So I have to be honest, I used to think that every recipe had to include some sort of dairy or bread. If a recipe didn't have butter, cheese, sour cream, or cream of chicken soup, then there's no way it could be tasty! Hey, I was born in the south and we like our food buttered and fried with cheese!
The right way to eat grits is to smother them with butter, salt, pepper, and lots of cheese! Sprinkle cheese over your scrambled eggs, over your broccoli, and on top of your chili! Cheese toast, cheese biscuits and rolls, nachos...OK...I love my cheese!
I also love to have people over and host them in my home, and I'm sorry to admit (because it truly is pathetic) that I would rarely invite anyone over who had an intolerance or sensitivity to gluten or dairy. Truly, it's sad, but I was very intimidated by the thought of cooking for someone with food allergies and I didn't think I could make a good meal without those ingredients! Now I have been proved wrong!
One of my desires for doing this 30-Day Detox was not only to lose weight but to also learn how to make good meals that didn't include common-allergen foods such as gluten and dairy. Every day it seems like we meet someone new who is allergic to one of these ingredients, and it was my hope to learn how to cater to these friends' needs by avoiding these same foods myself for a full 30 days.
SUCCESS!
Tonight we actually had a friend over who has these very food allergies, and we were able to share one of our new favorite meals with him and his wife! Since we've had this meal at least once a week while on our detox (spicy grilled chicken, roasted sweet potatoes, and roasted veggies), we were very comfortable in sharing it with our friends.
We haven't loved every recipe we've tried while on the detox, but we now have a handful of tasty recipes we can whip together whenever we desire to host friends with food allergies! Yay! No longer am I intimidated by my friends' needs. And for any friends who may be vegetarian, I have a few meat-less meals I can share as well!
Tomorrow is our FINAL detox day, and I'd just like to say I'm very please with Nick and myself to sticking it through to the end. We've learned so much and grown immensely through this experience. We won't be following these strict guidelines for the rest of our lives, but we are definitely open to doing another 30-day detox down the road. And I'm sure it will be even easier the next time we do it!
We've accomplished so much through our 30-day detox experience: we've lost weight and inches, we've learned about healthy food choices, we've grown in our self-control and become more disciplined, we've learned how to cater to friends who have food allergies, and I'm sure there's much more. It was so worth the challenge! If I could do something like this for 30 days, you can too! After all, it's only 30 days, right?! You up for the challenge?
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