The first few days of our gluten-free challenge have gone pretty smoothly. I planned out our lunches and dinners, as well as my snacks, so we’d have an easier time making the right choices.
On the first day we went to a local restaurant called Sun in My Belly and I regret to say I failed a little. I didn’t know it at the time, though. The bf and I each had a salad, and he had a pork chop with a sweet potato hash and greens. I ordered the mis-glazed salmon with marinated kale and cilantro couscous. I thought couscous was in the same vein as quinoa…oops! I discovered later that it’s made from semolina flour. I was disappointed that I made a mistake so early on in the challenge. However, I learned 2 main things from it:
- Couscous is NOT like quinoa
- Gluten-free won’t necessarily be easy…and it’s important for us to look items up to see if they are, in fact, gluten-free
Day 1:
- Breakfast: Green Juice
- Lunch: My homemade Southwestern Turkey Soup
- Snack: 1 granny smith apple with 1 tbsp. almond butter
- Dinner: Green salad, miso-glazed salmon with marinated kale and cilantro couscous (which I learned is NOT gluten-free)
Day 2:
- Breakfast: Green Juice
- Lunch: homemade chickpea, red lentil and smoked paprika soup and Nut Thins
- Snack: A small piece of chocolate for a snack
- Dinner: rock shrimp and scallop nachos with cilantro, avocado and creme fraiche
Day 3:
- Breakfast: Green Juice
- Lunch: Grilled chicken salad with cheddar cheese, olives, tomatoes, and cucumbers
- Snack: 1/2 granny smith apple with 1 tbsp. almond butter
- Dinner: Beet salad with pickled onions, arugula and goat cheese, sauteed spinach, grilled rice ball, corn tortilla chips and salsa
Day 4:
- Breakfast: Green Juice
- Lunch: homemade chickpea, red lentil and smoked paprika soup and Nut Thins
- Snack: small piece of chocolate, 1/2 granny smith apple and 1 tbsp. almond butter
- Dinner: Ethiopian-style grilled salmon and lamb with vegetables, a chickpea curry and gluten-free injera (This is an Ethiopian bread made with teff flour. In it’s original form it’s gluten-free but most places add in regular flour. We had to pay an extra $3, but were informed the teff flour was straight from Ethiopia. Even after this challenge, I think we’ll always order it because of the authenticity and the better taste and texture.)
Today we’re going apple-picking up in Ellijay, GA. I have lots of ideas for ways to use apples that are gluten-free. Check them out in my next post!
If you want to see more about how we’ve been doing so far, check out the other posts:
Gluten-free for 3 weeks
Gluten-free: Days 5-11
Gluten-Free: Days 12-18