Snacks

  Who doesn't love a good snack? The afternoon pick-me-up is often the difference between responsibly eating a well-balanced dinner, and shoveling anything you can find in your mouth while you wait for dinner to be done. I'm often the latter and not the former as often as I would like to be, but one way to combat the type of hunger that only an immediate response can provide is to have plenty of great snacks on hand.

  Fresh fruit makes a great snack.  It's really fast and easy, and you get some sugar in a healthy way.
  Aren't these fresh Bing cherries beautiful?

 Another sweet treat I love is one you might not have eaten since you were a kid.  Yes, I'm talking about Ants on a Log.  My version gets a bit of an adult upgrade with almond butter and golden raisins (which I ALWAYS use in place of regular raisins because I think they taste better.)

 

  My new favorite salty snack is roasted edamame!  My first batch was plain, but I think they would taste great with dried fruit like cranberries or cherries.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees, drizzle one cup of thawed, shelled edamame with about 1 Tablespoon of oil (I used sesame), sprinkle with salt and roast!  Keep an eye on them, and stir them around every so often.  Your edamame should be roasted to perfection after about 20-22 minutes.

  Now for dessert!  Or a little sweet snack.  Another favorite is chocolate peanut butter pudding made with a 'secret' ingredient.  I wrote about it in this previous blog post.  I call these Hillbilly Parfaits, and it's based on a Weight Watchers recipe I found.  Fresh strawberries and tapioca pudding are layered in dessert cups for something that looks a lot fancier than it is, but still tastes great!

  What you need:

• 2 cups of fresh, hulled strawberries
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 large container tapioca pudding

  Take 1 cup of the strawberries and place in a blender with the sugar.  Blend until smooth.  Combine strawberry mixture with remaining cup of strawberries.  Take 4 dessert cups and start with strawberry mixture, then add some tapioca, then more strawberry mixture.  Repeat until all four cups are filled evenly.  Refrigerate.

  The Waldo Canyon Fire has devastated our Colorado Springs community.  We are waiting for the fire to be contained further, and then the rebuilding process can begin.  Wildfires are not something that, in the humid-rich Midwest, were given much of a thought but the reality and danger have truly sunken in.
  Though we have not had to evacuate our home, the threat of possible evacuation does put things into perspective.  What do you take?  What do you leave?  As I ponder those questions, looking around the house, my heart catches at the sight of familiar and precious objects.  Yet I immediately realize that the safety and well-being of the ones I love is truly the most precious possession I have.  Funny, how the threat of having nothing can make you realize you already have everything you need.  Sending warm thoughts to you and yours.  Be safe and love each other.

 Currently reading: Un Lun Dun by China Mieville
                             On Mexican Time: A New Life in San Miguel by Tony Cohan

Week #1 of the Cleanse- Lessons in Willpower & Weakness

Life is a journey.

  As week one of the cleanse draws to a close, I'm pleased to find that I am already feeling the benefits of eating more fresh, healthy foods.  That's not to say that it has been easy though.  In addition to feeling really healthy and good, I have had a very hard time resisting my sugar cravings.  I never knew how much I depended on dessert after dinner!  Habitually, we have eaten dinner and then gorged ourselves on all kinds of processed sugar and junk.  Habits like that are hard to break, let me tell you.  The ultimate food torture of the week was baking a cake for a co-workers retirement party.  This cake smelled so amazingly delicious, and was chocolate, my favorite.  Of course, I had to have a crumb or two...

Chocolate-Cinnamon Bundt Cake with Mocha Frosting

  Keeping a food journal has been immensely helpful in examining my relationship with food.  I can compare what I was eating before the cleanse to what I'm eating now, and the difference has been like night and day.  From ice cream and Snickers candy bars to fresh juices, smoothies and veggies.  It even looks better written on the page!  Also, I am more mindful of what I eat, as I am documenting every morsel.
  Having the recipes and guidelines for this cleanse is only half of the battle.  While you have the tools, it also becomes a battle of the mind and the body.  At times I wonder where the cravings stem from, and if they are based more on a physical or a mental dependence.  Or both.  As my physical self purges the toxins, I feel that my mental self is also detoxifying.  I would almost compare it to a withdrawal- where the absence of the normal substances shocks the system into a panic.  What I would do for a cheeseburger... 
  But in moments of weakness, where I really think I might give in to the whims of my junk-food addicted stomach (and brain), I remember the fresh food waiting to be transformed into something nourishing and flavorful.  I savor the time spent in preparation- rinsing, peeling, chopping, roasting, seasoning.  The final anticipatory moment before the first bite, when you're not quite sure that it's going to be what you thought.  But then it always is, and sometimes exceedingly so.
  These recipes don't disappoint, and some of them were so wonderful that I will be making them far beyond this cleanse.  

First things first...

Drinking warm water with lemon juice before breakfast helps stimulate the liver and release digestive enzymes!

Breakfast I normally skip this meal, but it is oh so important because it helps to keep you full until lunch or your first snack!  So the moral of this story?  Eat breakfast! 

Green Machine Smoothie- Intense Green!

Grapefuit + Carrot + Apple + Ginger

Beet + Carrot + Apple + Mint

Lunch!  I start dreaming about lunch soon after breakfast, and I need something that will both energize me and keep me full until a snack or dinner.  These were delicious!

Kale and Red Cabbage Salad with Mixed Seeds and Tangy Dressing

Spiced Butternut Squash Soup

Avocado Salad with Tomatoes and Bell Pepper

Dinner  This is the easiest meal to compromise.   You're tired and you don't feel like cooking, so you order a pizza or get some other kind of carry out or fast food.  I find when I eat a little snack and take the time to prepare dinner that I'm much more satisfied with my meals.  I eat every bite, and I enjoy it.

Delicata Squash and Broccoli over Mixed Greens with Tahini Sauce

Roasted Garlic-Beet Soup w/ Sauteed Beet Greens

Roasted Cauliflower, Red Peppers and Almonds with Olives and Parsley

Snacks Having a good supply of healthy snacks on hand has been crucial for me when it comes to sticking with the cleanse.  It's so easy to go to the vending machine, but when you have these treats at your fingertips there's no need to cheat!

Crispy Roasted Cauliflower

Fruit and Nut Bites

Spiced Crispy Roasted Chickpeas

Kale Chips- Eat as much of this powerhouse food as possible!

I can't wait to begin Week 2!  The recipes are a bit more substantial (read: no liquid meals!) and you start incorporating lean proteins like fish and tofu.  I rather underestimated the ease with which I would adapt to this new diet, but I am quickly feeling pride in being able to make these changes and noticing a difference in the way I feel.    

Difficulties make you a jewel. 

~Chinese proverb