Wait... People actually eat that??

            Millet. Ever heard of it? Apparently I have for years now, and just never knew the name. It’s the stuff that was mixed in with bird seeds that my sister would feed to her love birds back in the day. Yup. But before you become too skeptical (I had my reservations), I actually tried it – and it wasn’t bad at all. It pretty much tasted like Quinoa (which is also another grain... kind of like rice cut into little circular balls.)

Starting a Whole Foods, Plant Based Diet opens up a world of strange, unfamiliar foods you never knew existed. Things like, “Tahini,” and “Nutritional Yeast,” or “Tamari” become regular words in your cooking vocabulary. Maybe I just haven’t been adventurous enough in my cooking up until now, but wow – there’s so much out there I never new about! Some seems questionable at first, like millet, but I’m finding that most of it is quite enjoyable.

It’s officially been a week now on my “Diet,” and I wanted to update everyone on my progress. First off....

POSITIVES:

After about day three on the diet, I realized something: I had been driving for 20 minutes in the car with my daughter to head to Trader Joes to see if they had any of the not-so-usual ingredients needed in my recipes. Suddenly, it hit me, “I haven’t shifted once in my seat!” That may sound silly, but with my arthritis in my tailbone, I usually have to change positions at least every 5-10 minutes. Criss-crossing the legs, sitting on one leg, changing to sit on the other, feet on the dash – whatever I can do to relieve pressure and pain. But this drive was different. I wasn’t in pain! “It has to just be in my head, “ I think to myself. But hey, if it’s in my head, I’ll take it!

            It wasn’t just in my head though. It's happened consistently every drive I have taken. I’d suddenly realize – wait a sec... something’s missing. I’m not in pain! All of those drives were in Yoga pants. Sigh... I love Yoga pants. The one time I wore jeans, I did experience a little bit of discomfort. (Perhaps I'll have to have designated "Driving Pants?" No...) But it’s only been a week. If this has happened in a week, I can’t wait to find out what it’ll be like in a months time!

---Just to give some perspective – The last time I was absolutely pain free, was when I was administered an epidural with my first child. So, yeah. I’ll take the small successes!

            Next positive- I was able to stand in the kitchen for FOUR HOURS!! Four hours people!!! My lower back and hips were doing great! My legs weren’t even aching! Truly incredible. 

            So I’m a believer that this diet helps with arthritis. I might not be totally pain free, but the improvements I have had thus far (after only a week!) have blown my mind.

NEGATIVES:

            Since this is just the beginning, it’s taking me time to get use to how things are cooked. Like the four hours in the kitchen mentioned above.  It took me 3 hours to make a “Shepard’s Pie,” and an hour to make “Berry Cobbler.” The Shepard’s Pie was actually pretty good! I learned, however, I don’t care for lots of Thyme. Also, make the font bigger on your phone when reading recipes, otherwise you end up with 2 Tablespoons of Pure Maple Syrup, instead of 2 teaspoons. I was upset, to say the least. But it actually still turned out pretty good. I’ll show some pics below.

            The cobbler on the other hand – YUCK. I need to learn how to make a good topping without it tasting like rubber. Not cooking with oil is tough! I’ll admit though, I’ve always flubbed things up when it comes to cooking desserts. If it doesn’t come in a box ready to go, something usually goes wrong.

So without making this entry to exhaustively long, I’ll end with some pictures of my creations this week.  I’m actually having a great time learning all of this, and am loving the results!

Shepard's Pie out of the oven.

Shepard's Pie served on the plate!

Eggplant Rollatini - Getting it ready in the dish to bake! Stuffed inside is the notorious "Millet" along with tons of veggies.

This is what happens when you are a newbie - didn't quite cook the Eggplants thick enough, so ran out of stable ones to wrap stuff in. The leftovers went on the bottom of the dish with the filling on top!

Here's the Eggplant Rollatini all done and on the plate!

Delicious Nachos! One of my favorites! Home-made baked tortilla chips, homemade vegan Nacho Cheese sauce, black beans, my home-made pico de gallo, and avacado. Oh so good.

Soft Taco Tostada - My own creation. That's a tofu sour cream on top. Who knew you could make that? It's pretty good too!

Mexican Casserole. Was good, but I'm going to add some more spices for flavor next time I make it. And some more salt. this diet uses minimal salt, so I'm slowly adjusting to the change. 

 Can you tell I love Mexican Food? 

P.S. I'm sure by now you have found out that I'm not a food photographer...

~Lindsay