Day One of Cheese-Free (Almost)

Yesterday was my first official day of trying to break up with cheese.  Easy enough at breakfast... a bowl of Trader Joe's Organic Honey Crunch n' Oats.  I had to look through A LOT of labels on boxes of cereal to find this one with only 6 grams of sugar; most cereals are more like dessert than a nutritious start to your day.

Then for lunch I made a loaded tuna salad: capers, pepperonccini, kalamata olives, celery, scallions and chopped walnuts with Greek yogurt, dijon and cider vinegar.

Feeling good; thinking "this isn't so hard."  I'm sure plenty of you go many days in a row with no cheese, and it's not even a thought or consideration..... but I have "a problem" when it comes to cheese (admitting it is the first step, they say), so for me it takes a lot of thought..

I was thankful that I was going to a party at my friend Jeannine's house that night, so I didn't need to think through another meal.  As long as it wasn't a fondue party, I'd be good.  And, lucky me, it was not a fondue party! The food was fabulous and plentiful...

It started with passed hors d'ouevres.  I was thrilled to partake of the tuna carpaccio and vegan samosas, and I did, with abandon!

...so far, so good.

When one of the lovely servers came by with a tray of interesting little bites, I let the description she gave go in one ear and out the other (not surprising for those who know me).  The tasty little nuggets were "grapes" (beautifully in season right now), "coated in chopped pistachios" (yum!) and "herbed....." - pop it in my mouth....swallow... savor - "goat cheese."  It  took three of them and about 20 minutes before I said, "Wait a minute.  What...did...she...say?   Darn you, cheese!  I told you to stay away from me."

Oh who cares; they were so creative, cute and yummy.

After that, I decided to play it safe with the one thing I recognized as being completely cheese-free.

Sure, it was just a one-night-stand, but I'm grateful to those peanut M&M's for making me forget about cheese for the rest of the night...

Loaded Tuna Salad

Serves 2

One 6.5 oz, can tuna in water

1/4 cup kalamata olives, chopped

1 tablespoon capers

1 tablespoon chopped pepperoncini

1 scallion, finely sliced

1 stalk celery, diced

2 tablespoons Greek yogurt

2 teaspoons dijon mustard (I love Trader Joe's brand - has a nice kick!)

2 teaspoons cider vinegar

pinch salt (to taste)

1 tablespoons chopped walnuts

Butter lettuce, cut into bite-sized pieces

• In a medium bowl use a fork to break up the tuna, adding olives, capers, pepperoncini, scallion, and celery
• Add yogurt, dijon and vinegar.  Stir to combine.
• Lay butter lettuce on each of two plates and top with tuna salad.
• Top each with chopped nuts.