How Goes the Journey and a Chicken Recipe

At the beginning of June I decided to cut out all refined sugar.  How is it going?  Well…I feel pretty darn amazing!  I’ve lost some weight, though that wasn’t really the reason I did it (though awesome “side effect!!!”) I wanted to not feel like I was slogging through molasses.  I was tired of being tired.  I could not function.  My brain felt like cottage cheese.  I could not remember much of anything!  Sounds dire, right?  It was.  Drastic times call for drastic measures!  So, goodbye refined sugar!

What am I eating now?  Avocados are a favorite, as they are great brain food!  Also hard boiled eggs and lots of fresh fruit.  I made a small veggie dish the other day with a few yellow squash that was amazing (I’ll have to get the recipe on the blog!) I do have a bread that I like that’s made with cane sugar.  It’s Canyon Bakery’s Hawaiian bread.  I don’t eat a lot of it, but if I want bread, that’s my go-to.  Also, Child #2 is working on finding recipes that I can eat. Yay for the kiddos! I like almond butter, though I like to add a little salt (which if I’m adding it, you know it needs it, as I don’t much care for salt!) I also like to add a package of stevia to the salted almond butter and eat it with Glutino pretzels (which are made with cane sugar.) Yum!  A great lunch or snack!

Simple and fresh are the mottos of our home these days and I love it! I am not eating processed meats because they all seem to contain dextrose or maltodextrin, other sweeteners I’m avoiding. High fructose corn syrup is another no-no. I’ve discovered (as I’m sure many have before me, but we rarely listen until it gets personal!!!) that food these days is absolutely loaded with extra sweeteners. It’s horrendous!

I have found, dear readers, that if you’re looking for sugar free canned goods like kidney beans, diced tomatoes, or tomato sauce, you’re better off looking in the ethnic foods aisle, because certain brands don’t put the same amount of crap that Americans do in their canned goods! Looking for beans to make chili? You might be getting a side of high fructose corn syrup with those beans!

Read your labels! They will tell you if there is sugar, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, or maltodextrin! However, you have to read them! I promise you I was horrified and shocked (as I think many of you will be too!) to see how many products use sugar, dextrose, maltodextrin, or high fructose corn syrup!

I found my soy sauce had high fructose corn syrup. I found my mayonnaise had sugar. I found my kidney beans had high fructose corn syrup. I found my spaghetti sauce had sugar. I found my chips had maltodextrin. I found my pepperoni had sugar. I found my bacon also had sugar. The list is seemingly neverending! Don’t be fooled! Read those labels!

So, what do I eat? Tonight I made chicken legs.  I wasn’t sure with what I wanted to season them, but decided to use a jalapeno mustard we had in the fridge.  Just a side note: most mustards are sugar free!!!  Woohoo!  Anyway, I digress…the chicken legs.  I prepared my pan with an oversized piece of foil, which I sprayed with my favorite gf cooking spray. I squirted a bit of the mustard on each leg, while preheating my oven to 400° F. 

Next, I rubbed in said mustard.

I wrapped the whole thing up into a packet and baked it for 45 minutes.  This is what it looked like when it was done.

I served it with coleslaw (of which I forgot to take a pic!) and low-salt potato chips. Ok, so I phoned it in on the starch, but the coleslaw I had to mix with a sugar-free dressing and the chicken…well, you know what I did with that! Add to that the fact that I had a minor oral surgery yesterday, and you get the picture…too much dahling… too much!

Simple chicken? Yes! Simple supper? Hmmm…not in my current state! Hope you enjoy!