Food ideas to stay on track - 21DSD - Day 2

How did you start your day? Hopefully, a little better than I did. On our second day of the 21-Day Sugar Detox, the kitchen knife attacked me. As I was quickly cutting up a daikon radish for my home ferment, the knife slipped out of my hand and fell vertically on my foot, with the sharp edge down, of course. The chef reading this will tell me to sharpen my knives, I'm on it. I am okay; just left with a little wound to commemorate the attack. I hope I didn't freak you out, Mom.

While I'm taking a little break from my kitchen today, I wanted to share with you the foods I've prepared and bought to help us stay on track during the detox. We are more likely to slip up when there isn't anything in place of fast food. In our case, fast food is not your typical junk food, it's the plethora of seasonal oranges and persimmons growing outside our house that are very tempting to grab on the go. But I am saving those for after the detox; it will be interesting to know how sensitive my palate will be to the natural fruit sugars, and perhaps my desire to inhale two at a time will be ceased.

So here are some of the items that help us stay on track:

Fermented Veggies You might have already heard about the health benefit of fermented foods, Diane talks about it extensively and has a recipe for how to make sauerkraut on her blog and Practical Paleo book. My family has always been making and eating sauerkraut, but only in the last couple of years learned of its probiotic and lactic acid content that helps balance the gut flora and aid digestion. We have since started to ferment other veggies; a mix of carrots, radishes, and celery. I don't really like these veggies raw, but the fermentation makes them rather palatable and easy to digest. If I'm craving a snack, a tablespoon of sauerkraut or couple pieces of fermented carrots come to the rescue. I love that they have a long shelf-life and compliment just about every meal - we often eat some kind of protein with fat, starch, and kraut. And the preparation is simple; just takes a few days to ferment, so make sure to make in advance.

Homemade Mayo This is another great ingredient that's simple to prepare (in just a few minutes) and versatile, can be used to dress eggs, salad, or served as a dip for veggies, options are endless. Basic mayo is made up of egg yolk, salt, mustard, vinegar, and oil. It's actually a very nutritious food, but the stuff sold in stores is made with preservatives and inflammatory industrial oils, like soybean and canola that we completely eliminated from our diet. So the 3 minutes that it takes to make mayo at home are so worth it. Make it in advance and you can have tuna/salmon salad for lunch or dinner in a pinch. Now you have no excuse. I love Nom Nom Paleo's mayo recipe, but do prefer using a blender. :)

Portable Protein and Fats I didn't make Jerky Chews just because. When you are out of the house, it's good to have portable protein to ward of hunger and actually stay satiated between meals. And just because you are out and about, doesn't mean you have to stop eating healthy. Look for options with clean real food ingredients that do not launch your blood sugar into a roller coaster ride. Besides beef jerky, hard boiled eggs and canned salmon or tuna are good portable options. Coconut cream and oil are my favorite fats to eat when I'm craving something sweet. I have no self-control with nut butters, so don't keep any in the house. If that's not the case with you, get it. Pick what works best for you and stick with it.

Good thing we have some left over meat from last night, all I got to do now is add pre-prepared sauerkraut and mayo and dinner is served. Even battle scars cant stop us from eating well!