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Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Reluctant Convert

My friend had been complaining about her diet and since I've noticed that I've recently been indulging in "treats" I thought a mini-reset might be in order.  She did not want to make a huge commitment like the Whole 30, so I suggested a Whole 7 - now I wasn't sure that this would have the desired impacts but I thought it would certainly help us adjust our diets. We planned our menus and embarked on this challenge without an announcement to our families.

Initially, she panicked about the restrictions but I assured her that as long as everything was tasty, no one would be the wiser.  Apple cider has since become her cooking sweetener of choice and coconut milk her new best friend, as it is a spectacular replacement for creams and butter.  The only thing I was unable to sell her on was eliminating the stevia from her coffee.

The key thing that Whole 30 did for me was expand my cooking repertoire and it's having the same impact on her as well - you don't have to have rice five nights each week.  It's been a little tough fighting the cravings, but I'm doing ok, although I popped some kernels today.

Sunday I pressure cooked a pseudo Moroccan lamb stew - top round lamb, okra, tomatoes, onions, butternut squash, and cauliflower seasoned with nutmeg, ginger, paprika, pepper, et al.  I also made a sweet potato & banana breakfast bread pudding with coconut flour to get us through the beginning of the week.

For tonight, I have a delicious lamb "chili" that I plan to serve over cauliflower with a leafy green on the side.  I was missing a few of my staple chili ingredients so I went out on a limb adding cilantro (including stems) and mint to the onions, mixed peppers, garlic, and ginger I sauteed.  I'll probably do an escabeche fish later in the week since I'm just about out of beef & lamb.  I guess it's time for another share.