I Made it 21 Days Without Sugar!

I don't have a sweet tooth, I have a sweet fang. I love sweets way too much and for years I've struggled with trying to restrain myself. I know sugar is bad for me but that doesn't stop me. 

Last year I discovered Diane Sanfilippo's blog Balanced Bites and I read all about her 21 day sugar detox program. It sounded just awful and awesome at the same time. The thought of actually not having anything remotely sweet for 21 days sounded akin to torture and far beyond any sort of discipline I possessed. It also sounded like just what I needed to reset my carb and sugar cravings.

I stewed and considered and finally put the book on hold at my library. When I held the actual book in my hands I still thought I'd get out of actually putting in any effort. Then I read The 21-Day Sugar Detox: Bust Sugar & Carb Cravings Naturally and it moved me to action.

Here's a brief description of the book: Use the easy-to-follow meal plans and more than 90 simple recipes in this book to bust a lifetime of sugar and carb cravings in just three weeks. Three levels of the program make it approachable for anyone, whether you're starting from scratch or from a gluten-free, grain-free, and/or Paleo/primal lifestyle. 

At the beginning of January I started my 21 days and I gotta say the first week was HARD. No afternoon chocolate? No berry smoothie? No sweetener in my morning cuppa tea? All of these things were SUPER hard for me the first week. My way of compensating was to eat, eat, eat. This isn't a calorie/portion restriction diet so I ate a lot of delicious food. The first big change I noticed toward the end of the first week was that food tasted better and things that normally aren't sweet enough tasted amazing. For example, I usually need some stevia or sugar on my grapefruit because it's just too sour but after having nothing sweet for a week it tasted perfectly sweet with nothing on it. I usually don't care for bananas either but they started tasting better too.

I'm an all or nothing kinda gal so having clear cut rules to follow for 21 days worked for me.

The book is full of some delicious recipes that I cooked for our family dinners. Joe's favorite was the Double Pork Tenderloin which is a tenderloin rubbed in spices and wrapped in bacon. Our other favorite recipes from the book: Beef Jerky, Apple Streusel Egg Muffins, Lemon Chicken, Asian Style Meatballs, Healthy Homemade Mayonnaise and Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing (now my very favorite salad dressing).

It was the most difficult to stick just to the approved whole foods when I was eating outside our house. When I met a friend at Chipotle for lunch I ordered a salad with all the allowed toppings and brought my salad dressing. That worked fine but when we spent a weekend with the in-laws it was a little trickier. I brought along my own food and was as careful as I could be without being weird.

I highly recommend giving this 21 day program a try. I felt so good physically and mentally at the end of the 21 days. I even lost 5 pounds and never felt hungry. I'm already thinking ahead to when I'll do another 21 day detox...maybe in the summer. For now I am back on chocolate and it does taste so good.

I received nothing for this review, not even a free book. Sigh.

Banana Chocolate Muffins (Gluten-Free)

I've been baking A LOT lately. It might have something to do with the never ending winter and constant snow. Yes, it definitely has to do with that. At least when I turn on the oven it warms the house up and I get something yummy for my efforts. I'm always on the lookout for good things to pack in school lunches that aren't just junk food and this sure fits the bill.

I wasn't so sure about this combo of banana and chocolate as I don't much like bananas. They just don't appeal to me the way a good apple or raspberry does. I thought I'd go ahead and try this though and I'm so glad I did. My very picky 9 year old son (who also doesn't like bananas) said in reaction to his first bite "I don't like this muffin, I LOVE it!" OK, so this one is a keeper.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Makes 22-24 muffins. Adapted from Gnowfglins.

• 3 cups combination of gluten-free whole-grain flours (millet, buckwheat, amaranth). I like Namaste Gluten free flour blend from Costco.
• 2 cups whole milk kefir or yogurt
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 mashed bananas
• 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 tablespoons melted coconut butter or butter
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3 tablespoons flaxmeal
• 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Stir all flours together and mix with the kefir or yogurt. Cover bowl and let soak overnight, 8 to 12 hours. This makes the grains easier to digest. 
The next day, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease your muffin tins. In a separate bowl mash the bananas and mix them with the eggs, syrup, vanilla and melted butter and add them into the flour bowl and stir it together. Sprinkle sea salt, baking soda, flaxmeal and shredded coconut over the top of the wet ingredients. Stir until just mixed then add chocolate chips.
Using a spoon, fill the muffin molds 3/4 full. Bake for 20-22 minutes until muffins are golden brown on top. Let them cool in the pan a few minutes and then pop them onto a cooling rack and start eating.  You can top them with butter, banana slices or almond butter- use your imagination!

Does gluten free baking intimidate you? What's your experience baking this recipe? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

Chocolate Coconut Cookies...Gluten Free and Paleo!

I've been trying out a few gluten free cookie recipes and while my absolute favorite is Peanut Butter cookies, those don't work for my middle son with peanut allergies. He's been demanding his own cookie recipe and when we found this one in Practical Paleo he insisted we make it. We've made it for dessert and for breakfast and we REALLY like this one.

Chocolate Coconut Cookies
from Practical Paleo
makes 12 cookies

• 2 eggs
• 2 Tablespoons butter, melted & cooled
• 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 pinch baking soda
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds or 1/2 cup fresh raspberries (optional)
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (optional but highly recommended!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. 

Whisk together the eggs, melted butter, vanilla & maple syrup. Stir in the cocoa powder, baking soda and shredded coconut until it's all combined. Fold in the optional almonds and/or chocolate chips.

Using a tablespoon, scoop out 12 cookie balls onto the cookie sheet and flatten them with a fork. Bake for 20-25 minutes until slightly firm to the touch.
If you want raspberries on top you can add one to each cookie after baking and before eating.

The chocolate chips made these much better in my opinion. These cookies are a bit chewier than I like but 2 out of 3 of my boys found the taste and texture just right and gobbled them up. I ate a few more than I should have myself.

This post was shared at: Clever Chicks, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, This Gal Cooks, A Round Tuit, Homestead Barn Hop, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday
This post does contain affliate links

March Menu

I love planning my whole menu for March at the beginning of the month and then being ready for each meal as it happens. This way I'm not stressing each week to decide what's on the menu and I reduce the planning stress to just once a month.

This month it took me a couple of days to decide on a March menu, possibly because there are 3 more days to account for in March. Also because we'll have house guests and I was trying to pick appealing meals for them. 

Since reading Wheat Belly and learning about the many health problems associated with eating wheat I now only cook gluten free. (You can read my book review here.) My menu was only a little harder to make now that we are wheat free.

March

1 Baked Drumsticks, steamed green beans

2 Grilled lamb chops, steamed broccoli

3 Baked Salmon, quinoa, peas

4 BBQ Crockpot Ribs, steamed broccoli

5 Sesame Tuna with Avocado, tossed salad

6 Tacos with Ground Beef

7 Chicken Nuggets, steamed broccoli

8 Baked Salmon, rice, edamame

9 Grilled Chicken Skewers (from The Autism Cookbook), roasted sweet potatoes & apples

10 Crockpot roast, carrots & potatoes

11 Tacos with Ground Beef

12 Baked Tilapia, quinoa, steamed green beans

13 Crockpot Chicken with carrots and potatoes

14 Crockpot Vegetable Beef Soup, Perfect GF Bread

15 Crockpot Garlic Chicken with carrots & potatoes

16 Grilled Steaks, baked potatoes, edamame

17 Pasta & tossed salad

18 Maple Glazed Chicken Legs (from The Autism Cookbook), steamed green beans

19 Salmon Cakes, sweet potato fries

20 Tacos with Ground Beef

21 Chicken Nuggets, steamed green beans

22  Baked Salmon, rice, edamame

23 Leftovers for kids, Strawberry Poppyseed Salad for parents

24 Crockpot Garlic Chicken with carrots & potatoes

25 Dinner Out- Kids Eat Free!

26 Baked Tilapia, quinoa, steamed green beans

27 Tacos with Ground Beef

28 BBQ Crockpot Ribs, steamed broccoli

29 Grilled Chicken Skewers (from The Autism Cookbook), roasted sweet potatoes & apples

30 Meatballs & spaghetti, tossed salad

31 Slow Cooker Pulled Pork, Honey Carrots, Perfect GF Bread
He is Risen!

Snacks to try this month:

Lemon Coconut Bars
GF Mocha Walnut Brownies

You can find even more menus at Menu Plan Monday.
(Note: some links in this post are my referral links. Read my disclosure policy here.)

My Journey Toward Gluten Free Eating

Last week I was detoxing. My brain was foggy for 2 days. I felt tired and irritable and I had hot flashes which I've never felt before. This was similar to my coffee detox in 2009 only worse. What did I give up that made me feel so icky? Wheat.

I recently started reading Wheat Belly and was shocked at all the health problems linked to this cash crop. The chapter on skin was what first convinced me try four weeks wheat free. I've had acne all my life and I'd resigned myself to living with it and just doing my best to limit it with the dermatologists help and my natural treatments.

Then I read in Wheat Belly about the numerous negative effects of wheat on the body. One way some people react to wheat is with acne. The author also mentions dairy and sugar as other foods that contribute to acne. I always thought this was a genetic problem and since my mom had bad skin I would too.

The author sites studies of isolated indigenous people groups with zero incidence of acne like the Japanese Okinawans who eat a very healthy diet which doesn't include wheat, dairy or sugar. When those foods were introduced, the incidence of acne among those peoples occurs at the same rate as the rest of the world.

The thought that I causing my own breakouts by making cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting appalled me. I immediately stopped eating problem foods and am now gluten and dairy free for at least 4 weeks. It could be forever.

This is a new journey for me and I don't know if I'll ever have wheat again. I'm also trying to transition my family to gluten free and I'm meeting resistance from my husband over giving up pasta and beer. My oldest son doesn't want to give up cookies or cakes but he's willing if there's a gluten free alternative. It's not something I want to fight about (yet) so I'm phasing wheat out of our house and not buying any more.

In the 11 years I've been a mom I've been trying my best to feed my family healthy foods that I make at home. I've avoided processed foods and focused on fruits, vegetables, whole grains and grass fed beef.  I'm now convinced that "healthy whole grains" are not healthy at all.

The thought of taking on something new is a bit overwhelming but I'm determined to try.

I share a full review of Wheat Belly here. If you've read it I'd love to hear your opinion. If you haven't are you interested in checking it out?

This post has been shared at: Wildcrafting Wednesday, Mama Moments, Clever Chicks, Homestead Barn Hop, Living Green Tuesday, Your Green Resource
(Note: The link in this post is my referral link. Read my disclosure policy here.)

Crockpot Garlic Chicken

I love to use my crockpot to cook dinner. It saves me so much time when I can put the meal together in the morning when my boys are gone to school and the house is quiet. Perhaps it's just me but 4-6pm is the craziest part of the day in my house between the homework & sibling fights.

I have three different slow cooker sizes, 1.5 quart, 4 quart & 7 quart and I love to give them each a chance to work for me. I even take at least one on vacation when I know I'll have to cook.

Crockpot Garlic Chicken
Adapted from Make it Fast, Cook it Slow
2-3 pounds chicken (I prefer thighs)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon pepper
10-20 garlic cloves, peeled, but intact

Place the oil, salt, paprika, pepper and garlic cloves in a 4 quart crockpot and mix. Add the chicken pieces and stir it together. If you want a one pot meal you can easily add baby carrots and new potatoes on top of the chicken. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours, or on high for 3-4. The longer you cook chicken-on-the-bone, the more tender it will be. 


I doubled the recipe when I was assembling and then placed half of it in a freezer bag for a future meal. I labeled it and put it in my deep freeze. I'm trying to do more of this to cut dinner prep time down whenever I can.



This post is featured at: Make Your Own Monday

(Note: some links in this post are my referral links. Read my disclosure policy here.)