Wow, I am just failing at the blogging lately. I blame my "monthly visitor" for this most recent transgression. I always feel so blah the first 2 days or so. I did get a lot done on Monday and Tuesday though. I didn't wake up as early as I would have liked either day, but stuff happens.
Monday I was going to get up early, but I like to wait for our roommate to leave for work before I leave my room. He didn't know I no longer have a job and I didn't realize he took the day off, so I fell back to sleep while waiting for him to not leave. Classic. I got up around 9 or so and did yoga but really felt like I was starting the day late. I just feel like I don't get anything done when I get up that late. I did manage to make regular bread, hummus, baba ganoush, and pita bread all before S got home. I had defrosted some of the random soups that were in the freezer and mixed them together with left over brown rice and some extra broth for dinner. We had it with some of the regular bread, it was very tasty.
Tuesday I was going to get up when S got up, but thought maybe I would just sleep for a few minutes more. Again got up too late. Seriously, I just don't feel like I get enough time in the day when I sleep in and when I do wake up the second time I am all groggy and out of sorts. I pulled myself together and got up and did yoga. After yoga I decided to walk to the Shaw's in Porter Square. We were out of all-purpose bread flour and regular all-purpose flour and I needed molasses to make bran muffins later. That plaza roughly 1.6 miles from the house. I decided to stop in at Cambridge Naturals as well since it is right in that plaza. They have so many awesome herbs and seasonings in bulk. I tried to stick to my list, but couldn't resist rose and jasmine and some amazing smoked sea salt. I also got some of their amazing home made crystallized ginger. It tastes almost like jellied candy. It is so good. Got what I needed at the grocery store and made the trek home. The weather was very nice, but I need to start bringing my back pack on excursions like that as my shoulders were very sore from having the weight distributed awkwardly between my two bags.
When I got home I made myself an amazing lunch. I microwaved some fresh Brussels Sprouts and mixed in a chopped avocado, some balsamic vinegar, some pepper, and some of the smoked sea salt. I ate it with one of my fresh pitas and OMFG it was so amazing. Why haven't I done that before???? I puttered around the house while waiting for S to get home because it was already pretty late in the day. We had a very tasty dinner of oven roasted potatoes, fresh snow peas, and swordfish that I seasoned with olive oil, garlic, fresh lemon, smoked sea salt and pepper. I cooked it slightly on the rare side. It was amazing. After dinner I made cashew cream for the fruit salad that S and I made on Monday. Cashew cream is just basically blending roughly a cup of cashews and a cup of soaked dates with the soaking liquid until a creamy consistency. It's almost like a loose whipped cream, but is so so so tasty and so good for you. While S gamed I made some pretty tasty bran muffins that are UBER healthy. No oil and only 1/4 cup of molasses as sweetener. Mmm, but the raisin medley we got at BJ's really makes them. Before bed I made myself a tea to help with my "visitor". Mugwort, skullcap, and cramp bark. It seemed to help and I went and crashed out when S was done gaming.
11.3.09
9.3.09
Weekend Recap
I just couldn't motivate myself to post this weekend. I am not really sure why. I think I was too busy just being with S. There is also an awful lot going on in my head that I am trying to sort out. Who knew that making the decision to stop drinking/smoking and go sober would affect me so profoundly?? We went to S's parents' house for his step-sister's birthday dinner. It was nice although I ate entirely too much. Perhaps I didn't need that second cupcake. Oh well, I blame PMS and lack of sugar from alcohol for that. After the dinner we headed home by way of Trader Joe's. I am so in love with that store and have been since I went for the first time to the one in Framingham about 14 years ago. They were awesome then and they are awesome now. S and I got 3 bags full of groceries for around $50. The stuff is always top quality as well, which makes me very very happy.
When we finally got home we put everything away and cuddled on the couch for a bit. I was still pretty down in the head from earlier in the day. It's really hard to figure things out in my head now. I am not sure what's real and what's left over from the past. I'm also having a problem with the idea of going out as well. We were supposed to go to a party at a friend's house about an hour away on Saturday and when we went to bed Friday night I was still feeling so blah and blue, S asked me if I still wanted to go and I burst into tears. I really really didn't want to go and be surrounded by everyone getting hammered and smoking and all that, but I really didn't want S to miss out because he had really wanted to go. Ugh, I felt like such an asshole. I cried while S held me for awhile. I just don't know what I like and what's been programmed into me all these years. He is very understanding. After I cried I felt better. Especially after telling S that I just wasn't sure about so much that it made it very confusing as to what was real in my head and what wasn't. S and I talked for awhile and he said that he never wanted me to do anything that I didn't want to. I told him that we could play the party by ear.
Saturday we got up and had mango berry smoothies, coffee, and the rest of the Russian poppy seed cake, then proceeded to run errands. We went to BJ's in Natick and stocked up on paper goods and dried fruits and nuts and a bunch of other stuff. We also got a steam cleaner for the floors. We are hoping that it can conquer the kitchen floor which is ABSOFREAKINLUTELY disgusting. Grr. After BJ's we went to Joan and Ed's deli because S had never been there before. I got Matzhoh Ball soup and a Jewish pupu platter (Kishka, Knish, and Latke) and S got a very yummy Reuben. S tried to decide if we should try to finish the rest of the errands or just go home. Running the rest of the errands won out. We stopped and Super 88 and got some produce and other staples, the we stopped at Johnnie's Ghettomaster and got the last things we needed.
We got home and put everything away and S decided he was just too beat to go to the party, which was doubly fine with me as I had been wrestling with a stress headache all day from being upset Friday night. S and I went to Home Depot to see if he could get more wire for a project he is working on, then we went to pick up some good beer for beer bread and on the way home I was hit with bread inspiration!! We had picked up some Dubliner cheese at BJ's and some scallions at Super 88. Woot, cheddar scallion whole wheat beer bread made with Guinness. So so good and made the house smell delectable. That's actually what we ended up having for dinner, which was totally fine as we had kind of stuffed ourselves at Joan and Ed's. We cuddled on the couch for a while after that and then went to bed.
I woke up before S Sunday morning and crawled out of bed to start a loaf of yummy breakfast beer bread. Whole wheat oat with nutmeg, cinnamon, and raisins. It made the house smell awesome. I love beer breads, they mix up in no time, only take 45 minutes to bake, and there is no raising time. It's more like a batter, but the bread is amazing. LOL it's the only thing we buy alcohol for now! After I put the bread in I went back for more snuggles with S in bed. Finally we got up and had yerba mate Bengal spice tea and the fresh bread spread with cream cheese. Om nom nom!!!! Of course we had forgotten to get wheat germ for making granola in our travels, so we decided to enjoy the lovely weather and walk to Whole Foods to take advantage of their bulk department. It was an absolutely fabulous walk and even though Whole Foods was a mob scene we managed to get in and out pretty quickly with only what we had come for. AMAZING!
When we got home S started on some Chinese style Superior broth, which basically just used all the bones and veggie scraps we had in the freezer along with some tricks from his favourite Chinese cookbook. We both had some of the left over cheddar scallion bread with Russian cheese for a snack and, unfortunately, my right jaw muscle started to shoot searing pains from my jaw down my neck. I could only chew on the left side and only very very slowly. This used to happen all the time but had stopped for years. S thinks it's stress related because of all the changes. We then started laundry and then sat on the couch and I tried to relax. I was still hungry so I made some popcorn and succeeded in eating it by letting each kernel soften in my mouth on the left side before trying to eat it. Finally I succumbed and took some ibuprofen to see if that would help my jaw. It seemed to do the trick so at least I could eat a bit easier when it was time for dinner. I just threw all the leftovers from the chicken dinner we had last week into a pan with a bit of broth to heat up and we had it over brown rice. It was so so so good! I ate waaay too many sweets though, between Russian wafer cookies, Easter candy, caramel mousse and Nilla wafers. Ugh. At least we went for another walk after dinner. We were pretty beat from all the fresh air and walking, so we went to bed around 10. When we got up this morning it was snowing again. Grrr. Oh well at least we got to take advantage of the nice weather yesterday.
When we finally got home we put everything away and cuddled on the couch for a bit. I was still pretty down in the head from earlier in the day. It's really hard to figure things out in my head now. I am not sure what's real and what's left over from the past. I'm also having a problem with the idea of going out as well. We were supposed to go to a party at a friend's house about an hour away on Saturday and when we went to bed Friday night I was still feeling so blah and blue, S asked me if I still wanted to go and I burst into tears. I really really didn't want to go and be surrounded by everyone getting hammered and smoking and all that, but I really didn't want S to miss out because he had really wanted to go. Ugh, I felt like such an asshole. I cried while S held me for awhile. I just don't know what I like and what's been programmed into me all these years. He is very understanding. After I cried I felt better. Especially after telling S that I just wasn't sure about so much that it made it very confusing as to what was real in my head and what wasn't. S and I talked for awhile and he said that he never wanted me to do anything that I didn't want to. I told him that we could play the party by ear.
Saturday we got up and had mango berry smoothies, coffee, and the rest of the Russian poppy seed cake, then proceeded to run errands. We went to BJ's in Natick and stocked up on paper goods and dried fruits and nuts and a bunch of other stuff. We also got a steam cleaner for the floors. We are hoping that it can conquer the kitchen floor which is ABSOFREAKINLUTELY disgusting. Grr. After BJ's we went to Joan and Ed's deli because S had never been there before. I got Matzhoh Ball soup and a Jewish pupu platter (Kishka, Knish, and Latke) and S got a very yummy Reuben. S tried to decide if we should try to finish the rest of the errands or just go home. Running the rest of the errands won out. We stopped and Super 88 and got some produce and other staples, the we stopped at Johnnie's Ghettomaster and got the last things we needed.
We got home and put everything away and S decided he was just too beat to go to the party, which was doubly fine with me as I had been wrestling with a stress headache all day from being upset Friday night. S and I went to Home Depot to see if he could get more wire for a project he is working on, then we went to pick up some good beer for beer bread and on the way home I was hit with bread inspiration!! We had picked up some Dubliner cheese at BJ's and some scallions at Super 88. Woot, cheddar scallion whole wheat beer bread made with Guinness. So so good and made the house smell delectable. That's actually what we ended up having for dinner, which was totally fine as we had kind of stuffed ourselves at Joan and Ed's. We cuddled on the couch for a while after that and then went to bed.
I woke up before S Sunday morning and crawled out of bed to start a loaf of yummy breakfast beer bread. Whole wheat oat with nutmeg, cinnamon, and raisins. It made the house smell awesome. I love beer breads, they mix up in no time, only take 45 minutes to bake, and there is no raising time. It's more like a batter, but the bread is amazing. LOL it's the only thing we buy alcohol for now! After I put the bread in I went back for more snuggles with S in bed. Finally we got up and had yerba mate Bengal spice tea and the fresh bread spread with cream cheese. Om nom nom!!!! Of course we had forgotten to get wheat germ for making granola in our travels, so we decided to enjoy the lovely weather and walk to Whole Foods to take advantage of their bulk department. It was an absolutely fabulous walk and even though Whole Foods was a mob scene we managed to get in and out pretty quickly with only what we had come for. AMAZING!
When we got home S started on some Chinese style Superior broth, which basically just used all the bones and veggie scraps we had in the freezer along with some tricks from his favourite Chinese cookbook. We both had some of the left over cheddar scallion bread with Russian cheese for a snack and, unfortunately, my right jaw muscle started to shoot searing pains from my jaw down my neck. I could only chew on the left side and only very very slowly. This used to happen all the time but had stopped for years. S thinks it's stress related because of all the changes. We then started laundry and then sat on the couch and I tried to relax. I was still hungry so I made some popcorn and succeeded in eating it by letting each kernel soften in my mouth on the left side before trying to eat it. Finally I succumbed and took some ibuprofen to see if that would help my jaw. It seemed to do the trick so at least I could eat a bit easier when it was time for dinner. I just threw all the leftovers from the chicken dinner we had last week into a pan with a bit of broth to heat up and we had it over brown rice. It was so so so good! I ate waaay too many sweets though, between Russian wafer cookies, Easter candy, caramel mousse and Nilla wafers. Ugh. At least we went for another walk after dinner. We were pretty beat from all the fresh air and walking, so we went to bed around 10. When we got up this morning it was snowing again. Grrr. Oh well at least we got to take advantage of the nice weather yesterday.
6.3.09
Oops, Missed a Day
I never got around to yoga Wednesday night. I was in a weird head space and feeling very bitchy and just wanted to sit with S. He picked me up on the way home which was nice. When we got home I made an avocado dip with an avocado that was about to go over, the juice of 1/2 a lemon, salt, chipoltle (see a theme in my food???), and scallions. S forgot to pick up some wholegrain chips, so we ended up eating the dip with ruffles potato chips. Okay so only sort of healthy there. Oh well. I guess I didn't feel so bad about the chips because someone at work sensed my bitchy PMSing mood and gave me a small chocolate croissant from the bakery across the street. Soooo good. But alas, not healthy. To try and redeem ourselves, S made a roast chicken smeared with Earth Balance mixed with herbs and garlic and I cut up beets, sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts and threw them in the pan with the chicken. It was amazing. Absolutely amazing.
Yesterday I definitely ate waaaaaaay too much. I had two of my yummy muffins and an orange for breakfast. I then proceeded to snack on wasabi flavoured shrimp crackers until they brought lunch in. Lunch was from Panera bread. I had a plate of salad with one of their sourdough rolls and italian dressing, 1/2 a roast beef asiago sandwich with chips and a pickle, and then, 1 and 1/2 of their chocolate white chocolate chip cookies. Waaaaaayyyy too much already, right? I brought some of the leftover rolls home for S, and I had another one of those before we went to dinner with a cup of tea. Then we went to the Russian store in Allston. I didn't eat anything there, but we got some very very yummy treats. Then we went to Shabu Shabu Toki. We had the seafood. OMG so good and healthy, but I ate waayy too much. Then when we got home I had a cup of Anise tea for digestion and just had to try the black sesame seed cake from the Russian store. So good, but I was about dead after that. Just enough room to drink some prune juice for results in the morning.
I was in a bad head space again last night when going to bed. It's still hanging over me a bit this morning. I just don't feel right. I am having a hard time getting excited about anything. I wanted a cigarette most of the day yesterday and again today. I am really having a hard time maneuvering life with out my crutches from before. I don't plan on going back to them, of course, but I used alcohol and nicotine in so many situations for so long that I don't have any reference point on how to live and enjoy my life without them. I used to only get excited to hove a smoke or a drink. Now I am not sure what to get excited for or even how. I get excited to see S to a point, but then my head is so messed up right now I feel like I am not there which is terribly unfair to him and to me. I know I need to be patient with myself. I have been screwing with myself for the last 20 years. It's like I pushed myself under the rug for the last twenty years and now that I am out I have no idea what happened or how to deal with any of it. I think being let go from this position for awhile and having some time to myself will help a lot. I feel like I really need to think and heal and just be for a bit. School will be good, as will being home to cook and clean and organise. Maybe in those activities I can begin to sort out this head of mine. Starting to work out everyday will help a ton as well. Rawr.
Yesterday I definitely ate waaaaaaay too much. I had two of my yummy muffins and an orange for breakfast. I then proceeded to snack on wasabi flavoured shrimp crackers until they brought lunch in. Lunch was from Panera bread. I had a plate of salad with one of their sourdough rolls and italian dressing, 1/2 a roast beef asiago sandwich with chips and a pickle, and then, 1 and 1/2 of their chocolate white chocolate chip cookies. Waaaaaayyyy too much already, right? I brought some of the leftover rolls home for S, and I had another one of those before we went to dinner with a cup of tea. Then we went to the Russian store in Allston. I didn't eat anything there, but we got some very very yummy treats. Then we went to Shabu Shabu Toki. We had the seafood. OMG so good and healthy, but I ate waayy too much. Then when we got home I had a cup of Anise tea for digestion and just had to try the black sesame seed cake from the Russian store. So good, but I was about dead after that. Just enough room to drink some prune juice for results in the morning.
I was in a bad head space again last night when going to bed. It's still hanging over me a bit this morning. I just don't feel right. I am having a hard time getting excited about anything. I wanted a cigarette most of the day yesterday and again today. I am really having a hard time maneuvering life with out my crutches from before. I don't plan on going back to them, of course, but I used alcohol and nicotine in so many situations for so long that I don't have any reference point on how to live and enjoy my life without them. I used to only get excited to hove a smoke or a drink. Now I am not sure what to get excited for or even how. I get excited to see S to a point, but then my head is so messed up right now I feel like I am not there which is terribly unfair to him and to me. I know I need to be patient with myself. I have been screwing with myself for the last 20 years. It's like I pushed myself under the rug for the last twenty years and now that I am out I have no idea what happened or how to deal with any of it. I think being let go from this position for awhile and having some time to myself will help a lot. I feel like I really need to think and heal and just be for a bit. School will be good, as will being home to cook and clean and organise. Maybe in those activities I can begin to sort out this head of mine. Starting to work out everyday will help a ton as well. Rawr.
4.3.09
It is Cold Out There . . .
To finish out my meals yesterday, I ate the left over soup from the night before. With this I had two slices of my yummy home made bread slightly toasted for dipping. I also had a pluot (a cross between a plum and an apricot, very tasty) and a banana. Then for snack S and I had chipoltle popcorn when I got home. We make it ourselves so it has almost no calories and lots of fiber. For dinner I made an eggplant tofu stir fry with lots of vegetables over brown rice and while S gamed I baked whole wheat nectarine 5 spice yogurt muffins. OMG so good. We each had one and then split one more before bread.
Fruity Whole Wheat Yogurt Muffins (Basic recipe adapted from Recipezaar)
1 C Whole wheat flour
1 C All purpose flour
1/2 C Sugar
1 t Baking Powder
1 C Yogurt
1/4 C or so of Soy milk
1 Egg
1 t Vanilla
4 T Oil
2 C Fruit
Spices if you like
(Makes 12)
Preheat oven to 350 and grease muffin tin. Combine dry ingredients. Combine wet ingredients except fruit. mix dry and wet and fruit until just mixed. Batter will be very thick. Spoon into tin and bake 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on rack. Enjoy
WARNING - BODY TALK AHEAD!!!
I have not had a BM since Monday night. This is very frustrating as part of the reason I did the cleanse in the first place was to reset my digestive system. I guess I shouldn't get too frustrated as it probably takes a few days for the system to re-normalize. I have been passing gas fine so I can't be that blocked up. I am sure it will work itself out eventually. I just feel a teeny bit bloaty.
It is freezing out today. I am very much ready for it to be spring. I had another grapefruit for breakfast this morning. That with my morning tea and a nectarine muffin made me wish I was sitting outside in a warm sunbeam. Oh well, soon enough I am sure.
So for food so far today I have had 2 of my nectarine muffins (they are very small), a grapefruit, a cup of wakame broth, some dates, about a half cup of cucumber/daikon/carrot salad with sesame-soy dressing, and leftover stir fry over brown rice. I have to try and get yoga in tonight and the next two mornings. Yoga took a back seat with the cleanse because I didn't feel up to it. Now that I am eating again I need to hit the mat! I won't be able to do it the next two evenings, because Thursday S and I are having a date night and going to Shabu Toki and Friday we are going to T's birthday dinner at his family's house so there won't be any time. So I have to get up with S and get myself through a class.
Fruity Whole Wheat Yogurt Muffins (Basic recipe adapted from Recipezaar)
1 C Whole wheat flour
1 C All purpose flour
1/2 C Sugar
1 t Baking Powder
1 C Yogurt
1/4 C or so of Soy milk
1 Egg
1 t Vanilla
4 T Oil
2 C Fruit
Spices if you like
(Makes 12)
Preheat oven to 350 and grease muffin tin. Combine dry ingredients. Combine wet ingredients except fruit. mix dry and wet and fruit until just mixed. Batter will be very thick. Spoon into tin and bake 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on rack. Enjoy
WARNING - BODY TALK AHEAD!!!
I have not had a BM since Monday night. This is very frustrating as part of the reason I did the cleanse in the first place was to reset my digestive system. I guess I shouldn't get too frustrated as it probably takes a few days for the system to re-normalize. I have been passing gas fine so I can't be that blocked up. I am sure it will work itself out eventually. I just feel a teeny bit bloaty.
It is freezing out today. I am very much ready for it to be spring. I had another grapefruit for breakfast this morning. That with my morning tea and a nectarine muffin made me wish I was sitting outside in a warm sunbeam. Oh well, soon enough I am sure.
So for food so far today I have had 2 of my nectarine muffins (they are very small), a grapefruit, a cup of wakame broth, some dates, about a half cup of cucumber/daikon/carrot salad with sesame-soy dressing, and leftover stir fry over brown rice. I have to try and get yoga in tonight and the next two mornings. Yoga took a back seat with the cleanse because I didn't feel up to it. Now that I am eating again I need to hit the mat! I won't be able to do it the next two evenings, because Thursday S and I are having a date night and going to Shabu Toki and Friday we are going to T's birthday dinner at his family's house so there won't be any time. So I have to get up with S and get myself through a class.
3.3.09
Day Nine (Not Really)
So after much soul searching and debate yesterday I decided to break my fast and stop the cleanse. Too many negative emotions were being dragged up for me to deal with and I had been in a very very bad funk since Friday night. Nothing I tried helped to pull me up out of the funk. I also found out yesterday that the mortgage company where I am temping as a receptionist is moving me to on-call status as of Monday of next week. Basically they are letting me go because business is slower than they thought it would be. But if it gets busy they will call me. They have free lunches on Thursday. So perhaps the smallest reason I stopped this cleanse is because I want to take advantage of a last free lunch. Being let go was definitely the straw that broke the camels back for me concerning the cleanse though.
Yesterday I drank the lemonade until I got home and then proceeded to have 4 pieces of celery with some of S's homemade peanut sauce and a piece of my homemade bread. It took me about an hour to eat them and they were so good. After that had started to digest I went to make soup. I surveyed our ingredients and decided that I would make Italian White Bean and Spinach soup mostly because we had spinach and a bunch of fresh basil. Here is a basic recipe. I don't really measure when I cook, so hopefully you can follow along.
Italian White Bean and Spinach Soup
3 Small onions chopped
3 Carrots sliced into disks
3-4 Cloves of garlic minced
4 Stalks of celery sliced
3 Medium - small potatoes diced
8 Cups of broth or water - your choice
1 Can of small white beans - again, your choice, make sure they are rinsed well
1/2 bunch spinach - trimmed
As much fresh basil as you want - minced
2 Scallions - chopped
A bit of dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
A bit of Chipoltle or other spicy pepper ( I like Chipoltle because it brings a smokiness to the soup without adding bacon or other pork products)
Saute the onions, carrots, and celery over med-high heat until they begin to sweat and soften. Add the garlic, oregano, and chipoltle and cook until fragrant. Add broth, beans and potatoes and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20 -30 minutes. Add spinach, basil, and scallions and simmer until wilted. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with Parmesan cheese to top, or if you are being healthy, you can use nutritional yeast which is what I do. I love it's cheesy flavour and it's vitamin B benefits. This soup is great with a nice sour dough bread for dipping in the tasty broth.
I had 2 very small bowls probably just enough to equal one whole bowl. It was such amazing soup. I also had about 4 Vinta crackers which are just about my favourite crackers on the whole planet besides Akmak. That is until I start making my own, which I plan to do starting this weekend. My goal is to make everything I can within reason. Crackers, pita bread, regular bread, granola, broth, chips . . . you name it, I want to figure out how to make it myself. It will be much healthier and cheaper. S and I want to get away from all processed food and try to eat as healthy as possible. More fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains and healthy meats and lots of fish. I am also going to use this journal to keep track of what I eat and the recipes I use.
So far this morning I have had a whole grapefruit, 1/4 cup of angel hair with peanut sauce, and 2 cups (from 1 tea bag) Mayan Cocoa Spice tea with Stevia. Yummy. Yesterday I weighed 134.4, let's see what eating healthy and working out can do to that.
I don't feel bad about stopping short of the ten day mark, because I made it farther than I did last time and that in and of itself is an accomplishment. I also realized that I have a lot of emotional baggage that I need to work on. I have a lot of demons in my closet that I need to face and get rid of or accept and move on. Being let go will give me the time I need to accomplish that, as well as work on my goals. I will also have a good amount of time for school. I will be able to do my Yoga teacher training sooner rather than later so that I can start teaching sooner. I will also be able to do work study at The Arlington Center so I can take some classes there. I am not upset at being let go, but I was just getting used to the idea of getting paid again. I will definitely be doing cleanses/fasts more often. Most likely juice fasts with bentonite clay. I am going to make sure that I use my free time to best of my abilities. I want to be a good house-frau for S as well as being good to myself and following my dreams. I am very fortunate to have been given this opportunity to do what I actually want to do. I am not going to waste it!
Yesterday I drank the lemonade until I got home and then proceeded to have 4 pieces of celery with some of S's homemade peanut sauce and a piece of my homemade bread. It took me about an hour to eat them and they were so good. After that had started to digest I went to make soup. I surveyed our ingredients and decided that I would make Italian White Bean and Spinach soup mostly because we had spinach and a bunch of fresh basil. Here is a basic recipe. I don't really measure when I cook, so hopefully you can follow along.
Italian White Bean and Spinach Soup
3 Small onions chopped
3 Carrots sliced into disks
3-4 Cloves of garlic minced
4 Stalks of celery sliced
3 Medium - small potatoes diced
8 Cups of broth or water - your choice
1 Can of small white beans - again, your choice, make sure they are rinsed well
1/2 bunch spinach - trimmed
As much fresh basil as you want - minced
2 Scallions - chopped
A bit of dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
A bit of Chipoltle or other spicy pepper ( I like Chipoltle because it brings a smokiness to the soup without adding bacon or other pork products)
Saute the onions, carrots, and celery over med-high heat until they begin to sweat and soften. Add the garlic, oregano, and chipoltle and cook until fragrant. Add broth, beans and potatoes and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20 -30 minutes. Add spinach, basil, and scallions and simmer until wilted. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with Parmesan cheese to top, or if you are being healthy, you can use nutritional yeast which is what I do. I love it's cheesy flavour and it's vitamin B benefits. This soup is great with a nice sour dough bread for dipping in the tasty broth.
I had 2 very small bowls probably just enough to equal one whole bowl. It was such amazing soup. I also had about 4 Vinta crackers which are just about my favourite crackers on the whole planet besides Akmak. That is until I start making my own, which I plan to do starting this weekend. My goal is to make everything I can within reason. Crackers, pita bread, regular bread, granola, broth, chips . . . you name it, I want to figure out how to make it myself. It will be much healthier and cheaper. S and I want to get away from all processed food and try to eat as healthy as possible. More fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains and healthy meats and lots of fish. I am also going to use this journal to keep track of what I eat and the recipes I use.
So far this morning I have had a whole grapefruit, 1/4 cup of angel hair with peanut sauce, and 2 cups (from 1 tea bag) Mayan Cocoa Spice tea with Stevia. Yummy. Yesterday I weighed 134.4, let's see what eating healthy and working out can do to that.
2.3.09
Day Eight (In which Veronica is Back at Work)
For some reason when I have to work, my body wakes me up around 3 or 4 or 5 to go pee. Then I have a hard time falling back to sleep immediately. Grrrrr. I feel a little bit better about the cleanse this morning, although I am VERY ready for it to be over. I know it's good for me and I know detoxing (especially in my case) is very necessary, but I didn't realize how emotional I would be and how frustrated I would be about not being able to eat or do a lot of other things. It makes me feel like I am being a big baby.
S has been so supportive. He constantly reminds me gently that I really want to finish this, and that I needed to do it to get the gunk out, and that it's just a few more days. And he's right as he often is. After today I only have 2 more days and then I can start transitioning back to a healthy diet. Thursday is just a couple of days away. There is a lot of gunk coming out, that's for sure. I was so tired over the weekend though, and that's hard because I really want to be completely present with any and all time that I get with S. I feel like it was a wasted weekend.
In other news I am down to 134.4! woot?
S has been so supportive. He constantly reminds me gently that I really want to finish this, and that I needed to do it to get the gunk out, and that it's just a few more days. And he's right as he often is. After today I only have 2 more days and then I can start transitioning back to a healthy diet. Thursday is just a couple of days away. There is a lot of gunk coming out, that's for sure. I was so tired over the weekend though, and that's hard because I really want to be completely present with any and all time that I get with S. I feel like it was a wasted weekend.
In other news I am down to 134.4! woot?
1.3.09
Day 7 -Quick Recap
Today sucked almost as bad as yesterday. S is very supportive, thank goddess. I want food. I hate this cleanse. This cleanse is fired. I am continuing on. 3 days left. Grrrrrrrrrrr.
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