Experimenting in the kitchen

I mentioned recently that I quit eating anything with sugar and anything grain related, which has forced me to become less lazy in the kitchen. Not a bad thing at all. There have been many firsts like eating avocados, eating full fat Greek yogurt, using heavy whipping cream in my organic coffee, and using grass fed butter, just to name a few. Hard to believe it only took me 42 years to finally eat an avocado!

Let me tell you, I'm shocked on a daily basis at how almost EVERYTHING has some form of sugar as an ingredient. Why? Does tomato sauce really need sugar? Do flavored coffee beans need sugar? Does salad dressing need sugar? Probably not, yet, I challenge you to find a food on your grocers shelf that doesn't contain some form of sugar ...if it ends in OSE, be aware, that's sugar by a different name.  FructOSE, GlucOSE, DextrOSE, etc ...if you'd like to see even more aliases for sugar, check out this document here that I saved on my google drive.

Now this is the part where I get to show off my chef like ninja skills. My first attempt at making a pizza with the a crust made out of cauliflower was a success. I'm not going to post the recipe because there are so many if you google. Some are easier than others.

The basics

I kept this one simple by topping it with some chopped up veggies and shredded Parmesan cheese just in case it came out like crap, I wouldn't feel so bad if I dumped it in the garbage.

Beautiful cauliflower pizza crust with Italian seasonings sprinkled in

But, as you can see, we gobbled it up! Even Joel liked it. I have some minor changes to make the next time I make it, like cooking time needs to be longer, more protein based toppings, and add some almond flour to the crust to firm it up a bit more.

Speaking of almond flour and cauliflower, I got this little, handy dandy gadget to help me whip up the almonds into flour and the cauliflower into a grain like consistency. It's also awesome for making one of my favorite go to breakfasts ...bullet proof coffee. I'll save the bullet proof coffee for a blog post all of its own because it deserves it.

My sweetheart gave me this for Valentine's Day

If you are interested in making meals without sugars and grains, there are tons of excellent recipes on Pinterest. I use the search function and BAM, tons of great ideas. I don't label the way I eat as Paleo or Primal, but if you search by those key words on Pinterest or Google, there is a plethora of info and recipes to die for that fall into a no sugars, no grain criteria.


There's one more thing I'd like to share that I recently learned while listening to a Ben Greenfield podcast with Dr. Jayson and Mira Calton, the authors of the book, Rich Food, Poor Food. Did you know those little stickers you see on loose fruits and vegetables have a secret code on them? The code, also known as the PLU number, which stands for Price Look Up can tell you something important about what you are buying. PLU codes are also universal.

~ organic produce has a 5 digit PLU code that begins with the number 9.
~ conventional produce (those grown with pesticides and fertilizer) have a 4 digit number that begins with the number 4.
~ genetically modified produce (GMO = bad!) has a 5 digit PLU code that begins with the number 8.

My non-organic (starts with the number 4) avocado and J-Man's #4 bananas.

As a side note, I found this great link that tells you what fruits and vegetables you should buy organic and which one's don't really matter. The produce pictured above can be bought conventionally grown because supposedly, the pesticide and fertilizer cannot penetrate the inside.

Much love and peace out!