"Detox": Day Three

My new favorite thing:  Breakfast smoothies.

The babe and I have been loving them - introducing all sorts of fun ingredients but sticking with that same basic recipe.  We've added in frozen raspberries, ginger, spinach (you can't taste it!), unsweetened apple juice, blueberries, peaches.  Yum yum yum.

Second favorite thing:  Homemade granola.  (Recipe at the bottom!)

The "detox" in general has been going well, though my mom laughed at me today when I told her what we've been eating - You're not really doing a cleanse, are you?  Well, perhaps not in the traditional sense, but I'm not going to spend 7 days eating just cabbage soup.  I'm still sticking to the goals I set for myself, and I think I'm doing a pretty good job of it, if I do say so myself.

I had a wicked caffeine/sugar withdrawal headache the first night and into the second day, but I just kept drinking more water, and eventually it went away - thank goodness because at one point I did think that my head was actually going to explode.  Just goes to show how much my body's gotten used to the caffeine and sugar.  While I can't see myself going cold turkey for any extended length of time, I hope this will help me change the balance a little - more water, less caffeine.

I've been loving all the time in the kitchen cooking up yummy healthy vegetarian meals, though I did buy some chicken today at the farmers market for when I'm back to eating meat.  We had friends over last night, and I made some delicious whole wheat crust for our veggie pizzas.  While the lack of cheese made it difficult for my veggies to hang on to the pizza, it was quite delicious.

Drinking more water has been shockingly challenging - I just forget!  But I'm working on it.  And I've got plenty of energy for cooking, playing the wii, doing yoga, and bathing the Jamster.

And now, for the homemade granola recipe!

Easy granola recipe
Adapted (ever so slightly) from our dear Vermont ladies' granola

7 cups rolled oats
1 cup each:
    toasted unsweetened coconut (I toast it myself)
    wheat germ
    sliced almonds
    pecans
    sunflower seeds
    pumpkin seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup oil (I use olive oil)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Mix all of the ingredients in a pan (maybe two pans) and bake for 3-4 hours, stirring once every hour.
Your house will smell amazing.

Weekend Yummies

It's finals time again. Sigh.

In my book, there's no better way to waste time than cooking.*

And this time of year, what's better than roasted root vegetables? Nothing.

If you too are in the finals way, you can take a study break and cut vegetables for about 30 minutes, pop them in the oven and enjoy the amazing smells. Then about an hour later, you've got glorious, melt-in-your mouth vegies. Yum.

This one's so simple, it doesn't really need a recipe.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut up your favorite root vegetables, and put them in a baking pan. Douse them in olive oil and spices (we like simple - salt, pepper, rosemary) and toss them around to make sure they're all covered. Then bake for 1 - 1 1/2 hours - until everything is nice and soft.

You can use whatever roots you'd like. In this one, we used the things that were in season at the farmers market - sweet potatoes, turnips, radishes, beets, onions, and threw in some brussels sprouts about 20 minutes in for good measure.

It was delicious, and the leftovers made me and the babe the envy of all of our friends at the lunch table.

*Except, of course, surfing the interwebs in a restless and dissatisfied fashion.

Weekday Yummies

Stop what you're doing. Now.

Go get an acorn squash and some apple cider.

I'll wait.



Welcome back.

Follow this recipe. You can thank me later.

Braised Squash

Adapted from Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Ingredients:

1 acorn squash

1 tablespoon butter (or margarine for those who can't handle lactose)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cup apple cider (I used unsweetened from the farmers market)

some rosemary to taste

1. Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds and gunk. Make sure you really scrape it clean on the inside.

2. Cut the squash into chunks and peel. I peeled after cutting because it's hard to get into all those little crannies.

3. Melt butter or margarine in a saucepan over medium heat and throw in some rosemary. I used dried because it's what we had at home, but I'm sure it would be best with fresh.

4. Breathe in deeply. Mmmm....

5. Throw in the squash, and let it cook for about 3 minutes.

6. Pour in the apple cider and salt and increase heat as necessary until it boils.

7. Cover and reduce heat. Allow to lightly simmer for about 30 minutes or until liquid has been reduced to a glaze.

8. Now might be a good time to start composing that thank you letter.

9. Come back and witness the buttery sweet goodness.

You're welcome.

Weekend Yummies

The Babe and I have been talking about picking raspberries all summer, and we finally made it out yesterday to two local farms to pick some apples and raspberries. It was a gorgeous day, and we had a wonderful time.

And behold some of the fruits of our labor





Yum.

We froze a bunch of raspberries, and we'll freeze some apples.

But first I made a DELICIOUS apple raspberry cobbler.



Just look at that yummy goodness.

Here's the recipe - adapted from my mama's peach cobber recipe.

Quick note - the babe has some dietary restrictions, so there may be some ingredients in here that you're not familiar with. If you're feeling bold, you can try them out. But if not, you can stick with the old standards.

Ingredients:

3 large apples or 5 small apples
1 pint raspberries
1 cup xylitol (or 1 cup sugar)
3/4 cup spelt flour (or 3/4 cup all-purpose flour)
3/4 cup soymilk (or 1 cup regular milk)
1 stick butter or margarine
2 tsp baking powder

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Peel and core the apple and cut into chunks. I used an apple corer for mine and then just cut each piece into 3 pieces. Put the chunks into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for about 6-7 minutes or until the apples are somewhat soft and some juice has developed in the bottom of the bowl. Set aside.

Melt the butter/margarine in a 9 x 9 baking dish in the microwave. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, xylitol, soymilk, and baking powder. Pour into the melted butter. DO NOT STIR. Next pour in the apples and then the raspberries. Again, do not stir.

Bake uncovered for approximately one hour. Yummy when served with ice cream or soy ice cream!