Cheat! I spy a cheat! When I committed us to two weeks or more of cleansing, I told Geof we could allow for one cheat item per week, if we felt so inclined. He fell for it. I later described a 'cheat item' as being one thing that you may indulge in without throwing your cleanse off track for days. Meaning a piece of chocolate, a single adult beverage, a slice of cheese, a slice of bread, etc. To the hubby's dismay, NOT a slice of supreme pizza (that would be reintroducing flour, dairy, salt, sugar, beef/pork, and preservatives/processed food) and a beer or two. Also, we needed to pay attention to the after effects of sneaking a cheat into our cleanse if we decided to do so.
Knowing I had Sunday brunch planned at Beast and Bottle with a good friend I hadn't seen in months, I saved my cheat for brunch and for a nice glass of red wine (I was debating between red wine and goat cheese, a tough call)! I went online and researched what the healthiest red was that they offered by the glass and ordered that. For brunch I had the chicken quinoa salad, minus the goat cheese. The salad was delicious and cleanse friendly with the exception of salt, but I figured it was mostly on the skin, which I don't eat. One of my very favorite things to do is to brunch with my ladies! We are so lucky in Denver with more great restaurants to choose from than a girl really needs. Add an extra special glass of wine, the snow falling outside, and girl talk over some local farm raised food... I had a wonderful Sunday brunch! Geof saved his cheat for an IPA while watching the Green Bay/SF game (but if we would have had a box of Snyder's pretzels or some chex mix in the house he would have gone for one of those). We both had headaches after. We drank extra water and did some yoga and the headaches went away.
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| Brunch with Amanda at Beast and Bottle |
Mo' water!
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| Water with frozen Strawberries and lime slices. We also repeat the cran/acv drink daily. |
Salad for days!
This is the second round of salads I have made and by Day 9 we're already finished with them again! I'll need to get more greens and veggies from the store, for the third time this cleanse. If you are what you eat, we're made of all this goodness right now:
Apple Cider Vinegar and Olive Oil Dressing and Marinade
I use this as a marinade as well on salads! Works great on tofu, chicken, or seafood.
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| I added about 6 oz of ACV, 4 oz of olive oil, tons of my Napa spice blend (for sale if you want to buy some, holla), and about 4 finely chopped sundried tomatoes. I keep it on my counter and give it a shake/stir every few hours as the herbs rehydrate and everything will start to come together. |
Dinners:
Chicken Fried "Rice"
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| This is the "rice" part of the recipe. It's roasted cauliflower chopped fine. |
I got the recipe for this here: http://sillylittlecavegirl.blogspot.com/2013/06/almost-paleo-fried-rice.html I cut the recipe in half, added some leftover baked chicken, a few diced baby carrots, added lots of garlic, and used two eggs. I don't recommend scrambling the eggs first, as I usually crack them right into the pan and then scramble. It gives it a more authentic texture in my opinion.
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| Ta-Da! I REALLY wanted to put some tamari (soy sauce) in here because it just wasn't the same! However, we both really loved it. Asher ate some too. |
Hazelnut Crusted Wild Salmon
Rosemary and Olive Oil Quinoa
Asparagus and Mushrooms w/ shallots and garlic
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| Mixed equal parts mustard, honey, and olive oil together and brushed onto salmon. Sprinkled and then pressed crushed nuts (pecans, pine nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, whatever you have!) on top. I baked it at 375 for about 12 minutes. I sauteed the mushrooms, shallot, and garlic together in a cast iron skillet until soft. The asparagus went in last with a splash a water and then covered with a lid to let them steam for about 5 minutes. |
* See my seafood disclaimer later on...
Grilled Chicken w/ Heirloom Tomato, Basil, and Balsamic Salad
Brown Rice and Quinoa blend
Grilled Yellow Squash and Zucchini w/ avocado parsley pesto
Finished with mineral SALT!
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| For the balsamic salad, I make a reduction by heating vinegar on low on the stovetop until it's reduced by half. Then you have a nice thicker and sweeter balsamic to drizzle or toss tomatoes and basil in. |
This dinner was Day 7. Geof and I felt like we needed a MEAL and I wanted to make sure we had a strong good start to the next week of cleansing. We all need some sodium and since we had been without added sodium for a week while drinking lots of fluids, I added a nice sprinkle of mineral salt, which is very mineral rich. YUM! This was totally delicious.
Lunches!
I made a chicken salad with the same ingredients I used in my tuna salad. We have been eating this on top of a salad and have been really missing some crackers or bread to go with! So I attempted to make 'crackers' from this recipe at Oh She Glows. As always, I tweaked it a bit by adding some ground up cashews and chia seeds, and I baked it at 175-180 for an hour and a half, flipping it once.
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| Flax seed soaking in water, sunflower seeds, ground raw cashews, raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds), sesame seeds, chia seeds, herb blend. |
This is before I baked it... looks like BIRD FOOD!
All said and done, they turned out ok... but crackers, they were not! Geof says they are "More like a seed-bread than a cracker. Minus the bread". Still, they did the job and we both liked having them for lunch! They are pretty good with hummus too.
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| Some of my leftover Sunshine Salad, grilled chicken salad, and seed crackers. |
* Seafood disclaimer; Normally I wouldn't allow shrimp or seafood in general in a cleanse due to the chemicals and mercury that may be present. However, because Geof is doing this cleanse too and I put a special emphasis on the quality of meats and seafood we purchase (always organic, no farmed seafood) I felt it was ok to leave in, in moderation. Also, I was craving shrimp for some reason (perhaps needing salt/iodine) and made this quick easy lunch!
Salad w/ Broiled Shrimp and Pine Nuts
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| I tossed the shrimp with some of the ACV dressing I made, along with pine nuts. I sprayed a baking sheet with organic canola oil and the broiled on low with the oven cracked for 5 minutes or so. I took the shrimp out to cool and put the pine nuts back in to roast and get golden. Roasted pine nuts are DELISH! More ACV dressing on the salad and that was lunch! |
Picnic Plate
This was Asher and my lazy lunch today. He had real crackers, the lucky fella.
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| A few olives, chopped veggies, grilled chicken salad, hummus, seed bread, and sunshine sauce. |
~Neely~
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