Week one of my candida cleanse is in the books! It has been easier than I thought it might be.

Thankfully, I have not had too many sugar withdrawal symptoms. The first few days I was hungrier than usual, but that was to be expected. I am grateful that I have not had the hangry vibe either. I haven’t been meaner than usual. LOL!

I have been diligent with watching my carb intake. No refined carbs--- bread, pasta, rice, no sweets. Sugar is a no-go right now. Except for a few berries here and there. 😊 I’m not even using the healthy sugar replacements like honey, or coconut sugar which are usually better alternatives than white or brown sugar. Not using those placements because they do still feed the candida (yeast overgrowth) in my gut and that’s what I am trying to get rid of.

While cooking dinner I have had to be a lot more conscious about ingredients that contain sugar too.

Over the years I have gotten really good at reading labels to make sure things don’t have dairy, or gluten, or soy-since both of those (gluten and soy) are sensitivities of mine that affect my Hashimoto’s.

But sugar, that’s a how new hidden ingredient in so many foods. I have found some tasty no sugar added products and honestly, I am finding that they taste way better.

So back to cooking. I wanted to share one of my favorite recipes with y’all. Pork lettuce wraps, they are usually sweet and spicy. I remade them without the sweet and we were pleasantly surprised at how much tastier they were this time around.

I doubled the recipe this time around so we can have plenty for lunches tomorrow.

Pork Lettuce Wrap Recipe:

Sauce

2 teaspoons of fresh grated ginger

2-3 cloves of garlic

1 tablespoon of honey- I left it out since I’m sugar/honey free for a few more weeks.

2 tablespoons of coconut aminos- a great soy sauce replacement

2 tablespoons of no sugar added almond butter, peanut butter can also be used.

1 Tablespoon of rice vinegar

1 tablespoon of sriracha                 

Lettuce wrap filling

1lb ground pork

1 can of diced water chestnuts-drain the water from the can first

1 red bell pepper finely diced- I’ve used orange and yellow before, whatever is your preference

2 cups chopped baby spinach- I added spinach for the color as well as for the extra iron

1 cup finely diced carrots- I like to used the julienned carrots and then chop them smaller from there

1 small yellow onion- finely diced

** you can use Romaine lettuce cups or butter lettuce cups to eat with

Cooking directions

1.       Mix together the ingredients for the sauce in a separate bowl and keep it ready for later.

2.       Heat your wok or large pan add in olive oil or avocado oil

3.       Add ground pork and cook fully

4.       Add in the bell pepper, onion, carrots, water chestnuts and spinach—cook together for 5-8 mins

5.       Add in the sauce that was done in Step 1. –let it all warm together.

6.       Serve! Add a little extra sriracha if you want an extra kick of heat.

Let me know when you make this recipe and if you added anything different. You can reach out to me at Marisa@MariposaFNC.com