Delusions of... Everything

The Detox Recap

The 21 day detox Handy Man and I have been participating in has now come to an end.  It was extremely successful for both of us but in much different ways.

You can read how it was successful for me here. 

Handy Man lost only a few pounds but that slight layer of fat on his abs is going away and he's gone down two belt holes.  He found out there are certain food combinations he cannot eat without emitting an odor that clears the room of other humans.  His chronic heartburn is almost completely gone.  He stopped sleeping with his c-pap machine (to stop snoring) and I have not noticed any snoring.  He has not had the same feeling of having a ton of energy that I have, but he also has not been falling asleep in the middle of the day either.

Before I started the detox, there were a few things I already knew about myself.  I have always been allergic to milk.  It was not a stomach type allergy either, but a head plugging, sneezing, sore throat reaction.  I already avoided milk and milk products as much as possible, but I wasn't really strict about it.  I also knew that enriched flour did not agree with me.  I had already mostly given up white pasta and most breads, but again I was not super strict about it.  I had a feeling that my morning coffee with sugared creamer was not really agreeing with me either.

So the detox was a great opportunity to really give up these things and see exactly how my body reacted.  As I said in a previous post, it's amazing that I could see such a change in such a short time.  I'm convinced I was poisoning my body with foods it didn't like and didn't handle well.  Never mind that I loved to eat them.  When these so called toxins were eliminated from my diet by body started healing, and quickly.  I was able to start losing weight, which had been virtually impossible before.  I lost a total of 14 pounds in the 21 days.

Here are a few simple things that I plan to continue doing to help keep my body cleansed:

• If there are ingredients in it that I cannot pronounce I'm not eating it.
• Drink a lot of water, my goal is 1/2 my body weight in ounces.
• One cup of Aloe Vera Juice a day.
• One meal in liquid form like a fruit/green smoothie for breakfast.
• Whole grains only, preferably sprouted.  No enriched flour, including wheat.
• Limit sugar, try for foods containing 5 grams or less of sugar per serving.
• Eat plenty of fresh greens everyday.
• Exercise 4 times a week.  This will be the hardest for me to do, I really don't like exercising.

This way of eating is by no means easy.  It takes planning, label reading and lots of pre-preparing to be successful.  But when I think back to how I felt a month ago, headaches, heart palpitations, lethargic, forgetful, stomach aches, gassy, chest pains, aching joints and just feeling overall sh***y, all the planning and label reading is so worth it.  I know there will be times when I will have to partake in non-detox friendly foods, but I refuse to let unhealthy eating become the norm for me again.

I plan to do a weekly blog post about how my progress is going and to share healthy recipes and tips along this journey of turning my diet and attitude around.

Wheat (and dairy) Free Wednesday

My evil witch adorable sweetie of a daughter made cookies on Monday.  I have to be honest, I ate one warm out of the oven.  Unfortunately it gave me heartburn, so any enjoyment I received eating it was short lived.  Other than that small amount, I've been wheat free for another week!

For dinners this week we ate:

Turkey and Black Bean Chili
Roasted Rosemary Chicken with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus
Potato Salmon Cakes with green beans (made without the bread crumbs!)
Breakfast!  Milk free veggie omlets with homemade hash browns, made my Handy Man.
Oven Baked Fried Chicken, with roasted white and sweet potatoes and green beans

The recipe for the Oven Baked Fried Chicken follows.  It's a recipe I got from a Weight Watchers cook book, but have changed it up a bit.

Let's get started.

Here are the ingredients you will need:

(not shown... 1 large egg)

6 boneless chicken breast (I used 12 smaller tenderloins)

4 cups corn flakes

11/2 TBSP wheat free flour

1/2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp poultry seasoning

dash cayanne pepper

dash sea salt

3 cloves garlic pressed

1 large egg

olive oil

Let's prepare it!

First pour corn flakes and seasonings into a large zip lock bag.

 

Seal bag and smash with a rolling pin (I love that part!)

 

Put egg in a dish and add pressed garlic, stir together until mixed together.

Pour enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan.

Pour some of the corn flake mixture onto a plate and line up the chicken, egg mix, corn flake mixture and prepared pan.

 

Dredge chicken in the egg mixture

 

Coat chicken with the corn flake mixture

 

Set chicken pieces in pan and drizzle with about 2 TBSP olive oil

 

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, or until nice and browned

 

Before I got the chicken ready I prepared the potatoes for roasting.  I peeled the red garnet yams, but not the russets.  I cut them into chunks and tossed them in olive oil, onion powder, salt, pepper and dill.  I put them in the oven a little ahead of the chicken, cause they take a little longer to cook.

 

After steaming some green beans it was time to eat!!

 

Good stuff!

Wheat (and dairy) Free Wednesday

Before we start go check out the pictures I took yesterday of the stormy sky.  I love watching the sky change before my eyes and it literally did that yesterday!

Welcome to Wheat (and dairy) Free Wednesday!

This is where I share with you all things wheat free; products, recipes and meal ideas.

I cook quite a bit.  I don't really like to cook, but it's one of those necessary things that must be done.  I'm not very good at following recipes and I frequently make recipes up or adjust them according to my or my families likes and dislikes.

The wheat free recipe I'm sharing today is one I made up.  I call it Rice and Chicken Surprise.  It starts with a base of rice and chicken, the surprise is whatever else you decide to put in it.

Here are the ingredients used:

Everything in the above picture is from Trader Joe's except the cayenne pepper.

Chicken breasts - I used frozen breast tenderloins, but you can use any kind of boneless chicken breast.
Rice - I used Jasmine rice, but again you can use any kind.
Corn - about 1/2-3/4 cups.  I used frozen, but canned would work
Broccoli - as much or as little as you want, I used fresh but you could use frozen
Spinach - I used about 1/3 a bag of fresh baby spinach, chopped
Yellow onion - about 1/4 of a large one, chopped
Garlic - pressed or chopped, the more the better.  I used 3 cloves, only because I was low.
Cayenne Pepper - as much or as little as you like.  I just sprinkled some on.
Salt - I only use sea salt, just a sprinkle
Olive oil - enough to coat the bottom of your pan.

First cook the rice according to package directions.

While the rice is cooking, add chopped onions, garlic, salt pepper to the pan where olive oil has been heated on low-medium heat.  I use a very large cast iron pan.

Lay chicken pieces on top.  I use mine frozen and cook them longer on a lower temp.

Cover and let steam for a while.

Now you can chop your other veggies.  I just used spinach, corn and broccoli, but you can use anything else you want!  Carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, green beans, etc.

When the chicken is almost done I cut it into pieces with my spatula.

Now would be a good time to steam your veggies.  For this recipe, I steamed the broccoli and frozen corn together.

When the chicken is browned I add the chopped spinach and the steamed veggies

I stir it all together then add the cooked rice.  Sometimes I add a little more olive oil and salt while it cooks together.

Serve with salad (or citrus fruit) or whatever you want!

You could make this dish so many different ways.

Make it with a Mexican flair by adding some peppers, black beans, and salsa with some non-dairy cheese sprinkled on top when served.  You could also add some non-dairy sour cream and avocado on the side.

I added some scramble eggs to the leftovers for breakfast with some salsa on top.  YUM!

While it is a challenge to eat wheat free, it's not impossible.  It takes a little more planning and a lot less eating out, but it can be done.

I've now been wheat free (again) since February 23 and feeling better everyday!