Day 8- Green Meal!

No, the cleanse has not killed me, I am still around.   But, as I mentioned, it has been a very busy week of helping catch babies.  Maybe that is so that I can be a testimony to the fact that you can stick with this program, even while leading a crazy, busy life!  Because I have failed to blog every single meal, I will try to still give you an idea of what we’ve been eating and how we’ve been feeling. 

First off, for the moms, very cool news to report:  My milk supply continues to do great!  Again, this is while strictly following the purification program and living my stressful schedule.  Also, two other nursing moms who are doing the cleanse reported that their babies are spitting up a lot less.  Isn’t that neat?  Every mom knows how frustrating spitting up can be, I am so happy these babies are doing well.  And, I will continue to follow everyone’s progress and keep you posted.  It makes sense though that because this program forces the majority of food allergies out of the diet, you get healthier (and so do your children!). 

I had a ton of energy yesterday, but today I have been extremely tired.  And, the Starbucks cravings are still there in a major way…  Maybe sleep and a change in the weather would help that!  However, when I eat, the cravings subside, which is good.  We have still been drinking smoothies for breakfast.  I am snacking on veggies and hummus (today we bought cilantro jalapeno hummus from Whole Foods- delish!), fruit and veggie chips (kale chips I made and sweet potato chips we bought at WF).

Snack Ideas:  Organic Medjool Dates- cut them open, remove the pits and stuff w/ organic dried coconut shavings.  These taste just like Hershey’s Mounds to me, and can quickly taste like an Almond Joy if you add an almond too (I try to minimize nuts on the cleanse though).  This is a great snack when you are craving something sweet, but if you are trying to loose weight on the cleanse, you may want to avoid these.  And, raw okra, have you tried it?  It is really good! 

For lunch yesterday, we ate at one of our favorite vegan restaurants.  If you haven’t tried it, you have to go.  Spiral Diner rocks, especially on the cleanse!  Plus, I love browsing their menu and trying their food because I have many recipes that have been inspired by this restaurant.  For dinner last night, I was rushing to a birth, and I ate leftover stew.  I also had the stew with brown rice and a spinach salad for lunch today.  On our salads, we typically use olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice and sea salt and pepper.  And for dinner tonight, we ate a very green meal of brown rice pasta (you can buy it at WF) with homemade pesto and a side of fresh steamed asparagus.

Did you know pesto is so easy to make and tastes so good without cheese and milk fats, which are typically in most pestos you buy?  I made my own tonight, and here’s the recipe:

1 cup pine nuts

¾ cup olive oil

½ large bunch fresh basil

½ cup fresh parsley

3 garlic cloves

1 tsp sea salt

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor (you can use a blender if you don’t have a processor) and blend to desired consistency.  Pesto is great to put on salads, over cooked veggies and brown rice.  We use it a lot on the cleanse too.  I add a bit of fresh squeezed lemon to it too.

Mixing in the food processor

Finished product, enough for tonight’s pasta and to enjoy on other dishes this week.

Our wonderful supper!  Who said being healthy can’t taste good?!  I, of course, sprinkled nutritional yeast on mine.

And our side of veggies!

Thanks for hanging with me, we are over a third of the way there!