Yesterday was pick up day for the organic food co-op we are a part of.  It only happens every other week, and our fridge was totally void of any produce, so I was really excited to pick everything up yesterday.  I get a lot of questions about what we get each week.  To give you an idea, here’s what was in my box yesterday:  2 big heads of lettuce, 3 acorn squash, 4 ears of corn, a bag of carrots, cauliflower, 2 heads of broccoli, celery, yams, tomatoes, 2 bunches of bananas, apples, nectarines, pears and plums.  It is so nice to have fresh, organic produce always available for the family.  And, now that I have Harper, it is so convenient to be able to pick everything up all ready for me, without having to go far and grocery shop…  Not to mention, it is way cheaper than me going to the store!  If you haven’t tried the co-op, you totally should.  We love it, and it is so worth it!  Contact Monica with any questions.

Last night, we had dinner at some friends’ house.  It was wonderful!  Why does food always taste so much better when someone else cooks it?!  They made us a salad with grilled chicken breasts, and brown rice and stir fry.  The stir fry had broccoli, onions, celery and carrots. 

My house smells delicious right now!  I am trying my hand at the real deal, homemade chicken stock.  There are so many things you can do with fresh broth, and when you spend the money on an organic, free range chicken, you don’t want to waste any of it.  I will let you know how the stock turns out.  Here is where I got the recipe and info from.  Again, love Nourishing Traditions!

Like I said, I did buy a whole, free range, organic chicken from Sprouts yesterday.  That is what we had for lunch.  I removed the parts from the cavity, and stuffed it with a lemon- cut in half, 2 bay leaves and 5 garlic cloves.  I put sea salt and black pepper and a little coconut oil all over the bird.  Next, I put it in the oven at 400 degrees.  After 30 minutes, I added brussel sprouts, onions, celery, sweet potatoes, water and butter to the pan, and returned it to the oven to finish baking.  It baked for about an hour.  This was such a simple, delicious dish!  Also, if you aren’t to the part of the cleanse where you can have meat yet, baking a mixture of vegetables like this turns out wonderful too.  I love the way baking makes my house smell!  Here is proof of the lunch, doesn’t it make you hungry?

JB encouraged me at the table last night by looking up and saying, “Day one is over, only 20 more to go!”  I had to laugh at his sarcasm, but it’s true…  When you know there is an end to something, you can practically endure anything (take labor, for instance!).  My first tip:  Keep the end in site, and think about the new you that awaits at the end of the program.  I can kind of cheat on this one since I have been through this many times before and watched plenty of others complete it.  If this is your first time, you’ll have to trust me that the results are well worth it!

Another tip would be accountability.  We talked about this over dinner last night too.  Doing this blog is great for me because I have to cook, I have to eat, and I can’t cheat.  How could you be accountable?  Share your story!  Tell all those around you what you are doing, this way you will feel guilty if you cheat (there are lots watching you!).  Pull someone in to do the cleanse with you.  I always like to surround myself with family (a must to have JB on it w/ me) and friends doing the cleanse at the same time because then we can join to go out to eat at a cleanse friendly restaurant or I can cook my weird food for everyone and not get strange looks.  But, this time, do you know who the best accountability partner has been?  Harper!  It is so cool how God creates this perfect little person for you to love and take care of.  I want to do the absolute best I can for him.  And, since I am nursing, I know I have to eat around the clock to keep my supply up.  This has always been hard for me on the cleanse because in the past when I wasn’t craving that salad, I’d often just skip the meal.  I can’t do that with a precious nursing baby.  So I am thankful for those blue eyes watching me .

One of the best tips I have, though, is a wonderful resource we have available to us in the metroplex.  I am so grateful for Monica Brown’s Healthsource Group.  Check it out; it can be intimidating if you have never done something like it before, but it is so worth it (and SO easy once you jump in).  Normally, it takes us the full 2 weeks to go through our full share of produce we get from this co-op.  However, since we are consuming a lot on the program, we have gone through over half of our share in just 2 short days.  The co-op saves money, saves me the hassle of going to the store w/ Harper, has introduced me to wonderful people and great new recipes, and has allowed me to try foods I wouldn’t normally buy.  I can’t think of a better time to try this out then when you are doing the purification program.

More recipes and ideas coming soon; and, keep looking for info on the giveaway- you won’t want to miss it!