Cranberry Kale juice

I found a cranberry-kale smoothie on Pintrest that sounded tasty. It wasn’t. All the fiber from the cranberries and the kale made the smoothie almost crunchy. I still thought it was a good idea so, I tried making it as a juice instead. I ran 3 cups of chopped kale, 1 cup of cranberries, 1/2 an orange, 1 lemon, 1 inch of ginger, and  1 inch of tumeric through the juicer. It was delicious. Really strong, but delicious. My whole body feels zingy this morning.  This might become a regular when we are doing a juice cleanse.

Cleanse Fail

My little family put their foot down last night and refused to continue the Bon Appetit Food Lover’s Cleanse. I was putting the shopping list for the next few days and they didn’t like any of the planned meals. Well, that’s that. I didn’t put a big fight because I had gained two pounds on the cleanse.

I think I will try going back on Atkins for a while and try to lose a few pounds.

Bon Appetit Cleanse – Day 8

Breakfast – I had a busy morning so I didn’t have time to make steel cut oats with berries. I had another banana almond smoothie with a tablespoon of flax meal in it. It was very good and you barely tasted the flax meal at all. Unfortunately, I also had two gluten-free cookies and a latte at my meeting. The hostess had gone out of her way to make me gluten-free cookies. I thought it would be rude not to at least try a few. 

Lunch – I did not have a lunch of any sort. I was feeling bad about the cookies from the morning.

Snack – I ate a cold piece of leftover salmon with the green tahini sauce. It was good.

Dinner – The roasted tofu with red pepper sauce and bulgur salad with cauliflower was delicious. We were vegetarians for a while (before I realized I was allergic to wheat) so we have eaten a lot of tofu over the years. This was a wonderful preparation. I made a second batch of the red pepper sauce to get us through the second week of the cleanse and it was even better. I used a jar of Mount Olive roasted red peppers instead of roasting my own so the consistency was much smoother a bit less smokey. Instead of bulgur, I used quinoa in the salad. The combination of cauliflower, grains, and pistachios in the lemony dressing was very nice. I think this side would work well with roasted chicken too.

How I’m feeling – Guilty for eating those cookies but good about the rest of the day. Overall, ok.

Bon Appetit Cleanse – Day 7

Today went pretty well although I did eat a handful of salt and vinegar chips mid-afternoon. They were there next to my daughter on the couch and I couldn’t resist.

Breakfast – the banana almond smoothie was delicious if not that sustaining. The almond butter gave the smoothie nice body but, like with so many smoothies, I was hungry long before lunchtime. I will make this breakfast again but will probably add some flax seed meal to give it some staying power.

Snack – I tried the avocado smoothie snack slated for tomorrow. It is basically an avocado, lime juice,  and coconut water. I like the idea of this snack but the consistency was a little weird. I might play with this recipe in the future because it was very satisfying.

Lunch – The chicken, mango and rice salad was delicious. I don’t usually put rice in a salad but this worked well. In the future, I think you could adjust this recipe to use whatever you have in the fridge. It would be good with melon instead of mango or without the meat.

Dinner – We were unimpressed with the albacore brochettes. We like tuna in this house but this was kind of boring. If I were to make this recipe again, I would grill the tuna then serve it with the green tahini sauce on the side. The carrots on the other hand, was delicious. We all liked the spiced sauce. It was low fat and bright.

How I’m feeling – Tired, hungry, grumpy.

Bon Appetit Cleanse – Day 6

Breakfast – School was delayed due to the cold snap that has taken over the country so no quinoa oatmeal for me today. I had a mushroom omelet with my daughter before she went to school. It was good.

Lunch – The plan was to have squash and mustard green salad but pickled onions really didn’t appeal to me today. I modified the salad by sautéing mustard greens with garlic and anchovies, then added in some of the lentil pilaf from last night. It was a bowl of salty goodness. Anchovies are awesome!

Dinner -We liked the lemongrass chicken, black rice, and garlicky bok choy.  This a meal very much like dinners I cook on a regular basis. It was easy and quick to prepare and very tasty.

How I am feeling – I felt satisfied with what I was eating today. I was hungry between meals but not starving. The volume of greens I ate today and the addition of protein sustained me. My mood is better today too.

Bon Appetit Cleanse – Day 5

Breakfast – I didn’t read ahead enough to make the orange muesli last night so, I was out of luck on that project. I read ahead a few days and made the banana smoothie slated for  Wednesday; it was quite good if not that filling.

Lunch – the plan suggests a lunch of sardines on rye toasts. I can’t eat bread so sardines alone sounded sad. I had some of the escarole salad from a few nights ago and a piece of the roasted chicken left over. I chopped those up together and put them in the microwave for a minute. It was a nice warm salad. I was hungry mid-afternoon so I had a tangerine and then an apple with almond butter. I recommend Big Spoon Roaster’s Chai butter.

Dinner – The roasted butternut squash, green lentil pilaf, and kale were not a big hit on our house. We eat butternut squash on a regular basis and this preparation was a bit boring. My husband and daughter did not like the lentil and brown rice pilaf at all so I have a ton left over. I thought it was blah. I missed a smoky element like bacon. It is hard to make lentils exciting. The kale on the other hand was fine. We love kale in this house, so that was the one thing that everyone ate a ton of. 

How I’m feeling – run down and hungry. I am beginning to get frustrated with the complicated recipes in the plan. I bought ingredients from the master shopping list that are starting to go bad in the fridge and I have no idea when I am going to use them. Overall, I am super grumpy and want some ice cream.

Bon Appetit Cleanse – Day 3

Breakfast: The two egg omelet with the red pepper sauce was very good and tided me over until lunchtime well.

Lunch: The chicken, cabbage, and tangerine salad was good. I have made similar salads in the past and I think I preferred it better with a peanut sauce better.

Dinner: The hanger steaks with chimichurri sauce and warm escarole salad were a huge hit. If anything it was too much food for us to eat. My husband particularly liked the citrus salad with almonds.

How I feel: I feel a little stuffed today. My family is happy though.

Bon Appetit Cleanse – Day 2

Breakfast: The plan suggested I eat smoked salmon and avocado on rye crackers. Well, I am gluten intolerant so the crackers were a no and Whole Foods was sold out of smoked salmon after the New Year’s craziness. I made the oatmeal, without the recommended hemp seeds, that I was supposed to make on day 1. It was pretty good. I think if I make it again, I will substitute blueberries for the blackberries. No one likes dealing with blackberry seeds first thing in the morning. The steel cut oats did stay with me well into the afternoon though.

Lunch: I ate the proscribed bowl of leftover veggies and quinoa. It was a bit heavy for my tastes and didn’t finish it. the snack on the other hand, was great. Yogurt with garam marsala sprinkle and mango may become one of my go to afternoon snacks. In the future, I may just sprinkle ground cardamon and ginger on top with a bit of fruit.

Dinner: The roasted chicken breast with red pepper – walnut dressing was good. The chicken was essentially just a roasted chicken breast with crispy skin. The sauce was what made it special. When I make this again, which I will, I will not roast my own red peppers. It was not worth the effort when you can get excellent prepared roasted red peppers on the olive bar at Whole Foods. I would also pulse the sauce in the Cuisinart rather than chopping the ingredients together for a more consistent sauce.  The chicken was good but the real star on the plate was the white bean salad. It was easy and delicious. We also made the proscribed dark chocolate – pistachio bark. My husband ate five pieces so I think that was a hit.

How I am feeling: This cleanse does not feel like a cleanse so far. I am a little hungry between meals but not starving. My family is happy – so that’s a good sign. I don’t miss the dairy elements at all.

Related posts:

Gourmet Mommy – Day 2
Sara’s blog

Bon Appetit Cleanse – Day 1

What it was supposed to look like.

How Day 1 really looked.

I had mixed results with the first day of the Bon Appetit Food Lover’s Cleanse. I didn’t make the oats with blackberries for breakfast or the spinach salad for lunch. I hadn’t gone to the market yet so I didn’t have those ingredients. After lunch, my daughter and I went to two different grocery stores and still came home without watercress. We did find the elusive Jerusalem artichokes and white miso at Whole Foods. I think other people in my area are doing this cleanse because I have never had trouble finding watercress at Whole Foods before. I decided to use a mixture of baby kale, spinach, and mixed herbs in place of the watercress. It tasted pretty good; the mint flavor is strong so I think it was the star anyway.

My family liked the Roasted beets, carrots, and Jerusalem artichokes with red quinoa very much.  The lemony dressing on the greens made it bright and the quinoa was satisfying.  I think the meal got us off to a good start and quelled some of my husband’s concerns about doing a cleanse.

Bon Appetit Food Lovers Cleanse 2014

I am kicking off a new year of healthier eating with Bon Appetit’s Food Lovers’ Cleanse. I really need to back on track with my eating habits. This past six weeks or so have been a sugary disaster. My stomach hurts all the time, I’m having headaches and ravenous cravings for carbs, and feel generally sluggish. I don’t think I’m quite ready to go back on the Atkins Diet quite yet, even though I did lose 50 pounds on it last time. I’m hoping this cleanse diet will give me a kick start and then, maybe I will try Atkins again – or maybe fire up the juicer – or try something else.

Today is the first day of the cleanse so I don’t have any results to report yet. Stay tuned!