I made it through week 2!!! If you missed it, I’m participating in Bridal Cleanse courtesy of Jen Newell ND and Blush Pretty. See my week 1 post here.
This second week wasn’t bad. I was a little worried with Thanksgiving this past weekend as it’s one of my favorite holidays. I love turkey, stuffing, mac and cheese casserole and all the lovely fall desserts that are mandatory with Thanksgiving. Jen did give us a pass to enjoy Thanksgiving however she did warn us that we would probably feel really crappy the next day. I was fully set on enjoying my food coma when news came that no one wanted to prepare a turkey this year so they were going to order in Swiss Chalet. Swiss Chalet?!? For Thanksgiving? Now I love me some Swiss Chalet but I can get that any time of the week any time of the year so as luck would have it I didn’t really have to miss out on Thanksgiving at all. It was easy to continue on the cleanse path (sort of…I’ll explain later) without the temptation. My sister in law and cousin in law (if that’s a term) are both vegetarian for the most part so they brought me lentil burgers and vegetarian chili to feast on. Now I’m not going to lie and say it was a good substitute for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner but it was definitely yummy and filling!
I however DID indulge in some treats. I had heard about Bunners Bakery but had never walked in. It’s a vegan and gluten free bake shop! I thought Thanksgiving weekend was the perfect time to indulge in some treats so I treated myself to a cinnamon bun and a brownie! The cinnamon bun was good…but the real deal is still better. The brownie however was incredibly rich and chocolaty – I would definitely go back to satisfy my chocolate craving!
So while these treats aren’t healthy by any means I’m hoping they were a cleanse friendly way to enjoy my long weekend 🙂 I also indulged in a decaf latte made with almond milk. That’s allowed right?
After my baking incident I’ve also learned I’m not great at following recipes. I much prefer learning a cooking process or method (à la Rachel Ray) and I need to spend max 30 minutes actually cooking. (Baking things in the oven like chicken for longer than 30 minutes is fine – as long as I don’t have to watch it!)
So here are few things I’ve been making during the cleanse:
Roasted Sweet potato, roasted cauliflower and broccoli soup.
Pumpkin spice smoothie. I altered the recipe Jen gave us as I kept forgetting to do one step where you need to prepare something the night before so where this is supposed to a pumpkin pie smoothie I just called it pumpkin spice ;). In my vitamix I threw in pumpkin puree, a banana (to thicken), almond milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, flax seed oil and a touch of maple syrup. Really yummy!
Quinoa porridge. I saw a few recipes for eating quinoa for breakfast so I took some leftover quinoa, added almond milk, cinnamon, dried cranberries, apple sauce and a maple syrup. I then warmed it all up in the microwave. This is a new favorite! I could even bring this to work, just warm up when I get there!
This one I just made up but it’s pretty easy LOL. Creamy hot chocolate! In a sauce pan I warmed up some almond milk, added raw cocoa powder, coconut sugar (this stuff is amazing, reminds me of the sponge toffee part of a crunchie bar!) and cinnamon. I kept tasting as I went. Probably not the healthiest snack but satisfied my chocolate craving and my craving for warm hot chocolate.
So what’s next for week 3? I’m in between phase 2 and 3 right now. Trying to eliminate soy and meat while still eating a lot of fruits and vegetables and still staying away from gluten and processed foods. So far I’m doing well. Since the weekend I’ve only had a piece of salmon which Jen said is ok during this phase if I feel like I need meat.
Not noticing a significant change physically but I haven’t had any new breakouts on my skin (old breakouts still there and still not healed!) so that is at least a nice change :). I’m enjoying cooking more since I have a plan in hand and as long as the ingredients I’m using are good quality just about anything goes!
Remember if you’re on twitter you can follow my cleanse journey (along with the other ladies participating) by searching #BridalCleanse.
If you have any QUICK and EASY recipes to share with me I’m all for it! I should warn you I’m not a big salad fan. Besides smoothies I much prefer warm foods to cold!
Sorry Cher, missed this! Gah you probably don’t want to know what I ate – it’s embarassing – think opening a can and warming the contents up. Or rice in the rice cooker, frozen veggies and eggs LOL! Seriously – I just find cooking such a chore these days!
I buy bagged salad. LOL. *shrugs*. But unfortunately, the reality of it is, if you want to eat clean you have to get over the laziness. 😛 It’s annoying especially after I’ve had a long day, but it’s something I’ve had to learn and I still take short cuts whenever I can. But I have to ask, if salad is too much work, what do you usually eat for dinner?? =/
hahaha I know right – I love food too much 😛 You don’t need to lose a thing silly! But if you want to feel healthier this cleanse with Jen is a good and gentle one 😉
Anna I didn’t realize you had an allergy that must be tough! Good thing there are other alternatives but yeah you have to be really careful!
Oh yeah I wanted to ask you if rice milk was ok b/c I LOVE it! Especially the basmati one. I’m not a fan of hemp milk…tastes grassy!
LOL yup that hot chocolate was pretty yummy!! Thanks so much for the compliment I appreciate it 🙂
Ok weird, I replied to this and it didn’t show up! I know it sounds weird but I find salads so difficult to eat – too much chewing haha! But the salads I do enjoy definitely have fruits and nuts in it. Another thing is actually making the salad – so much work 😛 I told you I’m lazy!
There are tons of other milk alternatives that would work on this cleanse, hemp milk, rice milk, oat milk….yup milk made from everything!
Ms. Elaine on a cleanse? Wow, I never thought I’d see the day!
I’m kidding!
I badly need to do one, or some flushing detox. Need to lose like 10 pounds maybe!
=)
oxo,
ML
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I knew there was a reason I couldn’t do this cleanse… the almond milk! I’m allergic to tree nuts so I’m SOL for most cleanses lol
That soup looks awesome, though!
Goodluck on week 3!
Awwww my eyes caught all the attention in the hot chocolate hehe!
Great blog, I’m following 🙂
xoxo
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Haha. I find that for every day cooking, I don’t like to spend that much time in the kitchen either. I also like minimal ingredients. On the weekends or on special occasions, I don’t mind spending a little more time preparing food.
That hot chocolate looks so good! And the quinoa porridge doesn’t look half bad either. I may have to try it one of these days, I’m getting tired of the same old thing.
BTW, my secret to salad is to add non-traditional things as opposed to just lettuce and dressing. I used mixed field greens, goat cheese, steak or chicken, and pear or apple then top with balsamic vinegar. Sometimes I’ll add beets and even a few nuts. I go in phases where I will just eat salad every day. But the key to enjoying salads is to experiment. 😉