Quitting Sugar Week 2 – What We Ate

In Week 2 of the Sugar Detox the focus was to add in more healthy fats. I don’t think I did as well as I could have with this though. Sarah Wilson recommends eating lots of avocados as one way to add in more fat, but being allergic to them I had to ditch that idea. Instead I ate more cheese than normal. I am not a big fan of eggs, but to get through Weeks 3-6 I think I will have to make an effort to incorporate those into my breakfast routine.

I have to say I am very proud of my boyfriend and he has exceeded my expectations in his avoidance of sugar. When I have given him the option to have a treat this week he has declined and stuck to our plan. Frankly I am surprised since he’s such a little sugar addict but maybe losing 10 pounds already has something to do with it.

Here is what we ate:

Breakfast
Blueberry Almond Coconut Overnight Oats MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY

Scrambled Eggs with Spinach SATURDAY

Veggie Frittata, Rosemary Potatoes, Fruit Parfait and Champage SUNDAY (one of my best friends hosted a Sunday Brunch and I had a cheat meal. I probably shouldn’t have had the parfait or the champagne, but I mean come on, I’m not on Week 3 yet!)

Lunch

Lentils, wheat berries, tomatoes, onion, veggie bowl MONDAY, TUESDAY

Polenta with shiitake mushrooms and leeks WEDNESDAY

Eggplant with tomatoes, garlic, onion, and cinnamon and Roasted vegetables: squash, onions, zucchini, and mushrooms THURSDAY

Black bean, salsa, and cheddar cheese burritos FRIDAY

Snacked while meal prepped for the week SATURDAY

Brunch (see breakfast)

Dinner

Polenta with shiitake mushrooms and leeks MONDAY

Eggplant with tomatoes, garlic, onion, and cinnamon and Roasted vegetables: squash, onions, zucchini, and mushrooms TUESDAY

Pizza with artichoke hearts, olives, and garlic WEDNESDAY

Veggie Bowl THURSDAY

Pasta with Immunity Boosting Sauce from the Oh She Glows Cookbook FRIDAY

Vegan Chili SATURDAY

Soba Noodle Bowl SUNDAY

Snacks

Tortilla chips and savory almond dipping sauce, blackberry and oat bar (natural sugar only) MONDAY, TUESDAY, THURSDAY

Almonds, walnuts, blackberry and oat bar WEDNESDAY

Cheese FRIDAY

Veggies SATURDAY

N/A SUNDAY

Quitting Sugar Week 1 – What We Ate

We made it through week 1 of the I Quit Sugar Detox. Week 1 is about cutting back on sugar so we did still eat fruit and natural sugar (pure maple syrup). Meal prepping for the week was a lot of work, and I still had to do small things in the kitchen each night. But having the main meals already prepared really helped.

I’ve already learned that you have to have a plan and something waiting for you when hunger strikes.  When you get ridiculously hungry you will be tempted to just eat whatever you can find. This didn’t actually happen, but I came close. Saturday morning I was starving, running out the door, and wondering what I could possibly eat when I remembered I had a granola bar.  So I didn’t blow the detox on the first week!

Here’s what we ate week 1 (as close as I can remember). Some days I ate the same thing everyday, which I am ok with but may drive other people crazy.

Breakfast
Blueberry Almond Coconut Overnight Oats MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY
Coconut Fluffs FRIDAY

Tropical Granola Bars SATURDAY, SUNDAY

Lunch
Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas MONDAY
Soba Noodle Bowl TUESDAY
Clean Green Bean Casserole WEDNESDAY
Savory Roast Veggie Latkes THURSDAY
Savory Roast Veggie Latkes FRIDAY
Savory Roast Veggie Latkes SATURDAY
Soba Salad SUNDAY

Soba Noodle Bowl Ingredients

Dinner
Clean Green Bean Casserole MONDAY
Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas  TUESDAY
Mashed Potatoes (for me) Chicken and Mashed Potatoes (for my boyfriend) WEDNESDAY
Soba Noodle Bowl THURSDAY
Homemade Cheese Pizza FRIDAY
Enchilada Filling Hash SATURDAY
Random Snacks While Cooking (snacked on what I was cooking for this week) Chicken for the boyfriend SUNDAY
Snacks
Savory Crackers: Rosemary & Garlic // Fig & Pepper MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY
Cheese WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY
Gogi Berries WEDNESDAY
Veggies & Hummus WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY
Granola Bars MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY

 

Two Days Into The Sugar Detox // Delicious Homemade Sugar Free Dairy Free Coffee Creamer

Having completed two whole days of the I Quit Sugar detox plan by Sarah Wilson I have to say so far it’s going pretty smoothly. Week 1 is about cutting back on sugar so you don’t have to go cold turkey and can ease into it. The only sugar my boyfriend and I have had the past two days has been natural sugar (blueberries and maple syrup in our breakfasts of Overnight Oats) and a small amount of dried figs in the crackers that I made. I actually haven’t craved any sugar so far, but after lunch and dinner I notice that I do think about eating something sweet, probably out of habit. But I just acknowledge the thought and move on.

My boyfriend has lost 3 pounds since this past Sunday! He didn’t believe it so he weighed himself again 30 minutes later (nothing changed). He’s attributing it to surfing (uh-huh), he surfs almost every day so I don’t know why all of a sudden he would start losing weight. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact he isn’t taking down a quart of ice cream in one sitting.

Straining the almond pulp from the milk

On a separate note, this morning I had THE best cup of coffee I’ve had in a long time and it was thanks to a recipe I discovered on the Detoxinista blog for coffee creamer made with almonds, water, and coconut oil. It was really easy and fast, you just need to soak 1 cup of almonds in water for 6-8 hours before you get started.

Once your almonds are soaked and rinsed, put them in your high powered blender with 4 cups of filtered water and 2 tablespoons of coconut oil. Blend until creamy and then strain the pulp from the milk. I used a cheese cloth and a sieve, next time I will try using a nut bag (I will be making this weekly from now on so I think it’s time I bite the bullet and buy one).

I am in love with this creamer because it tastes amazing, doesn’t separate and get gross in your coffee like store bought ones can, doesn’t have any artificial ingredients or preservatives, and was very satisfying due to the little bit of coconut oil. Tomorrow morning I am going to try adding in a little cacao powder (a suggestion in the comments section of the Detoxinista blog post) and see how that tastes. My search for a good non-dairy coffee creamer has been a long and disappointing one…until today!

Quitting Sugar // The Experiment Begins

Tomorrow my significant other and I are starting an 8 week sugar detox and to be honest we are not looking forward to it. BUT it needs to happen. My boyfriend is a gnarly sugar addict (like eats a quart of a Trader Joe’s Vanilla Ice Cream almost every night kind of addict). I don’t blame him, he is sober and as he points out, this is the only vice he has (besides compulsive surfboard and motorcycle collecting).

However, the poor guy has a really bad case of psoriasis, degenerative disc disease, is always tired and feels foggy. I am convinced it has to do with his diet. My diet isn’t perfect either, but thankfully I don’t have those symptoms. I just want him to feel better because it isn’t normal to feel that bad all the time. So, once he told me he was willing to try to quit sugar I jumped on it and am committing to do it as well.

What this means is that I have committed to making all our meals and snacks for the next 8 weeks (please shoot me). Because when I sign on to something I tend to go all in; not necessarily a good thing. I basically decided that we should give up all processed food while we’re at it. And I eat a plant based diet 95% of the time (fish once in a while), so this little experiment is going to be a little gnarly.

So today after a 3 hour motorcycle ride in 90 degree weather (I just upgraded my brake so I had to test it out on some twisty back roads!) I meal prepped for the week. It ended up taking me six and a half hours, I was not expecting that. But, I made some really delicious meals and I know I will be happy I got it done later in the week. I know that when I get tired and hungry I do not want to cook. I commute two hours a day, so the last thing I want to do is spend another hour or two making dinner.

I am a huge procrastinator so this is really going to be a test for me. But I have the best motivation ever in trying to help the person that I love so it’s totally worth it. We went grocery shopping Saturday and I made home made granola bars and crackers Saturday night (we really know how to party). And then today was a marathon in the kitchen. I can honestly say I have never cooked so many things in one day – it is exhausting. I’m just hoping I will get faster the more I do it!

Here is a list of what I made over the last two days:

Savory Crackers: Rosemary & Garlic // Fig & Pepper

Tropical Granola Bars

Blueberry Almond Coconut Overnight Oats

Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas with Cilantro Hummus (made a double batch so I could freeze one)

Thai Peanut Soba Noodle Bowl Prep

Clean Green Bean Casserole

Cut up a bunch of parsnips, bell peppers, cucumbers, spinach, green onions to use later in the week

Black Fig & Pepper Crackers

Tropical Granola Bars

Thai Peanut Soba Noodle Bowl Prep

Clean Green Bean Casserole

Grain Free Gluten Free Muffins That Actually Taste Good!

In my journey to clean up my diet the biggest challenge has been what to eat for breakfast. Unfortunately I am allergic to avocado and so that cuts out a lot of options as a vegetarian (technically I am a pescatarian but I only eat about 3 kinds of fish and when I do eat fish it’s quite rare; I’ve never been a big fan of seafood). The other issue I have is that I don’t like eggs. I know, I am a very picky eater and a lot of that has to do with having a highly sensitive stomach. I will eat eggs if it’s part of the recipe, but that’s about the only time it happens. So, having a healthy, filling breakfast that fits my needs has been pretty illusive.

Then I found this recipe online through the Yummly app! I think this is my new favorite app, and I’m not a big app person. It was titled 5 Minute Muffins which caught my attention, but I’ve made them 3 times now and it’s definitely taken me longer than that. The cool thing is you just throw everything in your blender and then pour them into the muffin cups (I recommend using those, the one time I just used the muffin tin it was a disaster).

My variation on these is that I have to bake them about 10 minutes longer than the recipe says (& I have an oven thermometer so I know that my oven is at the right temperature). This time around I made my own almond butter by just throwing a cup of raw almonds in my Vitamix and then added about 3 Tablespoons of Hempseed Oil to bind the almonds into a butter. After I did that I followed the recipe below and then sprinkled some Unsweetened Coconut Flakes on the top before throwing them in the oven.

These are really easy to make, taste great, have barely any clean up, and keep you pretty full.

Paleo, Gluten Free, Grain Free Mini Muffins Made With Bananas

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Total time: 15 mins

Nutritional Information: Calories: 165 Fat: 11g Carbs: 13g Protein: 6g
Serves: 24 mini muffins or 12 large muffins
Ingredients
1 cup nut butter
2 medium sized bananas or approx. ⅔ cup of smashed bananas (The more ripe, the sweeter!)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons of raw honey (or other sweeteners such as maple syrup, stevia, etc.)
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Toppings: dehydrated unsweetened coconut flakes, raisins, flaxseed, dark chocolate chips, cinnamon, and/or anything else you can think of.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375º degrees F.
Place all ingredients into a blender or food processor. You can also use a stick blender if you have one.
Blend until well mixed.
Pour batter into a greased muffin tin. You can also use a mini muffin tin to make 24 mini muffins.
Add additional toppings of your choice to each muffin and lightly stir into each cup
Cook time: 15 minutes for full size muffins and 10 minutes for mini muffins.
Reheat in a toaster oven for about 4 minutes at 350 degrees F, or eat at room temperature.