Reboot Day 3 - The day the popcorn bowl became the apple bowl

Those apples? Are tomorrow's breakfast. And will probably all get used in one day.

Today's juice recipes: 

• orange
• cucumber/kale/lemon
• zucchini/apple/lemon
• apple/nectarine/blueberry

So on day three I'm feeling decidedly better. For the first two days I felt nauseous in the late afternoon and really wanted to just go to bed. Today, finally, and thankfully, I am feeling much better.

I'm thinking that part of the key to feeling well during this fast is being distracted. In the movie Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead both men shown were removed from their normal every day routines. Ideally, I would love to go and stay at the beach for ten days while I finish this fast. Unfortunately, that's not in the plan for this week so I will just have to make sure I'm distracted with plenty to do at home for the next week.

I'm only a week away from being finished with ten days! How cool is that?

The one thing that has been really bothering me while doing this is all of the waste. Every time I clean out the juicer it really bugs me to throw away all that pulp. I feel like I should be saving it to add to smoothies or casseroles or something. I've decided that when I'm not doing this for ten days straight then maybe I'll save the pulp for adding to other recipes.

The right juicer for the job

Also? The amount of water I'm using to clean the juicer seems like too much to me. Maybe it's because I don't like doing the actual cleaning that this bugs me so much. Or maybe it's just because I have such a difficult time cleaning out the blade portion that I don't like it so much. It seems like it takes me forever to get all of the little itty bitty fibers out of there. Any ideas for that would be greatly appreciated.

I have a Jack LaLanne juicer and I really do like it quite a bit, notwithstanding all my grumbling about the cleaning. I love how quiet it is. It works fast and well. The only other juicer I've ever owned sounded like a jet engine running in my kitchen. No wonder juicing was not a fun experience. This one however, is earning a permanent spot on the counter top this week.

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Reboot Day 2 - Bread! Give me bread!

Ok, so bread is not the thing that I've been craving the most today, but I have been wanting it. And not just any bread. I'm talking warm, sweet, buttery bread. Yeah.

I also wanted a banana at breakfast time. I usually just grab one because they're quick and easy. I started to grab one and had to stop myself. It also made me think about how very much of my eating behavior is simply mindless. A banana may not seem like a big deal but then what happens when you eat mindlessly all day long? A few M&M's aren't so bad. But, as I've said before, they gang up on you!

My friend Kalai wrote an article about all of the times she had to say "just this one time, I'm not going to have it." I think it's a great article about how many times we have to say "no" to our own wants over the course of a week. Don't let yourself be fooled. This stuff is hard to do!

To start out today I had apple juice. These five apples became 20 ounces of juice. 

(Update: Aaaaaaand sometimes, you hit the "publish post" button before you mean to. Sorry about that folks. I intended to finish this post and share it later. Since I've already posted this much, I'll leave it for now and just add to it later in the day.) 

Update 9:06 pm

Hi. I'm back to finish the post I started earlier. Turns out, it really wasn't a bad thing I did that because I don't really have much to share right now. I feel a little like I'm wilting.

I have a small (tolerable) headache, my energy is low but I don't feel tired, and I'm really wanting something to eat. Almost anything. I also know that if I eat something now, I won't want to stop. Now is not the time to give in.

I know I can do this. I really, really want to do this. I will do this. Maybe tomorrow morning will be easier. G'night.

Reboot Day 1 - The one where I learn what kale is

Last night I wasn't sleeping and I found another food documentary on Netflix. And why not, really? It is our national obsession. One of them, anyway.

I'll cut to the chase and tell you that today is officially Day 1 of my 10-Day juice fast. Oh boy. That freaks me out just typing that. Thinking about my schedule this week is a little concerning as well. How am I going to do this? Bring juice with me seems to be the only option. Not sure how that's going to work out. More on that later, I guess.

In the film, Fat Sick & Nearly Dead, the juice they mention many times is the "mean green." I made some today and thought it might be helpful to share with you how that went.

The original recipe for the "mean green" juice can be found on the Facebook page FAQ for the movie. The only change I made to this first one was that I left out the ginger. I've had juices with it before and don't really enjoy the aggressive spicy-ness of the ginger.

I also got to learn what kale looks like. To my knowledge I've never eaten it before and certainly have never before purchased it at the grocery store.

So this plate of fruits and veggies

Became 24 ounces of beautiful green juice. I poured some before I remembered to take the photo. I love this measuring cup because it fits underneath the chute for the juice on my machine and it has the ounce measurements. Very helpful for me today.

I started out drinking this cup of juice (Go Bears!)

And saved this in the fridge for later. Yes, that is a re-used Snapple bottle.

So. What do I think? I think that juicing is an acquired taste. If you don't like vegetables and haven't eaten any that aren't fried in quite some time, you're going to have a hard time getting used to the flavors. I actually like the "mean green" juice. 

For me, I enjoy the juices the most when I drink them through straws because I don't like that white film that develops on the top of the juice. It's a texture thing. I just don't like it.

So yeah. I'm going for it. Ten days. Who's in? Maybe try a three day fast if ten days sounds like too much to you. Or even try one of the Reboot Programs to get yourself started before trying a total juice fast.

I do know this much. This is going to be difficult. It's 4:04 pm on Day 1 and I'm hungry. Even though I'm just about finished with my Bears cup full of juice. Days 3 and 4 are gonna be ugly folks. 

Are you willing to try with me? Misery loves company, right? If you don't want to do the fast yourself then maybe tell me why I'm crazy for trying. Maybe that will get me riled up enough to continue on when I want to quit. 

What do you think?

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Green (Smoothie) Living

Breakfast of champions

I've been inspired to claw my way back up onto the band wagon of healthy eating again. Yes, again. I know, I know. It gets old some times, doesn't it? It's true that I haven't had any soda in over a month, so that's fantastic but really just the tip of the iceberg for eating habits around these parts.

Well you can only start from where you're at so here I am. I was inspired this week by my friend Michelle who posted her recipe for a green smoothie. I decided to make my own version which included:

• two cups of frozen blueberries (from the Blueberry Ranch of course!)
• one half cup of almond milk
• one cup of fresh baby spinach

That's it. I like to use the frozen berries so that I don't have to use a bunch of ice when I make smoothies. 

The verdict? It's not my favorite smoothie ever but it was by far not the worst, either. If you decide to make this, just remember to drink it all right now. Don't let it sit around for a while. You want that spinach to be really well mixed in. Settling does not help the yumminess factor of the spinach.

How about you? What are you doing to be healthy these day? Do you have a favorite smoothie recipe I could try? Let me know!

27 Days

So it's been 27 days since I've had any soda to drink. I thought it might be harder than it has been. Honestly, I haven't really missed it.

Until today.

Day 27.

Why today? I have no idea. There've been times when I've craved it because I was eating something I would normally have pop with; popcorn at the movie theater for example. But I bought my bottled water and drank it happily. I had decided in advance I would have water with my popcorn and that felt fine to me then.

Today though was different. I waaaaaanted some pop today. My mouth wanted it. I wanted the taste and I wanted the fizz of the carbonation. It was just weird. Have you ever really stopped and payed attention to all the different ways your body "wants" something? It can be interesting if you really pay attention.

If you're still wondering, the answer is no, I still haven't drank any pop. And I don't intend to.

And I'm happy and thankful to be able to say, that I mostly don't miss it at all.

Ain't She a Beauty?

This "angel."

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Did this on the floor in her bedroom.

And yes, she did use a Sharpie permanent marker.

When I stop laughing, I'll have to contact Sharpie to find out how to remove it. 

And yes, we did make a bee-yoo-tee-ful blueberry pie this morning.

Blueberry Gump

I feel like Forest Gump.

Blueberry pancakes. Blueberry crisp. Blueberries with ice cream. Blueberry jam. Blueberry sauce.

Today was opening day at the Blueberry Ranch and we came home with 24 pounds of yummy, delicious superfood. Sarah and I picked 14 of those pounds ourselves, the other ten we let the nice people at the Ranch do for us.

We went ahead and froze the first ten pounds. The other 14 pounds have been sitting on the counter for nibbling throughout the day. We even made the first blueberry crisp. I love the berries but I'm thinking about doubling the crisp next time. We like that part, too.

Sarah Bear was a trooper out in the hot sun picking today. When she was finished she found a nice spot in the shade to sit and eat her blueberries.

I can't wait to go again.

If you go to the Blueberry Ranch to pick your own berries, remember to wear your sunscreen. Also, remember to apply your sunscreen and bug spray in the parking lot because there are no aerosol cans allowed in the fields. We must maintain that organic status!

Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go get some blueberries to eat.

Organic or Local?

So. What's your priority when purchasing food?

Is it more important to you that your food be local or that it be organic?

The Blueberry Ranch is the only farm I'm aware of that is both organic AND local to my home.

The Purple Porch Co-op apparently also works with some other local and organic farms. I'm gonna have to check them out this week.

I'm telling you, when I'm walking through the grocery store and the labels show potatoes from Idaho and strawberries from California and other items from areas in South America it doesn't make much sense to me. And it's ridiculously overwhelming. If there's one thing I cannot abide, it's being overwhelmed, especially at the grocery store.

Last night I watched another food documentary, The Future of Food. What it tells me is that as humans, and speficially Americans, we've made some really bad choices. We're on a path I honestly don't believe we can get off of.

We genetically modify food and then we wonder why it makes us sick.

We allow multinational corporations to patent living organisms. This is truly insane. There's utterly no way to control how these organisms will change over time and where they will travel. They continually turn up in farmer's fields where they were not invited. They've even made their way to Mexico where they are not wanted. The Mexican government as well as the majority of Mexican farmers want nothing to do with genetically modified foods.

We've given up a huge part of our heritage.

We've given up entire sets of knowledge that can only be recovered at great cost. Farming as it happens now bears little resemblance to what it was a century ago.

I think we've gone too far. I hope we can come back. And before it's too late.

A little dramatic? I wish. And so, back to the original question. What's more important to you when you are purchasing food? Local or organic?

Eternal Lizdom Guest Post

Hey Friends!

I'm posting over at Liz's blog today. Go over and visit, won't you? I think it's a pretty fun post about being adventurous with your food. 

Then when you come back, I'll let you know that the chocolate chips in that picture were for a recipe from this book by Marilu Henner. I still have the book but I've actually ripped the chocolate chip cookie recipe page out and put it in my big recipe binder. I'll have to do a post on that some day I guess.

I just had to add the picture here, too, because I think it's pretty. And because I wanted you to know that those dates in the front? They are my new favorite thing for this week. If you shop at Meijer (like I usually do) you can purchase a big container of them in the area near the raisins.

My ultimate goal is to buy as much of these really healthy foods at the regular grocery store as possible so that they continue to stock them. Less crappy junk food and more amazingly delicious and healthy good foods.

Pretty please do me one more favor and click on that link in the upper right corner to "like" my blog? I'll be your best friend. No really, I recently added that box and would really love it if you could click it to help me out. OK? Thanks!

We are what we eat

In my quest for better health, I've found it useful to watch documentaries and other shows about our food industries. It really helps me to remember why I need to pay so much attention to what I'm eating.

You can watch these movies and decide for yourself what changes to make in your food and your lifestyle.

Food, Inc.












Of course, this one is about McDonald's. The film maker ate three meals a day at McDonald's every day for a month. The doctors recommended he stop after about twenty days. It made me sick just watching it.

Super Size Me











I've watched this one most recently. There's some really common sense information in this film.

Foodmatters








(Of course, these boxes are affiliate links. By purchasing after using these links, I'll earn a small percentage, which I'll use to purchase organic food!)


Please let me know if you've seen these and what you thought. Also, please let me know what others I should be looking for. I need to continue listening to this information as I endeavor to be more healthy.

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

Even oatmeal. I'm not talking about the instant kind. I'm talking the simmer it on top of your stove using water or milk (I choose water because I always manage to boil over the milk) method. And not those mamby pamby rolled oats. No. You gotta get the steel cut oats. Yep. Honestly, I don't know why that makes such a difference but it does. The steel cut oats are "meatier" and tastier. It's true. Don't believe me, test it. I usually add some trail mix to mine; seeds, nuts, dried fruit. Yummy.

What else are we missing because we are in a hurry? Slow down today and see if you don't discover something wonderful.