Sugar Free Challenge Day 2

Day 2

Sugar Free Challenge, Day 2 is about done.  Not so bad today, except for the lingering chocolate craving.  I did, however, experience some shakiness around 2pm today, but it was short lived after downing some water.  I feel like I’m having a hard time staying hydrated which seems weird because I’m pretty sure I’m taking in less caffeine.  Maybe it’s just a transitionary thing.  Here’s what I ate today!

--Scrambled eggs with sharp cheddar cheese; 2 pieces of sprouted bread toast with pastured butter and –ehem—strawberry jam.  YES, AGAIN. 

--Unsweetened ice tea and water throughout the day.

--Homemade beef barley soup

--Mozzarella cheese (snack)

--skipped dinner (not feeling so great, so didn’t want dinner.  Feeling like a bug is coming on…pretty sure it’s unrelated to the sugar thing.)

I have to share my happy little bit of awesomeness today.  Last weekend, I bought a really great thermos to take with me to work.  I have really been wanting to eat homemade soup for my work lunches, but alas, I usually eat in my car (and am usually lucky to have 10 minutes to eat).  So, hot soup was a little elusive since I don’t have a microwave in my car.  However, this thermos from Target stated that it could keep things piping hot for up to 7 hours!  Honestly, I doubted it.  Boy, was I wrong!  This awesome thermos kept my beef barley soup steaming hot until lunchtime, even though it was left in the freezing car.  In fact, it was SO hot that I still had to blow on it so I wouldn’t burn my tongue.  Fantastic.  I’m super excited about taking soup and hot meals for lunch!  I may need to invest in another one for coffee or hot tea to keep with me in the car.  We’ll see…  Check it out:  Thermos at Target.com  

I still need some creative things to eat for snacks.  I’m going to try to make this avocado dip for veggies.  Looks like it might be good…might help with my snacky needs.

Sugar, Sugar

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1dqt4_the-archies-sugar-sugar_fun

This week I decided to participate in the Sugar Free Challenge over at “The Nourishing Gourmet” blogsite.  I’ve been reading labels for a while now, and I get very frustrated when nearly every product I pick up off of a grocery shelf has some derivative of sugar or corn syrup – most of the time as the first ingredient.  UGH!  Why does everything have sugar in it?  Probably because of it’s highly addictive properties.  Companies continue to sell high quantities of super unhealthy food because these products are crazy addictive.  I really think that if most Americans took an honest look at how sugar affected them, they would admit they are addicted. 

Today was DAY 1 of the Sugar Free Challenge for me.  I tried to follow the advice over at The Nourishing Gourmet to gradually decrease sugar intake over the weekend to lessen the blow.  Saturday:  check.  Sunday?  Wicked cravings for Coca-cola and a chocolate covered strawberry blizzard from Dairy Queen.  I know that I have some hormonal things that have been also affecting my cravings, but I went ahead and indulged.

Today, I have stuck to the rules:  No refined sugar (and trying to do no refined white flour as well).  Natural sugars are okay.  I did accidentally have a cheat at breakfast:  strawberry jam on my toast.  But I honestly didn’t even think about it.  Here is what I ate today:

1.     1. Scrambled eggs with sharp cheddar cheese; sprouted toast with pastured butter and –ehem—strawberry jam.  Apple juice (no added sugar).  Also a small swig of kombucha.

2.     2. Homemade beef barley soup.

3.     3. Frozen strawberries with vanilla whole milk organic yogurt (I love the Brown Cow brand for yogurt).

4.     4. Cheese and walnuts.

5.    5.  Iced tea.

6.     6. A bite of a fermented pickle (didn’t taste as awesome as I thought it would…)

7.    7.  Left over pork chop and quinoa.  ½ tablespoon of raw fermented sauerkraut.

8.     8. Mozzarella cheese snack.

I felt like I was eating ALL . THE . TIME .  And I drank a lot of filtered water.  But at this very moment, I have a wicked nasty chocolate craving.  I think the hardest thing for me when I’m trying to eat differently is my car.  I can go to the g-store and buy smart.  I can meal plan.  I can prepare.  But, I can also walk outside, get in my car, and go to any of the infinite fast food restaurants near my home that will sell me sugar filled and other crap food without me even getting out of my car.  I mean, honestly.  There is a McDonald’s directly across the street from my apartment complex, along with a Golden Corrale.  Additionally, within walking distance is a Taco Bell, Jack in the Box, Mexican Place, Stephania’s to go, Hardees, Walgreen's, and two grocery stores.  Right now, I could WALK to Walgreen's and buy as much chocolate as my checking account could handle.

But I haven’t yet.  And honestly, I’m too tired at this moment to walk my butt to the car, let alone to Walgreen's!

Today I was lethargic.  I had crazy chocolate cravings.  I had trouble concentrating on anything but getting a piece (bag) of chocolate.  And I had a lingering headache all day.  I eventually took 2 Aleve this evening…but I’m just realizing that I didn’t check to see if the Aleve had sugar in it.  Wouldn’t that just be a kicker if the ALEVE had sugar in it?  ACK!

I’m a little worried about tomorrow (Tuesday) because of being at work all day.  I need to remember to take a bunch of snacky stuff with me that can survive being in the cold car all day and can be eaten while I drive.

Recipe: Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce

I really like spaghetti, but after a long day of work or an evening full of grad classes, I don't have time to whip some sauce up from scratch.  Luckily, I found this wonderful recipe that freezes really well!  I'm still eating my first batch of this from the freezer on a regular basis.  Simple to make, and simple to reheat.  Yay.  I did, however, tweak it a little.  Check it out.

1 lb. Grass-fed, local ground beef (from Greenwood Farms!)
1 lb. Ground sausage (I got some from the g-store that was minimally processed)
Chopped Onion to taste (I like a lot of onion)
Minced garlic cloves (I like a lot of garlic. ALOT)
2 - 28 ou. can of chopped tomatoes
2 - 8 ou. cans of tomato sauce
2 - 6 ou. cans of tomato paste
2 c. homemade chicken bone stock (mine was frozen)

Spices to taste: (because I like a lot of spice)
Oregano
Basil
Salt
Pepper

In a large skillet, brown the beef and sausage over med-high heat with the onion and garlic until cooked through. Drain off any grease. Combine in a slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients and turn on low. Cook for 6-8 hours.  Allow to come to room temperature.  Portion and freeze.

Recipe: Chicken and Corn Crockpot Chili

***UPDATE***
I ended up not liking this recipe!  Maybe I don't like pinto beans or chicken with beans and these spices, but I ended up throwing this away.  It wasn't worth the precious space in my freezer, unfortunately!  Let me know if you try it and like it.  Maybe I'm just picky!

Photo Credit

It's finally starting to feel like November here in St. Louis, and I'm continuing my brave quest of trying new recipes, cooking at home, trying to cook in a nourishing fashion, and tweaking recipes to make them more nourishing.  I adore crockpot cooking.  Today I tried and tweaked something from the internet.  It's still cooking...so I guess I'll find out later if it is super awesome.

I started with a recipe from here.  Here's what I ended up doing:

1 frozen package of free-range, pastured, local chicken (2 legs, 2 thighs)
2 c. frozen homemade chicken bone broth
1 pkg. dry pinto beans
2 -15 ou. jars of salsa (I used mild)
3 ears frozen sweet corn (picked and prepared in season)
1 small can of tomato paste (I added halfway through to thicken a bit)

All spices to taste (I like a LOT of spice: me-ow):
Cumin
Chili Powder
Garlic Powder
Black Pepper
Salt

Directions:
1.  Prepare your beans.  Either soak overnight or prepare the quick cook way.  Don't forget to rinse and pick out the rocks!
2.  Put frozen chicken and broth in your crockpot on high.  Cook until chicken is done enough to pick off the bone.
3.  Pick chicken off of bones (I hate this part, but worth it).  Discard the bones, skin, fat.  Return shredded chicken to the crockpot for additional cooking.
4.  Add drained beans, spices, salsa, tomato paste, and corn to the crockpot.  Continue cooking on high/low (your preference) until done and ready to serve.

I plan on serving mine with cheese, tortilla chips, and sour cream.  I am trying to add homemade broth to as many recipes as possible, so I'm hoping it works nicely here.  The original recipe also says to use more chicken, and boneless, skinless breasts.  However, I used less chicken to frugal it up, and thighs/legs are less expensive as well.  Plus, bone-in cooking is more nutritious!  Let me know what you think!  Do you have a better spin on Mexican Chicken Chili?  I want to know about it!

Yogurt.

Seriously?  I mean, who knew that what I've been eating at years wasn't real yogurt.  Well, I suppose I was *forcing* myself to eat it.

Today, I experienced what I consider actual yogurt for the first time.  This is what I purchased at the g-store:

Organic Plain Whole Milk, Cream on Top, Yogurt

Besides the unpleasantness of slicing my thumb open on the foil yogurt lid (OUCH!), I was really surprised by this yogurt.  Here's my brief yogurt history.  I never really ate yogurt until late 2005 when I hired a nutritionist and personal trainer to facilitate weight loss.  I was to have a low fat yogurt cup each evening at 8:30pm IF I was still hungry.  I was restricted to a certain brand and line of yogurt.  The consistency always presented the "ick" factor, and even with vigorous stirring it was still kinda, well, lumpy.  Often, I would even hold my nose to get it down, no matter the fruity or pie flavor.  Eww!  Well, today was different.  When I opened the container and smelled the yogurt (yes, I smelled it!), it smelled a little like cream cheese!  This totally intrigued me!!  It didn't taste like cream cheese (darn!), but with a little on top of fresh strawberries, it was pretty good!  Definitely not my typical yogurt experience.  And, today could have been the first time EVER that I was satisfied without sugar on my strawberries.  That's a huge accomplishment!

So...my big question is WHY people don't talk about this?  Why are full fat dairy products so demonized?  This yogurt was definitely superior to any sugar free, low fat, flavored yogurt I've ever tasted.  I hope my local g-store keeps carrying it...

Weird!

So...I cooked dinner from scratch at home as well.  I actually only had iced tea for lunch because I wasn't hungry after a late-ish breakfast for the stars.  Dinner consisted of the following:

--brown rice.  Well, the brown rice was kind of an experiment in the rice cooker.  I used chicken broth instead of water, and added sauteed garlic, parsley and an onion to the rice.  It turned out FAB!  The broth taste with the onion reminded me of my mom's rice that she always made growing up.  Now...if I could only use broth that wasn't from a can...

--grilled chicken.  Right now the only chicken I have are some boneless, skinless breasts from whole foods market (no meds/hormones).  The only "grill" I have is a George Foreman. ;)  So I grilled a ginormous chicken breast with a lot of black pepper.  I only ate half of it, so yay for leftovers.

--local zucchini.  Zucchini is seriously one of my favorite veggies.  MMMM.  I pan cooked the zucchini in some pastured butter with seasoned salt and red pepper flakes.  I didn't cook it long, as I don't like my zucchini mushy - yuck!  Then, I grated some fresh parmesan cheese on top.  I only ate half of the batch...so again...yay for leftovers.

This dinner was GOOD!  I used a LOT of pepper though, it it was a little heavy on the heat side.  But guess what I found out?  I was craving a glass of milk after the meal to counteract the heat.  The milk tasted similar to an after-dinner ice cream treat because of the taste and the creaminess of it.  WEIRD!  Who would have ever thought that a simple glass of milk could quench my nighttime ice cream cravings?!  Amazing...  I also have to say that with both meals I cooked today I had a different experience.  Usually I get a sickly full feeling when I eat a meal.  Today I just felt satisfied, not sickly or overly full.  Of course, it could just be a psychosomatic thingie-ma-bob...so I guess I'll see if I continue on this coolio path.

New Breakfast Tradition

So, I haven't blogged in a while.  A very, very brief catch up.

--I read the book "Deep Nutrition" from cover to cover and it made sense to me.
--I have been scouring the internet for information.
--I started an ecouse on traditional food and budgeting

Last night, I went to the grocery store determined to get "better" food for breakfast today.  I love breakfast, but I had gotten into the bad (very bad) habit of eating McGriddles from McDonalds in the morning.  Well, I have to tell you that my breakfast this morning was so much tastier than McDonalds today!  MMMMM.

At the store, I bought the following for breakfast today:
--organic, cage free eggs (not free range, but pretty close)
--preservative free, nitrate free bacon (I was shocked to find this at the regular g-store!)
--Organic, pastured butter (mmm)
--Organic, whole, vitamin D milk

I have to say I was really concerned about drinking whole milk.  I've been drinking skim milk since starting high school (hmmm...that's about...well...holy crap 17 years!  I'm old...), and milk fat has been vilified.  I honestly expected it to be chunky and taste like gristle or something.  Well I was wrong.  I opened and poured it into a glass this morning with uneasiness.  Then, I smelled it.  Who smells their milk?!  Apparently, I do.  I realized there was no smell.  When I buy skim milk, I have thought for years it smelled - even when it was fresh off the shelf.  This is one of the main reasons I stopped drinking milk straight out.  There was NO smell to my new milk in the red carton.  Then I took my first sip and MMMMM.  I have rediscovered milk!

Amazingly, I also decided that I would be fine with LESS food than I made this morning.  That's weird...I usually always want more breakfast.  Maybe that real fat told my body that it was full.  Anyway...so far, so good.