A Tale of Three Textures

Today is the last day without gluten!  During this coming week, I'll be reintroducing some of the eliminated foods one at a time.  Gluten tomorrow, dairy on thursday, and some of the others at my discretion.  In other words, shopping and planning meals should get easier and easier.

For some reason, staying committed to the detox was especially difficult during the weekend.  I think I was so busy with work during the week that I wasn't missing certain foods too much, but once I had time to sit around and think about it this weekend, I started to feel bad for myself a little deprived. 

I'd made it to Friday without watching TV (although I did cheat at the gym - totally justified, right?) but I decided to end my partial media fast yesterday to watch the playoffs.  During the games, I whipped up a new twist on ants-on-a-log with my beloved almond butter and some golden raisins.

 

The best thing about this snack is the medley of textures.  It's satisfying because you have the crunchy, fibrous celery, soft and chewy raisins, and smooth, creamy almond butter.  It was better than ants-on-a-log with peanut butter, I thought (I already made some more for a snack earlier today).  Almond butter doesn't hold a candle to cream cheese, though.

Later, I used my 3 part formula to make a balanced dinner.  This time, I had baked salmon (brushed with olive oil and seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper) over brown rice.  On the side I had some kale (sauteed with olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and balsamic vinegar).  It was a fairly simple meal, but the cayenne on the salmon gave it a nice kick.