Detox Day 4 – getting creative

I’ll admit, I’ve been craving chocolate.

It might not help that I’m detoxing during my time of the month [sorry Dad]. 

That brings me to curbing my cravings with breakfast.  Or at least trying to!

Chocolate Scottish Oats!  They look a bit more delicious than they actually were.  I got a little heavy handed with the cocoa powder, and since I’m not using any sweeteners, it was a little bland.  Definitely not terrible though and saved with the coconut butter + peanut butter.

I made a BIG bowl this am:

• 1/2c Scottish Oats [ground steel cut oats]
• 1c almond milk
• 3/4c water
• 1t cinnamon
• 2T cocoa powder
• vanilla

You better believe I ate every last bite. :)

In between breakfast and lunch, I got one huge thing crossed off my to-do list.  I updated my recipes page!  It was long overdo…like since August.  My recipes are a bit out of control, and I even weeded some out.  I’m hoping to have it better organized when I redesign the blog.

For part of lunch I made a juice consistency smoothie. 

It contained:

• amazing grass vanilla chai powder
• coconut milk
• vanilla
• 3 clementines
• 1/2 banana

The rest of lunch was simple + tasty. 

• spinach salad with balsamic/apple cider vin/olive oil + pepitas
• 2 pieces of the chickpea curry bake
• 2 scrambled eggs

After lunch I made a new version of the chickpea bake.  I’ll be posting photos + the recipe for Saturday’s post. 

I made a chocolate coconut version that turned out quite tasty!  It’s not sweet at all, but I still love it.  Definitely not something everyone would like.  Also, these chickpea bakes are actually called “socca.”  The twins, over at Pure 2 Raw, have a whole page dedicated to socca recipes.  They look amazing!

My sis-in-law picked up these 2 bags of farro for me from Costco.  Too bad I can’t eat it right now!!  Farro is a form of wheat…dang!

When I was in Boulder yesterday, a friend that I met through Laura, dropped off a dozen fresh eggs for me.  Amazing!!

He has a number of chickens and also keeps bees.  Two things I love!  I am a huuuge fan of eggs. 

These eggs are gorgeous!

I got creative with dinner tonight and had so much fun making it!  I started of by soaking + boiling beans.  Then I made a Mexican spiced wild rice. 

For 1c of wild rice I added:

• 2c water
• black pepper
• 2t cumin
• 1t chili powder
• 1/2t coriander
• 1t garlic
• 1T oil

I brought everything to a boil, stirred once, covered + simmered for 45min.  Then I took it off the heat and kept it covered for 10min, then fluffed with a fork.  Rice perfection!  Wild rice has such great texture.  A little crunchy and a little chewy!

I really haven’t missed cheese or any dairy at all, but wanted to whip of some Nacho Cashew Cheeze.  I’ve made this in the past from a recipe, but wanted to see if I could throw a few things together and have it turn out.  It totally worked!  No cashew soaking required either and this seriously tastes like nacho cheese.

Quick Nacho Cheeze Sauce [yields ~1c]

• 3/4c raw cashews
• 3T nutritional yeast
• 1/2c water
• 1 medium bell pepper [frozen works]
• 1t chili powder
• 1/2t cumin
• 1/2t garlic
• pinch or 2 of smoked paprika
• pinch of cayenne pepper [optional]
• pinch of salt

1. Add water to the blender, then all other ingredients.
2. Blend until smooth, adding more water if necessary, until desired consistency is reached. 

Definitely ate quite a bit of this right off the spoon.  Healthy cheese??  YES!  Love it!!!

As you may have noticed, I’ve been loving chard lately.  The crunch is awesome, and it doesn’t have to strong of an earthy flavor.  I actually prefer the flavor raw, over cooked. 

It still baffles me that these intense, bright colors grow out of the earth!

Here is where I had some fun and where things got messy.  I wrapped up little rice + bean burritos in the huge leaves. 

The chard added such a lovely crunch to the meal.  Almost like chips!  Almost… ;)

Avocado + lime on the side with nacho cheeze drizzled all over the top.  This dinner was fabulous!

It was also messy, to make + eat.  I had a a bowl of rice + beans on the side as well.

YUM.

And now for my daily overview:

Detox Day FOUR

• It was even easier to not have coffee today.  I’m not having any problems feeling sleepy in the morning and no caffeine withdrawal issues.
• The lemon water really keeps things moving.  Seriously.
• Definitely need to switch up breakfast tomorrow.
• Was productive all day, but felt tired from 3-4.  I decided to drink the nasty detox tea around 4:15 and then get outside to walk the dogs, for some fresh air.  The tea completely reenergized me, as did the walk.  It may be nasty, but it’s made me feel noticeably better when I start to feel sluggish.
• Rode my bike on the indoor trainer and felt great.
• I was craving sweets + chocolate more intensely today, but got my mind off it with other snacks.  Snacks were the same as usual, but I wasn’t quite as snacky today.  Although, a nice hunk of chocolate would be fabulous. ;)
• Bloating has gone down even more from yesterday.
• No headaches or any other weird things to mention.
• I feel healthier/cleaner, if that makes sense.
• My skin is much softer in the past two days.  Thank you dry brushing.

Time to crash into bed.  I was go-go-go today!

Happy Friday!!

<3 Ash

In case you want some quick links to catch up!

pre-toxing

detox day 1 – part 1, part 2

detox day 2 – part 1, part 2

detox day 3 – part 1, part 2 [dry brushing + swimming]

on slowing down part III

I have barely noticed a dent in my mound of apples, that are now so happily displayed in a large glass, floating candle bowl.  :) 

Apple tally:  Ashley – 4 Chris – 1

Today, 1 of the apples went in my oats.

I grated the apple, ~1/2c worth, and added it in with my banana/cinnamon/vanilla. 

Also.  Mama Pea tried the method [that I mentioned yesterday] about grinding steel cut oats to make Scottish oats.  She said it worked perfectly.  Yay :)

I made Scottish Oats today.  Can you tell??  I can totally SEE the difference between these, steel cut + rolled.  Scottish look so much creamier!

Apple Banana Scottish Oats

• 1/4c [rounded] Scottish Oats
• 1 1/4c water
• 1/4c milk
• 1/2t cinnamon
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2c grated apple
• 1t vanilla

Topped with

• Love Grown Foods Cocoa Goodness [can’t keep my hand out of the bag!]
• homemade walnut + coconut butter
• Crofters jam

The apple fluffed these oats up more than normal.  I was super excited.  The same thing happens when you add applesauce.  The flavor was great.  You could definitely detect the fresh apple, which often gets lost when you use applesauce. 

However, as you can see in the photo below, the grated apple made things a bit stringy.  At first, I didn’t mind this but 1/2 way through, I wasn’t really digging it.  It was a texture thing.  I think chopping very small chunks of apple would be better or just grinding into more of an applesauce texture.  The flavor of these was so delicious though!! 

… on slowing down …

The other day, I was reading a post from Neinke, over at Revel Blog.  If you don’t know her blog, definitely check it out.  She posts about a wide range of things, from life’s happenings, to amazing recipes, to DIY projects, to her stunning cottage wedding, etc.  Her photography and writing always leave me wanting more. 

So, the other day, she went on a photography adventure with her dad.  She said that one of her dad’s famous lines is, “There is a photo in everything.”  I really love this statement. 

It made me think.  It made me pause.  It made me take a little more time with my photos.

I believe that statement is true, however it takes time to develop the eye to find the photo in everything.  The good thing is, it can be learned, through practice.  I love that about photography.  There is always so much to learn.  I started getting into food photography one year ago.  I’ve hunted down the photography oriented food blogs, read photography forums, read about editing photos, read about lighting conditions, etc.  It’s a process.  But a process that I enjoy.  I love seeing how far I’ve come in just one year.

Nienke definitely has an eye for photography.  I love looking at her blog for inspiration.  Some of my other photography inspiration comes from the following blogs [there are more!]:

• Eat a Duck I Must!
• Fuse Photographic
• (never home)maker
• Honey & Jam
• 101 Cookbooks
• Kiss My Spatula

As I try to take a step back, and slow things down a bit, this is the perfect lesson for me to think about.  I rush through photography most of the time.  I take so many photos in the day.  Sometimes, I should just take photos of 1 thing in a day.  Study what I did, and look for ways to improve next time. 

The other day, while organizing the kitchen, I felt like I found a few photos.  They just clicked in my brain, so I shot away.

1a

1b

2a

2b

All of my photography towels :)  They looked so pretty all stacked up. 

Check out Nienke’s blog for a better understanding on what to look for and for giving yourself little photo assignments.  She has some great ideas!!

What’s your opinion?  Do you like 1a or 1b better?  2a or 2b?  Let me know what you think!

…

And watch out for Thursday’s post.  I whipped up my best batch of peanut butter yet!!  

Guess what else??  The kitchen is DONE!!  There will be photos soon.  I am so extremely excited.  I spent so much time organizing things in just the right place.  With our last house, I unpacked the kitchen quickly and said, “I’ll reorganize it later.”  Ha, that never happened. 

I got in a great, somewhat hilly bike ride today.  I am loving this road that runs North/South along the mountains.  It’s so easy to let my mind wander and enjoy the time on my bike, when I have this view to my side.

I feel so lucky.

Off to be lazy for an hour and then go to sleep :) 

Ashley

p.s. If you haven’t check out Kath’s lunch post from yesterday, you must.  Her husband guest posted on getting your meat + potatoes guy to try and venture to a bit healthier lifestyle.  It’s pretty funny and full of good tips!  A lot of you ask about this topic, so I thought you might find it helpful.