Hey Guys,

Lately, I’ve been focusing more on my weight loss and the things I’ve been doing and eating to finish up the final stretch to my weight goal.  Today, I thought I’d go into a little more detail about the products I’m using/eating, things I’m eating, and how they are made.  If you follow me on Instagram, you have seen some of the things I’m eating and doing, but I’ll try to give a little more explanation today.

The first big change was me giving up all grains and complex carbs two days out of the week – Tuesday and Thursday.  That means, no wheat, rice, corn or potatoes.  I try to post what I have for dinner on those days, because I know there are others out there that may want some ideas on what to eat when you omit something most people don’t think about.  This goes beyond gluten-free; there’s no rice or corn either.  The flour I use on these days are almond or coconut.  I can’t use cornstarch to thicken, I’m using arrowroot.  No potatoes – sweet, white or red; but squash is a great alternative.  No pasta, but again, squash…spaghetti squash is a bomb substitute.  I just found out a couple of weeks ago, quinoa (which I just knew was a grain) is in rotation because guess what?   IT’S A SEED!  Just when I figured out broccoli and cauliflower (no more cauliflower rice for me) make me nauseous, something new is taking their place and I’m ecstatic. 

One of my favorite food companies is Siete.  They make grain-free, dairy-free products that taste AMAZING. 

I first started eating their tortilla chips.  They are bomb!  I love the nacho, fuego, and sea salt.  I have them with taco salad, salsa, or by themselves.  I recently discovered their Mexican cookies.  Yep….cookies.  They taste so great.  There was a short period of time that my mother worked at a well-known bakery in the state; sometimes she would call us to come up to the store and she would let us try something that she figured she would enjoy.  One of those things were the Mexican Wedding cakes.  Little “balls” of pecan shortbread tossed in powdered sugar.  This is what the Siete cookies taste like. They have regular and chocolate (I haven’t tried the chocolate, but they are in my pantry awaiting their turn.  I recently had a dessert that I made with plain no fat yogurt that I flavored with Monkfruit sweetener and lime juice (key lime yogurt anyone), I crushed a few of the cookies and dropped in a small handful of white chocolate chips.  I made myself a chobani flip that was low fat, low sugar, and grain-free.  We have also recently started using their grain-free tortillas.  We (Babydoll and I) have tried the cassava and almond flour tortillas for quesadillas and fajitas. 

They also have potato chips that are dairy-free.  I have not tried these, but I’m thinking they are probably awesome too.  We were not a fan of the cashew queso (dairy-free), but that is cheese lovers not wanting to give it up.  If you have not tried this brand, what are you waiting for?  I’m telling you it is great!

Speaking of cashew queso…let me tell you about something that I have learned to make while I was on the 10-day green smoothie cleanse.  Cashew cream. 

Basic cashew cream is made from cashews (1 cup) that has been soaked in water at least 2 hours. 

Drain them, add them to a high powered blender with 1 clove of garlic and ¾ cup of water – I used my Ninjabullet because it was able to really make it super smooth. 

Once you have pulsed until smooth, you can the use it in place of mayonnaise.  I add a little salt and pepper for taste.  I have used it to make tuna salad and deviled eggs.  I have not used it on a sandwich yet, but I usually use a homemade pimento cheese or cheese spread in place of mayo and cheese on a sandwich (especially since most of my sandwiches are made with Joseph’s Lavish bread – another favorite).  I can season the cashew cream the way that I would if I was using mayo.  I use celery salt and garlic powder in my mayo tuna salad…I use celery salt and garlic powder in the cashew cream tuna salad.  You get the gist. 

I think I will continue with the rest of things in the next post. I don’t want it to get too long. Next time I’ll focus on how I’ve switched things up with sweets.

Thanks for taking the time to check out my site. I hope that you find the information helpful. Hopefully you will decided to come back again. You can also check me out on Instagram, I sometimes will post what I’m eating, wearing, or doing on there.

Until next time,