Grain-free for 21 days starts today

It’s Monday.  So today begins my 21 day grain-free challenge. Not just gluten free, but grain free.

This means no:

Wheat*Rye*Barley*Bran*Bulgur*Couscous*Farina*Kamut*Orzo*Semolina*Spelt*Corn*Cornmeal*Rice *Oats*Millet* and a few other grains that I just don’t eat (and have never heard of). It also means some of the derivatives, like no cornstarch and no beer! Not that I drink much beer, but I have to remember.

I did some reading, and it appears that quinoa is not a grain, although often categorized as one. It is actually a seed, so I can have that. That sort of seems like cheating? But then, flax meal isn’t a grain either.

I tried a new recipe for breakfast which I will post the recipe for on Tuesday.  These are something I am calling ricotta puffs.  I got the recipe from the Perfect 10 book, but I changed them up a bit.

With blueberry sauce (which I had to thicken with arrowroot and not cornstarch). 5 ingredients in these little puffs and easy to make. Check back tomorrow for that post.

These were quite good.  I made 6, so you will see more this week 😀

Work was quick during the morning, even though the cable guy came in and had to work on our cable modem and the line to the house because something has been weird with it lately.  No internet means no work.  So I ate lunch while he was here.

Salad topped with some cooked pork, feta cheese, and honey mustard dressing (that I made).  I can’t have my BBQ sauce because it has food starch in it.  Need to shop for a different brand.  Grain free is actually a little harder than gluten free, it turns out.

Afternoon snackage!

Pixie is so annoyed here.  I was trying to put these in place while she was sleeping, but the banana touched her and woke her up.  Ooops.

Dinner was a cheese omelet with Cabot cheese in my Xbox.

I had some omelet run off, though.  Don’t put 2 eggs and cheese in only one of the wells.  Lesson duly noted.

Tonight’s snack?

Grain free day done.  I have done them before, so no problem today.

I think I will have trouble in a couple of days when I miss my bagel.

I already have grain-free meals in my repertoire, so it won’t be so bad at first. These grain-free recipes are going to be in the mix these next 3 weeks:

Palak Chole

1-minute muffin

Peanut flour waffles

Socca Bread

Coconut flour biscuits

Banana Breakfast bread pudding

Now for some relaxing tonight with this while eating above peanuts:

I finally got it at the library!  I am only about a year behind everyone else…

29 thoughts on “Grain-free for 21 days starts today

  1. Lisa

    That sounds like a challenging experiment. When I was trying the 4 Hour Body Diet the biggest challenge was not eating fruit of course, but also realizing that sugar is in EVERYTHING. Even salad dressing and marinade for steaks…HFCS was listed in the ingredients. It made for a challenging few weeks.

  2. Kimberley

    Good luck with the grain free!

    Did you check the packaging on the peanuts? Lots of seasonings have grain in them. I almost bought some roasted chickpeas until I read they had wheat in them. Boo!!!

    Looking forward to the ricotta puffs recipe!

  3. Trysha

    I just finished the series at the end of May. I had a really hard time getting into the first book, but after about chapter 5 it really picked up and I sped through the all of them.

    We’ve been enjoying Protein Waffles all summer. I stopped making my regular recipe and the kids asked that I don’t go back to it. 🙂

    1. Lori Post author

      I love the protein pancakes/waffles. They actually don’t sit in my stomach like regular pancakes do.

  4. Cammy@TippyToeDiet

    I made some honey mustard dressing last week! It actually makes a mighty good dressing for cole slaw. 🙂

    Good luck with your challenge! I think I’m going to make myself scarce along about Wednesday. LOL (Seriously, you’ll do fine–you’ve got moxie!)

  5. Lynn Haraldson

    Good luck, my friend. I can’t wait to see what new recipes this challenge produces. I know I should do this. I should. I really should. I am a lazy grain eater, meaning that I don’t look to hard for alternatives, even though I want to. I know you’re doing this for you, but thank you for blogging about it. You will, as always, challenge me indirectly.

  6. Shelley B

    Sounds like this challenge will keep you on your toes!

    BTW, I haven’t read any of those books yet, so you’re not the last one, lol!

  7. debby

    Wow , you are really being very strict with the no grain thing. Is something supposed to happen in your body with a complete grain elimination?

    1. Lori Post author

      I don’t know as something is supposed to happen to my body (the mind is another thing). I just needed to do something to rattle my cage, so to speak.

  8. Heidi

    Good luck with your 21 days. I know I would have a hard time, but I’m sure it will be worth it.
    I’m behind everyone else with you! I just started reading this book (about 75% through) and am hooked! He’s such a captivating writer.

  9. Lori's Mom

    I have had that book for a while. I started reading it, but haven’t got back into it yet. I could never find it at the library and I wanted to read the first book in the series, so I actually bought it! Don’t tell me the ending!!

    Good luck this grain-free week!

  10. Fran

    You’re very brave for doing a no grain challenge, I don’t think I could ever do that.

    Hooray for the first Stieg Larsson. I’m so curious if you will like the book as much as I did. Let me tell you one thing: the first part of the book can be boring or difficult to get through but keep on reading. I promise you that it gets better and if you’re like me, you can’t stop reading and can’t wait to read the other two books after it. Enjoy it.

  11. Helen

    I’m not gonna lie Batgirl, this grain free thing is not something I could do. Well, maybe I could if my life was threatened or something…

    I haven’t read that series either. I tried one of the books and just couldn’t get into it so that was that for me. I’m not even going to attempt it again.

  12. Ali

    You are one ambitious lady Lori! A couple months ago I had to avoid all starches for 3 weeks. It was a lot of fruit, veggies, and meat. Once you’ve had a few weeks without any grains, it will be interesting to see if you notice any changes when you bring them back into your diet.

    Let us know how you like that book. I am a year behind with popular reading too!

  13. Jody - Fit at 53

    Lori, you are braver than I! I would have a hard time giving up all that stuff! Is this for weight loss or something else? I am always worried about these plans to take stuff out & then after so long you can have them again cause if it is for weight loss, wouldn’t the weight come back on. I saw this a lot when people went super low carb & then added carbs back in. Just curious… you are always so good about your food experiments so I am sure all will be fine…

    As for Pixie – TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO funny & cute!

    1. Lori Post author

      It’s more that I need something to get my mind focused. It is really hard to drag myself out of maintenance to get back to losing and this is something to help me do that. I love to give myself challenges because I always learn something. This isn’t low carb, though, so don’t worry about that.

  14. Ali

    Hey Lori,
    I’m a frequent reader/lurker. I love this blog and I love how you are challenging yourself. This grain free challenge shouldn’t be too bad- I went grain free for five days, and before I knew it, I wasn’t craving sugar or bread nearly as much. My only thought/question: Why not skip trying to put grain-free items into grain-full recipes(PF waffles and CF biscuits) ? Rather, just trying to simply cut all of it out- no reminders? Just wondering. Thanks! Good Luck!

  15. Lori Post author

    Ali – I just like those foods and ate them anyway. Sometimes I want the texture of a baked good item and those are nice to have.

  16. Roz@weightingfor50

    Good luck on the grain free challenge Lori. (yay for quinoa) That picture of Pixie is HILARIOUS!!! “Get that banana off of me!” She’s so cute!! Happy grain free Tuesday!

  17. Audrey

    It’s always interesting to read what people are doing in substituting or staying away from certain foods. In the last year we discovered my daughter was lactose intolerant and so we’ve now found many work arounds to cheese, cream etc. Good luck on the grain free diet 🙂

  18. Biz

    I was just thinking “how is she going to handle not having bagel Wednesday?!”

    Good luck with your grain free challenge. 😀

  19. Ang

    I loved that book. I had to immediately run out and grab the other two!

    I’ve considered going totally grain free for awhile but my grocery store has just now started carrying the really good GF bread! I’m not ready to part with it yet! lol

  20. Joanne

    Quinoa has a lot of protein. Great substitute for oatmeal in the AM.
    I’ll be looking for that coconut flour biscuit recipe. 🙂

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