It’s been more than a week since my last post so I wanted to update you on what’s been going on around here lately. After writing posts every day of my 3 week detox, I felt like I needed a little break. While I’d love to be a blogger that consistently writes every day, I’m just not there quite yet.
I have continued to follow the same eating plan that I followed on the detox and have been feeling great! I’ve had a little sugar in a few pieces of dark chocolate I’ve had over the last few weeks and have had two lattes. I’m trying to stick to one coffee or less per week as a treat. Both times I got a latte I ordered a tall soy latte. The soy milk at Starbucks is sweetened and thus does contain some added sugar. Otherwise my “treat” of choice has been frozen bananas blended with a few splashes of coconut almond milk and a date. I have been eating (very ripe) bananas like crazy. I can’t seem to get enough of them right now. I have changed my breakfast to be just a very large smoothie and it has at least 5 bananas + a few other fruits and veggies. Bananas are a great way to get a lot of calories and carbs (= energy) from fruit and the browner the better for digestion. I was eating a nut meal based “muffin” in addition to my smoothie but have felt great after eliminating that. I think the fats in the muffin were messing a bit with my blood sugar and digestion. Here’s proof that I’ve been eating a LOT of bananas. I finally broke down and just bought a case. Kroger often has bananas that are getting too ripe (for the normal person) on Manager’s Special and I lucked out the other day and found a bunch of bunches 🙂 that were marked down. Between the four of us, we are flying through them. I got my second case today. Pretty soon the whole house is going to be smelling like bananas. I’m definitely going to need to start thinking about a solution for fruit flies once the weather gets hot. We always seem to have a problem with them in the summer and this surely won’t help!
At the end of my detox and into the first week or so after I was feeling a little sluggish at times throughout the day and my friend recommended that I increase my fruit carbs even more so I added more bananas and an additional fruit + greens smoothie in the afternoon. It has made all the difference. My energy level is at an all time high and I seem to just be feeling better. My friend follows most (if not all) of Banana Girl’s Raw Till 4 lifestyle and while I’m far from adhering to all of the principles (like eating raw until 4!), I’ve adopted some of them and am moving toward others. It’s definitely a very different approach to eating than I’m used to and I find it fascinating.
I’ve continued to cook lots of new and interesting recipes and make up all kinds of creative concoctions too. If only I could figure out an easy system to capture the details of my creations! Scott and the kids have been awesome about eating everything I make. I normally just cook up a little chicken or ground turkey to go along with the meal for them and they are happy.
The kids and I made our second batch of sprouts in our sprouting jars. We sprouted alfalfa seeds this time. C enjoyed several handfuls (see pic below) for lunch the day we got them out of the jar and asks for them every time she seems them on my plate.
I am so proud to say that I’ve had ice cream only one time since the detox ended (the day after) and haven’t had strong temptations to eat it. I did stop at UDF to get gas the other day and considered for a moment going in to get some since it was on sale (yes, I can still be tempted by a good sale) but decided I’d feel much better if I just ate my frozen bananas and dates. It was a small victory for me. I took the kids to Graeter’s the other night for a special treat and did find myself salivating a bit as I watched people enjoying the giant chocolate chunks (my favorite part) in their ice cream but felt good that I didn’t end up getting anything. I will have it at some point but I’m trying to save it for when I REALLY want it. Chocolate has been the only thing that I’ve occasionally wanted in terms of sweets. I made a few vegan desserts that contained dark chocolate and the funny thing is that I really just wanted the chocolate and could do without the rest. However, I think the increase in fruit carbs in the earlier in my day has helped minimize these cravings. Here’s a pic of the kids enjoying their ice cream treat.
Scott and I had dinner Friday night at Portia’s Cafe. It’s an adorable all-vegan, gluten-free and mostly raw restaurant. We both had wraps that were made with raw and gluten-free tortillas. The waitress told me they were made of teff flour, tapioca flour or starch (I can’t remember), olive oil, salt, and water. Of course I hopped on Pinterest when we got home to see if I could find out how they were made raw and find a similar recipe. I found all kinds of interesting recipes for raw tortillas/wraps and other raw food items made in a dehydrator so that is next on my list of kitchen appliance “wants”. In the meantime, I will settle for these cooked Quinoa Tortillas that are made very similar to the 5-Ingredient Quinoa Pizza Crust we love. I made a batch of both today and thought the tortillas turned out great. The texture is spongier than a normal flour or corn tortilla but they are good and I’d highly recommend the recipe. We ended our dinner with Portia’s Chocolate Cheezecake. It was delicious! Unfortunately I had a pretty bad stomach ache the rest of the night so something didn’t sit well with me but it sure tasted good while we ate. Here’s a few pics from our dinner out.
On the way home from Portia’s we stopped at Saraga International Grocery. I’m a sucker for grocery stores – especially ones with tons of produce and things that I’ve never seen before. The produce section had about double or triple the offerings of a normal grocery store. If I ever need an exotic ingredient I will definitely head there.
E’s class took a field trip to the local Senior Center last week. I got to go along to help and really enjoyed seeing the students interact with the seniors. The kids shared about the Leader In Me initiative at Jefferson Elementary and each kid had a chance to talk in the microphone. I was amazed that every one of them spoke with no noticeable fear! They were so brave and articulate. The kids enjoyed a buffet style lunch with the seniors complete with a dessert table. I was laughing at how full the kids filled their plates with dessert. Left to their own devices they went all out. We eventually limited them to two cookies each 🙂 I’m guessing their parents wouldn’t have been too happy had they seen the first few plates that went through the line. I’m so blessed to have a flexible schedule so I can go to these types of things.
Both kids have their Valentine’s Day parties on Thursday this week. I’m in charge of organizing E’s but am not contributing anything other than two games. I made these candy cane hearts pictured below for him to pass out as his Valentine’s. I was worried I might not find candy canes anymore but I happened upon several boxes of candy canes marked down at Kroger last week! I heated the candy canes in the oven for a few minutes and then shaped them into hearts. Then I melted pink candy melts and filled the centers. We printed little tags to attach to the cellophane bags. They are cute and hopefully the kids will enjoy them. I have to make cut-out cookies for C’s class and will finish that tomorrow. The dough is made so we just need to roll it out, cut it into heart shapes, and bake.
A friend gave me this cute idea last year to do a “heart attack” on the kids’ doors. Each day in February leading up to Valentine’s Day I write a message on a heart telling them something we love about them. They love to see the new hearts each day and definitely love the affirmations.
I hope you are having a great week so far!
Valentine’s Day (and other “romantic” holidays) is a happy, love-filled day for some while for many others it is a day that brings up feelings of sadness, depression, brokenness and hurt. A broken jar is such a great illustration of the brokenness many feel in their hearts. When we feel broken inside it is very difficult to love ourselves and to feel love from others. Instead of others’ love staying inside of us and building us up, it often leaks out just like liquid would leak out of a broken jar – leaving us empty and feeling the need for more. It’s only when we heal from past hurts and wounds that we can begin to experience love in the way God intended. We can find true healing from only one source – Jesus. All other substitutes will fall short. Psalm 147:3 says “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 34:18 says “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice of love on the cross for us. John 15:3 says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” And He wants us to experience this deep love He has for us through a personal relationship with Him. A love that can heal our wounds and restore us so that we are able to experience love in a way that we would never experience without Him. The love He offers is freely offered to all, no matter what the circumstances. However, we must accept His offer and allow Him to transform our hearts. I have been on the side of hurt and pain and have experienced the depths of His love and grace. It isn’t easy to stay in His love as hurts from the past often creep back up and haunt us, but we have Scripture to remind of us the truth.
enspire balance 