Day One

For my part, the goal of this month is to break sugar addiction and get back into a cooking rhythm that is grain-free and unprocessed.

Though a great number of my clients with persistent acne find that it clears up to some extent when they eliminate dairy, my jury is out about the effects of dairy on my own body. Other than our usual Sunday visit to the ice cream place, when our house eats dairy we eat organic and raw. I don't seem to have any negative effects from it, though I am carrying somewhere near 20 pounds more of me than I would like to be and if low-dairy or dairy-free helps the healthy weight cause then I will say good-bye to that too. (And of course, our weekly ice cream date will be on hold for this month of home cooking.)

This week is all about getting back in the swing. In preparation for a busy week, I've made a meal plan, shopped for the week, and gotten a jump on a few of the tasks that could be done ahead. So far I have:

• Boiled a dozen eggs


• Washed, chopped, and stored a metric ton of vegetables


• Baked a small sweetish pumpkin and raisin "bread" (made with molasses and coconut flour)


• Pre-baked enough nitrate- and nitrite-free organic bacon for adding a bit of flavor to our packed lunches


• Started a beautiful boeuf bourguignon (kind of like this one, but grain-free and in the slow cooker)


• Pre-made a delicious mashed cauliflower for dinner tonight and to serve as the boeuf's base


• Started a GIANT pot of bone broth to freeze and use throughout the week (because I have come to understand from years of research both personal and academic, that "good broth can resurrect the dead.") We use it as a base for soups and sauces, and if we were eating grains we would use it for cooking water for that too.

• Made all three of our lunches (salad with hard boiled egg, avocado, a bit of bacon, olive oil and balsamic vinegar for the adults, and leftover chicken and cauliflower plus olives, raw cheese, pepitas, yogurt and apple for the kiddo)

Wahoo, bring it on. I feel good. It's empowering to get a reign on things, even if I will miss my evening chocolate and glass (or two) of wine.

(Edit: Today was a day running around with my kiddo, with a lot of cooking for the week and a lot of eating. The menu was: Breakfast: 2 pastured eggs and 2 pieces of organic bacon; coffee with raw milk. Elevensies snack: a small piece of pumpkin "bread," an apple and a hard boiled egg. Lunch: tinned sardines in olive oil with broccoli. Late afternoon snack: a small cup of hot cocoa made with raw milk, molasses, a touch of cocoa powder and a touch of stevia. Dinner: Mary's chicken, dredged in almond flour and cooked with coconut oil. Served on a bed of cauliflower mash and wilted spinach. I didn't have enough water and I was too busy with projects and cooking to keep up with my usual supplements. I drank some herbal tea infusions for general health, and a cup of Irish Breakfast tea for a mild caffeine pick-me-up in the afternoon. Tomorrow will likely look very different from today.)