So I got a little busy last week and didn't get to update you on my detox. Last week was week 6: Reduce natural sugar intake. Last week wasn't too bad because we had been preparing for it mentally. Basically, you're supposed to limit your added natural sugar to 1 teaspoon per day. My husband made an adjustment and made it 2 teaspoons per day because he has 2 cups of coffee in the morning. That is an amazing improvement from the 2 tablespoons he usually puts in each cup of coffee :-)
I will confess that we did break our detox a couple times. Friday was our niece and nephew's birthday celebration and we felt compelled to go simply because we have avoided mostly all family functions involving dessert (which is the majority of them) for the past 6 weeks! We did have cake and it was made from a box so not only did we eat something bad, my daughter ate soy, which she is allergic to. She has been having a harder time with her seasonal allergies since then :-(
On top of that, Saturday was my husband and my 5 year wedding anniversary, so we decided to break detox and have a nice dinner at Steak N Shake followed by a movie where we had candy and soda. My husband thinks I'm crazy, but that soda seemed sweeter than usual, it was almost gross. Almost! We did throw away all of our extras so that we wouldn't be tempted to eat them later.
Ok, now I've confessed and now we are back on track, although I fear that I may have ruined all of my hard work because I could swear that I was experiencing die off last week. All week I was having terrible stomach and intestinal pain. While I do experience it on occasion, it just wouldn't let up! I am still having some of that pain, so perhaps I didn't completely do myself in.
Now for this week. Week 7: Reduce grains. Basically the goal is to have 1 meal a day without grains or starches. The reasoning is that grains and starches do still cause an increase in blood sugar and the goal of this detox is to break your body's addiction to that increase. That is why we cut the really bad sugars first. The refined sugars cause more of an increase. Now we are limiting the increase from healthy sugars. I will be focusing on 1 meal per day. My husband on the other hand, due to his need to pack a lunch and our need to keep within our grocery budget, will be doing 1 meal every other day. Basically, I will make dinner without and grains or starches every other day and then I will eat a lunch without grains or starches on the in between days. I may need to make a meal plan, which I should be doing anyways. Oh well!
Tonight we are going to be having spaghetti made with spaghetti squash. If you've never had it before, it is delicious. The spaghetti squash is a bit crunchier than spaghetti pasta, but still very tasty. I make my own sauce, so I don't have to worry about added sugar and it is very easy to make!
Homemade Spaghetti Sauce:
1-2 Tbl Oil (I like Olive Oil)
1 lb. ground meat (We like sausage)
1-2 cloves of garlic
1/2 c. chopped onion
2- 15 oz cans tomato sauce (I make my own due to my daughter's soy allergy)
1 Tbl Italian seasoning
Put the oil in a large pot or pan with a lid. Your pot needs to have a wide bottom to accommodate the amount of meat. Break up the meat into the pot and brown. Once it is brown add the garlic and onion and cook until the onion is translucent and tender. Next pour in your tomato sauce and your Italian seasoning. Stir until well combined. Let simmer for at least 30 minutes before serving. If you want your sauce thicker, let it simmer uncovered for a while until the extra liquids evaporate. If you want it thinner, you can either add more tomato sauce or add some water. If you want it chunkier, you can either chop up some ripe tomatoes to throw in or you can use diced tomatoes instead of tomato sauce.
This is a very basic spaghetti sauce, but my husband raves about it :-)
Do you have any grain/starch free meals that you prepare? I need some ideas!
Monday, October 15, 2012
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Sugar Detox Week 5: No Quickbreads
So far, we've cut HFCS, refined flours, desserts, and refined sugars. This week we cut out quick breads. That basically means any bread that is made without yeast including breakfast breads, muffins, cereals, and even crackers.
The author of this ebook we got this detox from didn't specify tortillas in this section and I think it is supposed to be included in it, but my husband is Mexican and would have a conniption fit if I cut tacos and burritos out for a month. In his family, they eat tortillas the same way my family ate sandwich bread.
Anyways, this week hasn't been too difficult. The hardest part of this week has been dealing with my "hormonal" cravings. I gotta say, all I've wanted for the past few days is a very big rich chocolate brownie. Ugh! I seem to be meandering through my kitchen every hour or so looking for something to satisfy my sweet craving. The only thing that I seem to be able to find is some homemade applesauce.
About a week and a half ago I took my daughter to pick some apples at our local orchard. They had granny smiths and jonagolds, so we got both kinds. I took them home unsure of what exactly I wanted to do with 10 lbs of apples, but I decided pretty quickly to make applesauce.
Here's my recipe for healthy craving killer applesauce:
10 lbs apples (peeled, cored, and sliced)
2 cinnamon sticks
1 vanilla bean (cut down the center)
Put everything into a pot and add about 1 cup of water. Let it simmer for 3-4 hours while stirring occasionally. Remove the cinnamon stick and vanilla bean. Mash the apples or you could run it through a food processor in batches if you like it pureed. This yields about 3 1/2 pints of applesauce. The vanilla and cinnamon compliment each other very well. There will be specks of vanilla throughout and it tastes almost like apple pie filling, but with NO SUGAR!
Next time, I think I won't mash the apples and I'll make it into a filling to top with granola. Yum!
What healthy alternative do you use to control your bad food cravings?
The author of this ebook we got this detox from didn't specify tortillas in this section and I think it is supposed to be included in it, but my husband is Mexican and would have a conniption fit if I cut tacos and burritos out for a month. In his family, they eat tortillas the same way my family ate sandwich bread.
Anyways, this week hasn't been too difficult. The hardest part of this week has been dealing with my "hormonal" cravings. I gotta say, all I've wanted for the past few days is a very big rich chocolate brownie. Ugh! I seem to be meandering through my kitchen every hour or so looking for something to satisfy my sweet craving. The only thing that I seem to be able to find is some homemade applesauce.
About a week and a half ago I took my daughter to pick some apples at our local orchard. They had granny smiths and jonagolds, so we got both kinds. I took them home unsure of what exactly I wanted to do with 10 lbs of apples, but I decided pretty quickly to make applesauce.
Here's my recipe for healthy craving killer applesauce:
10 lbs apples (peeled, cored, and sliced)
2 cinnamon sticks
1 vanilla bean (cut down the center)
Put everything into a pot and add about 1 cup of water. Let it simmer for 3-4 hours while stirring occasionally. Remove the cinnamon stick and vanilla bean. Mash the apples or you could run it through a food processor in batches if you like it pureed. This yields about 3 1/2 pints of applesauce. The vanilla and cinnamon compliment each other very well. There will be specks of vanilla throughout and it tastes almost like apple pie filling, but with NO SUGAR!
Next time, I think I won't mash the apples and I'll make it into a filling to top with granola. Yum!
What healthy alternative do you use to control your bad food cravings?
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Sugar Detox Week 4: No Refined Sugars
Suddenly I feel like my titles are very negative. I considered changing them to be positive (like the ebook I got this detox from), but I decided that I like to be different. Sometimes doing what is good for us, just isn't a lot of fun. Well, at least not the kind of fun we're used to.
I think it's safe to say that no one likes all change. I for one enjoy moving, redecorating, shopping for a new wardrobe, but I don't like changing my patterns. That is for sure! This process that my kitchen is going through has required me to embrace the stores I once hated and hate the stores I once embraced.
I once despised "health food" stores because of their ridiculously high prices on items that I could buy elsewhere and their lack of brand options. For example: I can't buy Rapadura at Trader Joe's. All they have is Trader Joe's brand turbinado. If I'm going to pay the same price, I want Rapadura. Now, I drive a minimum of 10 miles one way just to go grocery shopping at these stores. I have an even better understanding of the role certain chemicals, pesticides, etc. play in my current health problems now, so I'll make the drive and spend the money and it's all for good health.
I once LOVED Wal-Mart simply because I could "price match" everything and only go to one store. Now, I only go there if I couldn't find it at the "healthier" store and I absolutely have to get it. It is also right down the street from my house. In fact the 2 closest grocery stores to me are both Wal-Marts!
I'm also purchasing groceries through coops and online grocery companies now. I never wanted to do those things before simply because I didn't want to schedule my day around picking up groceries. Now, I have all the time in the world to wait for a semi truck and unload it for my groceries.
That said, now down to this week's change. This week we cut out refined sugars. That meant that my husband switched to Rapadura in his coffee and tea (I already switched) and I used a lot more money's worth of sugar in my pancakes.
My husband was so good too! He took his OWN sugar to his men's group because he knew there would be coffee. Such a proud moment! And on top of that, I drank coffee without sugar at IHOP because I forgot to bring my own. On top of that, I had them give me milk for my coffee. Have you ever read the ingredients in those non-dairy creamers? They have water, corn syrup, a bunch of sodium somethings, vegetable oil and at the very end is says it contains soy and milk. Milk? In a non-dairy creamer? Ok, that's another issue all together.
Next week (a.k.a. tomorrow) we start week 5 of our detox. Week 5 begins 'No Quickbreads'. That even includes crackers. It's basically any bread that doesn't use yeast (or sourdough). It doesn't specify if tortillas are included in that, but we are going to keep them simply because I doubt my husband can go a month without "Mexican" food.
In honor of our next step in the detox we had pancakes for dinner. I know, what a bad mommy! But let me just tell you that these are awesome pancakes! Whole wheat and made with Rapadura. My daughter and I enjoy topping them with raw butter and homemade jam made with honey! This recipe is so good that I'm going to share it even though it isn't soaked or sprouted. You could totally try making it with sprouted flour, I just didn't want our last pancakes for a month to turn out funny. We wanted to enjoy every last bite ;-)
Whole Wheat Pancakes
Makes 6-8 servings (I make a half batch for our little family and we have extras)
Dry Ingredients
2 c. Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/3 c. Sugar (I use Rapadura, in case you didn't notice. LOL)
1/2 tsp. Salt
Wet Ingredients
2 1/2 c. Milk
2 Eggs
1 Tbl. Vanilla
2 Tbl. Oil/ Melted butter (I like coconut oil)
Instructions
Whisk dry ingredients together. Whisk wet ingredients together separately. Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and stir just until mixed. Pour onto a preheated pan. Oil your pan first if needed (I use a seasoned stainless steel pan, so I don't need oil). Flip when bubbles begin to appear on the wet surface. Let cook about half as long as the other side took.
My husband enjoys topping these with butter and maple syrup. My daughter and I eat them with butter and jam. They are actually so sweet that I like to just eat them as is as a quick snack (kind of like a cookie!)
Anyone else making changes lately?
I think it's safe to say that no one likes all change. I for one enjoy moving, redecorating, shopping for a new wardrobe, but I don't like changing my patterns. That is for sure! This process that my kitchen is going through has required me to embrace the stores I once hated and hate the stores I once embraced.
I once despised "health food" stores because of their ridiculously high prices on items that I could buy elsewhere and their lack of brand options. For example: I can't buy Rapadura at Trader Joe's. All they have is Trader Joe's brand turbinado. If I'm going to pay the same price, I want Rapadura. Now, I drive a minimum of 10 miles one way just to go grocery shopping at these stores. I have an even better understanding of the role certain chemicals, pesticides, etc. play in my current health problems now, so I'll make the drive and spend the money and it's all for good health.
I once LOVED Wal-Mart simply because I could "price match" everything and only go to one store. Now, I only go there if I couldn't find it at the "healthier" store and I absolutely have to get it. It is also right down the street from my house. In fact the 2 closest grocery stores to me are both Wal-Marts!
I'm also purchasing groceries through coops and online grocery companies now. I never wanted to do those things before simply because I didn't want to schedule my day around picking up groceries. Now, I have all the time in the world to wait for a semi truck and unload it for my groceries.
That said, now down to this week's change. This week we cut out refined sugars. That meant that my husband switched to Rapadura in his coffee and tea (I already switched) and I used a lot more money's worth of sugar in my pancakes.
My husband was so good too! He took his OWN sugar to his men's group because he knew there would be coffee. Such a proud moment! And on top of that, I drank coffee without sugar at IHOP because I forgot to bring my own. On top of that, I had them give me milk for my coffee. Have you ever read the ingredients in those non-dairy creamers? They have water, corn syrup, a bunch of sodium somethings, vegetable oil and at the very end is says it contains soy and milk. Milk? In a non-dairy creamer? Ok, that's another issue all together.
Next week (a.k.a. tomorrow) we start week 5 of our detox. Week 5 begins 'No Quickbreads'. That even includes crackers. It's basically any bread that doesn't use yeast (or sourdough). It doesn't specify if tortillas are included in that, but we are going to keep them simply because I doubt my husband can go a month without "Mexican" food.
In honor of our next step in the detox we had pancakes for dinner. I know, what a bad mommy! But let me just tell you that these are awesome pancakes! Whole wheat and made with Rapadura. My daughter and I enjoy topping them with raw butter and homemade jam made with honey! This recipe is so good that I'm going to share it even though it isn't soaked or sprouted. You could totally try making it with sprouted flour, I just didn't want our last pancakes for a month to turn out funny. We wanted to enjoy every last bite ;-)
Whole Wheat Pancakes
Makes 6-8 servings (I make a half batch for our little family and we have extras)
Dry Ingredients
2 c. Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/3 c. Sugar (I use Rapadura, in case you didn't notice. LOL)
1/2 tsp. Salt
Wet Ingredients
2 1/2 c. Milk
2 Eggs
1 Tbl. Vanilla
2 Tbl. Oil/ Melted butter (I like coconut oil)
Instructions
Whisk dry ingredients together. Whisk wet ingredients together separately. Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and stir just until mixed. Pour onto a preheated pan. Oil your pan first if needed (I use a seasoned stainless steel pan, so I don't need oil). Flip when bubbles begin to appear on the wet surface. Let cook about half as long as the other side took.
My husband enjoys topping these with butter and maple syrup. My daughter and I eat them with butter and jam. They are actually so sweet that I like to just eat them as is as a quick snack (kind of like a cookie!)
Anyone else making changes lately?
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