October Unprocessed Week 2

We're halfway through this challenge and I've had some time to really think about the long term impacts of it and our lifestyles. Here's what we learned this week:

1. We love barley. Love it. It's kind of fun to discover new foods that we like.

2. My taste buds are starting to change now too. I'm not sure why it took longer for me to notice it, or maybe it was because I eat less artificial sweeteners than my husband, but I'm starting to pick up on more natural sugars now.

3. Not all cottage cheeses are created equal. I found only one brand that didn't contain preservatives or artificial ingredients. We all got really excited....over cottage cheese. I never thought I would get excited over cottage cheese, but here we are!

4. I'm sleeping better. My guess is this has more to do with not having the extra caffeine in the form of Starbucks than all of the other processed foods.

5. While I thought giving up Cheerios was going to be the worst part, I actually don't think I'm going to go back to cereal. I love having whole wheat breads or muffins in the morning. They keep me full for a long time. That's not to say I won't ever eat cereal again, but it's not going to be my breakfast staple anymore.

6. We are eating a lot more salads, and skipping the salad dressing altogether. I have been making a big bowl of salad and we can eat off of it for several days. The bacon and feta cheese add a nice salty flavor and really bring out the juiciness of the tomatoes. I've never been a huge fan of iceberg lettuce, so we've been using frisee and romaine.

Week 2 Confession

I had a really bad day of cravings. All I could think about was chocolate cupcakes, peanut butter M&Ms, and Ben and Jerry's Phish Food ice cream. It was rough. I finally gave in and made peanut butter cookies. (1 c peanut butter, 1 c sugar, 1 egg) After I had a few cookies, I developed the most intense headache. I have to assume the two are related. The peanut butter and the egg are allowed in this challenge, but all that sugar was just too much for me. I used to love those cookies, but I don't think I'll be able to eat them anymore. And if I do, I'll just have 1.

Last night, I had a roast in the crock pot. It just wasn't getting tender. It was kind of a dinner fail. Normally, I'd throw in the towel and just have cereal for dinner. Since I couldn't have cereal, I ended up making popcorn, which actually is perfectly acceptable in the unprocessed challenge, but not exactly a balanced meal.

All in all, it was as pretty good week!