Detox Update!

So, I have made it to day 5 of my detox. I have to say that this has been a lot easier than I expected, and I have even found a few new and delicious foods!

I mentioned one of my big hurdles was that work was taking me to 5 Napkin Burger for my birthday. Well, that actually ended up to be an amazing experience! I ordered the Veggie Burger, bunless, which I would have never done if I weren’t detoxing. This burger was, very clearly, extremely fresh veggies and grains processed very close to cooking time. I could identify beets, carrots, lentils, and pure deliciousness. By far the best veggie burger I have ever had. For my side I got the tomato, avocado, cojita salad, which was meh (I am VERY picky about dressing, the tomatoes were delish), and we shared a bowl of the housemade pickles, which I am now addicted to. I did have a gorgeous picture to tempt you into salivation, but it has sadly disappeared.

My other dining adventure was at UFood Grill before attending Romeo and Juliet at the Boston Ballet with the Boston Brunchers (go see it!!!). I chose UFood because it would be fast and get us to the ballet, and because they provide nutritional info, which made eating by my rules easier. I ordered the veggie chili, a side of brown rice, and a side salad. The meal was totally satisfying, and once again I did not feel deprived by detox.

Besides eating differently while out, I also discovered some great new things to eat at home that I can easily add into my “normal” eating patterns! First up was brown rice pasta. I cooked up some Tinkyada Brown Rice Elbow Noodles, and then let them simmer for a few minutes in my homemade marinara (which I have a simple new recipe for that I will share soon). These were really good! They may have that brown rice pasta mushyness to them, but it worked once I cooked them in the sauce for a while. I will definitely use these again!

Other grains that have seen their way into my kitchen this week: Bulgar, brown rice and steel cut oatmeal (fail!!!). Seriously, steel cut oatmeal may be my biggest kitchen challenge yet…isn’t that sad! These were mostly topped with veggies that were seared in a non-stick pan and drizzled with soy sauce and red pepper flakes. I could seriously eat this every day!

Since the steel-cut oatmeal fail, I mostly ate fruit for breakfast. Bananas, pears, peaches, and strawberries. Fruit always makes me happy, so this part was easy! I also discovered Bora Bora bars, which are delicious, all natural, and follow all of the rules to my detox! Score! I had the Tropical Sesame Cranberry bar, which contains nothing but: Roasted Peanuts, Raisins, Organic Agave Nectar, Organic Sesame Seeds, Roasted Almonds, Cranberries, Pumpkin Seeds, Brown Rice Syrup, Whole Grain Crisp Rice, Sunflower Oil, Natural Flavor.  A lot of the other bars had the same ingredients, but just stated “Crisp Rice”, not “Whole Grain Crisp Rice,” so these bars won!

Today for lunch I am trying Moo Moo’s Vegetarian Cuisine Cashew Stir-fry. I chose this meal after reading all of the ingredients on pretty much every frozen meal in the “natural food section” of Shaw’s. It won because I know exactly what every ingredient is (and how to pronounce it) and they are things I would find in my kitchen! It also won because the noodles are whole grain.

So folks, there it is! My week in food detox. I can tell you that I feel less tired and less bloated. I am still craving sweets at night though, so I may have to stay away from sugar for a while longer. I also have to say that I have felt completely fine without my coffee. However, I miss my morning coffee ritual terribly. I would like to stay away from that next week, but I’m making no promises.

I am very happy that I have found some new items to incorporate into my lifestyle, and I hope that I choose to keep this general way of “choosing to eat” long after this detox is done!

What is your favorite healthy habit?