The Week of Free

     After reading another blog about a month's worth of grain, gluten, and dairy free eating, I decided to challenge myself: a week of fruits, veggies, and meet. So sue me: I know myself well enough to not do this for a month. Me love cheese. I also know the power of the connotative word, so I didn't call it "dairy free, grain free" all in an attempt to trick myself. Oh the dramatic irony. I will say, this week I had a lot more energy, and I found myself not craving a second or fifth cup of coffee. I found myself not craving sweets. It was a commitment to myself, and it was really about changing habits.
Day one:

Breakfast was a yummy fruit salad.
I munched on almonds for snacks.
Lunch was leftover veggie soup
Dinner was salmon, baked potatoes with salsa, and green beans.
Day two:
Crazy curriculum day. I had an apple for breakfast and almonds for a snack.
We went out for lunch and I ordered sweet potato sushi rolls..... I know, two days in and I caved. But damn, it was good, and I immediately noticed how filling the rice was!
Dinner was Chicken Sausage Kale Stir Fry

Sauté gluten free chicken sausage. Remove from pan.
Add shredded kale, sliced carrots, minced garlic, diced sweet potato, quartered mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper.
Easy. Delicious. Filling.
Day three:
Breakfast: fruit salad and almonds
Lunch: strawberries, carrots with hummus, clementine, almonds
Dinner: Chicken Fajita Lettuce Wraps and Oven Fries

       In a glass baking pan, add sliced chicken breast, peppers, onions, tomatoes. Season with cumin, chili powder, garlic salt. Bake at 425 for about 40 minutes; as an alternate, you can wrap all this up in foil and throw it on the grill.
"Wrap" your fajita mix in bib lettuce. Top with avocado.
Cut potatoes in wedges. Mix with olive oil and cumin and chili powder and garlic salt. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes or so. Top with salsa.
Day Four:
Breakfast: Monkey Salad
Slice bananas and mix with cashews and organic coconut flakes.
Lunch: leftover sushi, clementine
Dinner: ChickUn-Parmesean
Bake chicken breast at 375-400 for about 40 minutes. Top with marinara sauce. Serve with zucchini, green beans, asparagus.
Day five:
Breakfast: Monkey Salad
Lunch: leftover ChickUn
Dinner: Grilled Grass-fed Burgers and Oven Fries

I splurged on organic, grass-fed beef. I mixed it with garlic salt and pepper and grilled them. I made a "bun" of bib lettuce and topped them with veggies and a sauce of Veganaise and Dijon mustard.
St. Patrick's Day
I trimmed all the fat off of the corn beef brisket . What a difference!!!
I then sautéed some shredded cabbage and green beans with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Added diced potatoes mixed with olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper....bake at 425 for 30 minute. A much lighter traditional Irish meal.

Overall, I lost two pounds this week. I noticed I felt more alert. Once you commit to changing the habits, your body will take care of the rest.