Eating Challenge: Shannon

At first I thought this challenge would be fun... I figured, I'm competitive, and I love watching Food Network (especially Iron Chef) so bring it on! I was sadly mistaken. It's much easier creating meals with a secret ingredient than it is to create meals excluding a certain ingredient (not to mention the insane amount of additives and ingredients derived from corn!).

I think the things I missed the most were: cheeses, beer, eggs, beer, chicken, bread, and beer. I also missed the freedom of eating things I thought were healthful but not having to read the label. I don't do fast food, and I like to consider myself a conscientious eater, so it was disappointing to find all of the things that corn snuck into (like, high-fructose corn syrup in my tomato soup !? huh?).

I'm glad i did it, even happier it's over (I was getting grumpy), and overall did gain a new awareness about what's in my food. Our modern society of convenience/low-cost-first has made it pretty inconvenient to eat healthy.

a yummy start to the challenge... chirashi (scattered sushi over rice) with ginger and wasabi possible corn violations are if there's farm raised fish in there (probably), maybe something in the wasabi paste, (and ok, yes, the beer)	the drink lists organic raw kombucha*, and pure unsweetened organic cranberry juice (crap, *yeast was on the corn list... i didn't know what kombucha was but took a gamble it wasn't corn based)	for tonight's dinner i picked up some wild caught squid and am making a 7 hour broth, with bean sprouts, jalapeno, ginger, wasabi, organic turnip & carrots, loads of shittakes and a couple vegetarian chicken bouillon cubes* *corn violation of yeast extract and maltodextrin oof, i'm beginning to wonder if i'll be able to make one truly corn free (and good tasting) meal
wild caught squid, bean sprouts, jalapeno, ginger, chili pepper, wasabi, organic turnip & carrots, loads of shittakes and a couple vegetarian chicken bouillon cubes	well that one was easy... (although i wouldn't be surprised if corn is somehow involved in the brewing process of tea?)	mesclun salad with hydroponic tomato, bean sprouts, grapefruit,and avocado topped with grilled tofu dryrubbed with Mrs. Dash lemonpepper. dressed with olive oil and squeeze of grapefruit... served with squeezed grapefruit with lemon seltzer water. meh... tofu is bland, really could use some ranch dressing, bacon bits, sliced chicken instead of tofu... possible corn violation=the lemon seltzer water listed "natural flavors."
this came out really good, spicy, satisfying, and i think the only possible corn would be if the scallops were farm raised? do scallops eat corn?	I usually like Amy's products but this one fell flat... the best parts were the avocado and local salsa (yay local! no corn byproducts!)	this turned out really yummy... used Bove's local sauce... "No preservatives, glutens, or added sugars."
ahh really the best kind of meal... went to the local fish monger...made sure it was wild caught, i guess there might be corn based something in the pickled ginger?? found a new favorite green tea - Tamayokucha	still yummy	this may be the beginning of the breakdown... i was on the road, and well, cravings are cravings... i haven't even had one of these in a year! i tried to redeem myself by picking the organic juice with no fructose corn syrup at least.
used up the rest of the ahi i got, used lemon pepper mrs. dash for the crust... underneath are the usual suspects, tomato, mushroom, zucchini, red pepper, udon...	i started off being happy i had found refried beans with no corn stuffs in them but then i found out the flour tortillas had mono and diglycerides, so i gave up, cooked some chicken, sprinkled some cheese, popped a beer, and enjoyed the satiation	my celebration dinner for ending this craziness! (even resisted butter for this one and used garlic olive oil for dipping instead) yummmmmmmmm

the verdict: my dog might very well eat healthier than i do.

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