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Going Reduced Grain

Hey all!  How is everyone’s week going so far?  Our meals have been a little off schedule but so far everything is running smoothly.  I feel much more centered than last week.  I don’t feel like I’m constantly behind trying to catch up!

Meal planning unfortunately did not happen as I would have liked but we’ve still been on track with our eats!

BREAKFAST

Steak and peppers on grain free waffles

Grain free waffles using Brittany Angell’s recipe.  I heated up some peppers and onions in a skillet and added in some leftover steak, sliced thin.   Placed on top of a waffle with a slice of swiss, which then was put in the toaster over so the cheese could melt.  Perfect breakfast sandwich and a great way to use up leftover steak!

scrambled eggs and toast

Scrambled eggs seasoned with Flavor God’s Garlic Lovers and two slices of Dave’s Killer Bread with lots of grassfed butter.

Grains! Yikes!  I’ll get to that in a minute, be patient.

DINNER

Pork taco and a side salad

Pork tacos and a simple side salad.  Ground pork cooked in a skillet with some peppers and onions.  Seasoned with a little salt, pepper, and chili powder (however much you like but easy on the salt).  Then I added in a few heaping spoonfuls of salsa and let the whole mixture simmer until the salsa reduced and thickened up.  Topped with chopped tomato and sour cream.

Salad was mixed greens with cucumber and carrot.  Very easy! I love having salads with meals because it’s quick to assemble and a great way to get in some raw veggie action.

Salmon and green beans

Sockeye salmon with red peppers and capers with a side of green beans with prosciutto and almonds.

For the salmon, in a sautee pan I heated up the peppers and capers in some ghee until the peppers softened a bit.  Then I added in the salmon and sprinkled that with some Flavor God’s lemon garlic seasoning.  I added in a touch of chicken stock, brought to a simmer and covered.  All of that simmering until the salmon was cooked through.  Remove and top with the peppers and capers.

The green beans were prepped ahead of time.  They were blanched and just waiting in the fridge to be used.  I sauteed them up in a skillet with some ghee.  Seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Right before serving I tossed them with some almonds, crispy prosciutto (heated and prepped before heating the beans), and sprinkled on some parm.

Looks fancy but it’s really simple to put together and no fussy ingredients!

SNACK

Banana ice cream with pecans

A little bit indulgent but much needed!  This was banana ice cream with bourbon butter pecans on top.

Banana ice cream is one of the easiest things to make.  All you do is put frozen bananas in a food processor with a little liquid (cream or almond milk for example) and blend until smooth and creamy.  That’s the basic concept and then you can flavor it or sweeten it a bit more.

For this version I added in some bourbon, vanilla almond milk, and vanilla extract.  Blended until smooth.

For the pecans, I sautéed them in a skillet with lots of butter.  After about 4 minutes I added in a small splash of bourbon.  Once done, I tossed the pecans with some cinnamon and coconut sugar.  I let them cool and sprinkled on top of the ice cream.

Delicious!

We have been on the clean eating and grain free train for several months at this point.  We have learned a lot during just these few months and one of the things we realized is that grain-free and gluten-free items do not work for us.  In fact, those types of things, like the grain free waffles above, do not sit well with our digestive system.

Every time we eat something like that, both of us are running for the bathroom immediately after eating.  Tummies rumbling, bloating, and hitting the bathroom multiple times for hours afterwards.

Not fun.

Clearly those kinds of items are not working for us.  So with that, instead of being grain-free we are reducing grains. Most grains don’t give us any kind of digestive distress, not like the grain-free items do.  So while we won’t be seeking out sandwiches daily or big bowls of pasta, if we feel like a pancake we’re going to eat it.

Don’t be surprised when you see some whole grain items pop back up in our eats!

3 thoughts on “Going Reduced Grain

  1. That salmon looks amazing! I bet it tasted great with the slight brininess from the capers and sweetness from the roasted red peppers.

    As for grain-free eating, I think there is a way to do it without supplementing unnecessary “flours” and additives. Almost everything Nom Nom Paleo makes and touts is free of almond flour, arrowroot flour, tapioca, etc. I look to her recipes not only for when I’m looking for grain-free meals but also just for flavorful entrees that I know everyone will like.

    I had a similar realization about eating grain-free a few months ago, and I’ve stopped obsessing over clean eating. I realized nuts and I don’t go so well together, and dairy makes me feel kind of bloated and gives me a stomachache (not all that uncommon among Asians), so I try to avoid those on a daily basis. (I still eat cheese on pizza though.)

    My healthiest period in my life was when I first moved to Columbus and ate everything in moderation – biscuits and gravy, pizza full of gluten goodness, tofu, beans, etc. – and ran a lot. I think all the discourse on eating “clean” (e.g. paleo/primal) and lifting heavy has been a distraction for me. Right now I’m on Week 2 of Couch to 5K, eating all good things in moderation, and feeling 10 times better already.

    (Why is it that I always leave such long comments on your blog? And with so many parentheses? Haha.)

    • Hey Jess,

      I absolutely agree! I don’t think grain-free replacement items are necessary either. I mostly wanted to experiment with those because I was curious about them. Interestingly enough my healthiest period was also when you first moved to Columbus! haha! I am a moderation girl too. I know that phrasing is frowned upon but I know what it means to me. I know when I can have grains and not feel gross and when I can’t. I’m working my way back towards that style of life.

      How is the C25K going for you? Do you like the program?

      • I know, why does moderation get such a bad rap? I guess because it’s not easy to quantify.

        C25K is going well! I’ll probably do the first five weeks of it since the last few weeks are just structured running (28 minutes, 30 minutes, etc.), which I can then do on my own. Couch to 5K is actually how I got started running in the first place so I swallowed my pride and decided to start back with it. As extra motivation, I decided to sign up for a late winter half marathon in Lexington, KY.

        I’m looking forward to seeing more of your posts on adding grains back in. I’ll be perusing the archives for some meal planning inspiration this weekend!

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