Last Day of Sugar Detox and a Recipe for Meaty Spaghetti Sauce.

Today is the last day of the 21 Day Sugar Detox that I've been on. I've faithfully avoided sugar except for Easter day and I must admit, sometimes it was pretty tough, especially in the beginning, but now at the end, cravings are pretty non existent. So now what? Well, I plan to only have sweets on our Friday family nights and on special occasions, I also plan to continue eating the way I have been, paying close attention to ingredients in food that I eat, making sure it does not have any sugar or sweet ingredients, you see the 21 Day Sugar Detox not only cuts out sugar, it cuts out anything sweet! For good reason though, studies are coming out that show some people who eat sweets even if it is sweetened with a non caloric sweetener like stevia or Splenda even (yuk) will release insulin anyway, causing our body to store the food as fat. I really believe I was/am one of those people. There have been times when I felt like I gained weight just looking at a delicious chocolate cake :)

I am excited to say that I have dropped 3 lbs. and now fit it in a size smaller jeans! I am now at a weight that I have not been at for almost six years! As I said earlier, my cravings are pretty much gone and that was the real purpose of the Sugar Detox for me anyway, so the weight loss is a nice bonus...a very nice bonus. I am hoping that my hormones may be closer to normal and so I will attempt to get off the Proactiv skin care that I have had to use to keep my skin clear, wish me luck! I will continue to do several of these 21 Day Sugar Detoxes this year and perhaps forever, it will help me keep my sugar craving from getting out of hand again.

Now on to a couple of recipes.

This delicious spaghetti sauce is very easy to make and will feed a family of 5 for 3 meals, so it's inexpensive too!

Meaty Spaghetti Sauce

1Tbsp of olive oil or butter
1 red onion-diced
2 lbs ground beef or turkey or a combo (you actually could use less if you wanted, this amount makes a nice hearty sauce)
2  14.5 oz cans of organic tomato sauce
2  14.5 oz cans of organic diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp of dried parsley or fresh if you like
1 Tbsp or to taste of garlic salt
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano

Heat on medium high a large 6qt pot. Add oil and wait till hot, then add your diced red onions, cook for a couple of minutes then add the ground meat and cook till browned. When meat is browned add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. When it starts to boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer till you have finished making your pasta and serve.

Please add spices to your taste, this recipe is easy to play with and customize to your family's liking.
Enjoy!

Meaty Spaghetti Sauce on sauteed yellow squash ribbons with a sprinkling of parmigiana cheese, brown rice pasta is great too!

I made this quinoa pizza many times the past three weeks, it is delicious, easy and does not contain yeast (not that I have a problem with yeasted foods). I imagine you could use buckwheat groats (is not like wheat, and is gluten free despite the wheat in it's name) in place of the quinoa. While I wish I could take credit, the recipe is not mine and can be found on Charity Dasenbrock's For Life Blog, the picture however is mine, I hope it makes you drool :)

Quinoa crust pizza with pepperoni, black olives and cheese. I have made it vegetarian as well and it was equally delicious! 

Tomorrow I will have new pictures of how I look now, I'm not sure there will be much difference, but that's alright, what is important is getting healthier one day at a time!

Would any of you be interested in joining me on another 21 Day Sugar Detox in the future?

Steph