Back on Track...

The month of March was really stressful for me with business slowing down and job hunting that I didn't stick with the healthy eating that I wanted to continue from my diet in February. I know for a fact I ate way too many potato chips, packaged cookies, lots of bread and not enough fresh vegetables and salads. I felt it in my body too. I felt sluggish, heavy and just not good at all. I'd like to get back on track to feeling good again. So back to fresh green smoothies in the morning, maybe some oatmeal and fruit, soup and salads for lunch and healthy dinners. I made a big batch of "Super Green Kale Soup" from Gillian McKeith's You Are What You Eat cookbook. I absolutely loved the soup when I was on her diet that I was more than happy to make it again.


I floated a dehydrated cheesy kale chip on top for decoration. The kale chips were from a batch that I brought home from work because they were less than perfect for packaging. (I work part time as a kitchen assistant at Rawk n Roll Cuisine) And sorry, I can not give out any recipes for the products we make there!


This was my dinner. A giant salad of green leaf, romaine, cabbage, tomato, mandarins and unsalted walnuts drizzled with sesame miso dressing (You Are What You Eat cookbook). It was filling and delicious. I'm feeling better already!

Detox Week 3, Day 18

Hello! Time for some food porn! I totally dropped my camera a few minutes ago and freaked out. I thought I had broken it and lost all these great pics of food! Luckily I didn't break it as it still works. There are a few little cracks and dents though. :( I may have to shop for a new camera in the near future if it starts shutting down. Hopefully that won't happen as I love this camera.

Today was a busy day as I had to drive Grandma to a few appointments and then take her home to Torrance which I don't mind one bit because she lives around the corner from the 99 Ranch market! I only had $20 on me but was able to bring home this:


yams, chinese eggplant, broccoli, celery, bananas, baby bok choy, water chestnuts, vanilla essence, baby corn, golden plum sauce, wasabi paste and korean bbq sauce. But wait, you're thinking...I missed one!


That would be this intriguing item. Sweet Potato Noodles! I have no idea what this tastes like as I've never seen it before. I believe the ingredients are just sweet potato starch and water and the noodles are green! Weird. Can't wait to try it. I'm imagining a stir fry with peanut sauce or something...

Today's eats:

Breakfast: granola with soymilk (not pictured as I had to eat and run!)
Snack #1: a banana and a half (eaten in the car while driving)


Lunch: Oriental chopped salad. Green leaf, romaine, spinach, red peppers, shredded carrots, mandarins and almonds tossed in a sesame miso dressing recipe which I got from You Are What You Eat cookbook.


Snack #2: a small serving of brown rice pudding. I was so mesmerized by last night's rice pudding that I had to make some. This is Gillian's healthier version though which is only half as sweet as last night's pudding. It's made with brown rice, cinnamon, lemon juice, lemon zest, raisins, brown rice syrup and soymilk. It's good but only slightly sweet. I don't mind that though. It still feels comforting and is a nice dessert.


Dinner: Beautiful veggie stirfry with broccoli, baby bok choy, carrots, red peppers, zucchini, baby corn, water chestnuts and onions. I made it healthy by using only a little soy sauce diluted with water.


To go with the stirfy I made this korean bbq baked tofu. I marinated thick slices of extra firm tofu with 1/2 water and 1/2 korean bbq sauce. I also had brown rice with my meal.

Detox Week 3, Day 16

I can't believe it. I threw my back out yesterday! And it wasn't even a big movement, I was bending over to put my dog's lead on and when we took a few steps on our walk, I thought "Why does my lower back feel funny?" Great. Now I'm pretty much immobile and I can't exercise which really annoys me. I wanted to work out every day this week to get the full benefit of my last detox week. :( Now I have to bed rest for a couple days. Argh.

Anyway since I'm here in bed, I might as well spend some time typing. Someone asked me today about this detox I'm doing and wanted to know what my experience was like and what, if any recommendations I may have. Well, as some of you know I decided to do this diet based loosely on the principles of Gillian McKeith's book/show 'You Are What You Eat'. It's not what you might think of detox. It doesn't require fasting on lemonade concoctions, or juice fasting or going 100% raw. What she recommends is cutting out things like processed foods that come in packages with ingredients you can't pronounce, sugary sweets, caffeine, alcohol, white refined breads/rice/pastas, store bought juices, salty snacks, meat, dairy....etc. The focus should be on whole foods, fresh fruits, vegetables, salads, homemade soups, smoothies, whole grains, nuts and seeds. I thought it sounded easy enough. What makes her plan great is that she balances raw salads, fruits and veggies alongside cooked meals which I was very happy about. I love a good hot homecooked meal. I think most people who's diets are a bit out of control will find this diet not so bad and quite easy to follow. If you look back on my last two weeks of journal entries, I was able to have quite a variety of food from pizza to pasta, to stews and stuffed peppers. Not everything I made came from Gillian's cookbook. I was able to improvise existing recipes by taking her principles into account, for example leaving out the salt but using low salt tamari or soy sauce, decreasing oil and replacing ingredients for healthier alternatives. A lot of recipes out there adapt very easily to this diet.

An important part of this diet is to have the correct foods and staples in your kitchen. This is what I had in my kitchen at all times:

-Dried Herb and Spices: I used cumin, paprika, turmeric and italian herbs a lot. The sky's the limit with herbs and spices. Fresh herbs: cilantro, parsley, basil.
-Savory flavorings: Instead of salt, I used low salt soy sauce, tamari, veggie broth powder, miso paste, cider vinegar, nori flakes, tahini and dijon mustard.
-Sweet flavorings: Instead of sugar, I used brown rice syrup, maple syrup, agave syrup, carob powder, dates and vanilla extract.
-"Milks": Plain soymilk and rice milk
-Nuts and Seeds: pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, flax, almonds, cashews, macadamias, pine nuts, walnuts.
-Oils: Olive, Sesame and Sunflower.
-Beans: aduki, black, chickpeas, lentils, kidney, white beans, split peas
-Tofu (tempeh is also recommended)
-Flours: whole wheat, oat flour
-Grains: brown rice, quinoa, bulgur, oats, millet, brown rice pasta
-Fruits: ALL KINDS! My favorites: bananas, apples, plums, mango, strawberres, blueberries, pears. I used fresh as well as frozen which are especially good for smoothies.
-Veggies: ALL KINDS! My favorites: broccoli, bell peppers, carrots, green leaf lettuce, spinach, onions, sweet potatoes, celery, onions, tomatoes, rocket, kale, collards, cauliflower, garlic, cabbage, squash and leeks.

The hardest time I had with this diet is my sweet craving and bread craving would kick in often. I also had a difficult time without my usual black tea and coffee. I found that snacking on a few dates (or date brownies!) or fruit would help with the sweet cravings. Herbal teas like lemongrass and licorice spice were great in place of coffee. There was really nothing that could replace good old white bread though. I love a good fresh french baguette and there were some dinner times where I wished I could have a slice of french bread with some Earth Balance margarine. I also missed Vegenaise but I didn't eat any sandwiches at all so I guess it wasn't all that bad without it. The lovely thing about this diet is that my fridge was always fully stocked with loads of vegetables and it would really inspire me to cook something wonderful. I also really enjoyed the yummy smoothies I made for breakfast as well. It felt good to eat so many fruits and vegetables which I felt were lacking in my diet before. I know that I will incorporate them much more after the diet is over. Being a vegan, vegetables and fruits are a big part of my diet anyway but I've been known to get lazy and go for foods that are not the best like quick processed stuff, carb heavy meals and sugary desserts.

So on to today's eats!


Breakfast: Strawberry, mango, banana, soymilk smoothie

Mid morning snack: 1 piece of carob date brownie and a tangelo.


Lunch: Super Green Kale Soup (from You Are What You Eat cookbook). The soup was delicious! It has kale, celery, onions and zucchini. It's even creamy without having a drop of dairy in it.


Along with the soup I also had a green salad that had green leaf, cucumber, red peppers, carrots, onions and sunflower seeds. I drizzled it with 2 tsp. of raw goddess dressing.

Afternoon snack: 1 apple, 3 sprouted grain chips, a few grapes


Dinner: Quinoa casserole (quinoa, chickpeas, onions, celery, broccoli, diced tomatoes, curry powder, soy sauce). I found the casserole recipe on Recipezaar. I served the casserole with a salad. It was very good, though a little plain. You can bump up the curry powder or soy sauce and it should be better I think.


I also made a healthy granola which I will have for breakfast tomorrow. Here's the recipe:

2 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup slivered almonds
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
1 TB cinnamon
1/3 cup brown rice syrup
1/2 cup raisins
Combine all ingredients except the raisins, thoroughly. Spread on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes at 300 degreesF. Stir after the first 15 minutes into baking. Let cool. Pour into a container and combine with raisins.

Detox Week 2, Day 14

So...my husband has quit the diet and is now back to his regular foods. He ordered a sausage pizza yesterday. :( I'm a little disappointed but it's not my place to force him to do anything. He did it for almost two weeks and it was enough for him. He said the raw salads and vegetables were giving him heartburn. So, it's just me now ready to finish off the last week of healthy eating. I have to say that I'm starting to really crave white bread and coffee like crazy. I made a gluten free butternut oat bread today that bombed big time. I'm not even going to post a picture. It was very sad. So no bread for me today. But other than that, things are good. I've lost about 3-4 pounds which is nice! If I can stay on track with my workouts this week, I can probably lose another pound or two.

Today's eats:


Breakfast: Banana, date, mango, tangelo and strawberry soymilk smoothie.


Lunch: Chopped salad with spinach, green leaf, rocket, cucumber, red peppers, onion and walnuts. Drizzled with goddess dressing.

Snacks: Veggie crudités and white bean dip, sprouted grain chips, a pear and three 1" pieces of carob date brownies.


Dinner: Aduki Bean Stew (from You Are What You Eat cookbook) on top of cauliflower mash.


After dinner tea.

Detox Week 2, Day 12

Happy Friday the 13th!

I was running low on the fresh vegetables in my fridge so I took a trip to the grocery. This is what I got: (I love lists.) celery, broccoli, cilantro, green leaf lettuce, spinach, carrots, kale, red grapes, minneolas, lemons, fuji apples, red bell peppers, cabbage, bananas, cucumbers, zucchini, frozen strawberries, whole wheat flour, canned tomatoes, more fire-roasted peanuts in the shell and fresh tortilla chips. All this for $36.

Today's eats:


How healthy can I get than starting out my day with a green smoothie? Breakfast was this banana-date-mango-blueberry-collard greens smoothie. Yum.

Lunch was a cup of split pea soup and veggie crudités with a little bit of hummus. No photo.

Snacks: Mid-morning, a brown rice cake with pb and brown rice syrup. After the dog walk, I had an apple.

It's cold, wet and rainy outside and all I wanted for dinner was something warm and comforting. I had to make a curry. I made one that was based on the Chickpea and Tofu Mild Curry from You Are What You Eat. I omitted the tofu and added a can of diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, garam masala, shiitake mushrooms and cauliflower. I pretty much transformed the recipe into something else haven't I? It was pretty good. I have to say that I am not a huge fan of shiitake mushrooms. This was my first time working with them and I found them to be way too strong and their flavor permeated the curry a little too much. I wish I wouldn't have added them in but oh well...the chickpeas were ace!


Very pretty curry. I served this with brown rice and a salad.

So we all know people will be scoffing all kinds of chocolate tomorrow in honor of St. Valentine right? I am not going to be deprived of gooey chocolatey goodness! If I can't have chocolate, than carob will do. I know some do not appreciate the flavor of carob but I happen to like it. I have fond memories of visiting the local health food store with one of my friends after school and we would get these carob ice cream sandwiches. They were good! Today I made a batch of fudge carob brownies made with carob powder, dates, walnuts and vanilla. I was originally going to make Ms. Gillian McKeith's brownies but her recipe required way too many kinds of nuts and seeds that I just didn't have. So I went online and found this recipe that was perfect. I had all the ingredients except for raw carob, I only had roasted carob but it worked in a pinch. I also added a layer of dessicated coconut on top which made them extra special. Such an easy recipe. It's all mixed up in your blender or food processor, spread into a container and placed into the fridge or freezer. I'd say they took me about 10 minutes to make.


I put my container in the freezer to firm them up a bit. The icy coconut is a nice contrast to the gooey fudginess.


Oh my...how fudgy! I did sample two of these bites and I was filled with delight. They are gooey, sweet and very reminiscent of chocolate. I'm in love with these brownies and will be enjoying these through the weekend.

Detox Week 2, Day 9

Moving along...moving along...

Had millet porridge for the first time today. I think I undercooked it because it wasn't as soft and mushy as I expected. And I made way too much and was only able to eat half of it. No need for a pre-workout snack apparently.


Here it is with sliced bananas, raisins, sesame seeds and a nice drizzle of brown rice syrup.

Lunch was pretty boring. I had a bunch of red grapes and a medium bowl of spinach soup. Yawn. No need for pictures.

Snacks: some macadamia nuts and raisins and later after a dog walk, a nectarine.


I finally made Gillian McKeith's infamous Chickpea Burgers. These guys are supposed to be a favorite of most people on her diet plan. They are much like falafel except they have sunflower seeds, carrots and tahini in them. They were very tasty. I served them with rocket salad, brown rice and garlic aioli from 'The Country Life Vegetarian Cookbook'. The aioli is made with unsweetened soymilk, garlic, lemon juice and some olive and canola oil. I also added some chopped cucumber to it. Because of the bit of fat in it, I didn't have very much.

Detox Week 2, Day 8

Ugh, Mondays. They are always depressing and dreadful. And especially now that it's pouring rain outside. I was determined to not get lazy and work out today.

Today started out with a breakfast smoothie that I didn't get a picture of because it was horrid looking. It had banana, dates, nectarines, blueberries and collard greens. The color combo was a mucky greenish-brown. Really ugly but thankfully very very sweet and filling.

Preworkout snack: 1/2 cup fortified plain soymilk and 1 small nectarine. I never used to snack before I worked out and now I know why I could never keep up! A little nibble before a workout works wonders.


Lunch: cup of spinach soup...


...followed by a green salad topped with courgette and carrot slaw, avocado and red onions. Drizzled with goddess dressing and lemon juice. (soup and slaw from You Are What You Eat cookbook)


Snacks: Mid-morning I had rainbow veggies and hummus and late afternoon after a hour long dog walk, I had a brown rice cracker with PB and brown rice syrup.

For dinner I planned to make a Gillian McKeith recipe for pizza with a sweet potato crust. This recipe intrigued me the first time I saw it on her show. I love sweet potatoes and thought it would be interesting as a base for a pizza crust. I was a little apprehensive at first because I never made a yeast free crust before and I had no idea what the texture was going to be like, if it was going to be easy to roll out, if it was going to bake up dry, hard, brittle...etc..etc.. I was pleasantly surprised that it baked up soft, tender with crispy edges and a slightly sweet flavor that took well to the toppings.


Here is the dough rolled out. So pretty with flecks of sweet potato here and there.


Out of the oven. Toppings are homemade chunky tomato sauce with onions, zucchini, mushrooms, red and yellow pepper, black and green olives and red onion.


A slice of delicious pizza. I have to say I am very excited that my husband liked this as well. And he's a "pizza purist"!

Detox Week 1, Day 7

Yay, one week down, two to go!

Here are today's eats:


Breakfast: Mango-Date-Plum-Banana-Strawberry Smoothie. This was really nice.




Snacks: Mid-morning we had baked chips and salsa, Carrot sticks and the hummus recipe from You Are What You Eat. My early evening snack was half a banana and a handful of raisins.


Lunch: Thai Vegetable Curry (zucchini, carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, red peppers and kidney beans) which I served with brown rice. I based this curry on the recipe in You Are What You Eat. It feels much lighter than the curries I normally make. It doesn't have much coconut milk so I added a little bit of plain unsweetened soymilk. In place of the spices she uses (coriander, cumin, kaffir lime etc), I used some lime juice and a tsp or so of red curry paste which has all those ingredients in it and not to mention some red chilis which in a curry is a must!

I wasn't very hungry at dinner so I made myself "Ants on a Log", a stalk of celery filled with unsalted natural peanut butter and dotted with raisins. Totally unspectacular and did not need to be photographed!

Detox Week 1, Day 4

Last night husband and I were talking about our cravings. I kept saying the word "cake" and he kept repeating "pizza". Oh dear, it's only day 4...

But today's foods were awesome.

Breakfast: Strawberry-Dates-Banana-Collard Greens Smoothie (no picture sorry!)

To make up for the missing breakfast picture, I'll show you what I got at the local health food store today. I was supposed to just go to the post office but when I passed by, I couldn't help but pull into their parking lot.


Salt-free brown rice cakes, brown rice syrup, salt-free peanut butter, ACV, and some bulk items from L to R: aduki beans, raisins, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and whole wheat flour (for the healthy pizza I'm making next week!).


I had to make a mid-morning snack with some of this stuff! I spread a little peanut butter on a rice cake and drizzled it with brown rice syrup and sprinkled sesame seeds on top. Yum! I haven't had a rice cake since high school when I used to yo-yo diet. I will continue to buy them, they're so nice!


I wanted to have a large chopped salad for lunch and needed a good salad dressing. I found this easy, delicious Goddess dressing at oneweekraw.com (Scroll down to Day 5 to get the recipe.)


For lunch: chopped salad with green leaf, spinach, red peppers and cucumber. And a sprinkling of flax seeds. To make it lower in fat, I diluted about a TB of dressing with some lemon juice. Worked very well and gave my salad a lot of flavor!


For dinner we had vegetable sushi rolls. The rolls had brown rice, red peppers, carrots, cucumber and avocado. They were delicious. We didn't eat all of these! I ate about 6. My husband ate a lot. The rest are for lunch tomorrow.


I served the rolls with Crunchy Walnut Coleslaw with sesame miso dressing. Recipes from You Are What You Eat Cookbook.

Detox Week 1, Day 3

Sweet craving go away! I was watching the Food Network yesterday and there was a show about cake decorating and looking at the chocolate layered with buttercream, I almost died...just a little. I had some grapes. I think I need to get more exercise, way too much tv watching. After the holidays I did a lot of couch sitting with a bag of chips. I was quite the lazy bastard! So definitely need to get in some exercise. I usually do a half hour to an hour walk with my dog everyday but it doesn't feel challenging enough. Shall I get out my Tae Bo dvds? We'll see...

Here are today's eats:


Breakfast: Oatmeal with bananas, raisins, macadamia nuts, poppy seeds and a tiny drizzle of maple syrup. Delicious! It kept me full until lunch.


In case you're wondering, Gillian's plan allows natural sweeteners like maple syrup, barley malt syrup, brown rice syrup and so on. Just in small amounts. I made homemade date syrup a few days ago. I should have put this in my oatmeal but I forgot about it until just now.




Lunch: Green Leaf/Spinach Salad w/ beans, Spinach Soup w/ pumpkin seeds(from You Are What You Eat cookbook)


Snacks: 1 Braeburn apple, thinly sliced. Just how I like it.


Just how Buster likes it too!


Dinner: Baked Aubergine and Mushroom Stack (YAWYE cookbook). This was served with brown basmati rice and a green salad.

I'm really enjoying eating all this great, healthy food. My normal diet doesn't stray too far from this but includes way too many white foods (white rice/bread/pasta) and far too many sweet treats filled with sugar and calories. Eating this way is new for my husband who is stuck on delivery pizzas, hot dogs (the non-vegan kind), microwave popcorn, kraft mac n cheese, chips, soda and beer. I'm glad that he's trying new things and is going along with it well. I'm secretly hoping that after the three weeks, he won't mind giving up his pizza here and there to have a healthy meal that is good for both of us.

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.