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The Cleanse: Would You Dare Do It Again?

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In an effort to keep the ball rolling, I made this black quinoa breakfast cereal form Whole Living’s Bonus Week recipes. I prepared it in pieces and packed it for lunch in individual containers shown here. I added the milk during my lunch break, popped it in the microwave, added the honey, almonds and avocado, et voila! I had a filling, nutritious, flavorful hot lunch. A student of mine who opts out of the cafeteria to hang out with me in my classroom during his lunch period helped me finish it, and even he liked it: “This shit be betta than cornflakes, Ms. Seilheimer!” So if you are the type to shy away from unfamiliar grains, you should definitely give this dish a try. It’s simple, satisfying and “betta than cornflakes” apparently.

One of my readers left me a comment asking me if I had saved any money while doing the cleanse. So, here are numbers:

October: $209 on groceries + $195 on restaurants =  $404

November: $278 on groceries + $150 on restaurants = $428

December: $255 on groceries + $114 = $369 (note: was at home for a week for the holidays eating other people’s food)

JANUARY (cleanse month):  $295 + $45 on restaurants = $340

Keep in mind that I live in Chicago and that I do most of my shopping at Whole Foods (or Whole Paycheck, what my boyfriend calls it). I am not about to argue that this cleanse is cost-efficient, but what it did do was keep me from eating out as often to cook at home more which is always the cheaper option, cleansing or not. However, I would be interested to see how these changes in food costs from month to month might be different if it was the season for farmers markets as they tend to be pretty pricey in the city.

Now five days out of the cleanse, I see new eating habits maintaining. I stick to a fruit smoothie for breakfast, I keep with some of the recipes from Whole Living and read ingredients much more carefully at the grocery store (I spent an hour in Trader Joe’s yesterday only to spend about $50 because of all the reading I was doing). I have allowed a couple things to slide, like when I ate an entire package of graham crackers on my drive home from work yesterday to put the 5:00 p.m. ravenous hunger beast at rest while in a traffic jam. However, this you-could-have-done-much-worse binge left me with an even more ravenous stomach ache of nausea and guilt. I should know better, right? And in comes my trouble with cleanses in general…

In some cases when the detox regiment is unrealistic to maintain permanently, I believe detoxes can be used as a fancy way to yo-yo diet without calling it such. The whole idea behind a cleanse is to clear out all of the crap. Once one has met their three-week mark, what do you think they do on Day 22? They celebrate. They eat sugar. They devour gluten. In other words, they put the same crap back into their bodies. They comfort themselves with the idea of doing another cleanse when they deem necessary. They fill up the bucket with more and more water because it will eventually tip over and empty itself out. For example, Beyonce’s lemon, pepper and honey drink cleanse. You see quick results in just two weeks, but during those two weeks you learn nothing about making wise substitutes in recipes, you aren’t exposed to new ingredients nor are you taking charge in a kitchen in which you might feel slightly uncomfortable. It’s a quick fix, not a learning experience. You gain results, but not skills.

That is why I chose The Whole Living Action Plan 2012. It was challenging but reasonable, it introduced me to foods I had not cooked with before and it made me feel much more prepared for Day 22 and beyond. I learned new recipes, I experimented with my food processor and I am now the boss in my own kitchen (and sometimes even my boyfriends). The only thing I didn’t gain from this cleanse was the an excuse as to why I can’t keep a good thing going even after it all comes to an end.

Looking ahead: February is here, and it is time to set a new intention for the month. Keep an eye out for Month #2 of setting intentions in 2012 by the end of the week!

The Cleanse Day 21: So, Tomorrow I Get to Eat Pizza, Right?

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We are here! We made it! The last day of the cleanse! And I feel….a little sad.Three weeks of dedication, and for what? To inevitably and slowly slip into my old lifestyle of occasionally binging on Kraft macaroni and cheese with a side of double-stuff Oreos? (Don’t act like you haven’t done it.) With a little more recipe research and intentional grocery shopping, I am hoping to say “adios” to the days of powdered cheese for good.

Being on a cleanse was the perfect excuse for me to turn down those opportune foods I knew I really didn’t want, but was probably going to put into my mouth anyway. But with the cleanse at its end, what excuse do I have now? “Oh, I’m sorry, I was on a cleanse once and I learned ALL about how awful that thing you’re about to eat and enjoy is for your body sooooooo, I will have to pass.” Yah, that won’t make me seem pretentious at all.

On the rare occasion I am not on a cleanse and still turn down a slice of my coworker’s birthday cake, it seems there is an invisible but heavy baggage attached to my healthy choice: guilt. Guilt for not taking part in the celebration everyone else is having, guilt for turning down a dish into which someone put thought of effort and, last but not least, guilt for making everyone else in the room feel like fat asses for accepting that same slice of cake without much thought. Trust me, I hear how messed up that sounds (I feel bad because I am healthy and not everyone around me is), but it’s the truth. If you don’t believe me, pack a bell pepper in your lunch, pull it out in front of your coworkers and start eating it like an apple. You’ll be made fun of more for your healthy choice than encouraged.

On a more positive note, my last official detox dinner was fantastic. We baked a salmon filet on a bed of lemon and thyme skin side up at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. We also baked sweet potatoes and steamed asparagus for the side dishes. Normally, I would serve this dinner with roasted redskin potatoes rather than sweet potatoes, but the rich flavor of the sweet potato eliminates the urge to cover my starch with butter. We steamed the asparagus rather than baking it so as to keep the entire meal oil free. Simple, time efficient and well-balanced flavors. It was an excellent way to close out January’s intention: detox.

My next post will address several of the comments I have received from readers throughout the cleanse, why I chose this cleanse and how cost-efficient my new cooking lifestyle has been this month. Stay tuned (and healthy)!

The Cleanse Day 18: Pesto Without Cheese? Are You Insane?

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Before the cleanse, I was constantly eating pasta. However, now that I am 18 days in, the same sad stack of Trader Joe’s ravioli lies dormant in the dark corner of my freezer, wondering when I am going to choose a package of carbs rather than a bag of frozen fruit before sealing them in that frigid gloom yet again. Little do these frozen nuggets know that it’s a long three days before we reunite…

In the meantime, I have found a recipe for a pasta dish to tie me over, and it even includes pesto. Nora, you might ask, how are you going to have pesto without cheese? Easy, I would reply, just use broccoli instead. Now, I won’t lie to you. This broccoli-based pesto is a bit of a reach from the real thing, but it is just as satisfying and worth at least one try. You are also going to want to make sure you have the right amount of basil, if not more. I did not and I think that made my pesto less flavorful. The lemon juice and garlic will also be important to have in order to combat this risk of slightly dull-tasting pesto. I would make sure to add these ingredients to taste. While this dish was tasty, I felt like it was missing something, perhaps a tang. I wanted to add sun-dried tomatoes to the dish for an extra zing, but the ones I had on hand were not cleanse-friendly. Worth looking into the next time around. Let me know how you doctored up this dish to make it more dynamic!

The Cleanse Day 17: Miso Sorry…

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Last night I had a dream about three pizza delivery guys (one from Pizza Hut, one from Giordano’s and one from Hungry Howies’s) arriving at my door at exactly the same time, hot pies in hand. These guys didn’t even make me pay for it. They just watched me devour one slice after the other while perched on the front stoop of my apartment building like a migratory bird preparing for winter, admiring both my skill and speed. The Hungry Howie’s guy even applauded me. I woke up salivating. Needless to say, I am really looking forward to actually devouring a  pizza slice by slice in less than four days.

Soup for two

To keep these cheesy-tomato sauce-garlic-buttery-crust cravings from Italy at bay, my detox-partner-in-crime and I steered our culinary boat further East to Japan where we prepared our first miso soup. I am typically not taken aback by miso soup when out on a sushi date (do I drink it? slurp it? or continue to spoon it and splash it all over my new shirt?). However, the chickpeas, carrots, celery and broccoli in this recipe make this dish much more dynamic and hearty. Again, another easy-to-prepare dinner with plenty left over for lunch the next day.

With the cleanse nearing its close, I have been brainstorming ways to integrate the basic principles of the cleanse into my daily routine. I feel more energized, I am more productive at work and I have even lost a few pounds. I have expanded horizon after horizon in the kitchen and feel more in tune with the delicate intricacies of how my body works. Whole Living suggests that I keep a food journal to detect what foods irritate my system once the cleanse is over. With a clean slate on Day 22 these bothersome foods should be easy to identify. I really hope pizza is not one of those foods…

The Cleanse Day 16: Week Three is Egg-cellent!

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Week 3 brings back eggs and grains! In celebration, my detox-partner-in-crime and I hard boiled a dozen eggs to keep us on track. These have turned into an easy, filling snack to keep on hand or add to any salad for a little extra flavor and texture. We also experimented with gluten-free bread. We have since heard many horror stories about gluten-free bread from friends about how it just doesn’t taste the same, but we were more than satisfied with our little loaf of Udi’s Gluten Free Whole Grain Bread. Perhaps the cleanse has changed our taste buds for the better, but we could not believe how similar it tasted to the bread we were used to. It was a smaller loaf, and not as dense, but just as delicious.

Week 3 has also brought a new smoothie: Avocado Vanilla Pear smoothie. I about lost it when I spooned the green, creamy goodness out of the blender and into my mouth for the first taste test. Not only was it divine, but it tasted like a DESSERT, my favorite part of the day which has been missing now for 16 straight days! Whole Living magazine lists this smoothie as a breakfast item, but honestly you could have it for any meal of the day. I plan on sticking it in the freezer the next time I make in hopes of it substituting as a frozen yogurt of sorts. You would be a fool to not try this smoothie at least once. Seriously. Note: When I make mine, I skip the ice (did it on accident the first time around). This makes it texture more like yogurt.

Making fruit and nut energy balls

Ballin'!

I have also been spreading this recipe for fruit and nut energy balls like mad. They are super easy to make and keep up to 5-7 days, even longer when stored in the fridge. This recipe is also easy to make your own, adding your favorite fruits and nuts to make them extra special. I added natural peanut butter to the mix (per the comments left by readers below the recipe) to make the balls easier to, well, ball. If you aren’t crazy about rolling your fruit and nut energy balls in sesame seeds, try flax seeds or pumpkin seeds instead. I plan to make these regularly and keep them stashed in my desk to fight those early evening cravings. You might get teased by your coworkers (like I did) for eating bird food, but offering them one will shut them right up. Enjoy!

Yum!

The Cleanse Day 11: “I Think I just Broke My Detox…”

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Ugh, readers, don’t hate me. But I did it. Yup. I broke the cleanse. For my (lame) excuses continue to paragraph 2. To skip such excuses, move on to the last paragraph.

Yoga and Lake Sonoma

Ok. My girlfriends and I have been planning this trip to San Francisco for quite some time, well before the cleanse was even imagined. In December we talked about making a girls trip to Sonoma and Napa Valley for the obvious: wine. Upon arrival, I bargained with myself, “If you stick to the cleanse the rest of the trip, it is perfectly acceptable to enjoy some wine with these lovely ladies. I mean, the wine is LOCAL.” Without anyone there to tell me no, and after getting the thumbs up from my detox-partner-in-crime via text, I was on my way to a beautiful Californian buzz (as well as some drunken yoga along Lake Sonoma pictured above).

Yet, wine soon became my gateway drug to another binge of sorts on my last morning in the city at Tartine, a perfectly divine bakery in the The Mission. And wouldn’t it be nice if I could list one baked good I devoured and not look like such a jerk? Sadly, I can not, as we ordered many different flaky, creamy, buttery and powdery delectables off the menu, rotating the plates between the four of us the best we could. I almost cried when I bit into the ham and cheese croissant.

“Nora, what’s wrong? You don’t like it?”

“I just…I…I just haven’t had cheese in SO LONG!”

Then, before I knew it, I was back on a plane turning down the complimentary juice I knew had added sugar and the snack I knew had preservatives.

Now, what I am about to explain might mean nothing more to you, as the reader, than this blogger’s weak attempt at justifying her inability to hold herself accountable to a 21 day cleanse in the toughest of circumstances. However, I would still like to argue that, even though I technically broke the cleanse, sharing wine and croissants with college friends who now live far, far away, is its own kind of cleanse. The conversations we held while shoved in to a crowded corner at Tartine, were not conversations I could have just anywhere with just anyone. It felt unexpectedly necessary to open up to other human beings. Surrounded by friends who saw me through some of my darkest times and still love me today despite it all, spurred the same rejuvenating and healthful results any old cleanse would, but better. Like a cleanse of the soul, if you will. So, no. I do not feel guilty about a little wine, a (few) baked good(s).

The ladies at Lambert Winery

My girlfriend, Bridgett, who played hostess for us the whole weekend, outdid herself in the kitchen (per usual). She is almost done with her natural chef program so she had many raw and cleanse-friendly dishes with which to fill our bellies all weekend long. My favorite dish was the raw chocolate brownie found in Snog: Healthy Treats Cookbook which you should definitely thumb through the next time you hit up your local bookstore or, for you modern day folk, amazon.com.

Here are a few other books from Bridgett’s bookshelf you should check out:

Good to the Grain

Intolerant Gourmet

Super Natural Every Day

Cooking Under Pressure

 

The Cleanse Day 8: Beans! Beans! The Musical Fruit!

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Week 2 is officially here and I am not quite sure what to do with myself. Adding fish and beans to the ol’ fruits and veggies diet expands horizon after horizon in my newly found culinary life. Aside from the obvious increase in choice of ingredients, I am excited for a new texture to dance on my palette. So, go ahead and judge me for being loony for legumes, my detox partner-in-crime and I will feast like KINGS!

This weekend also marks our first opportunity to take our cleanse on the road; I am going to San Francisco to visit some girlfriends from college, my detox partner is headed to DC to see friends and family. Thus far, the cleanse has been an excellent excuse to refuse the leftover donuts in the teacher workroom or kindly turn down my boyfriend’s roommate’s excess birthday cupcakes. “Oh, I can’t. I’m on a cleanse.” Or, “Gosh, I would kill for some frosting, but I don’t think it’s cleanse-friendly.” However, turning down that same donut in a drunken rage after a night out on the town with girlfriends I do not get to see nearly enough, now, that’s a different story. Oh cleanse god(dess), give us strength…

To kick off Week 2 on a work-filled school night, we steered away from the cookbook and created our own concoction, the Lime Bean Salad. I won’t begin to tell you what portions you need for each ingredient as that should be adjusted to the liking of the consumer of such a dish, but my recommendations would be the following: black beans, garbanzo beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, lime juice and cilantro. After my first test taste it hit me that this is a delicious summer dish meant to be devoured on a sun-covered patio accompanied by a light, summer ale. Eating it in the midst of a Chicago winter just made me want to hop on the first plane to, oh, I don’t know, San Francisco? :) Enjoy!

 

 

The Cleanse Day 7: Last Day of Eating Like a Rabbit

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I made it! Last day of Week 1! Or as I have come to know it, The Week From Hell. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some raw fruits and veggies, but when the bread lover in me is slowly transforming into a very aggressive monster at the pit of my stomach, gnawing on the inside of my rib cage for relief from relentless hunger pains, the last thing I want is another frickin’ carrot.

All carb-cravings aside, I am feeling pretty badass for sticking to this month’s intention for  an entire week already. I want to reward myself, but not sure how. Normally I would pat myself on the back with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s in bed (totally normal), but that is obviously not cleanse-friendly. Instead, I will reward myself with another one of Earth’s gifts. Yes, you guessed it. During Week 2 I get to eat BEANS!

But until then, this Avocado Sweet Potato Mush will have to do. My detox-partner-in-crime winced at the mentioning of these two wonderful, but mostly separate ingredients together in the same dish. Looking back, I suppose it does sound a bit odd, but I would eat dirt if there were some creamy avocado chunks stirred in it. My point being, if your reaction is similar to that of my detox-partner-in-crime’s, don’t knock it until you try it. I modified the recipe a bit by adding twice as much lime (I’m a flavor whore). Also, instead of putting the mix back into the sweet potato skin I just put it on a plate and ate it like a salad. Maybe it was laziness, maybe I completely shredded the potato skins in the process of scraping them out…either way, it all worked out. When I make this again I want to try it in a lettuce wrap and veggie tortilla wrap. Enjoy!

The Cleanse Days 4 and 5: I’m Sorry, But I Feel Great!

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A friend of mine who has been through this cleanse before alerted me to the chance of feeling “like a rockstar” on Day 4. Something about the thick sheet of butternut squash coating the inside of my stomach had me convinced otherwise. However, I woke up on Monday morning, most CPS teachers’ first day back after winter break (and #2 on every teacher’s list of most dreaded calendar days), and I felt like Janis Joplin (minus the booze and drugs, those don’t fit into the cleanse). Two work days in a row now I have not felt like crawling into my very warm bed with a bowl of Kraft macaroni and cheese at 3:00 in the afternoon. I haven’t even felt tempted to take that uncouth 7:00-9:00 nap my body drags me into as I curl up on the couch with stacks and stacks of papers to grade. Here are my favorite recipes from the last two days:

Babaganoush: I know this dish isn’t really anything new or cutting edge, but I was elated to find out one of my favorite dishes fits into the first week of this cleanse. A couple things to think about if you use this recipe: When they talk about draining the water, they mean it. Don’t get impatient like I did waiting for the eggplant to cool down. It is much easier to drain it when it isn’t giving you first-degree burns on your fingers in the process. Also, I would roast the garlic rather than mincing it. I love garlic so much I could bathe in it, but if I was going to make this for other people I might want to cut out this fragrant bulb a bit by roasting it for 30-45 minutes in a tin foil package drizzled in olive oil at 450 degrees.

Roasted garlic and beet soup: While this soup didn’t blow me away quite like Spiced Butternut Squash Soup did, it is still a very filling and nutritious dinner with plenty left over for lunch the next day. This recipe (hit “read more” at the bottom of the page) introduced me to leeks, which I am excited to start putting into more of my dishes as an alternative for white onions. It also introduced me to beets, which have left behind a lovely light magenta hue on my counter top. It’s very likely that this soup left me under impressed because I am not beets’ biggest fan. I am sure beet lovers would go nuts for it. Plus, you get to play with roasted garlic, and who isn’t looking for an excuse to do this all day every day?

The Cleanse Day 3: Guess Who Created Her Own Juice?

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Crunchy Juice ingredients, and Cruncy Juice

Breakfast: Crunchy Juice (an nSeilheimer original) 2 cups of carrot juice, 2 cups of frozen mango chunks, 1 inch of peeled ginger, 1 handful of shredded kale blended until smooth. The mango satisfies the sweet tooth while the kale (which you chew after each sip, hence the name) keeps your intestines happy. This one kept me very full past my typical lunch time.

Lunch: 1 banana, and (you guessed it) Ants on a Log, man.

Dinner: Spiced Butternut Squash Soup (recipe, scroll down to “Lunches”). Now, as someone who, until recently, has considered herself “culinarily” challenged, I was extremely impressed with myself for making this soup. All that peeling, chopping, simmering and pureeing can really make a 20-something feel self-reliant. Also, this recipe called for a few fun and new spices that I can’t wait to drop into everyday conversation. “Have you tried adding just a dash cardamom?” Or, “Perhaps you put in too much turmeric?” The spices created an intense aroma that made me feel like we had cooked our way inside Yankee Candle Company’s Christmas lineup. Again, another filling dish with plenty left over for tomorrow’s lunch.

Before the blender...

...and after the blender

How I am feeling: In terms of energy, it’s getting better. I didn’t nap multiple times today, and I didn’t snap out at my detox partner-in-crime for no real reason (“That’s just how I feel! That should be enough!” translation: I am f***ing hungry, man!) I am a bit concerned about how this 3 day track record of detoxing will continue when work picks back up on Monday. As a teacher, it is all too easy to let the million things you have to do that night keep you at your desk and away from your stove. Yet, this wouldn’t be a worthwhile intention if there weren’t some element of challenge involved, so I say, “Bring it, you life-swallowing J-O-B.”