I Quit Sugar - Week 5 Recap

I Quit Sugar
Week 1
Week 2
Reading Food Labels - SUGAR 
Week 3
Week 4

Where on earth did week 5 go? Honestly, looking back I can barely even remember what I had for breakfast this morning! Work and life has been insanely busy and I realized that this whole I Quit Sugar program has become my lifestyle now. I didn't really follow the meal plan for the week and ate out quite a bit, even went on a mini vaca, and it really became second nature to me to choose low or no sugar items...I call that an I Quit Sugar success!

Week 5 was the last week we didn't have ANY sweeteners and I wasn't really even dying to eat berries when today (the start of week 6) rolled around.  It doesn't mean I didn't have any, fresh raspberries are the best right now in the Pacific Northwest.

I don't really have many pictures of amazing things I made to share, but I do want to share a recipe with you.  Breakfast last week consisted of this Coco-Nutty Granola recipe (minus the brown rice syrup of course) but since I'm allergic to all nuts I decided to experiment and modify to see if I could make a non-nut granola that was tasty...spoiler...I DID!

Coco-NotNutty Granola

BREAKFAST...more filling that it looks, promise!

Makes about 5 cups - I probably got through about 7 breakfasts with this

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flaked unsweetened coconut - I found these really large flakes at Whole Foods in the bulk bin and they work fabulously in this!
• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup pumpkin seeds
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 250 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
2. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl
3. Spread evenly on baking sheet (you might need two baking sheets if you don't have a REALLY big one).
4. Bake for 20-30 minutes, turning once until everything is nice and golden and crunchy!
5. EAT IT! My favorite way was with a serving of whole fat plain greek yogurt. I swear you won't miss the sugar or absence of dried fruit...the toasted coconut is plenty of sweet.

It's pretty hard to convince me not to just eat eggs and toast every single morning but this was so easy and delicious I was craving this every morning!

Like I mentioned above I took a mini getaway to the San Juan Islands with some girlfriends and there was some excellent eating and drinking involved. Did I eat too much fried food and drink too much alcohol? Well yeah, but I still made good decisions involving sugar (well maybe minus alcohol) and had a blast!

Vegan Italian sausage at Mike's Cafe and Wine Bar for lunch

Smoked salmon scramble with mixed greens, potatoes, and fresh fruit at the Cask and Schooner for brunch

Not pictured is the fish and chips and nachos I inhaled for dinner and the rest of the evening while bar hopping :).

Week 6 is all about adding a LITTLE bit of sweetness back in in the form of lower sugar fruits like berries and using brown rice syrup in small quantities.  If you are interested in learning more about what sweeteners IQS stays 100% away from and which ones they advocate in moderation check out these links:

• Is glucose better any than fructose?
• Artificial sweeteners won't help you quit sugar

 And of course this infographic I've posted before pretty much sums it up:

I won't be following this week's meal plan much since Ragnar this week throws a big wrench in the cooking of a fabulous dinner every night but I remain committed to the IQS philosophy and will do my best to stay away from the gummy bears I know will be thrown around our Ragnar van :). 

Question: Have any good sugar free munchie ideas for me that will be easy to take for Ragnar?