So this is the post where I don’t talk about TMI things only allude to them. *wink* *wink*

Usually during a detox the life force energy of the veggies and fruits flows right through me, however that has not been my experience this go around. The flow was BLOCKED! I have spent days thinking of what I should do and finally decided to have a cup of coffee this morning.  As most of you know I am a coffee addict. I LOVE coffee. I love how bitter and rich and just plain yum it is and never think to tarnish it by adding cream or sugar. (<–coffee snob) However the coffee this morning tasted just awful! Not only did it taste awful but I sort of felt like Smokey on angel dust after drinking it.  All the same it fulfilled its promise and helped me to flow as one with the universe once again.

So day 7… I “ate” lunch out with friends today. Only the waiter seems disturbed that I wasn’t eating. I’m not even compelled to eat to be honest.  I had the most delicious juice this morning of carrots, pink lady apples, peaches and pineapple and for lunch I had “everything but the kitchen sink” veggie juice. (Which means I was low on everything today in the fridge so I juiced every single last think I had in there and hoped it tasted  good. To my surprise it was really good. Sometimes it is hit or miss.  Dinner was more salad.

Day 8-

I started out with a nice big green juice and then got a yummy carrot, tomato, parsley juice from Earthfare for lunch. We went to the water park and then I went out grocery shopping so it was a really active day. I felt pretty good and full of energy.  I was fully stocked to just juice the rest of the weekend and for breakfast, lunch and dinner only to discover that when I was out at the store my juicer parts suffered a major melt down on the stove.  I had put the pieces on top to dry out and my significant other didn’t remove them before turning on the oven and cooking his pizza.  So the juicer is dead. He ordered replacement parts but they wont be here for a week at least.  Instead of the juice I was planning to make, for dinner I treated myself to a big plate of roasted veggies. Roasted brussels sprouts are my favorite!

Day 9-

I feel sort of lost without my juicer.  I decided to have fruit for breakfast and then for lunch I was going to have a salad but ended up having a huge sautéed portobello mushroom instead.  We ended up at a baseball game and despite my efforts to eat BEFORE the game I found myself there and starving. So I got the only veggie item on the menu, a veggie burger. It was actually pretty tasty for a veggie burger but gave me a raging headache.

Overall the juice fast did not turn out as I had hoped but I was really proud of juicing for 3 days and then continuing with breakfast and lunch and eating a mostly raw dinner.

When I get my juicer back in working order I am considering doing a juice fast once a month for 1-3 days.

I was thinking that Friday-Sunday I might give the full on juice fast another shot before the last day of the detox Monday the 15.  Then the week after that will all be about slowing adjusting to eating again and staying with a cleaner daily diet.  I can’t say I wont get back to too much coffee and cheese but I want to make sure I also have tons of water and healthy veggies.

I’m going to stay raw and juicing the rest of the 10 days but that might include adding in a salad for dinner every now and then. I feel a little heavy in body today since I ate last night and my weight loss slowed to .6 pounds for yesterday. So that is a today of 5.6 to date.

I feel like I have more energy today but I’m still super cold.  I am having a hard time sitting still. I have been wanting to dance since my injury and my body is not liking just sitting around with my foot up. I think tonight I will add in a little yoga that doesn’t require weight-bearing on my foot. Speaking of ankle, my exercises for it are making it stronger and it isn’t feeling as weak after I’m done.  I am having pain though every now and then on the inside very back area of my ankle.

My skin has been looking better and even though I see some acne under the surface I have a little glow kicking up.

Breakfast: A huge container of watermelon and lime

Lunch: romaine, turnip, lemon, ginger, apple, collards

Dinner is to be determined.

Today was my daughter’s fact and fee day at her school and we met up with her bff for breakfast before we went over to the school. I had my juice. I wasn’t even tempted by the food. In fact a lot of it looked kind of gross to me. I did think the bread with butter looked sumptuous however.

I have lost 5lbs. I have mixed feeling about that. I did want to drop 10lbs but at this rate I’m afraid I will actually end up losing about 20 and I really don’t want to lose 20lbs in 10 days. If the weight loss doesn’t slow up a bit I might start adding in a raw dinner.

Breakfast: romaine, lime, celery, apple, turnips, collards
Snack: apple juice
Lunch: juice from earthfare. I think it is tomato, cucumber… I don’t remember LOL
I’m not sure about dinner yet because I have to stop by the grocery on the way home and pick up more veggies.

I slept very well. I wasn’t sure I would be able to because my mind was very active and I felt like I could have stayed awake longer. I’ve been feeling really good this morning. My tongue has a heavy coating on it and I feel a little low energy but overall I feel really good. I even made veggie broth out of the pulp from the morning juice. I sautéed the onions and garlic in olive oil and usually that smell makes me very hungry but I wasn’t. I froze the broth for later use.

Yesterday I was thinking why didn’t I make this just a 3 day fast!! LOL Today I feel like I could go longer no problem. Well… not really no problem, I forgot how expensive it can be to juice. I think I have enough veggies and money for more to last till payday but I’m not really sure.

Breakfast: kale, cucumber, lemon, apple, celery, carrots, turnips, romaine
Lunch: thai coconut water, mango, orange
Dinner will be the same as breakfast since I made lots extra.

Know how to open a thai coconut? This link shows one of the many ways.

My significant other forgot that I was starting today and brought me a cup of coffee. For a split second I wanted to take it but I didn’t. I’ve started to waffle now that it is 2:30 and I’m feeling a bit hungry. Juicing always makes me feel a little loopy too. That many veggies and fruits in juice form sends my mind buzzing and feeling light. So pardon my loopy writing. LOL

Now I’m chatting with my juicing buddy and feeling better. Plus not being near the kitchen is a win! lol

Breakfast juice: collards, romaine, apple, lemon, celery, carrots
Lunch juice: apple, orange, strawberries, blueberries

Dinner will be maybe kale, romaine, apple, lemon, celery and ginger.

I’ve been wanting to kick start my immune system and it seems like August is the perfect time since there are no food holidays and it is too hot eat much of anything at all.  Having a friend to do it with is just an HUGE added bonus.

Plus I am planning on hitting her up for reiki the first few days to get us over the major detox symptoms.  I’m tapering off my coffee addiction this week although I did stop for a bottle of wine on the way home from work tonight.

See you Saturday!!!

I love to cook . I love to spend hours reading over recipes and trying new interesting recipes in the kitchen but with our busy schedule that just hasn’t been an option. Since I started working full-time again our meals have become very centered around what we can throw together really fast and cheaply.  I want to make an effort to change that.  Here is a glimpse at the rut we have fallen into:

Monday: spaghetti with sauce out of the jar.
Tuesday: Mexican: tvp hard and soft tacos, spanish rice, beans and corn.
Wednesday: Soy nuggets or a meat for the meat eaters in the house, steamed mixed vegetables, mashed or baked potatoes.
Thursday: Veggie/non-veggie dogs or burgers with salad and/or fries.
Friday: Out to eat.
Saturday: Fend for yourself snack plates, soups, sandwiches.
Sunday: Veggie and Vegan pizzas made with store-bought dough, jarred sauce and “cheese” and veggies.

So not only has our nightly meals been reduced to packaged, easy to make food but they have also become very “fast food” like fare.

I know it is possible to have interesting, healthy food that is prepared quickly.  That is my goal for the upcoming week.

Something is getting into our squash plants and munching on the stems. Everything else is doing nicely. We even have a lot of rogue tomato and cucumber plants growing on the side of the house where our compost bin was last summer.  I want to add more herbs and some flowers around the edging.

I’m really sad over the squash.  Our first garden we ever planted was years ago in New Jersey. We had never grown squash before and didn’t realize how much they can produce.  We planted 8 squash plants and had so much squash I wasn’t able to eat it for a few years after because I was so sick of it but I have been craving fresh squash out of the garden lately.  My favorite recipe for it was a squash casserole that is simple and easy to make.

Too much squash in the garden casserole: vegetarian
2-4 squash depending on size, sliced into thin rounds.
1 cup of really good parmesan reggiano cheese, grated.
2 tablespoons of butter
1/4 cup of milk
salt and pepper

Grease the bottom of a glass baking dish and layer squash rounds with a thin layer of cheese and sprinkling of salt and pepper till the baking dish is full or you run out of squash. Sprinkle a final layer of cheese on to the top, pour the milk over the mixture and dab a butter over the top.
Squash has a lot of water content so you don’t need a lot of milk but I liked to add a bit of milk for extra creamy flavor.
Bake at 350 degree for about 25-30 minutes. You know it is done when the cheese on top is a little browned. Serves 6-8.

Raw squash casserole: raw vegan with nuts
2-3 squash depending on size, sliced into very thin rounds.
1 cup of cashew nuts ground into a crumble.
1/4 cup of nutritional yeast
1/4 cup of almond milk
salt and pepper

Mix together the ground cashew nuts with the nutritional yeast. In a glass baking dish and layer squash rounds with a thin layer of cashew mixture and sprinkling of salt and pepper till the baking dish is full or you run out of squash. Sprinkle a final layer of cashew mixture on to the top, pour the almond milk over the mixture, cover and let marinate for at least an hour, overnight prefered.
You can “heat” the casserole in a dehyrator if you want it warm but it refreshing served cold right out of the fridge.
Serves 6-8

Asparagus is best grilled or roasted with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper.  I love to roast a big batch and save the leftovers for sandwich toppings or tossed into wraps with other roasted veggies or just lettuce and tomato.