Good Things

You know, I sometimes wonder why I do these detox things (this isn't my first time doing a diet detox of some sort). People usually think I'm insane. Usually, I think I'm insane. However, some good comes out of cutting the crap out of your diet. I am feeling better already....a little bloaty (I know...TMI) but feeling pretty good. Now, I have cheated a few times...small cheats...every day. I don't think (with the exception of peanuts, soy and eggs) that I technically have gone without the things I was supposed to cut out completely.

Some other good things have come out of this. I discovered that I like pearled barley. It was in a frozen meal that I had for lunch the other day and I didn't think it was too bad. I saw it at Kroger for 75 cents a bag and thought, "What the heck...I'll give it a try." I cooked it up tonight and put a dab of olive oil and some garlic and salt and it was not bad at all. Very filling.

Also, I LOVE sweet potatoes....I love them baked, mashed, roasted, fried, with marshmallows, without marshmallows, sweet, salty...you get the picture...

I'm starting to sound a bit like Bubba from Forrest Gump..."I know all they is to know about the shrimping business..."

Anyway...Michael does not share my love of the sweet potato. So, I rarely cook them....because that just means I have to fix another side to appease my hubby. Well, since they are one of the things that I am allowed to have while detoxing, I started cooking them and decided to heck with Michael (love you, honey). I knew that he would eat them somewhat if I roasted them. I was in a hurry one evening and didn't have time to roast them in the chunks I usually cut them into. So, I decided to slice them thin. They turned out AWESOME! And...guess what? Michael LOVED them!! Well, "LOVE" may be a bit strong, but he liked them a lot. He actually requested them last night. Here's what you do:

1 largish sweet potato will serve 2 people comfortably. I peeled it and sliced it thin (1/8 to 1/4"). I then tossed the slices in olive oil. I placed them in a single layer on a baking sheet, dusted them with cajun seasoning and roasted them at 425 for 8 minutes, flipped them, and roasted for another 5-10 minutes. Keep an eye on them...they go from golden goodness to charred mess pretty quickly when they are that thin.

I picked up some chocolate covered craisins at the store the other day. They were $1 a bag and I LOVE craisins....add chocolate and I know I will DOUBLE LOVE them. I started envisioning cookies made with them. I came home and told Michael that I was having a vision of cookies that I wanted to make to blog about. He said that I could make them but not eat them....party pooper. Give me another 10 days or so and I will be making some chocolate covered craisin cookies....you can bet on it. :)