Living Pharr: Food!

As most of you know, I consider myself somewhat of an amateur nutritionist - I like to be/eat healthy, try to make sure I am eating the right mix of nutrients and food combinations and try to use food/nutrition as a way to enhance my lifestyle, health, etc. As you may also know, in the past few years I have given up gluten and it has made my digestive life much more comfortable ;) Part of my decision to give up gluten was based on friends who had given it up with positive anecdotes about how it helped them, and my decision to give up gluten was also based on information that I came across in my nutritional interests/pursuits. Lately, I have also given up dairy, as it seemed like I was still having some left-over digestive issues, and I have to say that after giving up gluten and dairy, my digestive system is the happiest it has ever been - YAY :)

All this to say, that at first, it seemed like giving up gluten and dairy would mean super boring eating, and you all know I like my food! However, I have been following the Primal/Paleo lifestyle and diet off and on for the past couple of years but strictly for the last 6 months, and I love it :) When I first discovered the Primal/Paleo lifestyle, it made total sense to me, but I didn't fully commit because there were many other healthy diet ideas I was incorporating into my own customized eating plan, which worked for a while until I decided I really needed to give up gluten. After giving up gluten and then dairy, it seemed as if I was kind of naturally migrating towards the Primal/Paleo lifestyle, and so I fully embraced it.

Now, this post is not suppose to be about the Primal/Paleo lifestyle, but in a few points, the diet part of the Primal/Paleo lifestyle focuses on: whole foods, foods that are naturally occurring (not processed) and trying to eat as much as possible like our ancestors - focusing on vegetables, fibrous fruits, animal proteins AND HEALTHY FATS :) I follow this blog for most of my information/guidance (if you're interested): Mark's Daily Apple.

So, that long intro for my original purpose of this post - I am having so much fun cooking and coming up with yummy food! For any of you who know me, this is a shock to you :) It is a shock to me, too! I didn't know you could have so much fun cooking and coming up with tasty ways to combine food. I actually think it is because I am using whole/natural food ingredients, and this seems to make a difference in enjoying the cooking process, and of course eating the final product :)

So, here are some of my yummy final products. I am not the best food photographer, but you get the idea ;)