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 6 of Dr. Fuhrman 10 in 20: Blended Mango Salad, Turkey Burgers with Black Beans and Mushrooms, Banana Walnut Ice Cream

Mango, Spinach, and Romaine Smoothie

Breakfast: Blended Mango Salad

1 ripe mango, peeled and chopped or 1 ½ cups frozen mango chunks
2 cups spinach
1 cup chopped romaine lettuce
¼ cup unsweetened, unflavored or vanilla non-dairy milk or coconut water
½ tablespoon ground flax seeds

Blend ingredients in a high-powered blender or food processor.

This was a decent smoothie. I put about 2 cups romaine and between that and the spinach, the greens took over the flavor. With less lettuce I might have enjoyed this more.

Score: 7/10

Quick and Easy Vegetable Pizza

Lunch: Easy Veggie Pizza (should have been a Mixed Greens Salad with Pears, Apples and Walnut Vinaigrette)

I wasn't feeling a salad and I've been craving pizza

1 large (100% whole grain) tortilla or pita
½ cup low sodium pasta sauce
¼ cup chopped red onion
½ cup artichoke hearts
½ cup fresh tomato, chopped (I used a yellow heirloom tomato)
 1 oz fresh mozzarella cheese

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.

I broiled it at the end. I let it get a bit burned. The pita wasn't very good (just like Day 1's veggie pizza)


Rest coming soon...

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Day 3 of Dr. Fuhrman 10 in 20: Orange and Kale Smoothie, Hummus Wrap, Tailgate Chili

Orange and Kale Smoothie in a bottle, ready to take to the gym :)

Breakfast: Orange and Kale Smoothie

1 ½ cups kale

1 apple, cored and sliced 

1 navel orange, peeled (I use 3 clementines)

½ lemon 

1 tablespoon flax seeds 

2-3 ice cubes 

Water as needed for desired consistency

Blend ingredients in a high-powered blender

I had to take this to the gym with me since I was running late this morning. The bottle I pulled out didn't fit all of the smoothie, so I drank some before I left. Avery thought the little glass was for her and got excited, but as she got closer to it, she decided not to drink it. Probably a good thing, she likes green smoothies, but I put in a little extra kale you could taste it! Overall, this was very good. Tasted very green and fresh. Without the extra kale I put in and a bit more orange, this would've been even better.

Score: 9/10

Here's the leftover smoothie that didn't fit in my bottle. Check out that color!

Hummus Wrap

Lunch: Hummus Wrap

1 large (100% whole grain) tortilla

3 tablespoons hummus  

½ cup chopped romaine

½ cup sliced tomatoes

2 slices  red onion 

Splash balsamic vinegar 

Spread hummus on the wrap, top with chopped romaine, diced tomatoes, sliced red onion and a splash of balsamic vinegar.

So, I used the whole wheat pitas that I already have instead of a tortillas and switched out the romaine with spinach. The raw red onion was strong. I might have used too much. The balsamic vinegar was also strong. Not bad. On the plus side, it was simple and quick.

Score: 7.5/10

Tailgate Chili

Dinner: Tailgate Chili

5 servings 

½ cup uncooked bulgur or quinoa 

1 cup water 

3 cups chopped onions 

3 cloves garlic, minced 

2 green bell peppers, chopped 

26 ounces low sodium diced tomatoes 

3 (15 ounce) cans red kidney beans, no salt added or  low sodium, rinsed and drained 

2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels 

2 tablespoons chili powder 

2 teaspoons ground cumin 

Combine bulgur or quinoa and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes or until tender. Meanwhile, heat 1∕8 cup water in a large saucepan and water sauté onions and garlic until almost soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in green peppers and sauté an additional 3 minutes, adding more water  as needed. Stir in diced tomatoes, beans, corn, chili powder  and cumin. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for  20 minutes. Add bulgur or quinoa and simmer for an additional  5 minutes.

This chili was good. Very filling. Definitely tasted healthier and more bland than regular chili. The recipe made quite a bit. I replaced one of the cans of kidney beans with black beans and added some smoked paprika. I'll probably need to freeze some of this. Not sure how many days in a row I want to eat it. 

Score: 8/10

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Green Smoothies (Samoan Style)

One thing I've missed in Samoa is my morning green smoothie. We have some friends here that brought their Vitamix with them from the States. Every morning they have a smoothie with papaya, banana, niu, oatmeal and almonds. I don't think it would have been worth the weight and space in my suitcase to lug a Vitamix to Samoa, but some mornings I wondered...

A shout out to  Beth Hunt. She is, among other things, a retired school principal, counselor, teacher and head librarian, a Talking Matai, an institute teacher and our volunteer secretary at the dental clinic in Pesaga. Most import to know about her though is the fact that she heard me moaning about my lack of a blender several weeks ago and generously offered to let me borrow a Ninja that she wasn't using.

 HALLELUJAH!

Now that I had the blender, the biggest problem was what to use for greens. There is a vegetable called laupele that people grow in their back yards here. It's supposed to taste a little like spinach. Since it grows kind of wild and no one really likes green vegetables that much in Samoa anyway, you can't find it in the stores. Unfortunately I don't know anyone that has laupele in their back yard. That only left me one leafy green to use that you can find at every market here in Apia. Bok choy. It wouldn't be my first choice, but after some experimentation I developed my Samoan green smoothie.


It contains:
1 small head of bok choy (chopped)
1 cup of coconut water from a fresh niu
1 cup of papaya
1/2 a lime (peeled)
2 misi luki bananas (peeled)
1 cup of yogurt
Green Smoothie Girl's Green Light powder and Tri-omega Superfood.

I'm showing a picture of the yogurt because this stuff is smooth, creamy gold. It costs 23 tala a container, or over $10 US. Sometimes Farmer Joe's will mark it down to 5 or 10 tala a few days before it expires (depending on what mood they're in. Fa'a Samoa). We snatch up a few cartons whenever we see it marked down. Otherwise Mark grumbles all week if I pay full price.

My green smoothie is ready to drink. The Ninja doesn't blend as smooth as a Vitamix. I end up with crunchy bits of bok choy.  At first I hated it because they were bitter to chew. Now I've gotten used to it and actually love my smoothie each morning. One good thing about the crunchies is that they give me a reason to chew my smoothie.

It might be a little ironic that the only cup we have in our little kitchen that is big enough to hold my smoothie is a McDonalds' thirsty-two ounce soda cup that someone who lived here before us left in the cupboard!

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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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Mom's Visit Day 4 - Mountain West Burrito, Salads, & Hunger Games

A&W Signature Green Smoothie 

We started our day off with a green smoothie that Andrew and I like to make a lot. I posted a recipe for it back when we were doing a green smoothie cleanse.

Mountain West Burrito in Provo, Utah

Mom and I went out for lunch today at Mountain West Burrito. It is a casual restaurant that serves large portions for reasonable prices. They try to carry local ingredients and I like that. We ordered two roasted veggie burritos with vegan cheese (Daiya), vegan sour cream (Tofutti), and whole-wheat tortillas. If we did it again, we would probably share the giant size that comes with guacamole and (vegan) sour cream. If I got this same burrito again, I'd get the vegan sour cream, but not the cheese. Mom said she liked it with both.

Fresh fruit salad with pineapple, strawberries, and blueberries
Green salad with romaine, spinach, tomato, zucchini, and mushrooms

We had a nice light dinner after a hearty burrito lunch. I love salad. Don't know why we don't have salad as the main course for dinner more often. I am so glad that we stopped by Winco when they were having their super sale on produce (it was during Summerfest which we didn't know about at the time). We have so much fresh fruit and veggies in our fridge right now. In fact, we cut up one of the pineapples and put the chunks directly in the freezer for later smoothie use.

Hunger Games the Movie

After dinner we went to the Water Gardens Theater in Pleasant Grove to watch The Hunger Games. The movie theater wasn't very big, but I like that the tickets are $3.50, you can select your seat online, and that there is no extra cost for online ticket orders.

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The Morning After the Cleanse

Avocado n' Oats Breakfast Smoothie

Our green smoothie cleanse is officially over and guess what I had for breakfast this morning? A green smoothie. Believe it or not, I still like smoothies. In fact, just knowing that I can actually eat food today makes this smoothie taste better. I saw a recipe for a Custom Breakfast Smoothie that I'd wanted to try, so I decided, why wait! Her recipe calls for a mix of ground linseed, sunflower seeds, and almonds. I don't have that on hand, so I figured almond milk might give it a nutty flavor. Here is what I put in my smoothie:

Avocado n' Oats Breakfast Smoothie
2 cups almond milk
1 banana
1/4 avocado
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
2 Tbsp oats
a handful of baby spinach
agave to taste

We are celebrating the end of our cleanse by christening Kendra's new grill that arrived at her home this morning. I decided to marinate some carrot dogs for the occasion. I used this recipe that my mom directed me towards. You can read all about Kendra's green smoothie cleansing experience over on her blog Stroked to Life. Of course, this BBQ isn't an excuse to go crazy. Kendra bought some portobello mushrooms, zucchini, corn, and other veggies to grill tonight. We are also going to grill some pineapple, have a few different types of salad, and some chicken and shrimp if people want to eat meat (which I probably won't). I can't wait!

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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):

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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):

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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:

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The Good, the Bad, and the Soon to be Ugly if I Don't Stop

Thanksgiving weekend came and went without posting a description of what I ate. Since I decided to reveal my noshing habits here, I really need to post in a timely manner. It is amazing how many things you can eat in a week! I messed up a few times (like eating turkey noodle soup with white flour noodles - I wasn't thinking). Overall I did okay. At least I was able to avoid sugar. My mom told me about an article that she read yesterday about some of the effects of sugar on our bodies. Here is a snippet from it:

So, as my eyes fall upon the plate of cookies or candy, I actually flash the image in my mind of myself eating it, and simultaneously think, “This is a chunk of sugar in my hand. This stuff ages me. It makes my skin crack, my arteries stiff, and it leads me towards frailty and Alzheimer’s disease. Do I really want to eat it? Is it really worth it?”

I don't want sugar to be part of my beauty regimen... better stop it.

So, here it is, a synopsis, with pictures, of the 2011 Holiday Challenge: Week 1 (minus day one, I already told you all about that)...

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