Three weeks in!! Super excellent! It gets easier everyday - not kidding.
This morning I enjoyed my wheat-free, dairy-free oats with apples, dates, granola and quinoa milk. I usually use raisins in my oatmeal, however, I tried dates today and I think I will keep using these instead. They melted! Melted INTO the oatmeal on being cooked together, and sweetened the entire dish. It was amazing!
I lunched on some rice pasta (I had made some more yesterday, but it really feels like the never-ending pasta...I think I'm done with it for now! LOL).
Dinner included the quinoa-bean salad, an avocado, mashed sweet potato (delicious!), and stir-fried zucchini, carrot, asparagus and spinach. Everything on this plate took under 20 minutes to put together, and it was so filling and naturally flavourful! Yum.
Snacks throughout the day included a carob cookie, carrots with hummus, and dates. Oh! And a few cups of my new favourite tea - caffeine-free peppermint rose fennel. This tea is by a brand called Pukka. Organic, herbal and so fragrant. I encourage everyone to try their favourite kind!
Confessions:
I think I'm going to have to find a new kind of pasta dish. Before I get super sick of the butternut squash kind!! Hmmmm...

SUPER long (AND FUN) day - I will attempt to make this quick and painless! :)
Breakfast this morning included the leftover pumpkin french toast sticks and some granola with quinoa milk. Let me say, warming up those french toast sticks was divine! They made my home smell so warm and inviting. I think I may have enjoyed them MORE today rather than yesterday! Delicious!
Today I had a day off. Rare, I know! So the pic you see on the left is me packing food for 12 hours worth of not being in my home! What's in the containers you may ask? GREAT QUESTION!
I packed up the following to get me through the day: carrot sticks, cucumber, hummus, grapes, berries, carob cookies, quinoa bean salad, rice pasta, 1.5L water bottle, and peppermint rose fennel tea. Did I eat it all? No. BUT I shared! A buddy (same dude from day 16) and I were hanging out the whole day, and as he is on the same diet, we split the food! It was still a lot, but we managed to make a good indent in the packed goods. What did my buddy bring ME? Another GREAT QUESTION! Lettuce wraps. A fantastic idea and I've only seen these once before at a restaurant for the "carb-conscious" eater - using a giant lettuce leaf instead of the tortilla to cut back the carbs! So my lettuce wrap contained hummus, cilantro, dill...and that was it. Bless him, he tried.
We wanted to find something for dinner so we could check out other options. There is this restaurant in Mississauga called Zen Gardens. It's vegetarian! But, they seem to be super fond of soy, which neither of us can have on our diets. So out of everything on their extensive menu, we settled on veggie sushi - I made sure to check ALL of the ingredients on my handy dandy blackberry (haha) prior to ordering and eating. The roll was made from sticky rice (rice cooked and cooked again), seaweed, lettuce, carrot, cucumber and sesame. While the roll was good, I would not recommend going here and not being able to have any of the dipping sauces. The food was crying out for some kind of liquid - very dry. I also snacked on avocado and some rice noodles.
All in all, a good day for food!
Confessions:
I would like to set a goal for myself in regards to educating humans more about what we really are consuming. While being on this diet, I've been told that I am "desensitized" to "real-food", as a lot of the food I am eating has more of an "earthy" taste to it. I was actually slightly offended because I consider my palate to be better than average. But. Then I thought about it. NO, I said. Humans as a whole have become "desensitized" to "real-food" and what I am eating on this diet IS in fact "real-food". Unaltered. No GMO. Fresh, clean, wholesome foods. What we have available to us in daily life is none of this - it is NOT "real-food" anymore. Processed, sugar-filled, genetically modified, chemical based...it's terrifying when you cannot pronounce the ingredients list on your cereal anymore.

Today was SUPER AMAZING FOOD day! I made excellent choices if I do say so myself!
Breakfast was a fantastic start to a very, very, VERY long day. Along with my berries, grapes and peppermint tea, I made PUMPKIN French Toast Sticks. That's right. Sounds good eh? I share the recipe below, because it's fast, vegan, follows my diet, and delicious! Dipped in apple butter...super.
I lunched on a light salad with lettuce, cucumber, zucchini, carrot, sunflower seeds and the quinoa croutons. I seasoned the salad with some EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and a very light sprinkle of salt.
For dinner I prepared a quinoa-bean-lentil salad. This is super simple to make and really is just quinoa...beans...lentils...mixed with whatever vegetables and/or fruit you want and seasoned with EVOO, salt, garlic, onion and a little vinegar! And of course...my signature avocado accompanied my meal.
I didn't really snack today, but definitely had my intake of water! Also, I seem to have run out of my quinoa-oat-carob cookies...a cookie monster must have finished my stash! So I baked another batch of those. Turned out excellently again! A fail-proof recipe for sure. See day 8 for the recipe!
Confessions:
I thought of a few things today. 1) I should market my carob cookies. LOL. 2) I'm going to Cuba in a month and have NO IDEA what I will be able to eat there! That will be interesting. And 3) How does one regulate times for eating? I'm usually ok with breakfast. Lunch is occasionally skipped. And by the time I get around to dinner, it's WAY past the usual dinner time. Sigh.

Pumpkin French Toast

1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
1/2 cup your favourite non-dairy milk (I used quinoa)
1 tbsp sorghum flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 vanilla bean (or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract)
a few pieces of your favourite wheat-free gluten-free bread (I used a rice bread sweetened with fruit juice)
ghee for the frying pan or griddle

Mix the first 5 ingredients together in a bowl. Slice bread into 2 inch "sticks". Your pan or griddle should be on medium heat. Spread just a teaspoon of ghee in the pan, or on the griddle. Coat each side of the bread "stick" in pumpkin batter. Place slices in the pan, cook for 3 minutes, turn and cook for another 3 minutes. Serve with apple butter. Enjoy!

I cannot believe how quickly time is flying by! Day 18?! Are you for real?
For breakfast this morning I enjoyed granola with raisins and quinoa milk - super simple, and small portion (I just really love the crunch!). I knew I had some hours before my next meal (skipped lunch! I'm horrible.), so I made sure to pack a big container of berries and grapes to help me get through the gap. Also took some all-natural, sugar-free fruit juice with me to go.
On returning home, I had an early dinner of butternut squash rice pasta combined with the leftover stirfry from last night. So YUMMY. A good serving of vegetables was exactly what I needed.
A few hours later I was hungry again so I had a bowl of boiled lentils with kidney beans. AND! TA-DA! I made the quinoa bread from yesterday into croutons. Successfully! Cut into smaller bits, drizzled with just a sprinkle of olive oil - re-baked in a 400degree oven for 15minutes and they were perfect! And a fantastic crunchy addition to the lentils. Can't wait to have these with other things such as...avocado. Or a spinach salad. Or just on their own dipped in a bit of apple butter...
Confessions:
I found myself lacking energy again today. It's been about a week since I've felt this way. I wonder if it's the weather...let's hope that it passes! Because those few days in between where I was full of it were awesome!!

Today I learned the importance of a good work out combined with this detox - if I wasn't energetic before, I am definitely now!
Along with an hour of snow shoveling this morning from the unexpected snowfall, I made time to head out to a downdog yoga class that my friend was instructing. WHAT A WORKOUT! Amazing and I know I'll be feeling this tomorrow!
Breakfast was quite large, as I didn't eat today until after I was done cleaning snow. I prepared oats with apples, berries, granola and a bit of quinoa milk. A very filling and delicious start to the day!
A small lunch of butternut squash rice pasta was had. And for dinner I kept it simple with a stir-fry of broccoli, green beans and carrots, a piece of quinoa bread (pictured above! I made it!), and boiled lentils with kidney beans. The broth of the lentil/bean mix was a great dip for the vegetables, which were naturally full of flavour all on their own as well!
Today I snacked on pomegranate, and baked a batch of kale chips. ALSO I spent a few minutes pulling together the following recipe for Quinoa Bread modified from HappyGut based on what was in my cupboards. The bread was really, really good! A nice, light, nutty flavour, good crunch to the crust. Not sure what happened to the middle part there! It rose differently than the rest of the loaf...Also, when I cut into the bread, I realized that the texture was a bit too crumbly on the inside and to my dismay, the slices began falling apart. BUT! FEAR NOT! Tomorrow I will cut smaller pieces, toss them in a bit of olive oil and re-bake them into croutons. Those will be good to snack on!
Confessions:
My hours for eating were all off today. Breakfast was late, lunch was even later and dinner I only just finished around 11pm. Not cool. I do not recommend doing this! Bad.

Quinoa Bread
1 1/2 cups quinoa flour
1 cup water
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp flax seeds
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
2 tsp chia seeds
5 tbsp water

Mix the chia with the 5tbsp water in a little bowl, let it sit for 15 minutes to thicken. Combine the dry ingredients, make a well in the centre and add the wet ingredients (including chia mixture). Mix well. Bake in a greased and floured loaf pan for 45 minutes. Turn oven off and let the bread sit in the cooling oven for 30 minutes. Pull from oven and let cool completely before removing from pan. Slice when completely cooled. Enjoy!

I certainly celebrated last night - with a lengthy, alcohol free night out! Fun times, meaning a very long day today!
I had an early start this morning, so my first breakfast (yes FIRST!) was rushed with just a few bites of granola with quinoa milk before running out the door. On returning home, I needed a SECOND breakfast... it was still morning. So, I prepared some cinnamon oatmeal, mixed in baked apples and raisins, and had this on top of a few of those muffin quarters from day thirteen. Delicious! I love a healthy, tasty, hearty breakfast in the morn. Apples and raisins together provide just a touch of sweetness which I adore.
A late lunch included a small portion of the leftover butternut squash rice pasta from last night.
Dinner...I have been wanting really greasy pizza. Can't have cheese, nor wheat, nor tomato...so I had been brainstorming all day how to mimic a "pizza flavour" without any of the traditional pizza ingredients. In the end I decided to create a grilled flatbread, made in my panini press as I do not have a grill actually... SO! I chopped and grilled the following separately in the panini press: artichokes, onion, zucchini, sliced olives. I also ran out of chia bread, BUT I had some rice bread in my freezer that I could use as the base. Just before grilling the bread, I brushed it with extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkled a pinch of salt, garlic and basil. Then, I layered some of the leftover butternut squash from last night, artichokes, onion, olives and zucchini, and put these flatbread style toasts back in the press for a few minutes to get that charred flavour. I must say, it seems like a lot of steps, but it was super simple and SO GOOD! The prep work was less than 15minutes in total. And as usual, my signature avocado as a side to the flatbread!
I didn't snack today, but drank plenty of peppermint tea, water and all-natural, organic, sugar-free cranberry juice!
Confessions:
I realized today that I really miss cheese. I know I feel better not having it though! Cheese is rarely natural these days - tons of additives and processed to the point of the definition of cheese being changed...Even the milk used for it isn't good for you! Still need to write about the various milks...on the docket of things to do!
OH! AND! I have a friend who has recently begun training with a personal trainer. As part of his new diet to "bulk up", he's been taken off of wheat, dairy, caffeine, sugar and alcohol too! He experienced the same reaction that I did initially, but he's seen me really enjoy the process of discovering foods - I can't wait for him to be excited to eat!

HALFWAY POINT! WOO!
I'll make it quick, because as promised, I'm going out to celebrate tonight!
Breakfast was a simple granola and quinoa milk - the YTGA team held a fundraiser this morning - a breakfast fundraiser - where I could not eat ANYTHING! I was super sad. There were pancakes. And I love pancakes. So, I made sure to eat before I left the house. Close to lunch however, since I did not take any snacks with me (bad Sheryl), I was famished. So I went home and had a gigantic lunch!
Lunch included the quinoa lentil pasta, an avocado and cucumber salad, and tons of berries. I ate this really fast, but surprisingly as most of it is water based, I didn't feel icky afterward!
Dinner, I celebrated my halfway point by re-creating my favourite meal to date on this diet - brown rice pasta with butternut squash. Seasoned with just a little extra virgin olive oil, salt and a pinch of garlic. So delicious!
I snacked on chia toast and pomegranate between lunch and dinner.
Now, I head out for a night with the girls - alcohol free! Time to be DD, and get my dance on!

TWO WEEKS IN! Tomorrow is the halfway point, I will make sure to celebrate!
Breakfast this morning was delicious. Those muffins from yesterday that I was impatient to let bake, and then I quartered them, and baked them again? Yes, I baked some apples with cinnamon and raisins on stove-top, added those to a few muffin quarters, topped that off with crunchy granola and had a small glass of the quinoa milk. These milk alternatives...personally, I do not enjoy them on their own, in a glass as I did this morning. It wasn't "bad" so to speak, just nothing like what we're used to.
Lunch was leftover quinoa pasta and an avocado.
Dinner. I wanted dinner to be something super simple as I feel like I've been eating too many grains. So I just steamed some green beans and broccoli, baked sweet potatoes with olive oil and chives, and had a slice of chia toast. Very satisfying, naturally tasty and it just feels good to eat clean food!
Today I snacked on dates and carob cookies. Yes. I still have a few carob cookies left! I'm trying to make them last.
Confessions:
I feel like I'm repeating food too often! Which is why I switched it up with dinner today. I'll have to make a trip to Heartbeets soon! Maybe if I spend some time there, I'll come up with new meal ideas. If anyone reading this finds any recipes, I will gladly try them! Even if they need to be modified a little.

The star of the day...MUFFINS!
For breakfast I enjoyed granola with quinoa milk - the quinoa milk had next to no taste to me! Just tasted like...slightly sweet and nutty water. Maybe that's not the most appetizing description, but that's what I have for now. AND! A muffin - to cure my lack of baked goods funk I'm in. I share the recipe below - they were incredibly "earthy" tasting. My mother tried one and said they tasted "nutty". I suppose that's the buckwheat and quinoa flours mixed together...
Dinner (yes, skipped lunch. I know, I know...) included stove top green beans - these were pan-fried with a bit of tumeric, salt and mustard seed. Quinoa pasta into which I crumbled the remaining leftover quinoa-lentil-sweet potato patties I had in my fridge. I also added extra virgin olive oil, and some more seasoning to this - quite tasty! And very filling. As well, I enjoyed a whole avocado.
I snacked on some celery with hummus - it was very nostalgic. This is why...when I was little, my mom used to send me to school with celery sticks filled with cheez whiz. I know, terrible, plasticky cheez whiz that MOST kids love! I was one of those. And I had to have the cheez because I've always been highly allergic to peanut butter, though, believe you me, I was SO jealous of my older sister being sent to school with celery and peanut butter...So today, I filled the celery with hummus. A grown up, healthier version of the cheez. It was very good.
Confessions:
The muffins I was impatient with. I did not let them cook all the way through so they were a bit soft on the inside. So! I cut them into quarters, baked them again for an additional ten minutes. Now I can see myself having them with pan-fried apples and cinnamon instead!

Buckwheat Carrot Muffins
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup quinoa flour
2 tbsp sorghum
1 1/2 cups applesauce
2 tbsp apple butter
2 cups grated carrots
1/2 cup oil
cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice to taste
raisins, sunflower seeds or any other additional dried fruit/nuts

Combine ALL ingredients in a bowl and blend on high speed for 5 minutes. Spoon batter into a well-greased muffin pan. Bake on 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove, wait until cool to transfer to wire rack. Makes 12. Enjoy!

I had to make sure I counted right...day 12?! ALMOST the halfway point! Woo!
Breakfast today was the leftover purple oatmeal from yesterday. Had no time this morning to make food! Always a busy life.
Lunch however, was refreshing and delicious! You may think that's a burger smothered in bbq sauce...fooled you! It is the quinoa-lentil-sweet potato patties from last night, on chia toast with sliced avocado, smothered in apple butter and topped with cucumbers. They were stacked pretty high, so I needed a knife and fork to demolish these guys! They disappeared pretty quickly, believe me!
Dinner was simply rice, peas, cabbage and onion seasoned with tumeric, salt and mustard seeds.
Today I found myself snacking on a lot of fruit (cravings occurred!), mostly berries, some dates, and a few rice chips.
Confessions:
Finding it hard to consume water - I actually think I may be getting sick with a cold. Avoiding liquids is the exact opposite thing to do in this case! Going to up the oil of oregano, vitamin C and find some zinc. Also! A friend took the liberty to buy me a 1.5L water bottle in hopes of me drinking more fluids. THANK YOU FRIEND!