Being on an elimination diet for the past 9 months I find it hard to go to parties. The only reason I’ve been on the diet so long is because I had about a 2-3 month period where I couldn’t even eat regular food, let alone test out new foods to see if they affected me!
Pinterest always has some amazing recipes, but you really need to look at the ingredients. Yes, that 3 layered american flag cake is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen BUT it’s refined sugar, dairy and gluten filled.
So what can you make on your elimination diet menu this year that …
1. Will help your health
and
2. Still impress your family and friends?
My go-to strategy is to search for paleo recipes and omit or substitute where it calls for dairy products- like cheese.
So after searching for some good ideas here are my top 6 recommendations for this year’s 4th celebrations! (It was going to be 5, but it was so hard to narrow it down just to a few!)
1. Red, White & Blue Fruit Salad
Minus the one, big glaring ingredient, this sounds like a delicious, refreshing salad to serve at your picnic.
1 tablespoon sugar
Everything else in this recipe is perfect, with the exception of the sugar.
In this case, you have a few different options.
1. Sub the 1 TB sugar with a 1 TB coconut sugar, monk fish fruit or xylitol
2. Sub the 1 TB sugar with a 1 TB maple syrup
3. Omit completely ~ you’re already putting in honey, therefore the salad will have a sweetness to it
[pullquote align=center]
My opinion on fake sugars (ie. Splenda, Equal, Sweet’N Low, etc.) is that they’re just as dangerous as regular sugar. Sure, they have 0 calories, but they’re not real food. They’re synthetic sugar substitutes aka “food like” products. There was a time when I thought they were the way to go- I mean, why not? You aren’t getting any calories from consuming them. But now that I’ve had the opportunity to have my eyes opened, sure there aren’t any calories, but I absolutely do not want to know what they’re doing to my insides.
[/pullquote]
2. Mango Guacamole
My best friend made this for my sister and I last summer when we visited. Yum yum yummmmmmmmmm. It was soooooo good. We put it on turkey burgers and it made the PERFECT spread. This guac can be used as a dip (use celery, carrots, jicama or gluten free/diet approved cracker chips), use it as a topping for your picnic sandwiches or to be eaten along with your grilled chicken. SO EASY. You’ll be making this all the time!
3. Grilled Sweet Potato and Wilted Kale Salad
Ummmmm . . . this recipe seriously makes me DROOL. I mean sweet potatoes are delish on their own and this recipe takes it up a notch by GRILLING THEM! Don’t tell the other guests they’re eating kale and I guarantee this will be a hit.
6. Tuna and Avocado Skewers
Yes folks, tuna and avocado skewers. My mouth started watering the moment I read the title of the recipe! Everyone’s doing the same ol’ shish kabob- why don’t you do something different AND healthy AND extremely delicious! I cannot WAIT to get these babies onto my grill!
5. Salted Caramel Non-Dairy Ice Cream
No changes needed here! Only requirement is an ice cream maker.
6. Not So Mocktail, Mmmocktail
This recipe has a delicious recipe for a simple syrup that is diet approved! They serve this as a mocktail, but I’ll be honest . . . I’ll probably be adding maybe some sparkling wine to that sparkling water. Or white rum. Or vodka? I don’t know, will depend on my mood!
And if you like this simple syrup you could make it using different fruit next time. To make it completely patriotic, you could do the raspberry, a blueberry one and then also a lemon one. Put them out in different containers and arrange them for not only decoration, but for drinks too!
You could also swap the mint and raspberries for strawberries and basil or maybe just cherries! The possibilities are endless.
In life people look at a diet as something that you go on to deprive yourself.
Making it a lifestyle can be so very easy if you make simple swaps for ingredients that will make your food choices healthier. And remember, always choose FOOD not FOOD LIKE products!
Have fun getting ready for your picnic 🙂
Wishing You A Pain Free Day!
