Slowly going grain and sugar free

Why grain free? Well, the basis of many "healing diets" out there is the premise that you must rid your diet of all sugars and everything that turns to sugar in the body....of course that includes grains, alcohol, starchy veggies like potatoes and sweet potatoes, etc. Some of the diets I refer to are the Banting Diet (the original low carb diet), the Paleo Diet, the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), the Maximized Living "Healing Diet", etc. Some of these diets allow dairy foods, others do not.

The idea sounds reasonable, and as an old hand at low carb diets, I'm willing to give it a shot. The basic gluten free diet has definitely helped me immensely, but apparently my body has sustained too much damage to heal just by going gluten free. So I'm going to be grain free and sugar free. Eventually.

I'm working on it, but I'm not there yet. :)

A very basic grain free dinner is broiled steak with sauteed garlic and mushrooms plus a green salad with a low carb gluten free dressing (preferably homemade). We've been eating a lot of meals like this lately....they're quick and easy.

I know, I didn't post a menu plan last week. I've been dealing with my newly diagnosed lupus and other issues, and simply didn't have much of a plan.

Last night we had oven "fried" chicken, which (in the grain free world) is chicken breaded with almond flour and baked in the oven.

Oven Fried Chicken:

Ingredients:

2 C almond flour (I used Bob's Red Mill because it's a bit chunky - good texture for breading)
1 C Parmesan Cheese, grated
2-3 tsp Old Bay Seasoning (to taste)
1 T garlic powder
2 tsp Herbes de Provence (or Italian Herb Mix)
4 eggs
3 - 3 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 T each butter and olive oil for pan

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put butter and olive oil in baking pan (should be large enough to accomodate all of the chicken in a single layer, leaving a bit of space between pieces if possible), and place the pan on a rack in the center of the oven. You want the pan and oil-butter mixture to be hot when the chicken goes in.

Mix all dry ingredients in a pie pan; beat the eggs in a separate pie pan. Immerse each chicken breast in the beaten eggs, coating well. Next, dredge the chicken in the almond flour mixture, pressing it in with your fingers....make sure each piece is well covered. Remove the hot baking pan from the oven and place the chicken pieces in the olive oil-butter mixture. Try to separate the chicken pieces from each other in the pan if possible.

Bake for about 20 minutes, then turn the chicken and bake for another 20 - 25 minutes depending on the size and thickness of your chicken breasts.

Enjoy!