Cheaters Sometimes Win

You know the saying "cheaters never win?" I've been known to use it on occasion, usually chanting it in a whiny voice to an older sibling, someone I felt had bested me at, say, Monopoly (not that I'm naming names. James.) and probably done in an attempt to assuage my crestfallen ego when losing. I overheard one of the boys shouting that same mantra to Sam the other day and laughed a little to myself because let's face it, sometimes cheaters do win. For example, Ryan and I embarked on a detox diet approximately 2 weeks ago, cutting out dairy, gluten, sugar and caffeine in an effort to give our bowels a break. The fast from caffeine lasted approximately 29 hours, after which I shamefacedly made myself chicory coffee that a friend brought from Cafe Dumond in New Orleans...what can I say? Jasper was up multiple times from teething and my addiction to coffee is stronger than I wanted to admit. But we stuck to our guns on everything else, which is quite a feat for me given my passion for all things bread and butter related. As Ryan noted, the local grocery store probably wondered where the surplus of butter came from. Despite my typical gratuitous dairy intake it really wasn't that hard to stick to the plan. A typical dinner was baked sweet potato, mashed with ground pepper, steamed kale with lemon and pepper, and baked salmon with the same. Lunch would consist of a delicate soup of pureed steamed broccoli and fresh arugula, a simple warm meal that highlighted each vegetable and was a beautiful flecked green. We were feeling quite good about ourselves until we hit a little snafu. A certain time of the month crept up on me and suddenly I longed for pizza like nobody's business. The chewy crust! The salty cheese! There really wasn't even much of a fight before we both capitulated. Sure it was cheating, but who was going to tell? I remembered Karina posting about a pizza of caramelized shallots and chevre that had me salivating at the thought, and I sacrificed detoxing and health at the alter of goat cheese without a second thought and very little compunction. Our dear friends Josh & Jill came over for an impromptu meal together, which was brilliant, both for the company but also for Josh's input in the pizza combination. They had just returned from Mexico and brought a wonderful bottle of Mezcal to share, so while red onions were being caramelized and sausage was cooking, we got to hear all about their trip while sipping some spirits. Josh threw a handful of fresh arugula on the pizza right when it came out and 20 seconds later and I was shoveling in the best pizza I've had in a long time. Ryan and I recreated it a few days later and let Sam and Felix make their own. And despite the distended feeling I had later (what did I expect after eating half a pizza?) in my mid-section, I had the satisfied gloating feeling that only a cheat would understand.