Days 11-13 with Recipes

I guess I need to start taking pictures of what I make so you can see how yummy it looks!

Day 11:

1. Green Smoothie & a cucumber sliced
2. Priyaa Dosa Masala & Samba
3. HuHot Asian Salad (no dressing but squeezed lemon on it) & Mongolian veggies with a little teriyaki sauce on it.

Day 12:

1. 2 Breakfast bars from Day 7 & a bunch of grapes
2. Fazoi's Cherry, Apple Almond salad (tiny drizzle of dressing, no meat or cheese)
3. Corn on the cob, mashed potatoes w/ Stuffed Pepper (no ground turkey and used Daiya vegan cheese). 
4. Late snack of Cookie dough (I was out of maple syrup so I used honey.  I also accidentally added way too much vanilla so I may try this one again later but it was too sweet this time!)

Day 13:

1. Bing cherries and homemade pancakes.  The original recipe has been a favorite of ours for a long time, however, it is not vegan so I modified it for us. 
2. Stuffed pepper from Day 12
3. Bellacino's Veggie Salad (no cheese but added pepperocini)
4. Late snack of 2 pancakes

 Instant Pancakes:
2Tbsp of chia seeds soaked in 6Tbsp of water for 10 minutes
2 cups of Almond Milk
4Tbsp of homemade Applesauce (can use organic pure applesauce with no additives)
2 cups of the "Instant Pancake Mix" (dry ingredients mixture)
2 cups of fresh fruit or vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cooking time and all the dry ingredients are the same except I use organic cane sugar for the sugar instead of granulated, everything else is as on the original recipe.

Recipes Thus Far

Some of you have asked me where I have gotten my recipes.  I will post all the recipes I have used so far and will continue to post them as I use them.  Some of the recipes I had to change because they didn't fit in with my eating regime so I will post the source and any changes I made to make the recipe fit my new eating.

Green Smoothies

All the green smoothies I have made so far have come from the book Green Smoothie Joy.  I have made Blue Banana Green Smoothie, Berry & Melon Green Smoothie, Pineapple Detox Green Smoothie, Zingy Spring Green Smoothie, Orange & Go Green Smoothie, Breakfast Treat Green Smoothie.

Homemade Spaghetti Stew

I got this idea from my friend Dustin.  Not sure if the way I made it was exactly like his.

Ingredients:

Small amount of Wildtree Grapeseed Oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tomatoes, diced
1/2 Onion, diced
1lb of Organic Black Beans (could either use a 15.5oz can or you could soak dry beans and cook them to add)
Jar of homemade spaghetti sauce (size of the jar doesn't matter, will just make it more or less saucy)
Brown Rice

Directions:

Put the small amount of Grapeseed Oil in a pan and brown the minced garlic and diced onions.  Once they are browned, place them in a sauce pan along with all the other ingredients and bring to a boil.  Once you have brought it to a boil, simmer until it is the desired thickness.  I cooked mine for about 20 minutes and it was the thickness I wanted.  While your stew is cooking, make brown rice.  I used a rice cooker which made it easy.  I put 2 cups of brown rice in the rice cooker and put in water 1" over the top of the rice.  The rice cooker takes about 20 minutes so you may want to start this before you start your stew to save time.

Breakfast Bars

I got this recipe from Oh She Glows.  I did everything she did except I did not add any additional dry sweetener to it.  We loved it without the sweetener here.  Little Moochie wanted some cookie butter on top but we just added a little to his.

10 Day Fasting

Some of you know me and have been following my story.  For those that haven't, I will give details of the reason for my 10 day fast and the outcome.

To make a long story short, I have had 2 miscarriages in the past 10 months.  My doctor did genetic testing and the results were inconclusive.  She suggested that I change my diet as there may be something that is causing this to occur.  There is no way to know this 100% but it made me think about the quality of the food I was eating.

I did a lot of research, asked a lot of very educated people in the subject and searched through tons of diets and options.  I decided to give The Maker's Diet a try as a start.  It was a 10-Day fasting diet plan based on the Biblical way that Daniel and his 3 friends ate when under the King's rule.  They ate what came from the ground.  Pure fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, etc.  I had also been considering a Nutritionist diet (very similar to a vegan diet but with limited to no processed foods).

The Maker's Diet included more than just eating differently, it asked that you fast from modern technologies (distractions from what is real).  I decided to take this challenge as well with the exception of cell phone for calls and text only.

I got 2 days into this fasting program and was literally gagging.  The lack of food and variety was not working for me.  I'm one that needs variety in my diet.  I have never been able to eat the same thing over and over.  In fact, I have a hard time with leftovers because it is the same thing two days in a row.  I can do it if I really like something but have a hard time otherwise.

I talked with my very knowledgeable friend who is living a Nutritionist diet and he encouraged me to dump the fast and just eat a whole foods based diet.  From Day 3 on, I did just that and I have continued and feel great about it.  I lost 5 pounds in the 10 days and feel like I have more energy, have less headaches, less stomach upset and heartburn, etc.

Here is what I have eaten thus far:

Day 1:

1. An apple, handful of almonds and handful of pistachios
2. Lettuce greens mix, brocolli, celery & salsa for dressing
3. Large bunch of grapes, an avocado, and a handful of almonds

After this day, I felt pretty crappy.  Was super hungry all day, moody and had trouble falling asleep.

Day 2:

1.  A pear, 1/2 avocado and soaked almonds
2. 1/2 head of romaine lettuce, red pepper, tomato, 1/2 avocado and salsa for dressing
3. A coconut and an apple

Still felt crappy and decided this was not a plan that I could sustain for 10 days.  There was too little food and the preparation for several different meals just wasn't working for me.

Day 3:

1.  Green smoothie
2. 1/2 head of romaine, cucumber, grapes, cherries, soy bits (Bac'Uns), chia seeds and strawberry balsamic vinegar dressing.
3. Brown rice with a homemade stew made of homemade spaghetti sauce, tomato, organic black beans and a side dish of grapefruit.

I felt like I had more energy and could fall asleep easily in the evening.

Day 4:

1. Green smoothie
2. Same salad as Day 3 and some leftover stew meal from the evening of Day 3 and some strawberries.
3. Avocado tacos w/ Daiya cheese, athena melon and pineapple
4. Late night snack of brown rice, almond milk and Wildtree Coconut mixin  

Still felt great.  Continued to research on vitamin lack if I remained on this type of eating habit and found there could be lack of Vitamin B-12 and needs supplement but I am already on a doctor recommended supplement for this deficiency.

Day 5:

1. Green smoothie & 1/2 grapefruit
2. Spinach & romaine mix, snap peas, cucumber, grapes, cherries, and Strawberry balsamic dressing, an avocado taco and some mini sweet peppers
3. Avocado taco, athena melon and pineapple

 Still feeling great with lots of energy.

Day 6:

1. Green smoothie
2. Pear, snap peas, roasted peppers, homemade raisins and 2 carrots
3. Stew from Day 3 over brown rice and a peach
4. Late snack of brown rice with almond milk and Wildtree Coconut mixin

 This is the dreaded Day 6 I was warned about.  I was warned that on Day 6 I would feel miserable, possibly feverish and horrible.  It was true.  I felt like I would be sick all day.  I had a fever that ended in fever blisters and a horrible headache.  My body was detoxing.  I was getting cleaned from the inside out.

Day 7:

1. Breakfast bars (recipe link to come)
2. Moe's salad with veggies, black beans and salsa for dressing
3. HuHot salad and cooked veggies over brown rice

 Back to feeling great again!

Day 8:

1. 1.5 breakfast bars
2. Snap peas, mini peppers, stew from Day 3 over brown rice
3. Cherries, whole grain tortilla with homemade peanut butter and sliced apples
4. Late snack of Juice Plus+ Nutrition bar 

Tons more energy and was able to garden, clean, cook and still feel like I could keep going.

Day 9:

1. Green smoothie and strawberries
2. 6" Subway veggie on 9-grain bread
3. 6" Subway veggie on 9-grain bread
4. Late snack of sweet potato/white bean burger with avocado and a breakfast bar.

Still feeling great!

Day 10:

1. Whole grain bagel from Bread Co.
2. Sweet potato/white bean burger on tortilla with spinach and avocado and a side of strawberries
3. Oatmeal with raisins and pecans
4. Late snack of a whole cucumber

 This was the day that I had to decide if I was going to continue this or go back to what I was eating before.  Remembering the detox day, I decided there must be something good about this way of eating and decided to stick it out.  I want to eat the best I can and improve my quality of life more and more each day.  

My friend Dustin at http://www.pursueahealthyyou.com/ has been a HUGE help in this transition that I feel is the way to go for me.  I don't know that this will fix my fertility issues but it sure can't hurt.  My biggest encouragement to everyone out there is do your research.  Look for SEVERAL clinical studies that show good results from whatever plan you choose, not just something that looks good or something someone told you worked for them.  Please, educate yourself on what is wise and nutritious for you to eat and why.  If you have any questions or doubts then there is more research to be done.  It is really important that you chose something that can be a lifestyle change for you, not just a temporary fix.

That is my story thus far.  I have lost 5 lbs in the 10 days but my goal was a healthier, happier me which I feel I am on my way to achieving!  By the way, I felt great not being on all the social media for 10 days.  I was able to spend more quality time with my family, get more done and care for my nephews while their mommy got to enjoy a much needed vacation with her mother.  Remember to spend time with your family and put the media aside for later.  Your kids grow up so fast and you never know what your future holds to take the time while you have it and enjoy the life you are actually living.