2014 Cleanse!

This is the first cleanse I have been able (and willing) to do in years and I'm pumped! You can't cleanse while you are pregnant and you shouldn't while you're breastfeeding so this has been a long time coming. Geof is doing it too and by default, Asher will have some healthier foods but he currently has his own section of the pantry that is off limits to us! I've had a lot of people ask "What cleanse are you doing?" but it's nothing trendy or on the market, persay. It has some paleo aspects, give or take a few things plus lots of focus on detoxing the organs and flushing the system. Some things I've learned through years of working in health food stores and my own opinions on health and nutrition have led me to formulate this total body cleanse for Geof and I to do for two weeks! I plan on repeating it again later in the year.

We are eating specific things to help eliminate toxins, clean up the digestive tract, flush the liver and kidneys, and nourish the skin. We're taking a multi vitamin, probiotics, calcium and magnesium, and use flax oil, coconut oil, olive oil, sesame oil, or avocado for healthy fats. Hydration is everything when detoxing so we're drinking green tea, chamomile tea, and dandelion tea as well as a LOT of water infused with different things (cucumber & lavender, ginger & pineapple, cranberry concentrate & lemon or lime & apple cider vinegar). Pinterest has given me some great recipes to try and a few "detoxifying foods cheat sheets" that have come in handy when I started the grocery list.

Here are the basics of our total body cleanse:

I outlined what I wanted to do a few times and revised it to 1) not starve my poor husband (so I left in a few gluten free grains and beans) and 2) be wholesome and cleansing, but always TASTY and enjoyable for the family to eat. There's nothing worse than trying to feed someone something healthy and they turn it down, I don't have time for that!

To begin I made my list of "Can or Can't have" and tackled the kitchen cabinets and refrigerator. To make things easy for us and for Geof specifically, I cleaned out the items we could no longer have and moved them up so the entire bottom shelf is all of our 'cleanse foods'. 

Here is the section of "no" foods I moved to the "no shelf". I was the most sad about not having my homemade salt and seasoning blends and the chocolate I got in my stocking for Christmas. 

I did the same in the refrigerator, moving Asher's yogurts, the dill havarti and !Goat's Milk Brie!, and coffee creamer out of our 'zone'. The chocolate is far from reach and there is no wine to be had. {Moment of silence, please.............} But the "YES" foods are so much better, just look!

Produce department? I"ll take one! There are only one or two items I wasn't able to get organic. 

Some of the dry goods. Quinoa, brown rice, lentils, whey, oatmeal, nuts and seeds, beans and tuna, and cooking oils. Some small exceptions to the processed foods I made are a few organic vegetable soups, a box of quick quinoa, and a jar of salsa because I have to be real, I can't make every single thing 100% from scratch.

VERY IMPORTANT to me is to get eggs that are TRUELY free range and humanely treated. 

Herbal teas

 To be successful and 100% on this cleanse, I knew I'd spend a LOT of time prepping and cooking foods that fit our cleanse guidelines. The first day of the cleanse I prepped a bunch to get things started right. Here's where we began...

Pitchers of water ready to go! This is Cucumber Lavender

Pre-sliced some organic lemons and pineapple to make new pitchers easily

Brewed some herbal tea. Green tea, detox tea, and one vanilla chamomile for sweet flavor

So wise! and yes, my palms are wrinkly :/

Herbal tea ready to go into the fridge

Kale chips for snacking

Beautiful heirloom tomato blend! Way to go Safeway!

eatin colors

Made a huge salad on Day 1. Day 3 and there is only 1/4 of the tupperware left!
I also prepped some extra shredded and chopped veggies for quick use in other recipes and hard boiled some eggs. 

Made a tuna salad w/grapeseed oil mayo and lots of veggies! This tuna salad is untraditional and super tasty!

Raw almond butter, made from a few cups of raw almonds and several minutes (like 30) in the food processor. 

Why not have a little fun with this? Found these edible flowers at Sprouts for 99 cents! They taste bitter, like leafy greens, then floral like... yeah, flowers! Really nice way to make 'another salad' something special.

This is the third full day and we're finding ourselves a little low on energy and craving a few of our old favorites. I know the energy levels will be back in force soon and I partially blame cravings on a snowy football Saturday at home! Instead of snacking on chex mix and drinking beer, Geof found himself drinking ginger water and having a few almonds. I really wanted a nibble of cheese and some red wine, but settled for an afternoon cup of chamomile (no honey). So this is where we started! I have been finding and cooking some new recipes and I'll share what we've been eating and drinking more in the next few days. We're having fun with it so far!

~Neely~