Happy Mother's Day - Make SWEET memories and Think Clean Thoughts!

So I have survived 1 1/2 weeks of my Candida diet. No sugar in ANYTHING. No vinegar. No fruit. No dairy. No yeast. Pretty much no cheats.

If you think you have gone sugar-free (like I did) you will probably be surprised by how many places you are still getting sugar when you actually start reading labels and thinking twice before putting things in your mouth and cooking. 

They really do sneak it in everywhere. I thought wheat was bad for being an additive in everything. Well sugar is worse. In hindsight I was still getting lots of sugar in my diet. A lot less than mine pre-clean days but still a lot more than I thought. 

Salad dressings, canned tomatoes (some), french vanilla creamer, yogurt, marinades for meat, crackers. You have to watch closely - it is everywhere. 

It kind of explains why my sugar cravings didn't go away even though I thought I had gone sugar free. I hadn't. I was still feeding my Candida.

But now I really and truly have gone sugar free. And I am excited to report that the SUGAR DEVIL has left the building. Do I still want something sweet here and there - Yes. Do I miss it - Yes. 

Do I feel possessed and frantic if I don't have something sweet after meals or when the mood strikes - NO. Hurray. Victory. Freedom. 

So if you are battling with your sugar tooth and can't understand why its not going away - maybe its because you are still feeding it from unexpected places. Read labels. Give up fruit for a while. Really give your body a break and you will notice a difference in cravings. You will have about 5 days of intense, crippling withdrawal. Sorry. But it will get better. 

I feel a sense of freedom from not being a slave to my sweet cravings. I hated them as much as I loved the fleeting moments of satisfaction I got from that sweet hit of dark chocolate. It never satisfied me. I always wanted more. Its a curse that I didn't want. And for now at least it is at bay.

So wish me luck for another week of willpower. The less you give in, the less you give in.

And there is lots of sweetness all around. Just not food. Like my kids giving me the SWEETEST mother's day gifts this morning. Life is SWEET indeed.

Happy Mother's Day to all the SWEET and INSPIRING mother's out there. Especially to my sister and friends who are constantly teaching me ways to be a better mom. Your ideas and support help me everyday. And to my Mom and Mom-in Law who don't read this blog. You are amazing. Love you gals.

These are two of my awesome Mother's day gifts. A flower pen and holder from my 5 year old and a coaster from my 4 year old.

A almond, chocolate, mint, coconut milk tart thingy. A creation to try and satisfy my sweet tooth. It was okay. I'll be working on this recipe a bit more before sharing. I used Xylitol and Stevia for sweetener but have since been advised that I should try and stay away from Xylitol so I won't be making it the same way again! Back to the drawing board.

Chicken, brown rice pasta soup I made for the girls with some chicken stock I made from a rotisserie chicken. They both enjoyed it. A win!

I thought this was an ideal Candida diet meal until I found out on Tuesday that I can't have PORK - OMG. I love PORK. Darn. I also can't have apple cider vinegar. Tear. Vinegar is off my list of things I can eat. Tough for salad dressings. But I found some coconut vinegar at Vita Health and its allowed. I will be experimenting with it this week.  I'm excited to try it. 

I had a Chocolate Vega One Chia and nut butter smoothie everyday this week. I'm a bit addicted. Its totally Candida Diet Friendly so its okay.  These are saving me as at least its one meal I can just blend, sip and go. Convenient and tasty.

A salad dressing I made out of avocado. It was okay. I will work on it a bit this week and probably document the recipe soon. It needed more spices.

I made some taco meat so we had Candida friendly Taco(less) salad a couple times this week. A nice change of pace from our regular chicken breast salad.

This was an awesome breakfast. I just layered olive oil/butter, spinach, free run egg, green onion and sun-dried tomatoes in a fry pan. I seasoned with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Then I just add a bit of water and the lid and let it baste for about 5 minutes. Delicious. Clean. Candida-diet friendly. No toast necessary.

I made a cauliflower, broccoli and chicken stir-fry. I used Bragg's liquid amino's, lemon juice, EVOO, sesame oil, garlic and Stevia for a marinade. Added some ginger, garlic and s & p. Easy and clean. I just bought some coconut amino's to use instead of Bragg's. Haven't tried it yet but excited to experiment with it as its supposed to be a better alternative for Candida than the Bragg's for soy sauce. Baby loved this recipe.

I made some coconut milk, pecan, pumpkin ice cream one night. Just a bit of Stevia for sweetener. It was okay. 

A pumpkin scone recipe I invented. I used flax, coconut flour and almond flour. Stevia as sweetener of course. Might share the recipe this week as they turned out pretty good.

I needed to use up some left-over spaghetti squash and clean marinara so I just fried it up with some leaks, sun-dried tomatoes and topped with some canned chicken, spices and sauce. My goal is to have less than 5% food wastage in our house. This is how I do it. Re-inventing left-overs so they are still clean and tasty. 

An omelet with tomato and sun-dried tomatoe and about one ounce of mozza cheese. I'm allowed 3 ounzes three times a week but I'm trying to just cut it out. This was my one dairy of the week. Not bad mama. Not bad.

I baked banana bread and banana muffins for the kid. Torture. I couldn't even lick the spoon. But  baby LOVED them so it was worth it. Hubby and the girls also adore this recipe. 

We had grilled chicken and cauliflower yesterday for lunch. We did the cauliflower in a roasting pan on the bbq. It tasted so SWEET. Amazing. Just seasoned with s & p, butter, EVOO, and basil/parsley. 

The almond flour and flax banana bread I made for the rest of the family that I can't eat. Drool. I'll NEVER eat this again. Oh well. I will just have to keep experimenting to find something as good without banana's.