3:00, which was a good thing, but by the time dinner was served at 7:00, I was pretty hungry.  I expected a bit of trouble, though.

Appetizers came out...okay, keep in mind the men were in charge here...mozzarella sticks and rolls with margarine.  Nix on all of those for the dairy and wheat.

Next was a salad; I ate mine plain without the ranch dressing.

The main course was either fettucine alfredo or spaghetti with meatballs. I asked for meatballs and sauce on my plate...taking a chance on the meatballs not having filler...but I never even got to one.  One bite of the sauce made me aware of parmesan cheese in it.  I quietly gave my meatballs to my husband.

Dessert, which I never eat anyway, was brownies topped with ice cream.  I was amused watching the youth try to figure out how to deal with rock hard brownies when they had already given up their knives and forks with their plates. 

I quietly suggested they push off the ice cream and eat the brownie with their fingers; it is a cookie, after all. So one of the girls picked hers up, mashed it into the top of the ice cream, and then bit into it.  Ah well, we did try.

They showed very nice manners throughout the rest of the meal.  I told them about the time we went on a company paid cruise, and ended up sitting at the head table with the vice-president of our very large corporation. It was nice to feel confident with my manners there.

I did not tell them about how all the men started flipping spoons at the end of the meals! I swear the VP started it--who else would have dared?  And--shocking!--picked them up off the floor to do it again!

When it was over, I went home and cooked up a bowl of millet to eat with peaches and did just fine!

Detox

I have heard over and over that detox programs are like drug withdrawal--it gets worse before it gets better.  Well, I've hit the "worse." 

Forewarned is forearmed; I am just trying to get through this as my body adjusts to new foods, and to not being poisoned at every meal.  It's tough, but I'm going to make it. So far I have avoided painkillers and cola, though both of them are helpful at times.

Meanwhile, I am losing weight and enjoying my food. So many delicious flavors and colors are available! I was definitely stuck in a food rut before.

Milestone--and Epic Quinoa Fail!

I hit a milestone--on the way down! I never thought I would be glad to see that particular weight, but for now it's a good thing. I just don't want to see it again!

I thought for breakfast it would be tasty to stir apples and allspice into my quinoa. To simplify, I mixed them together in the rice cooker. I don't know if I didn't put in enough water or what, but when I got out of the shower and dressed, I smelled burning food. Oh no! And by this time I am really getting hungry.

Luckily I had some frozen cooked quinoa, so I popped some into the microwave with another cut up apple and allspice. 

After all that--was it delicious?

It was!  I put on a little coconut milk and ate it just like oatmeal.

Adventures in Eating--Day 4

Today's foods included cucumber, tomato, avocado, and olives, wild rice, and beef, among other things.

Dinner:

Salad: (serves 2-4)
1 large cucumber cut in large chunks
1 tomato cut in large chunks
1 can olives
1 avocado, thinly sliced

Mix the cucumber, tomato, and olives, then lay the avocado slides across the top. Drizzle a favorite vinaigrette over the top, making sure to cover the avocados.

Cover and let stand at room temp or in fridge for a couple of hours. Yum!

I served this with a very tender 100% natural steak and a side of wild rice.  I am full!

Maybe eventually I'll remember to take a picture before I eat!

Adventures in Eating--Peach Cobbler

Okay, it wasn't really peach cobbler...

Hot millet with peaches and a bit of nutmeg stirred in...it was so good!  I think these food restrictions might be the best thing that ever happened to me.

Adventures in Eating--Coconut Sesame Chicken

Part of my food plan is to rotate foods, not eating the same things two or more days in a row. This is to prevent new food sensitivities from developing.

Yesterday's meals included kale, which I've never tried before, and which is slightly bitter until it is cooked.

I cook like Amelia Bedelia, so I don't have an exact recipe, but here's the basic idea:

I chopped up about an eighth of onion and about a third of the bunch of kale and stir-fried it in olive oil just until it was tender.  I added a cut up chicken breast, a handful of coconut, and about a tablespoon of sesame seeds. When it started getting too dry and sticking to the pan, I added a splash of Bragg's liquid amino. 

Since it was quinoa day, I served it over a heaping pile of quinoa.  This was very good, but a bit salty. Apparently I need to dilute the liquid amino. But the flavor was amazing.

Food Challenges!

I had an extensive blood test done for food sensitivities. It showed up some important things.  For the next three or four months at least, I will avoid gluten, any dairy products whatsoever, and several other minor irritants.  Dairy was the big one, not just lactose, but whey and casein.  Not even butter for me! 

The second part of it is to rotate the foods I do eat. They gave me a handy chart with suggestions for rotation, and a booklet of recipes (which mixes up all the foods from different days!)

I think I will follow the rotation strictly for a few days, and then just mix and match and make sure I eat a good variety.

Hopefully I can start feeling better soon. The good news was that my cortisol levels were good (another test) so I don't need adrenaline support.  Hurray for that!

The doctor recommended a kind of supplement to help heal the gastrointestinal system, but it turns out to have ginger in it--one of the things on my "no" list.  I'll have to see what else she would recommend for me.

So, wish me luck! I hope this is not another yellow brick road leading to a non-existent Oz.

That reminds me, Glinda the Good Witch told Dorothy the secret of the shoes, right?  So why didn't she just tell her right away?  First she had to go through all that trouble!  That's bugged me for a while.