The Return

Week 3

Still Life, by Luigi Lucioni 1926

*Some quick thoughts about last week: towards the end of the week, the temperatures soared into the triple digits and I just couldn't handle the thought of chana masala--which is a sort of curried chickpea stew--so I swapped it out for a brown rice/ quinoa pasta w/ shrimp, garlic, & tomato.  That pasta was a waste: it ended up a gloopy, slimy mess.  I will not be buying that again.  Sadly, it was not the quick, fresh dinner I was hoping for.

This week I begin reintroducing the food elements which I had cut out.  To sum up:

I am definitely less bloated than I was, which is good, but my digestion issues remain.  This leads me to believe it was not the eggs, dairy, gluten, or soy that was upsetting my tummy.  I am planning on reintroducing foods as scheduled and noting my body's reaction.  After this period is over I am thinking of doing a second round of eliminations: caffeine, sugar, & alcohol.    I might not survive that.   I might also take a couple weeks without eliminating anything in particular but adding a probiotic.  There really is so much guess-work in this, isn't there? 

Menu (8/17-8/23)

**First back is dairy.  Can I just say how incredibly excited I am to have milk in my coffee again?  I had unintentionally cut back on my coffee intake simply because I don't like plant-based "milk" in my coffee.  What a glorious luxury!!

M--Bolognese sauce over polenta Romana

T--Salad: buffalo chickpea.

*Origionally this was scheduled for last week, but we decided to postpone it so that we could have it properly--with bluecheese crumbles & ranch dressing.  Last week I swapped it out for this option from the book 500 Tapas:

W--Enchilladas w/ leftover chicken & elote-style salad

**Next is Gluten.  This will mostly be in the shape of toast for breakfast & sandwiches for lunch. 

R--baked potatoes w/ turkey chili & green salad

F--Hamburgers.  Just to keep things interesting, I used the remainder of the blue cheese & some thinly sliced red onion.  

Sat--Sicilian Pasta

** And now, soy.

Sun--Mee goreng, based off of Yotem Ottolenghi's recipe from his book Plenty

Image taken from Ottolengi.co.uk

* So far, I'm not noticing any significant changes in my digestion.  I will, however, continue to limit my dairy and starches (esp. gluten) since that seems to make my tummy happier.   I will also continue to read labels and try to eat things which are as little processed as possible--it really has been an eye-opening experience in that respect!