Cleansing

Hey sweethearts! How are you today? Is anyone else doing a little spring cleanse right now? Woody and I are on day 6 of our cleanse. I'm not gonna lie, it hasn't been easy. I actually haven't been eating too differently from what I normally eat. But I am missing chocolate like crazy! I crave it after every meal. And I miss baking. :-( Reading blogs has been a little tortuous for me the last several days because I always see tasty, sweet, delicious recipes that I want to make and eat! But I'm still enjoying this cleanse and I know I'm benefitting from it. My friend, Michelle from GLOW GREEN GIRL recently wrote an awesome post about cleansing. You should check it out. Her cleanse guidelines are practically identical to mine. :-)

This is what a typical day of eats looks like for me on this cleanse.

I start the morning off with a glass or two of water, followed by some kind of herbal tea. I've been into Dandelion Root lately. :-)

Then I usually will have some fresh squeezed juice.

I think this was a carrot, orange, ginger, lemon and apple blend. It's Woody's favorite :-) 

Sometimes I'll have a smoothie instead. Or both! 

If I'm feeling really hungry in the morning, I'll make oatmeal with almond butter and banana instead. And maybe add some blueberries and walnuts. :-)

A few hours after breakfast, I usually start feeling snacky so I'll have some fruit, like an orange or a banana or an apple with some almond butter. 

Lunch is always a HUGE salad. 

Usually it's a variety of greens and a mix of raw veggies, but sometimes I'll add some steamed veggies and/or some brown rice.

Dinner is usually brown rice, quinoa or brown rice couscous with steamed veggies and some kind of beans and/or nuts. 

This particular rice and veggies bowl was topped with a delicious cheezy nutritional yeast sauce.

• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin 
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste

Yum!

The other night, instead of having rice and veggies, Woody and I threw together a delicious detox soup!

• 2 carrots 
• 1 large golden beet 
• 1 sweet potato 
• 2 celery stalks 
• 1 cup of maitake mushrooms 
• 1/2 of a yellow onion 
• 4 cloves garlic 
• 1-2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 can black beans
• 2-3 cups fresh spinach
• 2/3 cup brown rice
• 2 veggie bouillon cubes
• water to cover
• salt, pepper, cayenne, etc to taste

Begin by pouring your rice into a medium-large pot. Add enough water to cover and then some. (We didn't measure. We just kind of eye-balled it!) Add your veggie bouillon cubes at this time as well. Turn the burner up to high heat. Once the water starts to boil, turn it down to a simmer and set your timer for 50 minutes. After about ten minutes add the golden beet, carrots, onion, ginger and garlic. After about five more minutes thrown in the sweet potato and celery. Keep checking your water level and add more if you need to, just enough to cover the veggies. When there is 10 minutes left on the timer add the mushrooms. Once the rice is done add the spinach, beans and peas and cook for a few more minutes. Season with salt, pepper and cayenne powder if desired. 

This soup was so delicious, nutritious and filling. Perfect for a cleanse :-) 

So as you can see, my cleanse eats are pretty similar to my normal eats. Minus chocolate, pancakes, muffins, cereal, eggs, goat cheese and all those other things I love and miss! It's only two weeks though. It's definitely doable. And we're almost half way there! So, YAY!

Have a beautiful day my sweet friends. I love you! <3

Something to reflect on:

Life Lessons

1. You will receive a body.

You may like it or hate it, but it will be your for the entire period this time around.

2. You will learn lessons

You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called Life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.

3. There are no mistakes, only lessons.

Growth is a process of trial and error: experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately "works".

4. A lesson is repeated until learned.

A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can then go on to the next lesson.

5. Learning lessons does not end.

There is no part of life that does not contain its lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.

6. "There" is not better than "here". When you're "there" have become a "here" you will simply obtain another "there" that will again look better than "here".

7. Others are merely mirrors of you.

You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself.

8. What you make of your life is up to you.

You have all the tools and resources you need.

What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.

9. Your answers lie inside of you.

The answers to Life's questions lie inside you.

All you need to do is look, listen and trust.

10. You will forget all this.

11. You can remember it whenever you want.

~By Cherie Carter Scott