Clean Days 1 - 3 (Take 3, I think!)

So while I have not talked about it the last few days we are back on the clean program.  Third times the charm, right?  In order to help curb some of our cravings we have upped the amount and variety of food we are eating a little and adding "clean" desserts.  I haven't really weighed myself over the past few days or anything but I'll probably give a general update some time over the weekend for all my stats.  So what I have been eating?

Monday (Day 1)

AM - Mango & Coconut Milk Smoothie + vitamin/supplements
Lunch - Hummus Crusted Chicken with Rosemary and Lemon; Steamed Broccoli & Asparagus; Chocolate Cupcake (NOT clean) + supplements
Snack - Watermelon & Cherry Popsicle
PM - Berry Smoothie with Coconut Milk & Cinnamon

Tuesday (Day 2)

AM - Energy Smoothie with Almond Butter & Cardamom + vitamin/supplements
Lunch - Stir-Fried Vegetables & Chicken with Buckwheat Noodles; Watermelon + supplements
Snack - Watermelon & Cherry Popsicle
PM - Mango & Coconut Milk Smoothie
Snack - Coconut Seduction Brownie w/cherries

Wednesday (Day 3)

AM - Blueberry, Carob, & Almond Milk Smoothie + vitamin/supplements
Lunch - Grilled Chicken Breast with Grilled Vegetables; Coconut Seduction Brownie w/cherries + supplements
PM - Mango & Coconut Milk Smoothie; Few pieces of Watermelon

I also consumed 75 to 100 oz of water, or water w/lemon & mint, and 17 oz coconut water.

As you can plainly see we have upped the amount of food we are eating and we are adding the hemp protein to all of the smoothies.  I'm also now consuming at least one coconut water a day due to the heat.  I did slip up a little on Monday when I ate that cupcake, but I just couldn't bring myself to throw it away.  It was the only one we had left over from the holiday weekend so I figured one cupcake is far from the end of the world.  Last night we also ate the coconut seduction brownies after dinner which wasn't ideal but we didn't make them until later (had to make our own coconut milk first) and I wanted to try one warm.  Today the one I had was cold and still just as good, although as with regular brownies you can't beat a warm one.  I say a warm because you don't actually bake the coconut seduction brownies and they don't really taste like a brownie.  They taste different, but still just as delicious, especially paired with the fresh bing cherries.  You got that great combination of salty and sweet.  We also made the Popsicles ourselves so they would be "clean."  The recipes for both are below and I would suggest you give them a try.  They are simple, healthy, guilt-free, light and delicious - perfect for summer!  Most of the ingredients we used below were organic.

Coconut Seduction Brownies (serves 4)

• 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 cup walnuts
• 2 tablespoons brown rice syrup
• Pinch of Sea Salt
• Sprinkle of cinnamon
• 1/4 cup water (just enough to thin)
• 1/4 cup carob or cacao (we used cacao powder)
• 1/4 cup protein powder (we used organic hemp)
• 1 tablespoon coconut butter
• 1 tablespoon raw nut butter (almond, cashew, hazelnut, etc.) - we used almond
• 1 cup wild organic cherries for garnish sliced in half (we used bing)

Blend in a food processor until a smooth dough forms.  Next press the dough into a square pan (we actually used 4 ramekins lined with plastic wrap) and slice into sections, you can serve immediately when they're soft and delicious (and slightly warm from mixing) or store at room temperature or in the fridge for bars that stay soft and full of rich chocolate flavor.

Watermelon & Cherry Popsicles (makes 4)

• 1/4 Seedless Watermelon, cut into pieces (minus the rind)
• 20 Bing Cherries

Use either a blender or a juicer to puree the watermelon.  We used our juicer so we didn't have to worry about removing/any stray seeds!  Cut the cherries into halves and remove the pits.  Divide the cherries equally into 4 Popsicle molds and then top of the watermelon puree.  Put in the freezer until frozen solid, about 3 to 4 hours, and enjoy!  


Obviously the Popsicle recipe above can be adjusted so you have enough for how ever many Popsicle molds you have (if you don't have Popsicle molds and don't want to buy any just use an ice cube tray!), and based on the size of your watermelon.  I also found this to be a bit sweet so next time I think we will also add the juice of one lime.  You could also use a variety of fruits and the variation is practically endless.  Plus the best part is that they are much better for you than the Popsicles you would buy at the store because they don't contain extra sugar, food coloring, etc!  We currently have some coconut milk/coconut flake Popsicles in the freezer and I can't wait to see how they turn out.

Today on my way home from work I got a new product at the store (Whole Foods), Badger Anti-Bug Balm.  I bought it because this weekend while I was out weeding I got at least 10 mosquito bites.  It is citronella & rosemary scented and certified USDA organic.  Obviously its also DEET free. It also scores a 0 in the EWG database!  I'll write more about it once I've had a chance to try it and out see how well it really works.  I'm also expecting some new soap and toothpaste to arrive tomorrow so I'll probably be talking about all these items over the next few days.  Interestingly enough while talking to my mom on the phone tonight about all this she started saying how "oh this product is terrible, and oh you shouldn't use that."  I just thought to myself why didn't you ever tell me this?  Although I guess that explains where I get my hippie ways...

Change!

So I'm going to be changing the way and what I blog about.  First off, I'm changing the title and layout (although you probably already noticed that!).  While I was originally just going to talk about my journey through clean I'm going to start branching out and talk about how we are going to "clean" or detox our lives, talking more about food in general, and sharing some healthy and not so healthy recipes.

So whats happened since my last entry with clean?  Not a whole lot.  I made the decision on Friday to go off the program for the weekend.  Mostly because I knew it would be too hard for me to resist a hamburger on Memorial Day.  I had my hamburger smothered in cheese sauce and I have to say I made the right choice!  Although I also ate a ton of watermelon and cherries too.  Nothing makes me happier than all the fresh fruit in summer.  I also took the opportunity to make some chili (recipe below).  One thing I have noticed though since being on and off clean is that my cravings have all but ended.  While I still want things, say a Krispy Kreme donut, if I really think about it in my head yes I do want it, but I don't crave it and can now realize I just don't need it and move on.  I even had a cookie (oatmeal raisin from the Whole Foods bakery) the other day that I ended up just throwing away because I found it was way too sweet for me now.  Food is just starting to taste different, but in a good way.  I can also no longer stand the taste of soda (regular/zero/diet) so I just stick to water, coconut water, or tea (that we make), which is better anyway.  Tomorrow though we were back on clean.

So our chili recipe is below, I don't claim to be an expert or anything and we are constantly changing it.  Also while we used canned tomatoes this past time we will probably switch that due to the fact that they are now finding BPA in canned vegetables.  I think the next we make this I will try just buying some organic tomatoes, cutting them in half and roasting them on the grill and then crushing them and adding them to the chili.  You could easily cut this in half or freeze it for later.

Chili Recipe - Makes 6 hearty portions or 8 regular portions

• 1 large onion, diced 
• 3 to 4 cloves of organic garlic, diced
• 1 1b of grass-feed organic ground beef (other options in include organic turkey (if trying to cut the fat) or lamb, or a combination of them.  You can go vegetarian just by increasing the beans)
• 8 oz organic black beans (dry that have soaked overnight)
• 8 oz organic kidney beans (dry that have soaked overnight)
• 2 28 oz cans of Fire Roasted Crushed Tomatoes (we use Muir Glen Organic)
• 1 Organic Beef, Turkey, Chicken or Vegetable Stock (we only use this if the beans start to soak up too much liquid and add it as needed to give us the consistency we like)
• 3 to 5 thai green or habanero chilies, diced 
• 1 package of frozen organic corn (we use frozen because you can also find it)
• Chili Powder
• Cayenne Red Chili Powder
• Cumin
• Coriander
• Hot Sauce
• Sea Salt
• Ground Pepper
• Olive Oil

Start by sautéing the onion, chilies and garlic in a small amount of olive oil in a hot pan.  After a few minutes add the meat and brown until fully cooked.  We also add in a few dashes of the spices (chili powder, cayenne, cumin, coriander, pepper & a couple shakes of hot sauce) at this time to help add flavor to the meat itself.  We don't really measure anything, we just do it based on our own taste, generally just two or three shakes at this point.  Once it is done remove the pan from the heat and drain off any fat/excess liquid.  We then place the meat into a large Crockpot and add the beans, frozen corn & canned tomatoes.  At this time we will also add additional spices (chili powder, cayenne, cumin, coriander, pepper & a couple shakes of hot sauce) to the sauce and mix everything together.  We will then set the Crockpot to high and leave it for the next 6 to 8 hours (or however long it takes the beans to fully cook - you'll know when they are done, theres nothing worst than the taste of an undercooked bean!) checking on it every hour or so.  If you don't have a Crockpot you could easily leave it simmering on the stove (I used to make mine in a large dutch oven).  As it cooks we add the stock as needed when we check on it to get the correct consistency and to keep it from drying out.  Towards the end we will once again adjust the spices and add salt to taste.  You may find that you need more salt than you would normally add to things since the only ingredient you added that contained some level of salt was the tomatoes.

In a previous entry I talked about the fact that we were looking to try a protein powder that wasn't soy, wheat or egg based (sticking with the elimination diet).  We ended up buying Nutiva organic hemp protein powder (it also has the addition of fiber).  Although we also found a brown rice protein powder we may try as well.  While it changes the color of our smoothies to something that resembles a swamp, I have to say its not bad.  In our smoothies that contain cinnamon or other spices you don't even notice it.  It fruit smoothies it adds a nutty flavor which is nice since we often use almond milk.

In addition to just doing the clean program and being stricter about what we buy (we have now almost switched over to purchasing everything we can organic) I decided its time to start phasing out all our old cleaning products and beauty products, etc as they need to be replaced.  A great starting resource is the EWG Skin Deep Cosemtics Database (EWG = Environmental Working Group).  As almost everyone knows trying to determine what is good and bad at the store as far as anything from toothpaste to shampoo can be confusing as all get out.  Especially with so many companies using terms like "natural" on packaging for everything these days.  The other problem is many brands that people just think are safe and purchase blindy, such as Tom's of Maine or Burt's Bees are now owned by larger companies who have changed the original formulas and made them just as toxic as everything else on the market.  So while you think you are getting a better product, and generally paying a higher price, the sad truth is you aren't.  Over the weekend I tried to research four things I knew needed to be replaced:  toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo/conditioner & body wash.  Now I thought it would be pretty easy, boy was I wrong - especially when it came to the shampoo and conditioner.  Everything is either toxic or cost $30 a bottle (for the shampoo I'm just looking into making our own).  As we get things and try them out I'll let you know how they work out.  

Trying to be an informed consumer is just exhausting!