Here are a couple of fun things to make if you've stopped eating grains or just want a chance of pace.
Since I've given up grains, that rules out rice and pasta - and yeah, even the gluten-free kind. I didn't eat much of either anyway, so it wasn't a big sacrifice for me to give them up. But there are always times when I'd like to put a nice curry dish on top of some rice or have tomato sauce over spaghetti. The paleo people have come up with of a bunch of cool alternatives for the foods we used to eat and cauliflower rice and zucchini pasta are two of them.
Here is a picture of the cauliflower rice before I cook it:
To turn cauliflower into "rice", you just cut it up and toss it into a food processor and let it go until the pieces are about the size of rice. You don't want mush, so don't be overzealous. Then, I usually just stir fry it with some onions, garlic and mushrooms, and add a little Bragg's Liquid Aminos for extra flavor. I can eat it plain (it's good!) or use it as I would rice. It's nice with stir-fries or any recipe that has a sauce. It's versatile, just like rice is - and is quick to make.
Then, there is zucchini pasta:
I like it a lot. Mike said he would have liked the spaghetti better the other night if I hadn't told him it was made with zucchini noodles. But he's never been a big fan of spaghetti anyway, so... mox nix. For me, it's guilt-free eating and doesn't bloat me up and spike my blood sugar levels like grain-based pasta. And, depending on how much you cook it, the noodles can be firm and crispy or soft and noodle-y. You can cook them in the microwave, in the oven, steam 'em or on the stove top.
To turn summer squash into noodles, you can use a mandolin - which I would have used if mine wasn't packed up with 95% of our belongings that wouldn't fit into this tiny cabin - or you could use a julienne peeler like I did. Mine is Kuhn Riko brand, but there are several out there. You just peel the length of the zucchini, stopping when you hit the seeds. (I feed the zucchini scraps to my chickens after I put them in the food processor to make them bite-sized.) You end up with what you see in the bowl above; they hadn't been cooked yet.
So, there you have it - two foods to help those who are trying to kick grains or for those who just want to try something different.

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