Detox Days 4-6: Juicing-just liquids (Recipes included)

It softens the blow to my mind if I can have more than one kind of drink. I drink as I'm hungry (or it's been four hours max), making sure to have plenty of water and herbal tea in between to help flush out the toxins. I think it's about 4-12 oz that I drink in a serving depending how much tummy growled. I didn't remember how full a juice can make you feel!

Recommend if you have somewhere to be in the morning to rinse and cut your produce the night before to help save time. Before you start the detox or at least before getting to the juicing part, research places that have juice drinks in case you run late/are out and need something. I have been told Starbucks carries a bottled juice product by my co-worker. If you're near certain San Diego farmer's market, Green Fix Smoothie has a lot of fans. I have one of these Robek's store (chain) by my house and most people probably would already think of Jamba Juice. Another friend recommends San Diego Blenders in El Cajon or Mission Valley area.

 Here's a sample plan, to help give you ideas. For just juicing for me I overbought! I'm going to end up with 5 oranges, 1 entire celery bunch, 1/2 bundle of kale and 2 cucumbers left. I guess it can't hurt to have juicing for a snack or meal the next few days when I reincorporate solid foods. I just have so much pulp now in my freezer I don't know what to do with it all. Dave thinks toss it. Normally I put 1/4 cup in my protein pancakes. Any ideas? No, don't have a worm bin yet. I will add buying these supplies to my Indian grocery mart and Indian meal trip for mid-June! Making deadlines can help and telling other people your plans for accountability can put a plan to action. Bug me about it, readers!



<------The BEFORE  picture of Juice #2

AFTER: Drink #2 Swampy

Day 4
#1 Carrot-orange-ginger-kale (1 carrot, 2 oranges, sliver of ginger, 2 kale leave/stems) : I took it with me on a five mile hike with an ice pack. For some reason got really bitter. Sometimes my fresh squeezed OJ gets bitter if left alone for a few hours. Maybe it was the ginger. Not my favorite b/c of the bitter. Made enough for one serving.

#2 Carrot-orange-kale-beet greens: (did 2 large carrots, 5 small oranges, 1 bundle each of beet greens and kale) Non-bitter for unknown reasons! The greens were very strong the first day, but taste better to me the next day. Made enough to fill one cariff (about 5 servings) and 1 serving.

Plain OJ


Day 5:

Drink #3-My favorite"-Canta" wait to sip on this. n'yuck, n'yuck,

#3 Carrot-cantalope-cucumber (2 large carrots, 1/2 cantalope, 2 cucumber): my favorite juice so far. The melon almost tastes creamy! This made enough to fill one cariff..

leftover of #2

plain OJ

#4: Natural (sugar) high-beets have a high sugar content, antioxidants and folic acid.

Day 6:
Leftovers of #2 and #3

#4 Beet-kale-orange (4 small oranges, 1 beet, 4 kale leaves) for two servings: Overall very sweet and easy to drink. Thanks to my friend Ann's advice, add a little beet at a time as it can have a strong flavor. I was quite happy with just having the beet as an aftertaste. Every now and then I pick up the book "How Carrots Won the Trojan War" by Rebecca Rupp for some interesting history/facts about various fruits and veggies. In regards to beets, most notable to me that it was once believed beets could be reddened by watering with leftover sediment from making red wine. In actuality, red comes from betacyanin. Ability to metabolize betacyanin in some people doesn't work as it should and can lead to pink piddle. So don't be alarmed in the bathroom. 


Plain OJ


One last tip, carry a travel toothbrush with you if you're going to be at work all day. The juices made a film on my teeth.




Have any favorite funny food facts?

Detox Days 1-3: Fruits, Veggies, Grains & Oils

Have you tried a juicing detox/cleanse/fast before? Maybe you're feeling sluggy or the stomach is off. Maybe the beautiful weather is just reminding you that you want to work towards showing off some skin. There can be weight loss, but for long term-health I would count on the detox just being a diving off point to help make eating cleaner a habit. I've seen detoxes range from 3 days (even saw a business based on this at the La Jolla Farmer's market this past weekend and on Groupon) to 30 days (online paleo challenges, juicing). From my experience, consistency in a mostly healthy (occasional treats ok!), varied diet and exercise is really the best, most sustainable way to be the best you.

In the past I have tried 14 day detoxes, the Master Cleanse (cayenne-lemon-maple syrup) and a juicing/Master Cleanse (juice for breakfast, dinner and lemonade the rest of the time), both times using senna tea for...ahem... moving the junk out. After it was all said and done, I did come out feeling like I was more alert, a light/happy feeling and my hip joints seemed to loosen up a bit when practicing yoga. Yes, usually the first 3-4 days blow as far as feeling crabby and deprived...after that the body/mind adapt mostly. Have to say drinking the exact same sweet and cold for that many days was boooooring.

I wanted to try something a little different this year. Not following a particular plan-just making something that fits my calendar (promised to go out for a graduation dinner Saturday). Start off just eating very light and clean for three days, then go three days of juicing only and two days to come off with juice, veg soup and raw salads. I was a bit hesitant to start a detox this year given I wasn't hitting the gym when I did detoxes before, but a friend sent me an article from Bodybuilding.com about benefits for weight lifters.

I would just caution if you have health conditions, you want to check with a doctor or registered dietician before you try.

After setting my mind to it (probably the hardest part) and making sure my perishable food was eaten already, I was ready to go buy my food supplies (already had a Jack Lalanne Juicer and have some plastic cariffs for storing juice, ideally you make it and drink it fresh but we can't always carry a juicer with us or take 3 days off work to be at home...also cleaning the juicer that many times a day would be a drag).

So here's my progress so far on cleaning up my solid foods in phase 1. Those with recipes**

Day 1: 
 Breakfast: Oatmeal = 1/3 cup coach's oats + 4 chopped dates + 2 tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes toasted (250F for 3 minutes in my toaster oven...otherwise unpleasant blackening!) + 1 cup water + 1 scoop brown rice protein powder + cinnamon
Snack: 1/4 cup toasted walnuts and 1 apple
Lunch:  No-name #1 = 2 cups cabbage steamed in veggie broth with shichimi togarashi (Japanese chili-spice mix for udon), 4 dried shiitake mushrooms (soaked overnight, save the broth for a soup or okonomiyaki) sliced, 3/4 cup cooked brown rice , eaten with Korean seaweed.
Snack : **Curry-spiced shredded carrot patties & popcorn made with coconut oil and salt
Dinner: Salad. Topped with 1/2 cup roasted carrots,3/4 cup home-sprouted mung beans (really easy and cheap to do yourself, but you need 3 days prep time! I followed Padhu's Kitchen with great success.) with a grapefruit-garlic-vinegar dressing. Similar to previous post but no Sriracha, mustard or honey. Note to self: do not eat if going out to any social events or if having meetings at work. Keeps the vampires away though.

Day 2:
Breakfast : Oatmeal again
Snack: Walnuts, Grapefruit
Lunch: Vietnamese Spring rolls with leftover roast carrots, leftover curry-spiced carrot patties, shiitake mushrooms, lettuce, mung bean and leftover salad dressing.
Snack: dried dates, baked sweet potato fries
Dinner: 3/4 cup brown rice, carrot top/pea sprout saag with 2 hard boiled egg whites (bring eggs to boil in water, turn off heat and let sit 18 minutes with lid on)

Day 3:
Breakfast: same as last night's dinner
Snack: 1 scoop brown rice protein with water, 1/2 cup frozen strawberries and 2 pitted dates shake.
Lunch: Same dinner as Day 1
Snack: 1/2 cup fresh strawberries;** Toasted celery leaf-Navy bean soup with togarashi, shiitake mushrooms; baked sweet potato fries
Dinner: mung bean and brown rice "okonomiyaki" with shredded zucchini and minced garlic filling eaten with lettuce. Ate 1/4 cup brown rice with the small amount of saag while waiting, cuz okonomiyaki is not a quick dish to cook.And I was impatient so it came out quite ugly and not set in the middle.
 
I feel ok, but only felt happily full after noshing on the sweet potato fries and the saag. (At least for working out/yoga I don't have to worry about feeling too weighed down.) The other times I was just made to feel no longer on empty. Having the mint tea after meals helps. The next phase (three days) will be tough with just juicing, two of the days I need to make enough to take with me to work. I stocked up at farmer's market today...will see if it's enough to make it through (plenty o' grocery stores in my hood if I need to re-supply).  I got 2 bunches of kale, 1 heart (?) celery, 6 cucumbers, 5 lb bag of valencia oranges, 1 small cantalope, 1 bundle swiss chard and a bundle of carrots. Have good variety of herbal tea: jasmine and mint! and of course senna leaf (those don't taste so good to me but I'd rather do this than the salt water flush-that made me want to hurl).

CURRY-SPICED GRATED CARROT PATTIES-makes 5 small (golf ball) patties (light lunch/two snacks)

Ingredients
3 tsp sesame seeds
3.6 oz grated carrot
1 tbsp flax seed ground and mixed with 3 tbsp hot water (allow to sit 10 minutes)
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp thinly sliced ginger
4 tsp chickpea flour

Heat pan on medium-high with a tsp of sesame oil (or other oil of choice)

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Form patties.

Fry about 4 minutes on each side until crispy and warmed through.

TOASTED CELERY LEAF-NAVY BEAN SOUP (1 serving)

Ingredients
1/3 of celery heart's leaves-rinsed and dried, and baked ~350F about 5-10 minutes until crispy
1.5 cups veg stock
3/4 cup cooked Navy bean
3 soaked overnight and sliced shiitake mushrooms (also tastes good using nutritional yeast, probably a couple tablespoons is enough for one bowl)

Stick all ingredients except the mushrooms in a blender if you like a smoother texture.

Heat it up in the microwave or on the stove.

*Stay tuned for progress/recipes on the 3 days of juicing. On day 2 of 3 today!

Juicing means less dishes and time spent cooking, what's the first thing you would do with your spare time?

Spunky Grapefruit Dressing for a Savory Salad (Veganizable, No Dairy, No soy)

As much as I had wanted a support group to do detoxing with, the yoga studio has the juicing cleanse right in the midst of my National Parks Trip. No practical way to do juicing staying in hotels and out hiking all day. So I'm going to try out a shorter, different detox from past years (Master cleanse, master cleanse + 2 juicing meals) starting tomorrow.  But first, I had to start by eating my way through items that won't keep for 8 days.

I had some defrosted shrimp to use up (checked country/method of harvesting for sustainability at store using the Monterey Bay Aquarium App-finally there are some "good alternative" options beside Oregon Pink shrimp!) and swapped that for the smoked tofu called for in Post-punk Kitchen's Vietnamese inspired Rice Noodle Salad with Grapefruit Vinegrette. It may seem an odd combination garlic, grapefruit, Sriracha (that bright red sauce at Vietnamese joints, usually with a rooster on the bottle), but give it a taste before dismissing it. Wakes me up at lunch time with it's bright, bold taste. The color chirps cheerily as well, like a sherbert! Tip for those not big on ginger: Personally felt the flavors of the dressing were 10x better the next day (ginger had time to mellow out). If you liked konnyaku from my chicken soup post, I used it again as part of the salad ingredients to give me more textures since I was omitting noodles. The Post Punk Kitchen gives even more substitution ideas for the salad ingredients.

Dressing Ingredients (for about 4-5 servings; I used about 3 tbsp each time)-barely any tweaks from me here

1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon fresh ginger
3/4 cup fresh red yellow grapefruit juice (this was about 1.5 fruits for me)
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil  olive oil
2 tablespoons Sriracha
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon agave nectar  honey
1/4 teaspoon salt

Put all ingredients in a blender and whirl until smooth. Best served chilled.

 Salad Ingredients (one serving)-endless possibilities to use what veggies or protein forms you have on hand...if you want more of the Vietnamese influence, add some chopped mint or the purple basil, cucumbers (not in season here in SD yet), thinly sliced carrots strips, the mung bean spouts.

(this is the serving portion, but save time by cooking all your shrimp and panfried stuff at once)

-9  cooked shrimp 41/50 count (about 3-4 oz cooked weight)
-1/3 block sliced  konnyaku and 1/2 cup sliced squash strips (pan fried with coconut aminos, sesame oil and coconut sugar)
-1/4 cup or small handful sundried tomato strips
-1/2 grapefruit-cut into segments
-1.5 cups rinsed/chopped lettuce
-2 tbsp chopped fresh herb (basil was delish)
-1 tbsp "sawdust" (bonito flakes)



1. If using shrimp, you need to peel and deveine your shrimp do so first.

2. Get a pot of water boiling for the shrimp. The 41/50 count size I left in for about 3 minutes once the water boiled so it cooked but not to the point of becoming tough.  Shrimp will turn pink almost immediately, watch for it go from translucent to opaque.

3. Heat a frying pan with 1 tsp sesame oil. Rinse off and slice your konnyaku block into strips (see picture) and slice up your squash. Add strips to the pan. Add a few shakes of coconut aminos (or soy sauce if you wheat and soy) and sprinkle 1-2 tsp coconut sugar. Cook until squash is tender.

4. Mix your cooked ingredients with the grapefruit, lettuce and tomato. Top with the dressing and serve warm.


What perks you up at a mid-day slump at work? Is it food related?

Keep it Light with Sesame: Konnyaku-chicken Soup and single serving salad dressing

As the temperature rises, the appetite seems to go down. And maybe you've popped your t-shirt in the freezer before putting it on for bed? No? I saw it in a magazine. Well, it's a very temporary relief only. There are some old stand-by food remedies: refreshing trip to the ice cream store (TCBY's cookie dough blast), an Otter Pop from your freezer (was your favorite Alexander the Grape as well?),  or even the opposite, a spicy bowl of Korean soup (instant soup powder from the market,add your own veggies, clear noodles and tofu) to sweat it out.

Sweet interpretation by Rich Werner  I found thru Google...his recent stuff looks really fun. I did a little poking around, looks like he's made a book and he illustrated Plants vs. Zombies.

 In terms of new solutions, the other week I had a great ginger-lemonade on vacation made by the Guest Chef at Wilbur Hot Springs. Just subtly sweet and slightly fizzy, it quenched my thirst as good as Gatorade without the fake coloring!

With the heat (or something else), my appetite for meat based protein is dwindling. I've been feeling like I need to do a detox soon but I keep going on these vacations. I'm not quite ready having bought items that need to be used. So these last two weeks I've kept it light using low or no meat sesame based recipes. The first uses a jiggly-low calorie, vegan gluten free "noodle" made from a block of konnyaku. What is konnyaku? Luckily many other people have written about it, this one was my favorite and provides tips for preparing it (rinse it off thoroughly and blanch to get rid of the funky smell). I didn't blanch mine and it came out ok. You buy it at Japanese markets. Marukai in San Diego has been having it on sale once a month for about 70-90 cents per package. Nice filler if you're looking to cut down on carbs for the later in the day meals and also get a fun texture in your soups, stews or stir fries.

Apparently there are some desserts you can make if you buy powdered konnyaku-it's like a jello! I have yet to find the powder so I haven't tried it yet.

The second recipe is just something nice and quick to throw together. Once you make it you won't really need to see the recipe for it-for it's so few ingredients and mostly to taste.

Konnyaku Chicken Soup (adapted from the konnyaku package)

2 cups of broth
2 tsp sesame oil
1.5 tbsp coconut aminos (if you do soy can use Braggs Amino or soy sauce if you do gluten)
3 slices of ginger
1.2 lbs chicken breast cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 package of bunapi mushrooms
3 ounces of pea shoots (about 2 cups chopped)
1/2 cup green tops of onions, chopped
1 package of konnyaku (white or gray), rinsed and sliced into fat noodles (see picture)
1 tbsp honey

1. Heat 2 tsp of sesame oil in a wok pan on high. When oil shimmers add in the mushrooms and onion. Saute 3-5 minutes or until some browning has occured

2. Add in the chicken and 1 cup of broth. Cook 17 minutes. Add more broth during cooking as needed.

3. Add the sprouts and konnyaku. Add the honey. Stir and cook 3 minutes.

4. Check to make sure the chicken is no longer pink when cut into. Enjoy your soup!

Sesame-Vinegar Dressing for single serving

1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
freshly ground pepper to taste
salt to taste
1/4 tsp honey

Stir ingredients together in a teeny bowl and then toss over your favorite salad fixings.

I put mine over a lettuce mix, hard-boiled egg whites, sun-dried tomato pieces and raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds). I liked these textures/flavors together the best out of other combinations I tried this week. If you eat fish, you can add some bonito flakes (aka "sawdust" as Dad calls it, made from tuna) for a nice smoky flavor on the salad. I guess just like canned or fresh tuna, something not to consume in excess because of mercury. If you want to know more about how it's made and get an egg-rice breakfast dish recipe, them check out this What's this Food episode! And I just learned you're supposed to use the package a week after opening the bonito flakes.


What kind of food do you turn to in hot weather?

Indian spices Carrot Top "Saag"

I took my first vacation this year visiting my sis-wonderful time to catch up, soak in the hot springs water, bike ride, yoga and plow through The Memory Keeper's Daughter (great read, changes between characters like Jodi Picoult or George Martin. Seeing the ripple effect of one choice made). We happened to be at the resort during guest chef weekend so we paid and had the luxury of not needing to cook a majority of our meals. Throw the dairy ban out the window for the magical spicy chai, cheese with veggies and cream atop of the strawberry rhubarb and flourless chocolate cake, but it was worth it! Certainly got some fun ideas: potato chips on top of fish and ginger-lemonade as a natural quencher.

Getting back into dairy-free cooking once back at home, but still carrying over lingering affects of eating a little more slowly. Savoring each bite. Helps me realize when I'm full too. In the spirit of Wilbur Hot Spring's waste not (eco-friendly composting, cooking in season, solar powered grid) and in the spirit of trying new things (soaking sans bathing suit, getting a massage while lying on my side), I implore you not to toss your carrot tops next time (sure composting is nice, but maybe you don't have time to go out to the store to get more veggies).

I've mentioned it before that it's been hard to find something tasty to do with carrot tops-pesto is one thing I've repeated, but a girl like me isn't happy without variety in her diet. I read about making a tea but that won't use up much plus I'm not a big fan of the flavor of carrot top leaves. I chopped it up and added it as an herb to a lentil salad (was alright, nothing to blog about). This week I finally found something worth puffing up my feathers about! Using it in place of spinach (or other leafy greens) for an Indian inspired spicy vegetarian dish was an experiment gone good. I followed a Saag (spinach) recipe from Holy Cow! with a few tweaks.

You'll need for two servings:
1 bunches of carrot tops (about 3 cups with thick stems removed, chopped roughly and boiled in about 1/4 cup of water until tender ~3 minutes)
1/2 cup chopped onion stem (or onion bulb)
.5 tsp cumin powder
.5 tsp coriander seed powder
.25 tsp turmeric (optional)
.25 tsp chili powder or red chili flakes
1 TBSP tomato paste (recipe could be 1/2 14-oz can of diced tomatoes or 1 tomatoes, diced)
.5 tbsp ginger, grated
.5 tbsp canola or other vegetable oil
.5 tbsp cornflour whisked with 1/4 cup of hemp milk (or other non-dairy milk)
Salt to taste

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium.

2. Add the onion and cook till browned. While waiting mix all dry spices together in a small dish. Mix the corn flour and milk in a separatedish.

3. Add the dry spices to the onion and let cook 30 seconds to release the flavor.

4. Add the wilted carrot tops, tomato paste, ginger and pepper flakes. Cook about 10 minutes on a low simmer.

5. Add the corn flour and water mixture to thicken the dish.

I ate mine as a side to roasted celery and "nacho cheese" soup. And also cold with canned salmon flakes as a snack. 


What do you like to do to slow it down?