No Rice Mi Seh!

Coconut curried chicken with rice and peas serves with pak choy 

So for the past two weeks I have not eaten even one spoon of rice! this is indeed a big deal for someone who practically feeds on rice as it is the easiest and most convenient starch to cook as well as being the most served starch at most of the island's restaurant. I decided to see how long and how feasible it its to go without rice for a while as well as to cut back on my starch intake in order to slow the exponential increase in my body fat. But how can one live without this widely eaten starch?

Spaghetti and ground beef with pak choy

Well, it is a bit of a challenge putting out the extra effort to avoid the lure of the very abundant rice, but I am happy to say that I have gone over two weeks without consuming rice. this involved changing what I eat for dinner and also for lunch for the days I go to work. The easier part however is finding substitutes for rice when it comes to dinner as I have more control over what I can source. I have opted for ground provisions as my rice substitutes, such as yellow yam, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, green banana and ripe plantains as well as spaghetti now and then. This has also allowed me to be a bit more creative with how I prepare these starches so I don't become easily bored and become tempted by the lure of rice. Here are some of my meals for the past two weeks:

Rotisserie Chicken with yellow yam, sweet potato, ripe plantain and pak choy 

Tin mackerel with sweet potato, Irish potato, lettuce and tomato

Cooked up franks with creamed Irish potato, sweet potato and yellow yam, served with lettuce and tomato

Rotisserie chicken with shredded Irish potato topped with onion & cheese and baked, served with lettuce and tomato

Brown stew chicken with yellow yam, sweet potato and a small dumpling served with pak choy

Potato salad with rotisserie chicken, lettuce and tomato

However, when I am at work things take a turn for the worse as New Kingston basically doesn't have any healthy food that is affordable. So on those days, I have been lured into the trap of fast food just to satisfy my hunger. this include a wide variety of foods, including beef patty, Burger King chicken sandwich and even a personal pan pizza with bread sticks. However, I was saved from the killer foods by a restaurant I was recently made aware of called Coal Stove! This restaurant is a blessing as they serve real Jamaican cooked food inclusive of ground provision at a very affordable price of $380! this is way below the cost of the fast food in the area and a whole lot more healthy! So Coal Stove shall be my new place of dining, for the most part, whenever I have to be at work in New Kingston in keeping with my no rice diet and eating healthier.

Tastee chicken sandwich that I had for lunch

Personal pan pizza with bread sticks from Pizza Hut

Stew chicken with banana, yellow yam and a small dumpling with steamed veggies from Coal Stove

I don't know how long I will keep up this no rice regimen, but I hope to go at least one month without eating rice, because man shall not live on rice alone! With these increases in food prices I certainly need to widen my  menu to accommodate different and hopefully cheaper foods that are healthy. But for now, no rice mi seh!