My Whole30 was thwarted by a piece of cheese!

Actually it was two pieces!

I'm back to Day 1 on my Whole30,  I mistakenly ate two pieces of cheese in my what-was-supposed-to-be In & Out double patty, lettuce wrapped with grilled onions burger. My poor hubby, felt so bad since he was the one who goofed my order. I trusted that he had ordered correctly when I received my burger, and proceeded to eat it, after a few bites, I knew something was off, as the burger seemed so much more tastier than usual. I took a good look at my burger and saw cheese! Ahhhh, I was only 9 days away from completing my first Whole30! My husband suggested I just don't worry about it and continue on, but I couldn't, my conscience would not let me. In the book It Starts With Food, they state you need to be off all gluten, dairy, legumes, grains and sugar for a whole month at least to let your body heal properly. I really do want to give my body that chance of uninterrupted healing, so that is why I am starting at day 1.

I will not however, be doing the Autoimmune Protocol of the Whole30 this time around. But if I start having problems, then I will go back on it again.

Not making any excuses, just letting everyone know why I am starting over. I don't look at it as a failure either, it's just a setback, something to learn from (always check your food before biting into it).

I've had to make an ice cream cake for my son and his cousin's birthday party and guess what!? I felt no desire to eat any of it, or lick the spoon or bowl! I'll be enjoying my Prosciutto Wrapped Dates while everyone else is eating the ice cream cake and I'll be feeling perfectly content! :) If that is not progress, then I don't know what is!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Steph

Prosciutto Wrapped Dates

Since no sugar is allowed on the 21 Day Sugar Detox or the Whole30, I have been searching for sugar free bacon locally with out any luck at all. Online, you can purchase some from U.S. Wellness Meats, but we cannot afford that right now unfortunately.

While reading posts in the Whole30 Forum, someone mentioned they used prosciutto in place of bacon and that the ingredients were only pork and salt...perfect! The person mentioned that he purchased his from Trader Joe's, so the next time I was down there (I love Trader Joe's) I looked for it. They had a few different kinds of prosciutto, only one did not contain sugar, so please always read the ingredients, never assume. I ended up buying two packages, each pack contained 4oz and cost $5.90...yikes I know, but I was desperate lol. I later found the same brand of prosciutto (still be sure to check ingredients) at Costco, you get 12oz for $12.00, so you basically get 4oz free over there, a much better deal!

Anyhoo, the reason I was hoping to find some sugar free bacon or an acceptable substitute was to make these gorgeous, tasty beauties!

Prosciutto Wrapped Dates

Prosciutto Wrapped Dates


Package of Prosciutto
Dates- I prefer the caramel like flavor of deglet, but medjool will work great too.


If you were to use a whole 4oz package of prosciutto, you will need 14 dates. Each slice of prosciutto makes two wrapped dates.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

With a knife (regular of paring), gently press into the flesh of the dates. Then with your thumbs, pry the flesh open as gently as you can and remove the pit.

When all dates have been pitted, carefully remove a slice of prosciutto and gently tear in half with your hands. Then take one half and fold lengthwise. then wrap around the date. Don't worry about the prosciutto tearing while you are removing it, it happens all the time, you can still salvage it easily, just fold as best you can and wrap.

Lay on parchment covered baking sheet seem side down.

Bake in oven for 12 minutes. Let cool, then enjoy!


*If you are able to have dairy, stuff dates with feta cheese before wrapping.

**If you are able to have nuts, stuff dates with almonds, walnuts, or pecans before wrapping.

Here are some photos of me putting them together...

Here is a picture of the brand of prosciutto I used.

I got this package from Trader Joe's. The one from Costco is a two pack and looks a little different.

Some of you might be wondering why I am eating dates when I am trying to avoid sugar. Simple, dates are a whole, unprocessed food, perfectly fine to include in your Whole30 as long as you don't over do it. (Plus they are full of fiber, B vitamins, potassium, etc...)

These dates are perfect for taking on a hike or bike ride, they are little energy bundles! I hope you will give them a try, they are quite delicious!

Steph

Sugar Detox Progress (or lack of)

Last week started off well, I felt so steady, I did have some sugar cravings, but I was able to handle them fairly easily...until the car accident. My husband and daughter were in a car accident on Wednesday evening coming home from church, they were hit from the side by a driver who ran a red light. God was merciful and protected them and brought them back home safely to us! We have been praising and thanking the Lord since then, and treasuring every moment we have together. It is sad how easy we can take simple blessings for granted!

Despite all the happenings of last week, I remained sugar free (even though I wanted to rip through a tub of rocky road ice cream) up until yesterday. We had a birthday potluck at a church friends house between services and the sweet, young man of the house made a gluten free chocolate cake for me and another friend who are gluten free. It was the first time he had ever made anything gluten free, I just could not say no to his wonderfully, kind gesture so I had some...and it was gooood! Then things kinda spiraled out of control on the sugar thing, I had reasoned to myself, well since I have had some, why not live it up today and just get back on the wagon tomorrow. So I did, I had a mocha frap from Starbucks...venti, I also had some rocky road ice cream that I had been dreaming about all week along with some more chocolate cake that I took home. I don't know if my taste buds are changing but the mocha frap did not taste as good, let's hope for changing taste buds :)

It's Monday, I'm back on the wagon and being good again, but still having cravings and dreaming about rocky road ice cream and Christopher's gluten free chocolate cake. Will I make it through the next two weeks? I honestly don't know, but I will take it one day at a time and rely on the Lord for strength. What is encouraging is that before I went on my sugar binge, I was starting to see some benefits to my health and I had dropped a pound, therefore I will persevere to the end!

How was your week?

Steph