How to Poach an Egg: Eggs Benedict Placebo Style

Today's Lunch:

Eggs Benedict with Sauteed Carrots & Tomatoes Topped with Fresh Basil

Homemade "Hollandaise Sauce"

• 1 Tablespoon Cashew Hummus
• 1 teaspoon spicy brown mustard
• 1 teaspoon water

Carrots & Tomatoes

• 1/2 teaspoon ghee (clarified butter)
• 1 medium carrot, sliced
• 1 medium tomato
• S&P
• Fresh basil

Saute, season and devourer!

Dinner tonight was a little different. I now know I hate celery. Weird right? Celery isn't really all the flavorful and I love crunch, but two different food items have lead met to this discovery.

1. Cosmic Coconut: Organic Go Green Juice= the celery/peppery flavor was so overpowering I couldn't get over it. 
2. Homemade "Sloppy Joes" with ground celery seed= same sweetish/peppery flavor that reminds me of a bloody mary. 

Well the Homemade Sloppy Joes were still good, just very different.

Homemade Sloppy Joes:

• 1/2 lb of ground beef (grass fed/regional which means it came all the way from east GA....)
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 medium bell peppers, chopped
• 1 T onion powder and garlic powder
• 1 T chilli powder
• 1/2 t celery seed
• 1 teaspoon ground mustard
• S&P
• Tons of red pepper flakes and ground red pepper
• 2 Tablespoons Almond Butter
• 1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce 
• 1 Tablespoon Siracha 

Saute and eat over fresh spinach greens. On the side I had my own quick version of ratatouille!

Quick Ratatouille

• 1/2 teaspoon ghee 
• 3 baby Hansel and Gretel Eggplant, sliced
• 1, 15oz can diced tomatoes, no salt added
• Dried Basil
• Dried Oregano  

Saute and enjoy for a quick side dish or main meal over rice. 

I did more cooking today for the week, but hopefully I will get a post up tomorrow with the details of the lovely Quinoa Lentil Salad I made for the week! 

You will notice some changes in the recipes for the next few weeks. Once again, I am trying a new approach to eating. I tried Gluten Free and it just didn't work for me. It taught me a lot though. It help me incorporate more veggies into my diet and not be so afraid of meat/seafood (two major food sources!) 

I still wasn't really happy with what I was eating though and analyzed my diet for a few weeks to see what was missing. I found out 4 huge holes/over-following areas I really need to revamp and redo.

• Potassium: Some days I wouldn't even get 50% of the K+ I need in a day! 
• Calcium: Still struggling to get enough since I don't do dairy. Greek Yogurt is strained 3x removing the majority of the whey protein which is where most of the calcium is found...and GY is the only kind of yogurt I eat
• SUGAR!!!: Some days, even though I was eating a "normal" amount of calories my sugar intake was close to 90grams! That is more than double what you need in a day...One day I took in 300% of the Sugar I needed in the day and only 1500 calories...For me 1500 calories is NOTHING! I normally eat between 2000-2500.
• Fat: Always too low! Could this possibily be why I was eating so much sugar? Not having enough fat always ends in feeling unsatisfied and needing something NOW and for me that always means something sweet. 

So my big question was where was all the sugar coming from and do I REALLY need it all? I do exercise a lot, but 90g of straight up sugar just seems like TOO much. I don't eat a lot of cookies,cakes or sweets (minus the daily intake of dark chocolate)...so what was the culprit? Fruit mainly (dried and whole) and silly things like sandwich thins, adding 1/2 t of agave to coffee, the Mango Salsa I made had 26g of sugar in 1 serving (only 136 calories...but 26grams of sugar!). 

Something just wasn't lining up. It just didn't seem right to get all the sugar in. So, I've decided to try (and who knows how long this kick will last..) to eliminate all sugars for a bit and just see how I feel (Fruits included...aahhh!!) 

New plan:

• Only using foods that have been on Earth or a LONG time. 
• Removing all added sugars, fruits included (well, not tomatoes?)
• Increasing the amount of fat intake with meats, 2% Fage Yogurt, Unsweetened Chocolate and Nut Butters 
• Decreasing the amount of oil (canola and all seed oils are HIGHLY processed and haven't been around that long) and increasing the amount of clarified butter (ghee--through clarification process lactose is removed) 
• Let me clarify: I'm not cutting out Carbohydrates, I'm decreasing the amount of sugar in my diet..Big Difference! 

So we shall see how it goes! I'll keep you updated on energy levels, mood swings, exercise mentality, sleeping and food cravings!

Yah! Bought a Basil Plant: I know it is late in the Season! Replant & hoping it won't die!