Detox Week 1, Day 2

Yesterday was a great first day. I actually didn't feel "hungry" like I thought I would or have any cravings for chocolate or sweets. I ate lots of fruit which probably curbed any sweet cravings that would have arose. I was on the post punk kitchen forums a lot and looking at all the wonderful food porn (cinnamon rolls, cake, muffins...) was a bit hard but it didn't make me want to start baking or anything.

So our second day went like this:


Breakfast: Green Smoothie (banana-date-blueberry-collard greens)


Lunch: Leftover pasta from last night, a bit of leftover turnip soup, green salad/bean salad (pictured), a bunch of red grapes

Snacks: banana, nuts/seeds/raisins, celery and carrots w/ sunflower paté, red grapes, herbal teas


Dinner:Baked tofu with leeks and spinach, baked sweet potato, green salad. The tofu was based on the Baked Salmon recipe from You Are What You Eat cookbook.

Gillian McKeith Detox Week 1, Day 1

So today is the day we start Gillian's detox!
Things to eat: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, tofu, nuts and seeds. Things not to eat: sugary sweets, chocolate, coffee, alcohol, white bread, white rice, white pasta, processed foods, sodas and junk.

I'm not worried about the amount of food I'll be eating as there are plenty of things to eat, I'm just afraid of the day when I'd kill to eat a whole french baguette and a piece of cake. Three weeks without dessert. Can it be done? Dates are on the menu and they are pretty darn sweet and good thing I love them. But I'm sure too many dates aren't that great for you either. We'll see how this goes!

So every morning I will pack my husband's lunch as well as a set for myself. This morning for breakfast we both had a strawberry-date-banana-blueberry-spinach smoothie. Yum.

Today's lunch and snacks:
A thermos of turnip and leek soup (from You Are What You Eat cookbook)
A small green salad with spinach, pumpkin seeds and dijon vinaigrette
1 apple
Celery sticks stuffed with sunflower paté and baby carrots (paté from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen)
Nuts/Seeds/Raisins/Dried apricots/more fruits
Lemongrass herb tea/ Dandelion tea

That's quite a lot of food isn't it? I normally don't eat that much at lunch. My husband looked at his lunch bag with disbelief. I told him if he couldn't finish it all to let me know and I will pack slightly less food tomorrow.


Turnip and Leek Soup. It was very straightforward recipe: turnip, leeks, celery, onions, veggie broth powder, water, parsley. I added a little unsweetened soymilk to make it creamier. I also added a tsp. of low sodium miso and low salt soy sauce (which is allowed) for some flavor. The soup was very nice. Kind of sweet with a delicate flavor.


A sampling of snacks we'll be eating during detox. Celery with some kind of spread (in this case, sunflower paté), carrots, fruits, raw and unsalted nuts, seeds, raisins etc.


For dinner I made brown rice pasta with oven roasted grape tomatoes, spinach, olives and lots of crushed garlic.

Getting mentally ready for detox and some tacos.

So the day after Superbowl Sunday, I will start a detox diet based on Gillian Mckeith's meal plans and cookbook. So this means no processed food, no sugar, no white rice, no white pasta, no added salt, no coffee or alcohol... In other words only fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, smoothies, juices, herbal teas, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds and tofu. I will be cooking everything I eat. (Except for Feb 18th our wedding anniversary, we are going to Real Food Daily. But they've got healthy vegan options so I'll be fine.) This week I've been enjoying sugar filled sweets, chocolate, coffee, port wine and white bread and rice. A little too much indulgence I think and on Sunday I'm making chocolate ganache cupcakes which will be my last sweet treat before the start of the diet. After three weeks, I hope to be able to crave sweets less and learn to up my raw fruit and vegetable intake. I also wouldn't mind losing a bit of weight! We'll see how this journey goes. I'll be recording it all on my blog and photographing the different foods I will get to eat. If you look back at some older entries (or under the tag "gillian mckeith") you'll see that I've tried a few recipes from the cookbook already and they aren't half as bad as some of you may think.

The other night I made tvp tacos that I forgot to post here.


The tvp was cooked with taco seasoning, lime juice, cumin, garlic powder and salsa. It was quite good. If you don't know what tvp is, it's dehydrated soy granules which you rehydrate in water. It closely resembles ground beef. You can get it in the bulk section of your health food store. It's cheap. You can cook it any way you want and put it in a myriad of dishes such as casseroles, enchiladas, lasagnas and pot pie.

Food as Art, a Sweet Treat and a Sleeping Pup.

Made my dinner ahead of time today so I wouldn't have to bother later. I took the 'Baked Aubergine (Eggplant) and Mushroom Stack' recipe from the You Are What You Eat cookbook and improvised a little. It was supposed to have fennel and red onions but I didn't have them so I used yellow onions and added grape tomatoes in place of the fennel. And I think I did good because the addition of the tomatoes makes for beautiful looking food. I was entranced by the colors as I snapped some photos. Here are my favorite shots. (By the way, I haven't tasted this yet. It does smell very nice though...lots of garlic in this.)


Sitting on some fresh arugula for more color. View number 1 of the stack.


View number 2 which I think works better aesthetically for me...


Two stacks surrounded by a lush arugula forest.

I'm still enjoying my new Breville blender and have been making a fresh smoothie every morning. I've discovered a sweet smoothie that I like to prepare when I'm craving dessert. It contains: 1 cup ice, 1 cup soymilk, 1 frozen banana, 4-5 dates, 1 tsp cocoa powder and 1 tsp vanilla extract. It's delicious.



And a bonus puppy shot. This was Buster this morning, unable to get out of bed to face the day. I even pulled the shades open and he still didn't get up!

Carrot Almond Soup

Here's another Gillian McKeith recipe from the You Are What You Eat cookbook. As you may know I am going to do a 3 week detox in February, cooking and eating solely from this book. I whipped a half batch of this soup this morning to have all day while I rest up with this cold. It's dead simple, just carrots, celery, garlic, onions, veggie bouillon, cilantro and water boiled up then blitzed in a blender with ground almonds. It's very good too. Slightly sweet and full of nutrients. I feel very healthy eating this soup. Take that chest congestion, runny nose and cough!!!!

Edit: This recipe can be found online here.

Taste test: Gillian McKeith's Shepherdess Pie

I recently got Gillian McKeith's 'You Are What You Eat' cookbook because I like her 'healthy food contributes to a healthy life' philosophy. Sometime in Feb. the husband and I are doing a detox diet of sorts by using this book to eat from for 3 weeks straight without any sugar, added salt, alcohol, caffeine, white bread, white rice and processed foods. It's going to be 3 weeks of salads, vegetables, fresh fruit smoothies and veggie juices, whole grains and beans. I know it's going to be hard but I am willing to go for it. I hope it will help me focus on eating more fresh fruits and fresh raw vegetables (I can get lazy) and I also hope to get rid of at least 5-8 pounds. My husband could use some weight loss too but I'm more concerned with his colon/intestinal/stomach issues that he's had for years. I don't remember him ever feeling "well" in that department. Lots of discomfort and pain and I believe diet plays a big part. I know for a fact all the delivery pizzas and hot dogs/chips/salty popcorns etc are not helping him right now. So we'll see how this all goes...

Today I decided to do a test run on one of the recipes for myself (husband's ordering pizza, good grief!). I love all kinds of comfort dishes like pot pies, casseroles and especially shepherd's pie. This one has kidney beans, lots of veggies and a mashed sweet potato topping. It's supposed to also have black eyed peas and butternut squash but I didn't have them. Those additions would have been great. I added a little miso paste and a tiny amount of soy sauce to the vegetables as seasoning which I think shouldn't matter too much considering how healthy and packed full of nutrients this dish is. I'm a big fan of beans and sweet potatoes so I liked it. I must admit though that it was veeeery healthy tasting and I'm a little afraid my husband will not enjoy the food. We'll see! If you're interested in healthy eating, you can find this recipe here as well as other recipes by Ms. McKeith.