Dairy Day--Reintroduction Day 1

Day 31 is finally here! And I got to have some dairy. I had some natural bliss creamer in my coffee. Hallelujah!

Yes and Amen.

My wee omelet with spinach and CHEDDAR!

I had some sharp cheddar slices for breakfast. Yes I did. And it was glorious. I sprinkled a little shredded cheese on my grilled chicken salad for lunch. Did not need that. Just didn't add at all.

But what to have for dinner!? Something cheesy, please. I toyed with squash casserole, but opted to try a cauliflower-crust pizza. I had never tried it, but have seen lots of versions while tooling around the internet. Here's the one I settled on.

I did forget to COOK the cauliflower after I riced it. OOPS. So I cooked the crust longer than was called for until it looked like THIS:

Promising cheesy-cauliflower-ness

All of this doing took an hour and a half. Partly because I have a tiny food chopper instead of a real food processor (hello, Santa?). Poor Little Guy kept coming in the kitchen hunting for food. Here's the finished product. Looked GREAT. Ingredients are all natural/organic, etc. I even hid some spinach beneath the sauce.

Isn't it pretty!?

So...the verdict? I'll give it one more try and try some different techniques (like cooking the cauli!).  It wasn't very crisp, even though it looked like it might be. I don't love the flavor of cauliflower so much, and it seemed strong to me. Husband wasn't really a big fan either. And he LOVES cauliflower. I'd rather splurge every now and again on a gluten-free pizza from Fuel Pizza or find one at EarthFare. Little Guy didn't really fall for it, either. I enjoyed watching his face as he worked his way from the pepperoni down to the crust (yes, he eats it in that direction), and the confusion he had when the crust was different.

As far as dairy effects. I didn't have a straight glass of milk. Just some cheddar, some high-cocoa-content chocolate, the parmesan and mozzarella in the pizza and creamer. The only thing that felt a little off was after the pizza. Like there was a small balloon in my tummy. Nothing violent or monumental. So, I think I can probably keep a little dairy going forward. I will be keeping coffee creamer. And I think hard cheeses will be generally ok. I wanted some feta yesterday, but didn't have any on-hand.

Now I eat "clean" again for two days. On Thursday I get to have some gluten. That's supposedly the kicker for a lot of people.

Progress:
Husband reports that my pregnancy-induced snoring (that never went away) has subsided significantly, so some kind of inflammation must be going down. Also, I've lost 10 pounds, so that's definitely a plus. Just can't be adding back in TOO much cheese after all this. I'm sure I could put back on those pounds with a solid few days of cheese.

AND...PLEASE READ IF YOU PLAN TO MAKE THIS CRUST RECIPE!!!!!
Most cauliflower crust recipes call for you to squeeze the water out with a clean tea towel after you chop or cook. WASH THAT THING IMMEDIATELY. We thought there was either a rotten potato or a propane leak in the laundry room because I left it in the washer overnight (I didn't want to leave wet clothes in overnight and planned to wash Tuesday morning). That was some stinky stuff!