Special Treat Day

I hope you all are enjoying your weekend!

So I've mentioned several times before that I can't have white sugar (along with pasturized milk, gluten and soy). For new readers out there (HI!!!) I went to a holistic doctor in October to help with some digestive issues I'd been experiencing for years. He told me to avoid these four foods and since then I've been doing a lot better. We're still working on it (just saw him yesterday!) but things are significantly, especially recently!

Now, the whole white sugar thing was the hardest for me to give up. I dropped gluten, soy and pasturized milk pretty easily from my diet (although, to be honest it's still hard when it comes to eating out - I just want to eat normal food that I didn't have to make for myself!). But white sugar is sooooo hard to cut out, especially for someone with a sweet tooth like me. Even organic candy still has sugar! So now that I'm making a greater effort with removing white sugar, I'm allowing myself a once-a-week sugar day.

Now I'm sure you're all imagining the kids running around wild at Willy Wonka's Factory, eating as much of that amazingly delicious candy as they can.

(source)

Sadly, haha, this is not the case. I do, however, give myself a special treat.

The Whole Foods that I go to in Chicago is, so far, the only one I've found with a trail mix station:

You get a small bag, and then fill it with whichever goodies you want, with the idea that you're designing your own trial mix. So I'll go and get a bag and put some healthy stuff (banana chips, cashews, peanuts) and then I add my treats, which are chocolate and yogurt covered raisins and the Whole Foods version of M&Ms, sundrops. It doesn't seem like much, but paired with my favorite Arctic Zero ice cream, it's a very special afternoon treat. And trust me, it take serious restraint to eat some lunch before I go digging into all of it!

Luckily, I picked up something delicious to munch on! Not gonna lie, I pick lighter items from their prepped food station that look good (and are thus less expensive). I tried out a cabbage salad with sesame seeds and almonds (also a couple pieces of sweet potato and beets in that container) and then a kale and shitake mushroom salad with some butternut squash and brussel sprouts on top. Both were delicious!

Another cool thing that I tried at Whole Foods this weekend that I'd never done was grinding my own nut butter! Okay, so you just push a button, but it was neat!

I've been wanting to try Cashew butter, but it was so expensive! I love cashews, but I was afraid of spending so much on a jar and not liking it, or worse, loving it and not being able to afford it! I thought this was the perfect alternative! I didn't put much in the container, so it actually came out to a bit over a dollar!

I tasted it when I got home and it was REALLY thick, but tasted just like cashews! Maybe it just needs some time to settle?

Now, if you're curious as to whether sugar day affects my stomach it does. Not too, too badly since I only get a little, but my digestive system definitely feels off (I'll spare you the details ). I guess it's just a reminder that this new diet really is the right thing to make me feel better! Haha and sugar day is to help me mentally feel better! Some days I just want to eat a bowl of cereal. A NORMAL non-gluten-free bowl of cereal. Captain Crunch anyone?

Do you have special treat days? Whether it be food, pampering or shopping?

Have you ever made your own nut butter?