Are you ready for some FOOTBALL!?!?! Sorry, I couldn’t resist. We are not big sports fans in this house, but we do love watching the Super Bowl. This year will be extra fun with our own Carolina Panthers in the game.

My son is now in the youth group at church and they will have a big Super Bowl party on Sunday, but he has chosen to stay at home with his family. Cue the heartstrings.

I’m sure his decision has everything to do with love of his family and nothing to do with the fact that we eat dinner in the living room and said dinner consists of entirely snack foods plus the holy grail of treats: Coke! It’s ok though because it’s paleo Coke. Just kidding.

We don’t have a set Super Bowl menu, but each year I try to throw in more healthy options and see what I can get away with. This year’s menu is as follows:

• Teriyaki chicken wings
• Italian style Meatballs
• Cheese Sticks
• Carrots, celery, broccoli and mini peppers (all raw)
• Ranch Dressing (similar to the one from Meals Made Simple)
• Apple Slices
• Bacon Queso Dip (this recipe will be available in my upcoming ebook – exciting things are coming!)
• Salsa
• Tortilla chips (for my corn eaters)
• plantain chips (for me!)

Except for the cheese sticks and queso dip, all of this is Whole 30 or 21 DSD approved. Meaning, you can make all of these foods without added sugar.

Yes, there are only four of us. I realize that’s a lot of food. But that’s part of the fun!

So those are our big Super Bowl plans. It’s a little stressful watching the game with the kids because they have heard that the commercials are “the best part,” yet we have to watch with our hands on the remote ready to mute or switch channels lickety split in the case of something inappropriate, which there always is. We will take it as a teachable moment though and move on.

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This week has been a good deal less chaotic than last and I’m very thankful for that. I’ve had great success with my Whole 30 Day Sugar Detox – finally. I figured I might as well give credit to both programs. I have the 21 DSD books and really recommend them. I don’t have any of the Whole 30 books, but their website has so much information, I feel like I can confidently complete the challenge with what they provide there. I did sign up for their emails, which delivers little bonuses to my inbox like recipes and tips. I appreciate those folks making this affordable!

The way I see it, the main difference between the two plans, aside from the number of days, is that 21 DSD allows non-sweet treats. There is even an almond butter cup recipe in one of the books that looks amazing! Whole 30 says NO to anything that resembles a treat, even if it’s made with wholesome ingredients. Something about tricking your brain or training your brain. I get it. We had my pumpkin pancakes last week while I was just on 21 DSD and I definitely didn’t do as well last week. Certainly, I cannot completely blame the pancakes, but maybe it did have an impact? Such a big part of this whole thing is mental, rather than physical.

All I know is that this week has been easier. I did have a slip up one night and ate some chocolate. I thought I could just avoid all the no-no foods that lurk in my cupboards for a whole month, but turns out, I can’t. The kids got on board (not by choice) and put away all of their candy as well. My husband hid it all and we get it back March 3rd. I fully expect the kids to dig right in as if nothing changed. I hope that my desire for all that sweet stuff will have greatly diminished by then.

One adjustment I’ve had to make is to include some starchy carbohydrate in every meal where my husband is present. He has Type I diabetes and he just cannot eat as low carb as I can. We tried this week with stir fry served over spaghetti squash “fried rice.” Because the squash tastes so sweet, I thought there would provide enough carbs for him. But later that night his blood sugar took a pretty sharp dive, which is really dangerous. I just assumed that he had eaten some of his chocolate stash for dessert, but he was so full from dinner that he didn’t. Lesson learned. He is kind and tries not to eat his goodies in front of me and the kids. His chocolatey kisses give him away though. 🙂

If I do an intense workout, I will make sure to eat some sweet potato or a piece of fruit or two that day. Otherwise, I am sticking to meat and vegetables.

Despite all my fails on the photography front, I did manage to snap some pics of my breakfasts and lunches this week to show you what I’ve been eating.

Applegate Chicken Apple Sausage with some green apple and spinach.

Another Applegate Sausage with some sautéed spinach and eggs.

This one is just ground pork, Neiman Ranch Italian Sausage and lots of spinach. Are you noticing a theme here? I love to make an elaborate breakfast, but reality is that I just don’t usually have time.

Lunch looks like this almost every day. Salad greens, gluten free deli turkey or chicken, half an avocado, almonds and montmorency cherries (they’re sweet, but are supposed to help my arthritis so I enjoy that little treat), balsamic and olive oil.

Dinners contained a little more variety:

We had the Super Bowl meatballs one night with some roasted sweet potato and green beans.

Another night was the stir fry with chicken. I tried to get my kids to enjoy spaghetti squash by sautéing it really well, adding an egg and some coconut aminos, hoping it would taste a little like fried rice. Nope, no go. They hated it. I thought it was good, but spaghetti squash has so much water, I feel like no matter what you do it, it is going to be watery and that’s irritating. Definitely not my favorite vegetable.

We ate eggs and bacon one night, with a side of chicken wings. If you’re wondering which came first: the chicken or the egg, the answer is both, if you’re at my house! I know, we’re weird. Actually, I was just testing them for the blog. And they passed the test with flying colors. Seriously, they are amazing. Check out the recipe.

And then there was the rushed night with a rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods and a great big salad with some fruit on the side for my family. This is such a great option for busy nights. AND, big bonus, I get the bones for broth!

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That’s about it for this week. I’ve got a couple articles in the works that I hope will be helpful – one on histamine intolerance and one on fats: the good, the bad and the ugly. Look for those next week.

If you’re trudging through the sugar detox or Whole 30 with me, congratulations on making it through another week! March will be here before we know it. Or so they say.

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