Clean Food Challenge 2.0 - Days 3 & 4

Well, I made it through two more days.  Quite honestly, I'm having a pretty easy time.  I'm not feeling as grumpy as the first two days, and I think that I  made it over the sugar detox hump.  I still have my moments...moments where I have to go into the pantry and smell the bag of chocolate chips because I want chocolate so bad, but they pass pretty quickly.  I'm eating a lot less dried fruit, and when I do eat it, it seems really sweet to me.  All in all, I think this whole challenge is going pretty smoothly.  However, the weekend just arrived, and we have a jam-packed schedule that will put me in some pretty tempting situations.  I'll just have to keep reminding myself that this is only temporary and that my body will feel better once I'm done.

When I got home from work tonight, I went for a 3 mile run.  I don't know if it's because I haven't been able to run much lately, or if it is because I'm in the process of detoxing, but I was pretty sluggish and struggled through the 3 miles.  I remember the same thing happening the last time I did the clean food challenge.  It only happened in the beginning last time.  By the end of the challenge, I had more energy and endurance during my runs and workouts.  I'm going to pay close attention to it this time and see if the same thing happens.

For those who may wonder what I can possibly be eating, here's a list of some of the meals I have been enjoying:

Breakfast:  Overnight oats with almond milk and blueberries or a smoothie with almond milk, spinach, banana, blueberries, mango, hemp seeds, chia seeds and oats

Lunch:  Giant salads with tons of fresh veggies from my CSA and some beans for protein or leftover bean, corn and rice salad from dinner.

Dinner:  Fresh veggies, salads, sweet potatoes, beans and rice with black beans, corn, onions, tomato and avocado (this was absolutely delicious!)

Snacks:  dried fruit, veggies with hummus, rice cakes with almond butter, almonds, fruit and spinach/kale smoothies

Beverages:  coffee (one per day), water, seltzer, detox tea

As I said, my weekend is crazy, but I plan to stay on track.  I'm also going to make sure I run both days to get back on track.  Since I have been slacking so much on exercise lately, I'm in the process of developing an exercise plan for next week.  I'll post about it next time.

CSA Pick Up Day!

Tuesday is our CSA pick up day, and it is like Christmas morning for me.  Each week, I get so excited to receive the email from our farm telling us all about the fresh veggies we will be getting for the week.  Unlike some other CSA's, which just give their members pre-made boxes of veggies, ours functions on a point system.  Each week, we have ten points to spend on various veggies (and sometimes fresh flowers).  When we arrive at the farm, all of the veggies are sorted into different boxes and a point value is assigned to each one.  We are able to walk around the tables and choose what we want to spend our points on.  I prefer this system, because it allows me to choose more of the veggies that we love without getting stuck with a lot of something that isn't our favorite for weeks on end. 

Last year, we went with a CSA that provided pre-sorted boxes each week.  After six weeks of swiss chard, I never wanted to see it again.  This year, I can choose when and how much of each vegetable I want.  I also like the point system because it allows me to walk around and choose vegetables and make meal plans in my head.  I'm able to choose vegetables that will work well in a dish together and I can pick specific herbs that I think will enhance the flavors of what I'm going to prepare.

Some days, I bring the kids with me, and other days I stop at the farm by myself on my way home from work.  I prefer to bring the kids because it makes them more connected to the food they eat.  Last week, Amelia had so much fun picking out veggies that she started eating them while she was still walking around the farm.  She loves seeing the people that own the farm each week and she is beginning to understand the importance of buying local and supporting small-scale agriculture. 

This week seemed to be a heavy "green" week.  We got tons of lettuce, kale, broccoli, kohlrabi, basil, cucumbers, zucchini and other herbs.  We (well, Amelia and Ben) also chose some beautiful sunflowers.

How can this picture not make you smile.  I love to see my veggies piled up on the table when we get back from the farm and take great pleasure in finding homes for all of them in the refrigerator.  It's my favorite part of the week.

So, now that I have all of these fresh veggies, I have to plan what I am going to make with them throughout the week.  The lettuce and cucumbers will be used in salads, which my husband, Paul, and I eat every day.  The broccoli will be eaten with hummus this Thursday while watching an evening family concert at our local Cultural Center .  The basil will become pesto.  The zucchini will be made into zucchini bread or muffins for quick breakfasts as we all head to camp, daycare, and work. 

The kohlrabi will be the experimental vegetable of the week.  I am determined to make something new with it and have been searching the internet for recipes.  I think I have finally narrowed it down to two possibilities:

Kohlrabi and Shredded Carrot Salad 

Kohlrabi and Cucumber Spring Rolls

So, that's the plan for this week.  I'm excited to see what veggies next week brings.