Reboot Day 5

I woke up this morning with more energy than yesterday. Mark and I shared a kale, papaya, mango, granny smith apple, pineapple, banana, lime smoothie. It was very green.

I usually end up drinking 3 cups in the morning and Mark usually has 4. Mark doesn't drink his with nuts, but I had my usual small handful. By a small hand full I mean about 2-3 pecans, 4 almonds and 1-2 hazelnuts.

After breakfast we discussed whether we'd end our reboot at day 5 or continue. This morning I had lost 7 pounds and Mark had lost 4 pounds. Mark said he wanted to continue. I was relieved because I really wanted to continue too and it would have been harder to keep doing this on my own.

Mid-morning I made a juice of 1 beet, 2 carrots, a granny smith apple and a small piece of fresh ginger. This is one of my favorite fresh juices.

For lunch I made the guacamole with one avocado and the fresh salsa. I ate both with carrot, jicama, cucumber, and yellow pepper sticks. Very delicious! It was after 2pm when I got home from shopping and was able to eat. I was so excited to eat that I forgot to take pictures.

For dinner we had watermelon, a green salad, and Healthy Girl's soup. When Mark saw the soup he said "Not another green smoothie!" When I looked at it he was right. It was almost the same color of green as our smoothie this morning!

Healthy Girl's Energy Soup
1 very large yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves if garlic, smashed
vegetable broth for sauteing
8 cups vegetable broth (2 boxes)
6 medium sized zucchini, cut into cubes
1 package mushrooms, cut into chunks if mushrooms are large
3 big handfuls kale, washed and rough chopped
1 bag fresh spinach or 3 big handfuls fresh spinach
Salt and pepper to taste
Other seasoning to taste
12 ounces frozen butternut squash, defrosted

Saute the onion over medium heat in a large soup pot in a few tablespoons of vegetable broth, until translucent and slightly soft. Add more broth as necessary to prevent burning. Add garlic and saute for a few more minutes.

Add the 8 cups of broth, zucchini, and mushrooms. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer. Simmer for about 20 minutes or zucchini are soft.

Stir in kale and let it wilt. When kale is wilted, stir in fresh spinach, it will wilt immediately.

Using a hand (immersion) blender, puree the onion-garlic-zucchini-mushroom-spinach mixture until soup reaches your desired consistency. Some will like it completely smooth, others will like to puree about 50% and leave a lot of chunks and texture. It is delicious both ways!

Add the defrosted butternut squash and stir until squash is incorporated. Season with salt and pepper and ANY other seasonings you like, to taste. (I use a Southwest spice blend and you can use whatever spice blend you like, there are so many on the market.)

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Reboot Day 4

Day 4 was harder for me than the other days. I felt very tired from the moment I woke up. The morning started with a small handful of nuts and a green smoothie made with spinach, apple, kiwi, banana, lime, mixed berries and flax seed.

Mark took most of the leftovers from last night and a bunch of fresh fruits and veggies for his lunch. I wasn't hungry until about 11:30. I ate the leftover sweet potato and carrot "fries" that I hadn't sent in Mark's lunch. Then I fixed a salad with lots of romaine, about 8 strawberries, 1/2 avocado and a little vidalia onion dressing.

I went on back to back walks with Andrew and Summer in the afternoon. I wanted to do the walk together, but Andrew wanted some one-on-one time to talk. It was good because I had time to visit with both of them. The bad thing was that I still felt so tired.

For dinner I felt like crash potatoes. Potatoes weren't on the Reboot bad list. The only thing the program said was that sweet potatoes were preferred over regular potatoes and that a little olive oil was ok. I put my justification into full speed ahead and started the potatoes.

Ingredients

• 12 whole New Potatoes (or Other Small Round Potatoes)
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• Kosher Salt To Taste
• Black Pepper To Taste
• Rosemary (or Other Herbs Of Choice) To Taste

Preparation Instructions

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until they are fork-tender.

On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.

With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.

Sprinkle potatoes with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary (or chives or thyme or whatever herb you have available.)

Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

I also made the garam masala collard greens. They ended up having more oil in them than the crash potatoes! They were also nasty. I guess I'm just not a collard greens person, but they were way too tough and bitter for my taste. I prefer kale. Mark and I choked some of them down, but Dad and Andrew wouldn't try them. None of my pictures turned out. That's fine because I don't want to be reminded of them ever again.

The dinner didn't seem full enough so I made another strawberry/avocado salad like I'd had for lunch. I only had half an avocado left so I also added a cucumber.

I was in charge of our church's Young Women's activity at 7pm. I really wanted to change the activity to who could take the longest nap. No rest for the Rebooters, though. I spent nearly 2 hours with 15 chatty 12-16 year old girls making duct tape wallets.

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Reboot Day 3

This morning started with a green smoothie made with spinach, kale, banana, apple, pineapple, papaya, mango, kiwi and coconut milk. I had a small handful of nuts with my smoothie. I know I'm not supposed to have nuts on the reboot, but that has been the one thing I decided to not be perfect on.

I sent Mark to work with leftover roasted squash and mushrooms with lots of fresh fruits and veggies in his lunch.

About 10am I fixed the V-28 juice. Mine was actually only a V-16 juice because I forgot to put in the 12 radishes! It was ok, but a little heavy on the beets. I think I'll try it again in a few days with the radishes and one less beet before I give a final analysis.

V28
3 large Red Beets
2 medium Carrots
2 stalks Celery
4 Plum Tomatoes
4 cups Parsley, leaves and stems, roughly chopped and packed into the measuring cup
1 Jalapeno, ribs and seeds removed
12 Red Radishes

By 11:30 I was hungry again so I drank the liquid off last night's green soup and then heated the veggies with some Asian Peanut Sauce. I was 1/2 way through eating my veggies when I got a phone call from Connie. It's her birthday and she and Shirl were in town so they asked me to meet them at the Konditorei for lunch and some cake. I told them I had already eaten but that I would meet them there to visit.

I drank water with a lemon slice while they ate their lunches. The food there is amazing, but I was able to look at it, appreciate it, but not crave it. It was a good experience.

When it came time for cake they wanted to try 4 different flavors. They ordered 3 pieces and I order one. I let them try mine and then told them I was not feeling in the mood for cake so I had it boxed up for later. It was on the kitchen counter all afternoon.

There were several times during the afternoon that I mysteriously found myself by the kitchen counter with an open cake box just looking at it. It was a 4-layer lemon cake with lemon frosting. It was so beautiful. I kept thinking that if I ate it no one would know but me, and then I could get right back rebooting. Then I realized that this is what I always end up doing and then I eventually end up in a sugar spiral that takes months to get out of. I finally gave the piece of cake to Summer for her and Matt to share after the kids went to bed. One day, one victory at at time.

For dinner we had Baked Zucchini with Tomatoes and Herbs with Sweet Potato and Carrot "Fries". Both were excellent and complimented each other. The "Fries" were more like roasted veggies, but tasty. I only added the olive oil, Celtic salt and pepper.

Baked Zucchini with Tomatoes and Herbs
5 small Zucchini
4 Scallions, sliced, white and green parts separated
1 small Onion, chopped
2 Plum Tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp. Celery Leaves (from inner stalks), chopped
4 Tbsp. Basil Leaves, chopped, plus extra for garnish
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1 tsp. Sea Salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground Black Pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice the zucchini in half crosswise. Cut each half again lengthwise, and slice each of the halves into 4 equal, 1/2 inch pieces. They should look like sticks.

In a bowl, mix together the zucchini sticks with the white parts of the scallions, onion, tomatoes, celery leaves and basil. Mix in the olive oil, salt and pepper and toss to combine.

Pour into a 3 quart baking dish and bake for 20 minutes. Garnish with the sliced green tops of the scallions and the extra chopped basil.

Makes 4 servings
Per serving:

Calories: 153

Sweet Potato and Carrot “Fries”
2 medium Sweet Potatoes
2 large Carrots
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 tsp. ground Cumin
1/4 tsp. Pepper
1/2 tsp. Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Peel the sweet potatoes and carrots. Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise, and slice each halve into 4 equal wedges. For the carrots, cut in half crosswise into two chunks. Slice each chunk lengthwise into 2 pieces, and cut each piece into 2 or 3 wedges, making them roughly the same size as the potatoes.
Put the potato and carrot wedges into a bowl and toss with the oil, cumin, pepper and salt. Arrange on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 30 minutes or until the flesh is tender and the outside is lightly browned and the edges slightly crisp.

Note: You can substitute any combination of cinnamon/nutmeg, cayenne, rosemary or other spices for the cumin and Aleppo pepper.

Makes 2 servings
Per serving:

Calories: 278

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Reboot Day 2, continued...

Sunday Dinner

Mark loved the mushroom stuffed acorn squash. He absolutely loves mushrooms. I thought it was good. I probably would have preferred just having the roasted squash.

Roasted Acorn Squash Stuffed with Mushroom and Sage
1 medium Acorn Squash
3/4 tsp. plus 1/4 tsp. Sea Salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground Black Pepper
6 Tbsp. Olive Oil, plus extra for brushing
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1 large Portobello Mushroom, chopped
1 small Onion, chopped
2 tsp. Fresh Sage, finely chopped
Pinch Red Pepper Flakes, optional

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Trim off each end of the squash. Stand the squash upright and halve lengthwise. Scoop out the pulp and the seeds and discard. Brush each squash half with olive oil, and then sprinkle with 3/4 tsp. salt and the black pepper. Arrange cut sides down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast the squash until the flesh is tender and the edges are golden brown, approximately 25-35 minutes. Remove from the oven, flip the squash halves over and set aside.

While the squash roasts, heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute 2 minutes, or until the onions begin to turn translucent. Add the mushrooms, sage, 1/4 tsp. salt and the red pepper flakes if using, and saute until the mushrooms begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Fill the roasted squash halves with the mushroom mixture and bake again for another 10 minutes.

Makes 4 servings
Per serving: Calories: 254

The Green Vegetable Soup was interesting. It was like vegetables cooked in a lot of water. Hey, that's what it was, vegetables cooked in a lot of water! Mark liked it, though. I think I'll have some of the drained leftovers tomorrow with the Asian Peanut Dressing.

Green Vegetable Soup
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
2 Leeks, white and light green parts, thinly sliced
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 head Broccoli, trimmed to small florets
2 medium Zucchini, cut into half moons
1 head Spinach, roughly chopped
4 leaves Basil
1 tsp. Sea Salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground Pepper
6 cups water
3 Tbsp. fresh Basil, chopped

In a large stock pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the leeks and garlic and saute for 3 minutes. Add the broccoli, zucchini, spinach, basil, salt and pepper. Stir and cook for 5 minutes. Add the water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped basil.

Makes 4-6 servings
Per serving: Calories: 126

I am ending the day feeling quite full. I couldn't eat another bite. Mark says that he's not that full.

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Reboot Day1/2

Okay. So I forgot to post the rest of our food yesterday. You can check what we were supposed to eat on the Reboot site.

We had the green juice, which I loved, for a late morning snack. Mark said "yuck" and that it tasted like grass. He went ahead and drank it anyway. We both loved the carrot soup.

Raw Carrot Ginger Soup

Makes 2, 1 1/2 cup servings – save 1 for dinner
3 cups Carrot Juice
1 ripe Avocado
2 Tbsp. Agave Nectar
1 Tbsp. Ginger, minced
1/4 tsp. ground Cayenne Pepper
1/4 tsp. Sea Salt
1/2 cup Coconut Meat, optional
2 Tbsp. Avocado or Olive Oil, for garnish
2 Tbsp. Fresh Cilantro, chopped, for garnish

Puree the first seven ingredients in a blender until completely smooth. Taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary. Garnish the soup with a drizzle of oil and the chopped cilantro.

Calories: 234

For dinner we had Matt and Summer's family over for a barbecue. They all ate hamburgers, hot dogs and chips with sides of salad and steamed green beans. The salad and beans were it for us. I made the salad with 1/2 Napa Cabbage and 1/2 lettuce with cucumbers, snow peas, radishes and green onions. I then made an Asian Peanut Dressing that we put on both the salad and the beans. I didn't feel at all deprived.

This morning was Sunday and day 2. We had a spinach and kale green smoothie with banana, apple, kiwi, lemon and berries. I had a handful of raw nuts with it since I knew I wouldn't be eating until dinner.

About 11:30 I was in a meeting and started feeling SUPER HUNGRY. It felt more like a detox hunger so I told myself that the hunger wouldn't kill me and I didn't need embarrass myself by jumping up and running home to fix a sandwich. Within about 15 minutes I was feeling just fine and never felt hunger again until we got home at 4pm. While I was cooking dinner I ate the leftover salad from last night.

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Start Rebooting!

Mark and I watched "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" last night on Netflix. We were so impressed that we got on Reboot program's website.

There were 3 Reboot options, a 5-day and two 15-day plans. All three plans start with the same meals for the first 5 days. We decided to jump right in and try the first five days and then see how we're doing.

To make it interesting I think I'll try to blog what we're eating and what our progress is.

Day one Breakfast...

We decided to go ahead and start at about 7am. We first went on a walk at Minto Brown. Then we had to stop at Fred Meyer to get some of the ingredients. It was 10am by the time we got home, prepared the fruit and then baked it.

Cherry Cinnamon Apple Bake

This dish is delicious warm or cool. Double the recipe for an extra serving.

1 cup Cherries (cut and discard pit)

2 Apples cored and chopped 3 Tbsp. Raisins (choose golden variety for a twist) 1 Tbsp. Cinnamon (or more to taste) 1/2 tsp. Nutmeg

Spray baking dish with expeller pressed canola oil

Place into oven safe baking dish and cover Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until apples are soft Cool and enjoy!

Calories: 249

We doubled the recipe so we could each have a serving. The final product was quite tasty, but a little too sweet for my taste. It was more like eating dessert for breakfast. (note to self - make another time as a dessert) Mark liked it, but said that it could use about 1/2 the cinnamon and nutmeg. He also added a little soy milk to his bowl.

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