I've made no secret around these parts how I've had to cut out a lot of starches and refined sugars and the like because they just don't seem to agree with me. I know, I know - I might be allergic to gluten, which seems unlikely, to tell you the truth, but maybe one of these days I'll get the test done to find out.

Anyway, for the past two weeks I've all but eliminated rice, potatoes, pastas, grains, breads, etc., in all forms as a rule. This isn't to say I've removed them completely from my diet, just that I have them in really limited quanities. And when I say "limited" I mean as in "once a week."

The result? Well, I stepped on the scale at my parents' house ysterday and it read back with "146." I haven't had a single bloat or stomach pain and I've felt really good.

Basically I'm just eating a lot of lean meats, eggs and more vegetables than you can shake a stick at. I've been doing some research on the South Beach Diet, not to follow it, per se, but to learn some creative eating ideas since I know that diet, at least in its inital stages, has its users eschewing breads, grains, etc. I've been tinkering with some things here and there and came up with another breakfast favorite:

Peanut Butter "Pancakes."

1 large egg
2 servings of egg whites (I just use the generic Egg Beaters variety)
1 Tbsp of natural peanut butter
1/2 Tbsp of Splenda

I mix up all of the ingredients using a KitchenAid immersion blender as it really gets the mixture good and frothy. I love that blender. It's one of the best presents I've ever received!

Anyway, pour the batter into a frying pan that's been coated with some sort of Pam-type cooking spray on a low heat. It cooks up much like a pancake and you can watch it "bubble up" in the same fashion.

Swirl around the excess liquid in the middle and then when it's a bit more firm, I cut it down the middle with my spatula and flip each side over. It doesn't look that pretty - and you could do this in smaller batches with a smaller pan - but it's fast and easy and really tasty. I mean it. Seriously good eating.

Another thing I've tried to cut out is sugar, so I've swapped out a couple of condiments like maple and chocolate syrups for the sugar-free variety. They're ... eh. They're ok. The price was worth the experiment. So I just put a tablespoon or two on the big ol' "pancake" and eat.

Like I said, I haven't completely sworn off grains and starches, but I've been heading this way, little by little, and so now I'm just more calculating when I have them. Saturday night we went out for pizza so I had a salad beforehand, but then had a piece of cheesy garlic bread and two slices of pizza. I didn't feel sick, but I didn't use it as an excuse to go crazy, either.

In other triumphs, I went to Super Target with my sister yesterday - God that place makes me want to roll around in all of the aisles because they just seem to be coated with promise and love and don't you just adore American marketing successes? - and I saw this dress.

People, I bought it. IN A MEDIUM.

I even had my sister come into the dressing room to look at me in it just so I wouldn't think I was crazy. And for the first time in eons I stood in a dressing room and felt really pretty and really excited about how I looked.

And I know there are a handful of you reading this who totally hate me and are disgusted and think I'm a narcisstist of the first degree but do you know what I say to you people?

FUCK OFF.

I'm thrilled right now and totally proud of myself.

Posted by Erin at 12:25 PM | filed under: Recipes