A Cold Bowl of "Cereal"

I used to plan my life around eating a bowl of cereal.  I grew up lactose intolerant and there were certain dairy products that I could safely eat but there were some that would bring terrible pains to my stomach: sour cream, goat cheese, and milk.  But I loved eating a cold bowl of cereal so much that I would plan a night in just so that I could indulge in a bowl or two. I didn't care about the stomach pains.  It was worth it.

Now that Marshall and I are changing our lifestyle, cereal and milk no longer show up as items on our grocery list.  Most cereals are loaded with sugar and milk has a fair share of sugar in it too.  So our pantry shelves no longer have those colorful, tall boxes on them anymore and I miss them so.

Last week, Ashley and I had a chance to talk to Robert Morton from Power Supply about his lifestyle change.  He talked about how Crossfit changed his life and he talked about integrating the Paelo diet into his family's lifestyle.  I loved that for his kids, it wasn't about pushing them to eat their vegetables. It is on the table and a part of their lives and they enjoy it.  He was leading by example.

Something else caught my attention and it was when he talked about breakfast and something he typically eats.  He assembles a bowl of fruit and walnuts and pours some almond milk on top.  He talked about how the motion of eating this bowl of fruit was similar to eating a bowl of cereal for him.  I thought about this for a long time and it really hit me how much emotion is involved in eating.  Food has so many connections to memories, feelings, and feelings of comfort for me.  The motion of eating a bowl of cereal was so delightful to me because I made it a treat for so long.

For the past few nights and this morning, I made myself a bowl of "cereal." I filled a bowl with blueberries, raspberries, and some slivered almonds and filled it up with cold almond milk.  As I ate the bowl, I thought about how I felt and whether it felt satisfying to me.  The first bite was always a shock to my palate (it literally thought, "what the hell is this?" But after bite number three and bite number four, the sweetness from the berries kicked in and the crunch from the almonds started to register.  It felt like I was eating a bowl of cereal. It tasted good.  It felt good. I felt satisfied.

And, no stomach ache.

Chix on 14th and L Street

It has been a week since we started eating a modified Paleo diet and Marshall and I have seen some results.  The scale has informed us that we both have dropped weight and I'm feeling more comfortable in my skin (funny how you don't notice that you were uncomfortable until  you treat your body a little better.)  One of the biggest hurtles of eating a modified Paleo diet is keeping up with all of the cooking and cleaning. I'm actually beginning to feel cooking fatigue from the constant cooking and cleaning.  From the start, I knew that we would have a hard time cooking three meals a day so I decided to stick with cooking at least breakfast and dinner. Until we get a handle on those two meals, we will have to either bring leftovers for lunch or we will just have to go out and buy it (some of the dishes we have cooked keep well for lunch the next day but many of them are not dishes that taste good heated up in a microwave.) We have a lot of great options for lunch since both of us work in downtown DC.

And lucky for me, Chix opened their second location a couple of weeks ago and it is located a block from my office. The chicken breast special is $8.99 and it comes with a grilled chicken breast and two sides (I ordered the roasted sweet potatoes and the green beans.) The meal was very filling. It was so filling that I could only eat half of it and saved the rest for another meal.

The thing I like about Chix is that it is almost impossible to make an unhealthy choice. Their menu is full of flavorful and healthy options that will provide you all the vegetables and protein you need. It will be one of my go-to lunch restaurants from now on.


Chix
1121 14th St. NW.
Washington, D.C.
Monday-Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.