Friend of Julie: Key-Friendly Potluck

This weekend some of our blog contributors and key-friends gathered for a pool party and potluck. I promised them no photos, so none of us would feel uncomfortable when we put on our swimsuits, but of course I had to take food photos!

Key-friendly potluck

Our key-gathering was wonderful and mother nature worked with us. Yes, we had thunderstorms. Yes, we got rained on while grilling spareribs, chicken, and hot dogs. Yes, we moved our table three times and then ended up eating indoors. After we ate, the weather warmed up, we put on our suits, and went into the pool.

What was incredible was that every one of the dishes was key-friendly (photos below) and delicious. There was one dish that came with a warning: all these ingredients are key-friendly, however the amount of fat and cheese in this dish may slow down your weight loss.

Of course, that was the favorite dish and we all wanted the recipe - me included. I posted the recipe to the blog earlier today, but it will be a long time before I make this dish. I want to achieve my goal size and eating clean is the only way this will happen. All foods rich in fat and cheese will have to wait. If I'm bored with my foods, then I need to switch them up. This is not the time for me to dive into cheesy or fatty foods. My goal size awaits me!

Speaking of eating clean, in a recent conversation with key friends, unrelated to the pool party gathering, an interesting food question came up that I want to explore:

Why is it that we can have fake rice (cauliflower), French fries (butternut squash sticks), mashed potatoes (mashed cauliflower), spaghetti (spaghetti squash), but something like cloud bread is a no-no? 

Here are a few responses:

• I'm not sure if cloud bread is a no-no, but it isn't a meat or a vegetable
• call the office to clarify (always good advice)
• Because it makes your body think you are eating "bread"

My interpretation: Fake rice, French fries, mashed potatoes, spaghetti are prepared in their original form and there are no added ingredients aside from spices or condiments and sometimes butter.

The more I think about this, the more the line begins to blur. There are a lot of things I "allow" myself that may fall into question on this basis, such as cauliflower buns. Meatballs have added egg and cheese. I could list more. I get how we find this confusing.

It's important that we don't blur the line. To keep things clear, follow the advice of one wise key friend:

Ask yourself this question: is it a meat or a vegetable? 

If it's neither a meat nor a vegetable then you may want to abstain until you reach you goal size.

Are you bored of the foods you are eating? I get bored too, but if we stay focused on eating clean, meats and veggies with a little bit of condiments, then we will reach our goal quicker. This is not about losing weight quickly, it's about making choices along your journey that will help you reach your goal.

It really is this simple: eat clean to reach your goal.

Be careful of looking for loopholes, as this is a slippery slope.

Meat Dishes

• Pulled pork
• Deviled eggs
• Hotdogs 
• Grilled chicken 
• Grilled spareribs
• Beef jerky
• Chili
• Ham roll-ups
• Shrimp with cocktail sauce
• Chicken salad with veggies 

Salads

• Coleslaw 
• Veggies and feta salad 
• Mock potato salad
• Pickles
• Arugula salad
• No Mac and Cheese

Yes, we had a lot of leftovers to take home.

BTW, This program is all about choices. You get to chose what you eat and when you eat, including this recipe. The No Mac and Cheese may not be appropriate for where you are on your weight loss journey, as there's a lot of cheese in this recipe.