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So I started trying to consciously make better choices (again) last Friday. (today is Wednesday). I especially tried to actively steer away from anything with added processed sugar & white flour. I found it interesting (and not surprising) to find that on Sunday, I woke up feeling pretty yucky. I had a headache all day and didn't feel my best. I am assuming that it was just a sign that my body was going through a detox. From everything I have read, this is a normal thing when you stop feeding your addictions... (drug, alcohol, or FOOD) detox is real - and not very fun. Luckily, I have been trying to be "better" for a while, so even though the last week or so had been less than stellar (Valentines Day and all the accompanying chocolate - and other - treats) I had still been consuming less junk overall; suffice it to say - some detox discomforts, but only a day's worth, so not as bad as it could have been.
On Saturday, we had our monthly "group date" with some friends from the neighborhood, and after our scheduled activity, we came to my house for "treats." I used the group as my taste testing group to try out some new no refined sugar, no refined flour treats. I made two kinds of cookies, they were OK - but not so fantastic that I am dying to make them again... plus an apple cranberry crisp and a chocolate strawberry cheesecake. (it was supposed to be vegan, calling for dairy free cream cheese, but I couldn't find any, so I just used regular cream cheese. ) The chocolate dessert was the most like a "real dessert" - as it had a lot of dates in the crust & date syrup as a sweetener in the filling. It was pretty good. I will make it again for special occasions. The crisp was also good, but pretty tart. I think if I make it again, I'll add a few more dates to counteract the tartness from the cranberries.
I spent time on Monday searching for some recipes to try to for dinner. Monday night I made a "Creamy Broccoli Potato Casserole." It was pretty labor intensive and while it tasted OK, I don't know if it was worth the time and effort. (not to mention it bubbled over in the oven and when trying to bake cornbread tonight, I filled my house AGAIN with smoke and the terrible smell of burning "cashew/nutritional yeast sauce." I haven't chucked the recipe yet, but it won't be something that is a frequent "go to" recipe.
Tuesday night I didn't have to make dinner, as we were having a Relief Society dinner, Cafe Rio style salad. I just chose to build a salad without adding the meat or cheese. I ate lettuce, beans, rice, salsa, guacamole, tomatoes, and the dressing. It was good.
Today I made "The Best Chili Sin Carne" - with vegan cornbread on the side. This recipe was a WINNER! I thought it was really delicious. Bryan had a bunch of friends over to go sledding, and they came back planning to build a fire and roast hotdogs. They found out that we are apparently OUT of hotdogs, so I offered the kids some chili. ALL FIVE of the teenagers who ate the chili LIKED it. Sounds like a winner to me! (I haven't heard yet from Caleb as to whether or not he liked the chili... but he did say he liked the cornbread.) I know the cornbread doesn't 100% fit the WFPB parameters, because it calls for oil and sugar, but I made a few adaptations and figured it was still a way better choice than my usual White flour, refined sugar version. I figure that is my goal, to find ways to make eating a mostly WFPB diet that my family will think is still normal and tasty. Here are links to the recipes that I used. I didn't get a picture of the chili - I was too busy helping all the extra teens in the house get their food, and then I was too busy EATING! I will definitely make this one again! (here is a picture from the post where I got the recipe. )
https://nutriciously.com/wp-json/mv-create/v1/creations/2/print. (I doubled the recipe. I didn't have any zucchini, but I had two yellow squash, so I used those. I also used 1 - 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, and 2- 10 oz cans of Rotel tomatoes with green chilies.)
https://www.noracooks.com/the-best-vegan-cornbread/. (i used whole wheat flour instead of white, and cut the sugar to 1/2 cup, using a combo of white and brown. I think next time I make it I'll try using honey as the sweetener. I also found that the batter looked way too thick, I assume because I was using whole wheat flour, so I ended up adding more almond milk, no idea how much, just until it looked more like my normal cornbread batter )
So - how's it going? I'm feeling good about things. I feel like I look a little less bloated. I haven't had any more "detox headaches." I had a couple opportunities today to eat "treats" - people at school are always offering such temptations, but I was able to reflect first, and then make a conscious choice to walk away. I feel good about that.
