Day 3 – Challenges
November 5, 2008
Today I have eliminated all grains (except for brown rice). The Power Foods Cleanse guide recommends that I have Kitchari for dinner, but I didn’t quite get my act together enough to make it today. Instead, I had a grilled portobella mushroom on kale salad with “peanut” sauce (sound familiar?).
F and I both thought that the pumpkin pie was good. By the way, my hubby also tried the pie and thought it was horrible (in comparison to his mom’s recipe, of course). It was definitely not as firm as the original, but it satisfied my desire for comfort food. Donna had some suggestions for other egg substitutes (such as agar-agar), so I may try this next time around.
Here is my recipe for pumpkin pie, in case you are wondering. For the filling, mix together:
- 1/2 28oz. can pumpkin
- 6 Tbsp ground flax seeds with 1/2 cup water (mix until frothy then let sit for 10 minutes)
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup almond milk
- 1/2 tsp each of ginger, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, vanilla
For the crust, mix together:
- 1 1/4 cup ground almonds
- 1/4 cup safflower oil
Convect-Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, Convect-Bake at 300 for for 45 minutes. Watch carefully and cover if top starts to get too dark.
Day 2 – Experimentation
November 4, 2008
The remainder of Day 1 went well; I had a Nutty Mushroom Burger (made by Chef April at the Farmers Market) on kale salad for dinner. The mushroom burger is made of portabella mushrooms, brown rice, carrots, pecans, and spices (oh, and cornmeal – oops!). It was tasty, but a little bit dry. I added some “peanut” sauce (actually made with almond butter) on top as a dressing.
I have gone completely off of sugar and coffee a few times this year, and each time I have encountered a wicked migraine headache due to withdrawal after a day or two. I’m happy to report that I haven’t encountered that this time around (at least not yet). I have, however, been drinking a cup or two of green tea every day. Perhaps the green tea is doing the trick!
This morning, F dropped off some coconut-date balls. Very yummy! It was a good morning snack and satisfied my sweet craving for the day. 
I also tried an experiment this afternoon: I wanted to see if I could make a palatable pumpkin pie that is suitable for a cleanse diet. I started with my mother-in-law’s pumpkin pie recipe and modified it to make the following changes:
- replaced the milk with almond milk
- replaced the eggs with a ground flax seed and water combination
- replaced the sugar with maple syrup
- replaced the wheat-based crust with a ground almond crust
My experimental version is slightly less firm than the original, but I’ll let you know how it tastes tomorrow.
Day 1 of My Power Foods Cleanse
November 3, 2008
This morning in class, Donna mentioned that she’s not going to lead a Power Foods Boot Camp cleanse until the new year. I decided that I can’t wait that long, so I’m going to embark on a solo cleanse (well not quite solo – my friend F will be joining me. Yay!). I did my first cleanse last January when I first started the Powerful Woman Yoga Boot Camp. Now I`m ready to try again. Donna has asked me to blog about my experience so that I can share with you how a non-vegetarian mom of two (who also works from home part-time) manages to fit a 12-day cleanse into her schedule. Here goes!
Yesterday I started to get myself organized for the cleanse. In the morning, the family trekked out to the Ottawa Farmers Market at Lansdowne Park. We had only been to the market once before (last summer, when it was temporarily displaced to a nearby park when the Ex was on) and were eager to return. The kids were excited about the horse-drawn buggy and I was pleased with the selection of kale and organic sprouts. In the afternoon, I made a huge batch of veggie broth, a kale salad, and steel-cut oatmeal. My hubby and the kids love oatmeal for breakfast with frozen blueberries, ground flax seeds, and maple syrup; I had some for a mid-morning snack as well.
Today is Day 1 of the cleanse and I`m starting off with a vegan diet of fruit, veggies (except potatoes, corn, tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers), gluten-free whole grains (oatmeal, brown rice, quinoa, and millet), legumes, nuts, and seeds. I`m also coffee-free, sugar-free, and alcohol-free for the duration. The only supplements that I use are E3Live (a blue-green algae “super-food”), hemp protein powder, and ground flax seeds. I add them to my green smoothie every morning.
Welcome to my journey.