We all have those foods we consider to be our comfort foods. Foods we thoroughly enjoy and often remind of us our childhood or other special moments. Some of my comfort foods include Lasagna, Macaroni & Cheese, Turkey (Christmas) Dinner, and Shepherd's Pie. I haven't been enjoying these foods lately due to trying to avoid several problematic and inflammatory foods, including gluten and dairy. Today I decided I would make my Lasagna. I can't even remember the last time I made it. Yes, it has noodles and cheese, tomatoes, peppers, and onion (foods that are or may be problematic for me) but it's better than going off the deep end and eating everything in sight. It was delicious, even if I screwed it up a little :) I was making Lasagna but my mind was thinking Chili and I added chili powder and red pepper flakes before I realized my mistake. It was still good though :)

Also made a treat today using a new recipe which was pretty good. I tried No Bake Chili Brownies. I didn't find them very brownie like in texture, more crumbly, but still good. Think they may be nice sprinkled with a little cinnamon and coconut sugar once made. May try that next time.

I am having major food issues lately; mainly eating everything all the time. I am still trying though and trying to remain positive.

​Friday went well; had pan-fried cod with a little homemade bacon bits and sweet potato fries. It was great and even better since it was all done by Hubby.

Then went nuts over the weekend, sigh. Had sandwiches and cheesecake, Easter chocolate and chips. Not going to get into it; trying to move on.

​Today was great. All meals and snacks were good, healthy choices. Dinner tonight was chicken with lots of veggies :)

Believe me, I know eating healthy is not always easy. Look at my past posts and you will see that sometimes I do great but others (more so lately) I am struggling. 

FREE FOOD!!!!! What's better than free food? Great tasting free food :) I won free Rupert's sandwich and cheesecake for the next year :) Thanks Gary :)
So exciting but oh so hard when I am trying to eliminate gluten and sugar :(
I decided I will eat my sandwich and cheesecake some weeks but other weeks I will share with others :) I picked up my first meal today, along with an extra piece of cheesecake and gave it to my Mom and Aunt to enjoy. They loved it and my Aunt never had it before so she will likely be a new customer.

I had a great day with no slips; although it was really hard with cheesecake so close.

I fried ground pork and zucchini for breakfast topped with fried eggs. Lunch was leftover burger patties and veggies. This was a meal I really enjoy which helped not crave the sandwich as much. Snack was a little dark chocolate; think I'm craving sweet and chocolate after seeing the cheesecake but not eating it. Dinner was pan-fried fresh trout and mixed veggies. All great choices today :)

Had a great food day but realized as I looked at the pictures I did eat a lot of avocado today. I love avocado and know it's a high fat food but at least it's healthy fat. 

Breakfast was scrambled eggs with avocado. Snacks were dates with almonds and coconut manna; and figs with almonds. Lots of healthier fats today with nuts, coconut, and avocado. Lunch was leftover Chicken Soup. 

Dinner tonight was homemade burgers (made with ground chicken and ground pork, no buns for me) with butter squash and green beans. I also had spinach and avocado with my meat patties. Delicious :)

Made a great pot of chicken soup tonight using some great local chickens. Picked up a couple of chickens from Farmer Dan this weekend. They were delicious. I roasted them for dinner one night and then made soup today. Soup is so much better when you use local chicken and make your own slow-cooked broth.

Another great day :) All meals and snacks followed my current guidelines :)
Trying to take it one day at a time and not get over-whelmed or discouraged. So far so good. Two days done :)

Having a great day today :) Made all great food choices and no slips. Had a smoothie for breakfast with spinach, coconut water, frozen berries, banana, apple, avocado, and ginger. Then had scrambled eggs, avocado, and bacon; very yummy.

​Snack was a peanut butter Larabar. Lunch was leftover Roasted Chicken with veggies. Second snack was some date and almond squares.

Dinner tonight was Oven-roasted Halibut with olive oil, baked sweet potato with butter, and pan-fried bok choy. I am trying to eat more fish throughout the week. I had salmon and tuna last week.

To end my evening I decided to try a new drink recipe: Turmeric Coconut Bedtime Drink. Seems like a great choice for me since I have lots of inflammation issues. The recipe makes 2 servings so Hubby agreed to try one as well. He was not happy with it, but managed to choke it down (his words). It's ok but I find it too thick with the coconut milk. I may try it again with half coconut milk and half water. Don't think it really needs any honey either, but everyone has different tastes.

This weekend there have been good food choices and not so food choices for my current healthy eating guidelines; but they were all very yummy :)

As I mentioned earlier, this was not a great week to try eating better since we had 4 Easter parties at preschool throughout the week. I did splurge a little most days throughout the week but I didn't go all-out nuts (as I normally would). I am viewing that as a positive. 

This weekend remained the same. I made some splurge choices but not all were splurge choices. There were a couple of Rupert's sandwiches and cheesecakes :) If you are going to splurge this is a great option (keep in mind that all cake pieces were shared, I am not that bad; this time). There was also some Easter chocolate eaten, but there were great meals such as beef tenderloin with sweet potato and avocado; roasted chickens with oven roasted veggies, and homemade sausage hash with eggs.

I am now on Easter/Spring break so I am hoping to really get back on track. No daily parties and treats to tempt me, and a couple of weeks to get back into a good routine :) Stay tuned :)

Still doing good, just not great. As I mentioned earlier, it wasn't the greatest week to start eliminating sugar and gluten as we have had 4 Easter parties this week. I tried but slipped a few times over the past few days. I am just happy they have been little slips and not full-blown break downs.

Meals were all great today. Did slip at the Pre-K party and ate a cookie, but they were so cute and so delicious :)

Supper tonight was wild salmon pan-fried in butter, Roasted Asparagus, and mixed veggies fried in olive oil. I am not a salmon lover but this was pretty good. Found it in the frozen section at Costco.

Also ate a piece of Rupert's peanut butter cheesecake last night. It was delicious; I do feel guilty but I will get over it :) It was a gift from a parent so I couldn't not eat it.....right?

Sorry about the pic but Hubby got into it first. I told him he could only have a little :) There was a second piece as well, caramel. He took that one with him to work today. I am glad and sad all at the same time.

I am trying really hard to eat healthy and get back to a good routine. Started this Monday but may not have been the greatest idea starting this week. I know there are always challenges but this week we have Easter parties in Pre-K. I have 4 different parties this week. There are party snacks, chocolate treats and Easter gifts. Yesterday, I slipped a little and ate some corn twists. Today I slipped again and ate a cupcake. I am trying not to let it discourage me and simply go nuts. I am slipping off the wagon a little, I admit, but I am not completely off and dousing it in kerosene.......yet. I think this will be an ease in week and I will be more strict after tomorrow (the last party of the week).

​Look at these, so cute and so good :)

Other than a cupcake everything else today has been great :) Had a big smoothie for breakfast with fruit and spinach and ginger. Lunch was leftover Spaghetti Squash Chow Mein. I wondered how the squash would hold up but it was still really good. Snack was half a banana with the kiddies in Pre-K, and then a cupcake for 2nd snack :( Dinner tonight was Chicken Fried Rice. I made it a little different; used green onion and celery instead of the regular onion. Regular onion seems to have a vendetta against me lately. I also used coconut aminos in place of soy sauce. It was great :)

For those who read last night's blog, I didn't cave and eat a pile of chocolate (as I wanted to). Instead I ate 2 squares of organic dark chocolate. I am very proud of that, but it means no shameful pics of me gorging on chocolate :) Maybe next time.

Day two of back on the wagon is going pretty well but I am having some major cravings today; really want chocolate. Not sure who will win out yet; me or the chocolate. We shall see. I am hoping me but you may see a picture of me with chocolate smeared over my face in the near future.

Doing pretty good food-wise today. Had a smoothie and a boiled egg for breakfast. Leftover tuna, asparagus and sweet potato for lunch. Snacks were some apple and some figs with almonds. I did slip a little and ate some corn twists that were leftover from one of our Pre-K Easter parties today :( Not happy about that but I am happy I didn't completely fall off the wagon and eat the cupcakes (which looked and smelled heavenly) or the chocolate I received from the children for Easter :) It is definitely a weekly, daily, hourly struggle.

Dinner tonight was a new recipe: Spaghetti Squash Chow Mein. It was pretty good and we will likely make it again but maybe with a few more tweaks. I always tweak recipes to better suit my preferences. I added chicken to it to make it a more filling meal for myself and Hubby. Also, Hubby is not a huge lover of spaghetti squash so I figured that paired with being a meatless dish wouldn't go over as well. It was tasty but I found it a little sweet and seemed like it was lacking something. Next time I will likely leave out the honey (I used honey instead of the brown sugar) and maybe add some sliced almonds and a little spice for heat.