and then, there was cake.

Day 19 over here, friends, and our cleanse has been good and bad and everything inbetween.

As Mary pointed out, we’ve broken our cleanse more than twice. And mostly, it’s because I work in food. Both my real job and my side job (aka GMS) are entirely involved in food, and cakes don’t frost themselves (although if we were in Harry Potter, they might, but that’s another story for another time.) So I’ve been busy whipping up cakes, frosting them, dipping pretzels in chocolate, and making homemade tortilla chips along the way. And every chef knows you can’t serve something to someone without first tasting it.

I still believe I am learning tons – I have mainly been snacking on whole foods, my stomach has calmed down over the past few weeks, and mostly staying away from white flour and white bread products has taught me to be satisfied with less (which is really more, because whole grain products have more nutrition!)

Our cleanse officially ends a week from Monday, but I think I’ve learned to make better choices and continue parts of the cleanse on. Mary, Corelyn, and I made homemade cereal (which is really just a few ingredients away from being granola) the other night, and it’s delicious, so easy, and makes a ton (we split it three ways and so far it’s looking like my 1/3 will feed me for 7 breakfasts!)

I was reading something for work the other day, and it really struck me as exactly what I’ve been trying to get across to my GMS and PL readers for the last few years:

“Cooking today is treated as a hobby,
a luxury for folks, when in fact it’s a basic skill we should all learn how to do.”

– Tracie McMillian, The American Way of Eating

This cleanse is about taking back what our grandparents knew, and our great grandparents. Eating affects your whole life, and it’s what keeps you going. So what shouldn’t it gain at least an hour of your attention each day?

Here’s a little secret: what I do is not special. It is not extraordinary. It is possible for each and every one of you to do what I do, to cook most nights from scratch. You just have to respect your basic needs enough to do it.

If you need me to show you, I’ll be in the kitchen.

Happy Friday, folks!

Day 12: Cheese is wonderful.

We’re back, winding down Day 12 on the cleanse. I’ve gotta be honest: I have broken it, twice. Once, for chocolate Jen brought back from New Zealand (because you only live once) and once for wine at work Happy Hour.

Other than that, sticking to it hasn’t been so bad, especially now that we’re able to eat cheese again. We’ve visited two new restaurants so far, the Veggie Grill and Tender Greens, both of which were delicious. We’ve also learned how to snack smartly – I have been eating a lot of citrus, fruit, and nuts.

We attempted to make whole grain wheat pizza dough in celebration of cheese being back in our lives, but I think we killed yeast (read: I killed the yeast) so it was more a flatbread. It was still pretty good, but it was definitely not perfect – we’ll have to work on that recipe.

Overall, I think that this cleanse, so far, has lead to drinking more water, more cooking, and really thinking about what you’re putting in your body. Which has been the most important part, I think. When you have to stop and think about everything you eat, you’re doing yourself a favor. I have been eating less because I stop and think, “I don’t want that for a snack.” Well, if you don’t want that, it’s probably not hunger driving you to eat – it’s boredom, or thirst, or lack of sleep, or some other basic need not being met.

I recently read this quote, and it really stuck with me:

“The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison.”

– Ann Wigmore

I think this cleanse is teaching us to eat food. Not just eat things disguised as food, but actual, tangible things that came from this earth with the purpose to nourish us. I love the occasional candy bar, soda, and chip, but chemicals and fake sugar aren’t even food to begin with, and learning that is an important step in learning about eating the way we were meant to eat.

Heading into this weekend, we have two scheduled dinners (both home cooked) that I can’t wait to share with my friends. I hope you have delicious plans, too, friends.

it’s a good thing there is no cheese in my house.

You guys, I feel like a crazy addict. It’s Day 4 of our cleanse, and really Day 3 of the no-cheese world I am living in (because I had cheese earlier this week by accident) and thoughts of brie are haunting my dreams.  It’s a good thing there is no cheese around, or I am sure I would have dove right into it last night.

Last night, I was making dinner for Jeff and I, coming up with a lackluster protein (beans) for our spaghetti squash with pesto (homemade, sans cheese) and Brussels sprouts. I thought chicken, but we’ve been chicken heavy this week, and Jeff doesn’t like fish, and I hate the idea of tofu. I was making dinner, hungry from an afternoon of clementines and a handful of cashews, when I realized: I can have peanut butter. So I got myself a teaspoon of it, and let me tell you, peanut butter has never tasted so good.

I really wanted to add cheese to the pesto, cheese to the dinner, eat cheese before and after the meal, but I had to stay strong. So instead, we had popcorn for dessert as a treat (popcorn is intrinsically pretty good for you!) I was dreaming of cheese as I enjoyed my peanut butter, hoping that I could make it to Tuesday (Tuesday! So many days from now!) when I can eat cheese again.

Surprisingly, the no processed foods hasn’t been so hard (except you guys, I am so over nuts. I think I need to rethink this strategy and come up with some other snacks than cashews) but the cheese, the cheese! I can’t wait until I can get at that again.

In the meantime, I am stocking up on veggies and protein (just had leftover lemon chicken, potatoes, green beans, carrots, and broccoli!) and am trying to drink more water. This weekend, I plan on getting some oatmeal ready for next week’s breakfasts, making my own hummus to snack on at work, and figuring out some more snacks (maybe even good old peanut butter!) to bring to work so I’m not starving by 5 pm.

Any delicious snack ideas for me, guys?

30 day cleanse: here we go.

Well kids, it’s day 2 of my self-imposed-roping-Jeff-in-too cleanse. Here’s what’s on our list of no-no’s:

Cheese (1st week)
Red meat (2 weeks)
White flour (1 month)
Processed foods (1 month)
Fried foods (1 month)
Alcohol (1 month)

Day 1 was hard because I was hungry for most of the day due to my rushed lunch-making. I made a salad but didn’t have time to add a proper protein, so instead of delicious tuna or chicken I had a handful of edamame, which just wasn’t quite enough. My snack drawer at work is full of processed foods, so I had to turn to granola (mostly nuts) and fruit (mostly citrus) which wasn’t exactly filling.

Day 2 was hard because I went out to lunch with my coworkers, and had to figure out a way to not sound like a snotty hippy. I got a kale sandwich on wheat bread (whole grain/wheat bread is a cheat I’ve allowed because I don’t have time to be making my own bread all month) but it had cheese on it, so looks like I’m tacking on a non-cheese day to the end of the week.

I know, I know, this sounds like torture, right? So why am I doing this?

Well, for one, I want to see if I can eat unprocessed foods for a whole month. You quickly realize all the things that you can’t have, but I want this to teach me just what I can have. I can have any fruit or veggie I want. I can have whole grains (think quinoa, brown rice, farro, barley, bulgur) and eggs and dairy (save cheese for week one.) Learning what is processed will get Jeff and me to think about what we are putting into our bodies.

Secondly, I want to get back to cooking at home on a regular basis. In December we got busy, and the first thing to go is cooking, because it’s time consuming, which is understandable. But if we pay attention to the task of preparing food for ourselves, we’re doing ourselves a favor of keeping our bodies healthy (see number one.)

Thirdly, I haven’t been doing the best at eating my fruits and veggies, and winter is even tougher to get those fruits in there (hello clementine number 7 of the day!) Limiting what I can eat makes me rely on fruits and veggies for nutrients, which is how it should be, because they’re chocked full of everything needed to guarantee a nutritious diet.

Finally, because somewhere between “yes” and “let me see the video,” in the excitement of the engagement, I agreed to run a half-marathon, and I think taking care of my body will help me get to a place where running, yoga, and general exercise are taken in stride rather as a burden.

So for the next month, things here might get a little cleanse-heavy and a little running heavy, too. I hope you stick with me, friends.

it’s like who am I and why am I here?

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope that the holidays have been good for you, healthy, full of food, and fun, and family, and friends!

Yesterday, Jeff and I celebrated our 6 Year Anniversary after enjoying First Night in Boston, watching fireworks over the wharf!

Then we bundled up and headed to the airport to head back to Los Angeles after a whirlwind weekend traveling from New Hampshire to New Jersey and back, with a stop in Boston for good measure. We saw most of Jeff’s family and K and T, too, which was a delight! Now we’re back in above-freezing temperatures, ready to tackle 2013 with gusto!

Keeping with tradition, I came up with a few goals this year to follow as life becomes busier (read: wedding planning) and more fun (read: married!) Most of my goals over the years have morphed into mantras: do the best with what you have. relax. breathe. love. do less, do less better.

So far this year, we’re headed to ski in February, my parents are coming to visit, Jeff is running a marathon, we are running a half-marathon together in June, and scattered throughout this year are endless weddings and celebrations of all kinds. I can already feel in my bones that this is going to be a good one.

So, with that in mind, here’s what I have for you as my wishes for 2013:

read more
eat better
be healthy
pay attention to your surroundings
write it down
love, and be loved.

Hope you’ve got big plans for 2013, loves.