Gluten-free month/paleoish challenge

Are you in on the challenge?  It's a bit over one week in;  how are you doing so far?  Troy and I are doing great!  I honestly haven't missed gluten that much except for Sunday when I went to a baby shower and they had Cinnabon and like 15 types of cupcakes.  Troy has slipped up once when he was about 2 bites in to a Kit Kat and realized "duh, wafer cookie thing".

We've kind of evolved the challenge to not just limit it to gluten.  I've added that we're limiting grains as well.  We still eat corn and rice products, but not in the quantities that we used to.  I've noticed that my skin has improved a bit, but I'm chalking that up to more veggies and fruits than anything.  And may I be honest with you?  I'm a gassy girl.  Always have been.  Since starting this challenge, it's almost non-existent.  I'm not certain if this is lack of gluten, or just more fruits and veggies replacing the grains we were eating before.

I mentioned that we were on vacation last week, and were going to be making s'mores.  And I couldn't find any gluten-free graham crackers in my small town.  We ended up having s'mores on gluten-free ginger snaps, which while definitely not the same in terms of taste, they served their purpose.
So, what exactly are we eating?
Marshamallows were homemade!  For anyone wondering how they roasted, the verdict is: fantastic!  Expert hand modeling courtesy of Troy.
Breakfast:: smoothies, eggs, when we're jonesing for "normal" food, I've been having a bowl of Trader Joe's rice krispies from time to time.  And lots and lots and LOTS of fruit.  I've started cutting up a ton of fruit for the week and having it all ready to go in the fridge.  Once it's ready to go, we're more likely to eat it often.  We also have homemade yogurt with homemade blackberry syrup for flavoring.  We're on our last jar of the syrup from 2011.  Thankfully the blackberries are going to be ready soon!

This challenge has magnified how much I hate our current fridge.  It was free, so I shouldn't complain too much (but I am), but it's awful.  It's an old school side by side, and I never have any room to fill it up with good food.  The produce drawers are tiny, and really the shelf space sucks hard.

Lunches:: spinach salads with sliced carrots, cukes, and protein of choice - usually turkey, chicken, or grilled steak.  Troy has grilled a steak and some chicken breasts at the start of the week, and just like everything if it's ready to go, it's so much easier to eat healthy.  Which is also why I prep the carrots and cukes for the week; grab and go.  Dressing is either homemade ranch, or something we call "Linda's Holiday Dressing" because it is something my aunt always makes for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I need to get her permission before sharing, but I promise I'll share it with you if/once I get the go ahead.

I always thought I preferred salads with a bit of cheese and some bacon on it, but I've really been enjoying mine without either.

With the salads we have as much fruit as we want.  And sometimes, a few gluten-free tortilla chips (Juanitas brand which are AWESOME, but hard to find) and homemade guac or (store bought) salsa.

I'm the first person to raise my hand and say that salads suck and never fill me up.  I've always thought salads were silly "girl" food, but honestly with the protein (turkey or steak), I am full until dinner.

Dinner:  Well, you've seen my meal plan, and we've also been having local hot dogs, some bunless burgers, and lots and lots of grilled veggies.

Dessert/snacks:: I've made these and they're awesome!  They don't require any baking, but not baking them means you have to store them in the fridge.  I tried baking them the other night and it worked out well.  350 degrees for 25 minutes, and they're able to be stored at room temp.  They're still much softer than a store bought granola bar though.  Yeah yeah I know they have oatmeal in them.  I said we're limiting it.

I also made these, but changed them up a bit to reflect what I had on hand.  I switched the lemon juice and lemon zest to lime, added some homemade mint extract to the frosting (I made my own frosting, and not the one in the link), and voila, mojito cupcakes!  Coconut flour is stupid expensive if you buy it in the package, but I found it in the bulk bin for much cheaper.  Still spendy though.

As for our starting off points?  Here are the stats.

Me
Weight: 151 lbs (it was 152 with clothes on, so I'm taking a guess)
Height: 6 ft
Waist:30
Hips: 39(yipes!)
I currently wear a size 8 tall, but a lot of clothes are not currently in rotation because they're too tight.

Troy
Weight: 215*
Height: 5 ft 11
Waist: 39

Hips: 43


*You have time for a funny story?  When I was pregnant, I picked an OBGYN who was right by my office.  We lived in Los Angeles at the time. Turns out she was only in on Tuesdays and didn't do any ultrasounds in her own office and wouldn't tell you any information about your outsourced ultrasounds until the next appointment.  I dropped her MD ass so quickly and ended up going to the OBGYN my friend Anne (you've "met" her many times before) had used.

Anne, being my baby mama naturally came with Troy and I to the first appointment.  I was 12 weeks along and the new OBGYN wanted to do an ultrasound.  We were all in this little room together and the doc brought out "the internal wand".  Anyone who has had a kid before knows about the internal wand...

So, Anne gets ready to  leave the room, and I say "you know what, in a few months my junk is going to be out in the wind for every nurse and doctor in the room to see, so just stay.  But sit up by my head bitch".

During the exam, the doctor is talking to us about our family history.  She asks Troy his weight, he blushes and mumbles it all embarrassed.  Anne and I burst out laughing, because there I am, getting to 4th base with an ultrasound wand in front of my friend (and former boss BTW), and Troy is freaking embarrassed about his weight.

I tell you that story to let you know how much Troy believes in my blog.  He believes in it enough to share his starting weight with ya'll.

You are welcome!


PS. after that appointment, we went and had pie.  Because lemon meringue pie sounded good when I couldn't keep any food down.  And you know, I had just been the main attraction in a peep show, and needed a little something to replace my dignity.