2 Weeks And...We're Done.

Reintroducing gluten with a beer & beer battered onion rings. BAM!

Overall, the elimination diet was a bust.

Oh well.

I can say that I gave it a real go of it and learned that the food I eat is not directly causing/aggrevating the pain I feel in my body --both Fibromyalgia pain in my arms/legs/back/neck and the more recent pain in my stomach.

I am proud of myself for doing it, however, and there were lessons learned along the way. It wasn't entirely a waste of my time. ;) Mostly, I'm glad that it gave my body a little reboot and I think from here on out I will be eating a little bit better. And I probably lost a pound or two because I can get my belt to the next loop. Nice!

The funny thing? I finally got to have some of the things I was craving so bad...and they were totally NOT as super fabulous as I remembered them to be. Well, except for the beer maybe. Ha!

My go-to sweet snack.

For two weeks I was pretty much surviving on green smoothies, chicken salads, soups, baby carrots & sunflower seed spread, grapes, and vegetable chips. It was nothing glamorous. I found recipes from a Paleo Meal Generator, The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen, and some of our regular cookbooks. There were a couple little gems in the mix! And some major duds (...an adzuki bean & seaweed soup was tasteless, a "hearty" beef stew was equally dull, and the parsnip fries were awfully tough. ~In the oven too long??) As promised, here are a few recipes that were tasty...Fish and two soups.

BAKED TILAPIA WITH LEMON & THYME (Paleo Generator/Whole Foods Market) This was lovely and non-fishy. We used Swai because Tilapia wasn't available at our grocery store, and we served this with a wild mixed rice blend and sauteed shallots. (And while it was lovely, it was still not as good as The Best Fish Dish.)

• Servings:Serves 4.

• Ingredients:

• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 4 tilapia or cod fillets, skinless
• 4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
• sea salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon flaky salt, such as Maldon sea salt
• finely grated zest of 2 lemons

• Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Sprinkle shallot in a baking dish large enough to hold all of the fish in a single layer.
• Rub each fillet all over with a teaspoon of olive oil. Lightly season one side of each fillet with cooking salt and pepper.
• Place fillets on top of shallots in the baking dish, seasoned side down, and bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until flesh is opaque and flakes with a fork.
• While fish bakes, prepare the seasoning salt by combining thyme, flaky salt and lemon zest in a small bowl. Mix gently. The salt mixture will be slightly wet and clumpy.
• When fish is done, sprinkle a little bit of the seasoning salt over each fillet, making sure each portion gets a bit of salt, zest and thyme.
• Serve immediately with any remaining seasoning salt if desired.

ROSEMARY RED SOUP (Feeding the Whole Family) Super simple and savory. The pumpkin seeds that we added give a necessary crunch.)

• Servings: Serves 6-8. It fed us both and then I enjoyed two more bowls for lunches.

• Ingredients:

• 3 medium carrots
• 1 large beet
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (or coconut oil)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano
• 1 cup dried red lentils, washed and drained
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 cups water or chicken or veggie stock
• 2-3 tablespoons light miso
• Pumpkin seeds

• Directions:

• Scrub and chop carrots and beet.
• Heat oil in a 4 quart pot; add onion and saute until soft.
• Add carrots and beet; saute a few more minutes.
• Finely chop rosemary and oregano leaves.
• Add herbs, lentils, bay leaves and water to vegetables; bring to boil.
• Lower heat and simmer 40 minutes.
• Remove bay leaves and let soup cool.
• Puree in small batches in blender.
• Dissolve miso in 1/2 cup water and stir into pureed soup.
• Gently reheat before serving.
• Garnish with pumpkin seeds.

GREEN LENTIL SOUP ( Super Natural Every Day ~Thanks Ali!) So simple with such great flavor!

• Servings:Serves 4-6. Plenty for both of us and leftovers for a lunch or two.

• Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, ghee, or coconut oil
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 5 1/2 cups veggie broth or water
• 1 1/2 cups green lentils
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, ghee, or coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon Indian curry powder
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• Fine-grain sea salt
• 1 bunch fresh chives, minced

• Directions:

• Combine the 2 tablespoons butter, onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a large soup pot over medium heat, stirring regularly, until the onions soften, a couple minutes.
• Add veggie broth and lentils, simmer, covered until lentils are are tender. (This usually takes 20-30 minutes, but can take as long as 50 minutes).
• In the meantime, warm 3 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and let it brown. Stir in curry powder and saute until the spices are fragrant, less than a minute.
• When lentils are finished cooking, remove from heat, and stir in the coconut milk and 1/4 teaspoon salt if needed.
• Puree with blender.
• Serve drizzled with the remaining spice butter and sprinkled with chives.