Okay, so! Let’s talk about me! It’s like the Olympics…of talking about ME! And my groceries. This is going to be awesome.

Day Fourteen of A Different Sort of Diet, which is what I’m calling it, happened yesterday. To recap, I decided to cut out wheat, dairy, coffee, and sugar. Then I reconsidered a little, and what I came up with is that I get to have my necessary first sweet cup of tea. This is only necessary when I am  not drinking coffee, because generally I drink my tea neat. BUT if there is no coffee, I really, REALLY feel like I need a sweet, milky tea to start the day. I can’t explain it, since I drank my coffee black (Well, hot coffee. Iced coffees are another story), but there you have it. Sweet, milky tea first thing is something I need/want. However, I am trying to cut that out, and we’ll see how I do. At the very least I want to use raw honey rather than refined white sugar. Just because. The other dairy/sugar item is Danactive probiotic drink thingys. I think they’re great and they totally work for me and they don’t bother me at all, so I plan to continue those.

My sinuses continue to improve slowly. I feel better over all. My skin is less angry. Also something I was not expecting: my back feels way better. Like, I think it may be the most noticeable thing of all the things. I wasn’t expecting that at all, but I guess there was inflammation there that’s settling down a bit? I don’t know, but it feels better. I mean, the injury isn’t gone. It gets irritated when I do something it doesn’t like. However, the constant, low-grade pain is gone. I’m pretty excited about that. I am often tired, and I am sleeping more and more deeply. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad, so I’m going to wait to decide and see what happens as time goes on.

Moving on….Whole Foods: why bother? Well, to put it in as few words as possible, I don’t like my options nearby. The produce is horrible. Many things are simply not available, or if they are there is one, very scary-looking option covered in dust. Some things, I may be able to find, but I have to go to any number of different stores to get the stuff on the list, and then pay high prices for said stuff. Meanwhile, I’m dragging kids around, burning up gasoline, and I really do have other things to do besides procurement. I imagine that anyone local reading this may have their own system for getting food items and that local person exists perfectly well without trucking up to Whole Foods, and that’s just fine, but I don’t. I don’t have a good system, and I need one. I like the thought of having a one-stop shop for a whole bunch of stuff that actually looks nice. I like being able to get the stuff I’ve been looking for. I find myself up in the area where Whole Foods lives every week or two anyway, and why not stop in, I say. So I think I will!

Here are some of the things I got:

Wild rice and brown basmati rice mix (organic), organic quinoa, some tinned coconut milk, cocoa nibs, unsweetened finely shredded coconut, Larabars in fun flavors like Banana Bread and Orange Something-or-other,

coconut flour, organic tinned beans (we eat lots of beans, and I wanted organic ones),

there was a fantastic selection of honey, from which I chose the regular tupelo. I didn’t get the Really Raw at Whole Foods, but they had it and that’s what I prefer as long as my allergies can handle it. I’m experimenting at the moment. If it works out, I’ll buy more.

I also got some gorgeous mushrooms in varieties I can’t find here, zucchini, heirloom tomatoes, avocados, cilantro, and sweet potatoes. These are all items I should be able to get closer to home, but haven’t been able to find where I normally shop in a state that is not flaccid, or moldy, or rotten-looking. I just can’t even understand, but whatever…maybe I’m too picky. I just really hate buying crummy produce.

Oh, and the coconut flour and shredded coconut are to make these. Don’t they look great? I think I’ll replace the chips with cocoa nibs.

Speaking of the cocoa nibs, those are really nice to have around. They’re roasted bits of cocoa bean and very delicious. Not sweet, not milky, but roasty and chocolatey. I keep finding myself having a few throughout the day, and the kids were skeptical but tasted them and were surprised to like them.

So, looking at what I bought, do you know of something I should try? Something you really like and want to recommend?

I think that’s all for now! I need to get myself to bed.