Day one...back on track

So I managed to follow my new daily routine this morning and have done my Monday chores. Given that this is such a heavy run around kind of day there was no extra de-cluttering happening but there's always tomorrow. I have tweaked my daily/weekly rhythms to better reflect the new school year. If you are interested, you can see it posted on my other blog: http://www.asfarashome.blogspot.com/



I've got some general guidelines to try and follow in regards to diet. I've done some serious backsliding in the healthy diet department and have really got to smarten up. I need to get well and feel better and following a healthy diet can only help. I'll be eating mostly vegetarian with some fish and meat once a week at the most. I'd like to get to the point where I can eliminate it entirely but I unfortunately like it too much, at this point in my life anyway. Who knows what the future will bring? The same with dairy. But what I can do is consciously choose to eat a lot less of these things and eat a lot more of the things that are good for me.



Every day I'll try to include:

~ 2-3 L of filtered water and 1-3 cups of herbal tea. Start the day with lemon/aloe vera and water again.

~ 2-3 pieces of fruit

~ a fresh salad or big plate of crudites

~ 2 cups of cooked vegetables

~ 1 cup of cooked legumes or a serving of tofu, tempeh or fish. Once a week a small serving of meat (if I want it, if not even better!)

~ 2 Tbs. of flax seeds

~ 1/8-1/4 cup of raw nuts/seeds or 2 Tbs nut/seed butter (I want to try sunflower seed butter next)

~ a square or two of dark chocolate



I've adapted these guidelines from the book "Get it Ripe" by Jae Steele, which is an EXCELLENT primer on vegan cooking and living. And she's a Canadian girl :)



I started off this morning with a 1/2 cup of greek yogurt with some grated apple mixed in and some wild blueberries and walnuts on top. It's been awhile since I ate such a healthy breakfast and it felt good. I wish that I could find a soy yogurt that I like but I've tried two so far and they're not been very pleasant. So for the moment greek yogurt it is!



I planned this week's menu with the sales in mind. I also checked what we already had in the freezer/pantry and based some meals around these things. I'm trying really hard to keep our food costs down. By the time we had made our three stops we had spent a grand total of $160.00. Not bad considering that this includes a ten pack of CFL bulbs for $20.00 and a 6 pack of recycled paper towels. We are feeding 7 people for that.





For dinner tonight I made a vegan chili and vegan corn muffins. I have posted about them before during the vegan cleanse. I served these with a quick and dirty tossed salad. I'm having a cup of blueberry white tea and then I'm off to an Al-Anon meeting. I'm in pain and I don't feel well but I really need this, so I'm going to go.



Sleep well everyone. More tomorrow...



Carolyn

Day One...going green

The first day of going green went okay. I set a few tasks for myself and did them all.

1. No more paper napkins: Since our cat had been using the cloth napkin basket to sleep in there was no way those napkins could be used without some TLC. So they all had to be washed and a drawer had to be cleared out where they could be kept without fear of cats. LOL

2. No more grocery bag collecting: I actually do own cloth bags I just always forget them either in the car or at the house. Except at Costco because they don't have any plastic bags...but today I actually remembered. And I put the bags back in the car so they don't get left at home.

3. Compost: We have a compost bucket under the sink. We have a compost bin in the back yard and Ottawa has a green bin program. Do we remember to compost? No we don't. So I put a sign up above the sink and I'll put one up above the garbage too. Hopefully this will help jog some memories :)


While the carnivores in the house had BBQ'd steak I cooked up some meatless beef strips (that's the actual name. The boys had a good giggle let me tell you!) along with onion, garlic, red pepper and mushrooms. For the sides we had stir fried summer squash, roasted beets and turnips and mashed potatoes with vegetarian gravy. First real meal I've had in a few days. So very, very good.

See you all tomorrow!

-Carolyn

Another Perspective

My first post. I would've written earlier, but mom pretty much covered it all... :)

Today went really well. I missed out on cookies at a friend's house though, which was unfortunate, but I did get to have a popsicle because it was one of those all fruit bars and I checked the ingredients.

For breakfast I had gluten free, vegan waffles and I must say, that they are FAR superior to Eggo waffles. You don't get that eggy taste (obviously) and they're sweeter, which I like. I had 2 with apple butter and raspberries on top. Yum!

For lunch, I was at my friend's house, but fortunately she's vegetarian and their family is a big fan of Rainbow Foods, so there was no problem there. I had these things that are like rice cakes only they're thinner and made of corn (and quite frankly, better) dipped in homemade hummus my friend's mom made. We also munched on cucumbers and red peppers, but that's nothing new. Later on the others had ice cream, but I satisfied myself with a frozen fruit bar, strawberry flavoured.

A lot of my friends are shocked about me being vegan...even when I tell them it's just for 21 days. I get a lot of reactions like "I could never do that!" and "wow, that sounds so hard!". Except for from my vegetarian friend, she's all for it...and even wants to go vegan permanently!

Honestly though, I didn't have any trouble or whatever...I don't drink a lot of coffee (sometimes I'll make myself iced coffee though, if it's really hot) or anything caffeinated in general, so that's not a problem. I'm going to miss chocolate and cheese, but I'll deal. Actually, I'm really scared of trying vegan cheese... Sugar is kind of difficult...I've got a sweet tooth, but 21 days isn't a lot time, and gluten isn't hard either because we've got alternative stuff, and even though some gluten free stuff is nasty, I know for a fact some of it is good because those gluten free vegan waffles were delicious!

I'm looking forward to trying out new things over the next 21 days...

-Maddie

Day One

So we have survived our first day on the Vegan Cleanse! It actually wasn't too bad. I did develop a headache at around 2:30 or so. Brought on by lack of caffeine I'm sure. But it's not horrific or anything so all is well. I haven't been starving either so that's good :)

Other than dinner, Madison ate meals different than mine but I'll let her tell you about her experiences herself.

For breakfast I had a big handful of cherries, some GF toast with almond butter and 1/2 a banana sliced on top.

For lunch I made a salad with romaine, cucumber, red and yellow pepper and tomato topped with a 1/3 cup of "3 lentil and cranberry salad" mix that I picked up at the health food store. It was good but extremely filling!

Before dinner, I was feeling a bit peckish so I had 1/2 a Lara bar.

Dinner was so very yummy!! None of us had ever had quinoa before so the meal was a bit of a surprise, we didn't know what to expect. The recipe came from "Quantum Wellness" by Kathy Freston and was called "Summery Quinoa". I marinated the portabello mushrooms, then Steve barbecued them. I cooked the quinoa in vegetable broth. When it was done I mixed in steamed asparagus, peppers and red onion. So tasty...

I know it was just the first day but I think I'm going to be able to handle this!

See you tomorrow.

-Carolyn