T20 BP Day 1

 Day one of Dr. Furman's Transformation 20

Breakfast

Banana Walnut Breakfast

1serving

1 banana
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
1 cup blueberries
1/4 cup walnut pieces
3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

Slice banana into a cereal bowl. Stir in flax seeds, blueberries, walnut pieces, and non-dairy milk.

Thoughts:

This was good! The frozen blueberries made the almond milk turn a beautiful color of purple. It was tasty and filling.

5/5

Dinner

Creamy zucchini and corn soup

3 servings

1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic,
2 lb zucchini (about five medium), chopped
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
4 cups no salt added vegetable broth
1/4 cup raw cashews
2 tablespoons unhulled hemp seeds
4 cups spinach
2 cups frozen corn kernels
1/4 tsp. Black pepper or to taste

Add onion, garlic, zucchini, basil, time, oregano and vegetable broth to a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 25 minutes or until zucchini is tender.

Pour into a high powered blender (in batches, if necessary), add the cashews and hemp seeds and blend until smooth and creamy.

Return soup to the pot, add corn and spinach, bring to a simmer and cook until spinach is wilted. Add water if needed to adjust consistency. Season with black pepper.

Thoughts:

I made this wrong. First, I sauteed the onion and garlic with about a Tbsp of avocado oil. I used fresh basil. I misread the recipe, and blended about half of the zucchini mixture with the cashews... Oh, and I used homemade chicken stock I had on hand. Also forgot the hemp seeds!

It was alright. Not the worst Dr fuhrman soup I've had. My alterations probably improved it a bit :)

3.75/5

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Steel-Cut Oats with Bananas, Strawberries and Brown Sugar

Steel-Cut Banana and Strawberry Oats with Brown Sugar

I love oatmeal for breakfast. This morning we were out of rolled oats, which left the steel-cut ones I leave in the refrigerator and usually use for overnight oats. After a quick online search, I came across a recipe on Food Network's website for banana and strawberry steal cut oats. They were really good.

My mom is in town for a visit and this made way too much for the two of us so we put the rest in the fridge for breakfast tomorrow. I guess steel-cut oats reheat well. We'll try it out and let you know. This recipe could be used with any kind of fruit, so it will be fun to try it again with different combinations. In the comments someone mentioned using lemon curd and raspberries in place of the the strawberries... now that sounds divine!

Here's the recipe:

Steel-Cut Oats with Bananas and Strawberries

Recipe courtesy of Jamie Deen. Total Time: 50 min, Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup steel-cut oats
1 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 ripe banana, sliced
2 cups strawberries

Directions:
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the oats and toast, while stirring, until they smell nice and nutty, about 3 minutes.

Add 3 cups water, the milk, brown sugar and salt. Turn up the heat, bring to a simmer and cover. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the oats from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Remove the lid and stir in the banana. Cover again and cook for 10 more minutes, stirring on occasion, until the oats are soft and creamy. Stir in the berries right before serving.

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Day 12 of Dr. Fuhrman 10 in 20: Antioxidant-Rich Breakfast Bars, Mexican Salad, Easy Vegetable Pizza Margherita Style

Antioxidant-Rich Breakfast Bars Close Up

Antioxidant-Rich Breakfast Bars

Breakfast: Antioxidant-Rich Breakfast Bars

6 servings

1 medium ripe banana
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup frozen blueberries, thawed
¼ cup raisins
1∕8 cup pomegranate juice
2 tablespoons finely chopped dates
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons ground flax seed

Mash banana in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Spread mixture into an 8-inch square baking pan that has been lightly wiped with olive oil. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees F. Cool on wire rack and cut into bars.

Refrigerate or freeze leftover bars and use them as an alternate breakfast. Limit -1 per day

Score: 8/10

Okay, so I actually just had some fruit for breakfast, but I tried the breakfast bars when I was visiting my mom. Since they are technically on day 12 I put the picture and recipe up. These bars were alright. They didn't stay together in a bar shape even after letting them cool for a while. The flavor, however was good. The serving size is also very small. Not a super filling breakfast. Definitely felt the need to supplement with some extra fruit. We also had them after coming home from the gym, so we were extra hungry :)

Mexican Salad (this time with the Avocado)

Lunch: Mexican Salad

Repeat from Day 1 (click here to see day 1 with recipe)

I really like this salad. Something about the salsa as a dressing just makes it. I actually had a ripe avocado this time (last time I had to use nuts instead). The avocado added some creaminess. Very good.

Score: 9.5/10

Easy Vegetable Pizza Margherita Style

First, I would like to apologize for the picture. It turned out blurry, so I tried to sharpen it up a bit and it looks terrible! Just know that the actual pizza was very pretty and very tasty.

Dinner: Easy Vegetable Pizza 

Repeat from Day 1 (click here to see day 1 with recipe). I also made this pizza on Day 6 instead of a salad. That time I added leftover artichoke hearts (click here for a link to that). This time I made it using a whole wheat pita a jar of marinara sauce from the pantry, sliced beefsteak tomato, fresh mozzarella, red onion and fresh basil.   

Ingredients all laid out, ready to go on pizza

Pizza before it went in the oven

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Day 11 of Dr. Fuhrman 10 in 20: Berry Bowl, Sweet Kale Salad, Easy Vegetable Pizza

Fresh Berry Bowl with Flax, Walnuts, and  Almond Milk

Back home from my trip to Oregon, and back on plan :)

Breakfast: Berry Bowl

1 ½ cups blueberries, strawberries, blackberries  and/or raspberries
1 banana, sliced
¼ cup unsweetened, unflavored or vanilla soy, hemp or almond milk
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon ground flax or chia seeds

Top berries and banana with non-dairy milk and sprinkle with the walnuts and flax or chia seeds.

Score: 9.5/10

This is a repeat from Day 2 (click here to see it). This time I made it slightly different. I had chopped walnuts, so I used those instead of substituting pecans (like last time).  I had fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries... so good! Last time I had fresh strawberries and frozen blueberries. Both ways were tasty. I know I've said this before, but I'm saying it again. I love fruit.

Yum!

Here's the salad unmixed with most of the ingredients off to the side. The apple got cropped out, just know that it was there in all its pink lady glory ;)

Lunch: Sweet Kale
5 cups chopped kale, tough stems and center ribs removed 

1 tablespoon lemon juice 

1 small apple, cored and sliced 

1 tablespoon raw sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds 

1 tablespoon raisins 

½ avocado, peeled and chopped 

Balsamic or fig-flavored vinegar 

Toss together all ingredients except vinegar. Finish with a splash  of vinegar.  Salad

Score: 6.5/10

This salad was alright. Good, but not great. I am not a huge fan of straight up kale salads anyway. The Sweet Kale Salad Mix by Eat Smart (we usually get it at Costco) is an exception. That salad does have a creamy poppy seed dressing going for it. This salad had a nice mix of sweet and sour. The acid from the lemon and vinegar balanced out the sweet apple and raisins. It could've used some more avocado. I didn't even know it was there most of the time. Also, 5 cups is a lot of kale. I got a bit burned out and wasn't able to finish the last bit of salad.

Another Veggie Pizza with Multigrain Flatbread Crust

Dinner: Easy Vegetable Pizza  (supposed to be Lazy Lentils)

1 large (100% whole grain) tortilla or pita 

½ cup low sodium pasta sauce 

¼ cup chopped mushrooms 

¼ cup chopped red onion 

½ of a medium tomato, chopped 

1-2 tablespoons mozzarella cheese, cubed 

1 Tablespoon dried basil

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Place tortilla on a baking sheet and warm for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and top with remaining ingredients. Bake for 30 minutes.

Score: 9/10

So, I keep making different variations of this pizza, because I keep craving pizza! This time I used Flatout brand flatbread (the Multigrain with Flax). It's only 100 calories, has 9 g of protien, 8 g of fiber and only 1 g of sugar. Not too shabby. It was crispy everywhere except the middle when I took it out of the oven. I put a lot of sauce and fresh tomatoes on top. I think that's what made it soggy. The sauce I used, Classico Riserva Roasted Garlic, had big chunks of delicious roasted garlic in it. The ingredient list on the sauce is pretty short. There's no added sugar, just tomatoes, roasted garlic, extra virgin olive oil, spices and sea salt. 

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Day 10 of Dr. Fuhrman 10 in 20: Blueberry Breakfast Cobbler,

Blueberry Breakfast Cobbler after it's mixed

Breakfast: Blueberry Breakfast Cobbler

½ banana, sliced
½ cup fresh or frozen blueberries
2 tablespoons uncooked old fashioned rolled oats
1 tablespoon raisins or currants
2 tablespoons chopped raw almonds
1 tablespoon unsweetened, shredded coconut
¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Combine banana, berries, oats and raisins in a microwave-safe dish. Microwave for 2 minutes. Top with almonds, cinnamon and coconut and microwave for 1 minute. Serve warm.

Score: 9.5/10

Blueberry Breakfast Cobbler right out of the microwave

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Day 9 of Dr. Fuhrman 10 in 20: Chocolate Cherry Smoothie, Salad Stuffed Pita with Russian Dressing, and Buenas Noches Black Bean Soup

Breakfast: Chocolate Cherry Smoothie

3 cups chopped kale, tough stems removed
1∕3 cup unsweetened, unflavored or vanilla soy, hemp or  almond milk
1∕3 cup pomegranate juice or ½ cup pomegranate kernels
1 tablespoon natural cocoa powder
1 cup frozen cherries
½ ripe banana

Blend ingredients in a high-powered blender.

Score: 8/10

First things first, the color isn't very appealing. The cocoa powder was an interesting flavor, but I wish there was some honey or something to make it a little less bitter. Overall, a good green smoothie. I do love dark cherries :)

Lunch: Salad Stuffed Pita

1 (100% whole grain) pita
4 avocado slices
2 tomato slices
1 cup shredded lettuce or spinach
2 onion slices
Russian Dressing (see other recipe)

Lightly toast the pita*. Cut pita in half to form a pocket. Stuff with Russian Dressing and other ingredients.

*I chose not to toast my pita because last time I did, it turned into a cracker.

Score: 8.5/10

Eh. It was good. Tasted like a pita and veggies. The Russian dressing was a nice change of pace, but very strong on the balsamic flavor. Not sure I'd want it on a salad.

A serving size of the Russian Dressing

Russian Dressing

2 servings

4 tablespoons low sodium pasta sauce
3 tablespoons raw almond butter or 1∕3 cup raw almonds
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Blend together with a fork or whisk if using almond butter. If using raw almonds, blend in a high-powered blender.

Dinner: Buenas Noches Black Bean Soup

4 servings

1 small onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
4 cups water
2 (15 ounce) cans low sodium black beans, drained, divided
1 cup low sodium salsa
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 cup diced tomatoes

In a large soup pot, combine onion, celery, carrots, garlic, cumin, chili powder, black pepper, water, and 2 cups of the beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Place remaining black beans and the salsa in a blender or food processor. Blend on high speed until smooth. Stir into soup mixture along with the corn and tomatoes. Simmer for an additional 15 minutes.

Score: 7/10

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Day 5 of Dr. Fuhrman 10 in 20: Apple Pie Oatmeal, Creamy Kale and Mushroom Casserole

Breakfast: Apple Pie Oatmeal

¼ cup old fashioned or steel cut oats 

½ cup water 

1 apple, peeled, cored, and diced 

dash cinnamon 

1-2 tablespoons raisins or currants 

2 tablespoons chopped walnuts 

Combine oats and water in a small pot, bring to a boil, then  reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients. 

Note: If using steel cut oats, double the amount of water and simmer for 20 minutes or until tender. 

Score: 9.5/10

Well, since I love to cheat a bit, I used almond milk in place of the water. This was very satisfying. Liked it a lot.

Lunch was supposed to be black bean lettuce bundles, but I missed it. I ate breakfast, dropped Avery off at preschool, and hiked up near the Y in Provo with my exercise buddies. It was beautiful. On the way there I drank a protein shake. By the time I got home with Avery it was 2:45 pm. Our friends came over and stayed until 5 pm. So, I just ate dinner.

Dinner: Creamy Kale and Mushroom Casserole 

4 servings 

½ cup raw cashews or ¼ cup raw cashew butter 

1 cup unsweetened, unflavored soy, hemp or almond milk 

2 cups small fresh or frozen broccoli florets 

1 cup chopped mushrooms 

1 cup frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and chopped (see note)

2 cups chopped kale, tough stems removed 

1 teaspoon no-salt seasoning blend such as Mrs. Dash 

1 teaspoon onion powder 

1 teaspoon garlic powder 

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend the cashews and non-dairy milk until creamy. Add to a 9x13 inch oven-proof baking dish along with broccoli, mushrooms, artichokes, kale, and seasonings. Bake for 40 minutes. 

Note: Frozen Brussels sprouts may be substituted for the  artichoke hearts

Score: 9/10

This was better than I thought it would be. The cashew cream stuff added a lot to the casserole. A sprinkle of nutritional yeast might be good on this. The only complaint I had was the serving size. As you can see in the photo above, there's not a ton in my bowl. This is probably due to the cashew and almond milk mixture. I should've had a salad in addition. Instead, I just ate some strawberries and called it a night.

Casserole before it went into the oven

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Day 4 of Dr. Fuhrman 10 in 20: Chia Breakfast Pudding and Chickpea Curry in a Hurry

Chia Seed Breakfast Pudding( after sitting 15 minutes for the chia seeds to congeal the almond milk)

 Breakfast: Chia Seed Breakfast Pudding

½ cup unsweetened, unflavored or vanilla soy, hemp or  almond milk
2 tablespoons whole chia seeds
2 tablespoons uncooked old fashioned or steel cut oats
½ banana, sliced
½ cup fresh blueberries or frozen, thawed

In a bowl, mix together non-dairy milk, chia seeds and oats. Let mixture sit for 10 minutes or for an on-the-run breakfast, make the night before and refrigerate. Stir in banana and blueberries.

This was good. I've really liked all the breakfasts so far on the 10 in 20 program. It reminded me of the chia pudding mom and I made about 5 years ago... wow, has it been that long?

Score: 8/10

Hummus Wrap with Avocado

Luch: Hummus Wrap (repeat from yesterday, should've been a portobello salad with walnut vinaigrette)

I was short on time, so I just repeated yesterdays lunch and added some avocado. The avocado made this even better. The creaminess seemed to cut the onions. I didn't add the vinegar, but didn't really miss it.

Chickpea Curry in a Hurry

Dinner: Chickpea Curry in a Hurry

2 servings

1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas or 1 (15 ounce) can low sodium chickpeas, drained
½ cup low-sodium vegetable broth
1 ½ cups diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons curry powder
1∕3 cup unsweetened dried coconut
1 10-ounce box or bag frozen chopped spinach*

Combine all ingredients except spinach in a large saucepan. Cook for 5 minutes, then add spinach. Cover and continue cooking until spinach is thawed and curry is warm, about 5 more minutes.

Score: 8.5/10

*Instead of frozen spinach, I used fresh. A 10 oz package of frozen spinach is about 1 1/2 cups. After cooking down fresh spinach with a bit of water, that's how much you should be left with.  (many places online say to saute spinach with a tablespoon of oil, but I used a few tablespoons of water and it worked out fine. So, 1 lb fresh spinach = 1.5 cups cooked and drained = 10 ounce frozen package.

Right before we started the 10 in 20 program I made a vegan Indian chickpea dish called Chana Masala. The flavor was awesome. The naan might have also helped with how much I enjoyed it ;) This was a bit different. The sweet coconut (I did't have unsweetened in my pantry, so the stuff i used had too much sweet flavor) was okay, but I found it a bit distracting. The texture may have been the culprit there, really. The smell and flavor of this dish was pretty good.

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Day 2 of Dr. Fuhrman 10 in 20: Berry Bowl...

Berry Bowl with strawberries, blueberries, banana, pecans, flax and chia seed (added the chia later)

Breakfast: Berry Bowl

1 ½ cups fresh (or thawed frozen) blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and/or raspberries
1 banana, sliced
¼ cup unsweetened, unflavored or vanilla soy, hemp or  almond milk
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon ground flax or chia seeds

Top berries and sliced banana with non-dairy milk and sprinkle with walnuts and the flax or chia seeds.

Okay, I really thought just fruit, almond milk, some nuts and some seeds wouldn't be enough for me. This breakfast actually stuck with me for a long while. I ate it at about 11:30 am, almost lunch time! It was so easy, not sure why it took me so long to eat breakfast. This ended up being a good thing because I didn't end up eating breakfast or dinner.

I liked this a lot. I'd definitely have this again. Of course, I love having fruit for breakfast and that's basically all this is.

Score: 9.5/10 

After adding the fruit, nuts, flax and chia

After adding the almond milk

Another pic of the berry bowl, because why not :)

Alright, I think I put off breakfast partly because I didn't have almond milk on hand. Luckily, I'd soaked almonds overnight, so all I had to do was throw them in my Soyajoy with some water. Thank you mom for giving this to me years ago. If I had to make it in my vitamix with a nutbag, it probably wouldn't happen. I tried to figure out if homemade almond milk is cost effective. Actually after trying to remember how much I spent for my almonds, I just googled it. According to a website called Dont Waste the Crumbs, a quart of homemade almond milk costs $1.41 if you buy almonds at $4.23/lb (link to article here). Since it's just a cup to a cup and a half of almonds, some water, salt and sweetener (if you add that), not too complicated.

I made almond okara (pulp) cookies with coconut. The intent was to mitigate waste and provide a healthy-ish post-workout treat for my workout group. I had to make sure they weren't disgusting so I tasted one... which turned into 3! Totally off plan.

My Soyajoy! Thanks Mom for blessing my life with homemade almond milk

It was a beautiful day outside, so after getting Avery to and from preschool, the gym, grocery shopping, etc, we spent some time outside. I did this knowing that Avery needed it (and I promised her that we would, so gotta follow through). I also did this knowing I'd not fixed my lunch yet. After Andrew got home we went over to costco and didn't get back until about 8:15 pm. I wasn't about to try to fix either the kale salad or the zucchini pasta!

Blossoms on our apple tree

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Mom's Visit Day 6 (part 2) - Chia Pudding and a Green Smoothie

Chia Pudding - 0 Minutes, 5 Minutes, 10 Minutes, 20 Minutes, 30 Minutes and final with fresh fruit on top

After posting our lunch and dinner, I realized that I didn't tell you about the chia pudding we made! After breakfast this morning. we decided to start soaking chia seeds for Chia Pudding. We added 2 cups of vanilla rice milk to 2/3 cup chia seeds and stirred every five minutes for 30 minutes. I know the constant stirring might not have been necessary, but it made us feel like we were doing something and reminded us to take pictures at each stage. You can tell that the Chia pudding gelled up pretty fast. We were surprised that the Chia seeds remained crunchy. In fact, we left some in the fridge for the rest of the day and tried it again - still crunchy. We liked the pudding. I might try some different varieties in the future and I think Mom will too.

Peach, Strawberry, Blueberry and Spinach Smoothie

Tasted better than it looks, promise

In case you were wondering, for breakfast this morning we had a green smoothie. I didn't keep track of amounts, but it had frozen peaches, fresh strawberries, blueberries, a frozen banana, fresh baby spinach, and some rice milk in it. Doesn't look very appetizing, but it tasted good.

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Mom's Visit Day 6 - Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers, Jicama Cilantro Fiesta Slaw, Vegan Mayo, and The Banana Leaf

Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers

For lunch we made Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers. The recipe was very flexible. The place we got the recipe from recommends using whatever seasoning you like. We tried it with Cajun, but couldn't really taste it. Whatever seasoning we use in the future, we'll add more of. We coated the burgers with plain panko. Maybe mixing some seasoning into the panko might help with the under seasoned flavor... Overall the Sweet Potato Burger was good. My little brother tried it and said that it was good, but didn't taste like much. I think this would be a great veggie burger recipe to keep around (with increased seasoning of course). The versatility and texture (creamy and slightly crunchy) make it a winner.

Tofu-Cashew Mayonnaise (all ingredients pictured except salt)

In order to have something to spread on our burger buns, we made some vegan mayonnaise. I don't have much experience with Vegenaise, Nayonaise, or similar products, but Mom has tried them before. The blog that we got the recipe from talks about her search for a good tasting, less oil filled, vegan mayo (click the link on the photo caption above). Even without really knowing what the alternatives taste like, I know that I like this recipe and will make it again. When I first put everything in the Vitamix to blend I'd forgotten to add salt. We tasted it, added salt, and it was even better. The salt brought out the mustard (we used spicy brown). The mayo was tangy and good.

Cilantro Jicama Fiesta Slaw

We made some beautiful slaw to accompany our Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers. Not only were the colors gorgeous, but it tasted great too. When following the recipe, we decided to use pumpkin seeds and to sub the apple cider vinegar with fresh lime juice. We tried it without mayo first, then added some of our vegan Tofu-Cashew Mayonnaise that we made earlier. Both ways were good, but the creamy version cut the tahini taste a bit. The only thing I would do differently is add less onion. Mom said that she added a little extra because it was a Vidalia sweet onion, but it wasn't very sweet raw.

Banana Leaf  - Sri Lankan Shrimp Kothu (Top) Pa'an (Middle Left) Rice (other middle left)
Ceylon Chicken Tikki Masala (bottom left) and Mango Chicken Sautee (bottom right)

For dinner we went out to eat with Andrew. We decided to try the Banana Leaf in Provo, a Sri Lankan and Singaporean restaurant. Mom and I decided to loosely follow the Engine 2 diet a little over a month ago. Since that time, we've talked a lot about what we'd do after we'd tried it for four weeks. We both decided that we didn't want to be vegan the rest of our lives, but we do want to incorporate a lot of vegan and vegetarian alternatives into our diet, focus more on a plant (and fruit) based diet and keep meat and dairy to a minimum. I think it's about finding the right balance that works for you individually.

With all of that being said, we did something out of our (recent) character, we ate meat. Not a lot of meat. When we asked the server at the Banana Leaf what she recommended, she told us that the Ceylon Chicken Tikki Masala was the customer favorite and that she liked the Chicken Coconut Curry, Sri Lankan Shrimp Kothu, Singapore sizzlin' Garlic Shrimp, and Mango Chicken Sautee. 

We ordered a few of her favorites and the Tikki Masala. The customers were right, the Tikki Masala is good! It was Andrew's favorite. Mom thought it tied with the Shrimp Kothu (minus the shrimp) for her favorite and I agree. 

I don't think we'd get the Mango Chicken Sautee again, it was our least favorite dish and it was the most expensive thing we ordered. The sauce was more like a jelly and  was too sweet. Both mom and I tried a piece of chicken off this dish and almost spit it out. It just tasted too much like meat. Okay, that makes no sense, but the chicken tasted like biting into flesh. 

We also tried a shrimp off the Shrimp Kothu. I used to love shrimp. I don't know if it was the way the shrimp was cooked (Andrew didn't like it either), but it was bland, slightly fishy, and rubbery. We all decided that the Kothu was great. Interestingly enough, when we were ordering, I asked the server about the Vegetarian Kothu and she said that the shrimp was better. We'll definitely order the vegetarian next time.

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Green Smoothie Cleanse - Willow's Day Three

So, I thought I was tired yesterday morning. Well, this morning was a thousand times worse. Andrew woke me up just before seven and I was not a happy camper. It felt like the train outside our apartment had become derailed during the night, flown up three stories, and proceeded to run me over. Alright, it might not have been that dramatic, maybe it was more like being hit by a cement truck...

I think I pushed a little too far at the gym yesterday. The right side of my back killed after I got home and  it got worse later on. By the time I went to bed last night I thought I'd pulled something. This morning Andrew had to grab me by the ankle and pull me out of bed. I was not quite coherent and in pain. While I was walking to the kitchen to start blending our first round of smoothies, Andrew looked at me and asked, "Why are you walking like a witch?" I hadn't noticed that I was hunched over, with my forearms pulled up and my hands in a weird half wringing--half grasping position close to my chest. I could have taken a picture and drawn an arrow that said Insert Poisoned Apple Here.

Once I was awake enough to start making smoothies, things got better. Andrew asked for...wait for it....wait for it... two Cinnamon Cherry Smoothies. I can't say I was surprised. That has been his favorite so far. While I was putting it all in the blender I realized that I didn't have enough cherries. I made some substitutions, but it wasn't the same. After pouring 60 oz into Andrew's containers there was only 8 oz left. I poured it into a small cup for myself. Andrew walked over, asked if the smoothie tasted good, picked up my cup and drank half of it.

I didn't make another smoothie until 2 pm. With the cherries gone, I had to look at the other fruit in the freezer. How did I not notice that we have blueberries? I decided to make a Blueberry Lemon Green Smoothie. My little brother was over doing his laundry and kept saying things like, "Wow, that looks good!" While I was shaving his neck (sounds strange, but he comes over for laundry and haircuts all the time) he kept eyeing the smoothie on the counter. Finally, he asked if he could have some. He didn't drink much and I could tell he wanted more. I doled out Andrew C.'s portion (to take to him at work) and my portion (the leftover 3 cups). Andrew T. (my little bro) told me that the smoothie was really good. As I was drinking it I thought, this is tasty, but it would be a lot better if I hadn't been drinking smoothies for the past 2 1/2 days.

When I went to pick Andrew up at the  office he had a lot more work to do. I really didn't want to drive home only to have to come right back, but I really needed to start sipping on smoothie in order to get all 128 oz in. While Andrew continued working, I drove over to Jamba Juice to get us some green smoothies (after a stop at Good Earth... turns out I'd received misinformation - they do not sell green smoothies). I ordered a 32 oz of Jamba's Apple n' Greens and a 32 oz of their Orange Carrot Karma. All I can say is yuck! Both Andrew and I agreed that they were equally disgusting. The orange one tasted like hay and the green one tasted just as bad.

When we finally got home (after 8 pm) I made myself a large Mixed Berry Green Smoothie. It tasted so much better than Jamba's. Maybe I need to open up my own place. Andrew said that it was even better than Roxberry's green smoothies! Drank part of it out on our porch while the sun was setting, nice, very nice.

Side effects: Not many after this morning. I am tired of making and drinking smoothies. Andrew woke up with a ton of gunk in his eyes and some pain. I think the eye pain is from allergies, not the smoothies. Lots of bathroom trips, but that's par for the course. Hmm... yeah, that's it.

Recipes:

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Green Smoothie Cleanse - Willow's Day Two

Two days down! We are almost done with this cleanse. I woke up very tired this morning. In fact, Andrew had to come in a couple times to make sure I actually got up. Last night I started to have a headache right before bed. My head still hurt a bit this morning. Once I got up and moving I was just fine.

Andrew requested the Cinnamon Cherry Green Smoothie again. I made it about the same as yesterday, except for some added wheat germ. While Andrew was in the shower, I got the brilliant idea of surprising him with a delicious Chocolate Peanut Butter Green Smoothie. He loves Reese's... so he'd love Reese's as a smoothie, um, with some spinach... okay, it seemed like a good idea at the time. We'd run out of non-dairy milk, so I used water. The cocoa powder was bitter, so I added some chocolate protein powder. Still not quite right. Here is where I start being dumb. I decided to add some oats, a pinch of cinnamon, and a dash of vanilla (like chocolate peanut butter oatmeal cookies). Yeah, it was gross. Andrew tried it and thought the same thing. Since he wasn't going to drink it, I added a some banana and it actually helped.

For lunch I decided to branch out from the purple and green smoothies that we've been drinking. I started thinking about how carrot and ginger go really well together. After making a Carrot Apple Zinger (yeah, I'm awesome at naming smoothies), I drove it over to Andrew's work. I thought it tasted good, but Andrew said it wasn't smooth enough. The apple I added at the end hadn't become liquefied I guess. There wasn't much carrot smoothie left after pouring Andrew's into a bottle, so I made our Signature Green Smoothie again for my lunch (too bad I didn't finish it before going to the gym, left it out on the counter, and it was disgusting by the time I got home).

For dinner I decided to try a Tropical Carrot Smoothie. Andrew told me that he was tired of drinking smoothies and therefore didn't care what I made. At first, I blended up a bunch of fruit with some almond milk (went to the store earlier in the day) and coconut water, but I then realized that it wasn't a a green smoothie. I needed to put in some veggies. So, In order to keep the color and preserve the taste, I added a carrot. Voilà, instant green smoothie! I should add that a "green smoothie" in my mind just means a smoothie with vegetables it


By the time Andrew and I finished our last smoothie it was 9:30 pm. We added up our ounces for the day. I was short by about two cups and Andrew was short by one. It was too late to drink more smoothie. We'll do better tomorrow.


Side effects: I had enough energy at the gym, but at about 7 pm fatigue hit me like a brick wall. Andrew got tired at about the same time. I was in the bathroom a lot, so was Andrew, but Dr. Christopher's Lower Bowel Formula must be pretty mild. I wasn't sitting on the toilet all day like I'd expected. My mouth didn't feel as bad as yesterday. I did have to brush my teeth partway through the day to get rid of the weird filmy feeling.

Today was better than yesterday. Actually, today was pretty easy. I caught myself thinking that I could probably keep this up forever... that thought didn't last very long. At the end of the day I was tired of making and drinking smoothies. Andrew said that today was worse than yesterday. He had a lingering headache throughout the day. I told him it was all the toxins being released by his body. It could also be the stress of being on a cleanse while at work, who knows.

Recipes (you know you want to drink some chocolate, peanut butter and spinach together):

smoothies

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Green Smoothie Cleanse - Willow's Day One

This morning started off in a rush. Since Andrew decided to be supportive and do this thing with us, I had to blend up a TON of smoothie. I packed two different kinds for Andrew to take to work: Our Signature Green Smoothie (actually green, see above pictures) and a Cherry Coconut Green Smoothie.

In order to avoid the dreaded smoothie separation that tends to happen when a smoothie sits, I decided to put Andrew's smoothies into shaker bottles (yes, they are usually for protein powder drinks made on the go). Andrew finished off one of the bottles by the time we got to his office. This worked out well. I was able to take the bottle home, wash it, and use it again to bring him another smoothie later on in the day - another green one.

I drank the leftover smoothie that didn't fit into Andrew's shaker bottles. However, it didn't come close to the gallon that we are supposed to drink for the day.  Since I was out and about most of the day, I did buy a Berry UpBeet smoothie from Jamba Juice. In between appointments*, working out, and bathroom breaks... and I mean a lot of bathroom breaks... I was able to make the Green Smoothie Girl's Hot Pink smoothie. I decided to double the recipe and ended up reaching the max fill line on my Vitamix.

When Andrew got off work it was almost 7pm. This was the first time that I really started thinking about food. I didn't feel hungry, but I caught myself thinking about what we would have for dinner... oh, yeah, that's right, smoothie. In order to counteract my desire to actually chew something I pulled out some delicious peppermint gum (is that cheating?).

I made another smoothie for Andrew's dinner (he wouldn't touch the rest of the green smoothie in the fridge). This time I made one of our favorites: Cinnamon Cherry. For some reason we've been on a cherry kick lately.

Both Andrew and I did suffer from some fatigue in the late afternoon. Mine didn't hit until after the gym, so maybe working out isn't the best thing to do on a cleanse. As far as other side effects: Andrew got a headache. I felt like I had a film covering my teeth and tongue even after brushing.

Andrew did a lot better on the gallon of water. He got all of his in, but I'm still sipping on water as I type this. It's going to be a long night. I might as well roll out a sleeping bag on the bathroom floor. We took two of Dr Christopher's Lower Bowel Formula capsules a few hours ago. Yep, it'll be a long night.

Day One Smoothie Recipes (as a side note, these recipes may not be exact - I tend not to measure, so these are my guesstimates):

smoothies

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Holiday Challenge Second Week+

Here is what I ate this week. Well, I guess it's technically a week plus two days... but who's counting (obviously me). Didn't do well with the Holiday Challenge Do's, but I did avoid white flour, sugar and excess oils.

Thoughts for the week: I'm addicted to cheese! I need to cut it out and maybe cut out dairy all together.  There were a lot of nights that I couldn't sleep. Luckily I'm not prone to late night binges. Went to the gym three times. Went out to eat three times, once with Andrew (made a good choice - healthy salad with lots of veggies), and twice with Kendra (not so healthy Kneaders breakfast and lunch, and a semi-healthy salad at Carraba's). Non-food related news: Got our Christmas shopping done, yea!

(BTW an * means that an ingredient list is located at the bottom of the post)

Monday, Nov. 28th

Wheat Thins (reduced fat variety) with pepper jack and aged provolone cheese (no picture).

Hot Pink Smoothie*

Black Bean Soup*

Tuesday, Nov. 29th

Berry Smoothie*

Kashi Roasted Vegetable Pizza with Whole Wheat Crust

Chipolte Seasoned Sweet Potato Fries

Romaine & Boston Lettuce with Italian Caesar

Wednesday, Nov. 30th

Half a banana (do you really need a picture?)

Cheese quesadilla (no picture)

Oatmeal Chocolate Peanut Butter "cookie" Shake *

Added Banana to Shake - better without i

Salsa Verde Fajitas - added garlic, soy sauce, and fajita seasoning to rest of salsa verde, then marinated chicken in jar

Thursday, Dec 1st

Three whole wheat tortillas with leftover vegetable fajita mix, lime, cilantro, and Valentinas (see above).

Art City Trolley restaurant: Spring veggie salad (no picture).

Friday, Dec 2nd

Kneader's bacon, egg, and cheddar cheese breakfast on whole wheat bread (no picture).

Kneader's loaded baked potato soup (no picture) and 1 1/2 clementines.

Ate a ton of original sweet potato fries
with Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce

Saturday, Dec 3rd

Leftover black bean soup (see Nov 28th) and orange juice (yes, soup for breakfast).

Strawberry Honey Smoothie*

Whole Wheat Gnocchi with Pasta Sauce
and grated Parmesan Cheese

Sunday, Dec 4th

Black Bean Tacos

Green Smoothie (no picture)*.

Quesadilla (no picture).

Monday, Dec 5th

Quesadilla (no picture) and a banana.

Plain Greek Yogurt with Frozen Blueberries

Roasted pineapple, sweet onions, red and yellow peppers with
 Aidells chicken meatballs and teriyaki sauce made with honey
on Jasmine rice

Tuesday, Dec 6th

Multi-Grain and Flax Wheat Toast with
Homemade Peanut Butter (peanuts blended in Vitamix)

Carrabba's Insalata Fiorucci - Romaine, spinach,
artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, grilled eggplant,
Parmesan, and a hazelnut goat cheese medallion

Mixed Berry Smoothie*

Whole wheat thin spaghetti with marinara sauce and some shredded cheese (no picture).

 *Ingredient lists:

soup

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