Day 3: Dinner!

Seeing as it is Friday night, my BFF and I decided to get dressed up and go out for dinner. I was a bit nervous, considering the many restrictions of this cleanse, but ended up being delightfully surprised. We chose the new organic-gluten-free-vegan restaurant that just (conveniently) opened up this month. 

Our waitress was amazing about the substations, holds, and sides I needed too, which made me feel less like a pain in the butt. 

I ended up with the black bean quinoa burger (sans le bun, sauce on the side) with lettuce, tomato and avocado, cashew 'cheese' (on the side), and a spring mix salad with tomatoes and cucs (dressing on the side). Like I've mentioned before, I'm Italian. So wholesome, rich, creamy, thick, fatty foods are my forte. However, this incredibly healthy alternative was a real treat. And I didn't have to cook for a night!! 

Day 3: Lunch!

Lunch today was one of my fav salads - modified. 

My aunt is the Salad Queen, so whenever I'm at her house, the salad of the meal is usually my favourite part. 

Typically, I make this salad with spinach, strawberries, pomegranate seeds, candied walnuts, quinoa, and light, sweet vinegrette dressing. I opted to leave out the quinoa, because I was planning a big dinner, and left out the pommy seeds since their "exotic" and therefore not allowed. I also swapped the sweet candied walnuts for regular toasted ones. For the dressing a just used a touch of extra boring olive oil, and let strawberries be the main flavour focus. 

Day 3: Breakfast!

One of my recent fav finds at the grocery store, is a premix bag of frozen fruit. Sound simple enough, but I always used to buy fresh fruits and use those for smoothies. Now that I'm in school, I don't have as much time to wash and chop things in the morning. I'm not lazy, I swear. I just don't like waking up earlier than I need to. #collegelife 

So the frozen mix is perfect. And delicious! The one I'm currently using is a mix of blueberries, strawberries, and peaches. I usually do about 3/4 cup of the frozen fruit, 1 full fresh banana, 1/3 cup of almond milk (unsweetened), 2 tablespoons of chia seeds, and 1 tablespoon of vanilla protein powder. 

It fills me up and tastes amazing. 

For this cleanse, I swapped the banana for fresh peaches, and the vanilla protein powder for original. 

Ps. Isn't my Mason Jar-Smootie-To-Go cup adorable?! Winners - $8

Day 2: Dinner!

I'm quite pleased with day 2 dinner. It was the second time IN MY LIFE that I've cooked salmon, and I have to say, it was perfect. Paired with a spring mix salad with chopped up pears and walnuts, it was a fab dinner.

Directions: 

Salmon- Preheat oven to 350• Place salmon on lightly buttered aluminum foil, lining baking sheet. Season with preferred spices/herbs. I used a premix for salmon that I found at Safeway. Cook for 15-20 minutes (depending on how flakey you like your fish). Done!

Day 2: Snacks!

Quick snack for today, homemade guacamole! I found the recipe here --> http://hklovebites.com/2012/01/17/wild-rose-detox-day-1-what-you-can-and-cant-eat/

The site is also great for referring back to the dos and dont's of the program. 

Paired with a couple rice cakes, this was a pretty good snack!

Wild Rose Detox - Day 2

Day 2! Woohoo! I've made it 24 hours without carbs! Let us a take a moment to reflect on my progress thus far...

Trust me, people, this is huge. My friends are still in shock. 

So for breakfast today, since I have a later class I have a bit more time, I decided to step *far* outside my European comfort zone and try oatmeal. 

Some of you are probably surprised that I haven't tried oatmeal once in my twenty two years. Well, I asked my parents why we never had it growing up, and my dad replied "Probabaly because your grandparents can't even pronounce it." 

*insert laughing smiley with tears rolling face here*

Well I made the oatmeal. Poured it into a bowl, added 2/3 cup of water and popped it in the microwave for 1:30. 

It's not my intention to offend anyone with this blog, so if you're a bit sensitive, please skip the next five sentences... Oatmeal tastes like shit. I'm sorry for the language, but seriously wtf is this. Who decided this heated cardboard goopy mess was for human consumption??? And where is this person so I can physically assault him, which is what I feel this oatmeal did to me. 

My little sisters response was *by far* my favourite of the week....

"Have you ever tried oatmeal?" -Me

"Yes. Have you ever tasted a**h***? They're very comparable." -Sister

LOL.

So after eating two spoonfuls of this 'food' that's somehow allowed on this cleanse (just looking at it feels like it would clog an artery... Or a New York City sewage system) I quickly mass texted my friends (here on referred to as my white friends, and asked 1.How they could willingly eat this, 2. Please tell me I did it wrong, 3. How do you make it better, 4. Yes I did that, it didn't work.

Apparently adding cinnamon isn't enough, but since this cleanse doesn't allow sugar, brown sugar and syrup were out of the question. A few of my friends said to add fruit (bananas, blueberries, strawberries) so I'll be doing that next time. 

Anywhas, Day 2 Breakfast = fail. 

Someone invent vegan-lactose-free-sugar-free-flourless pancakes. Please. 

Day 1: Dinner!!

When I lived at home, dinner was my favourite part of the day. My mom always cooked a delicious meal (usually complete with cheese, butter, bread, and meat - I did mention were Italian. Veggies either come on pizza or in with the pasta sauce) and the four of us would sit around the dinner table and quite literally stuff our faces. I mean, it's hard not to when you've got pasta primavera doused in freshly grated Parmesan, marinated seared beef tenderloin, chicken parmigiana with homemade sauce, antipasto platters, salami, mortadella, prosciutto, all the cheese you could possibly imagine - Parmesan, friulani, old cheddar, mozzarella, Asiago - risotto Milanese, chicken cacciatore, roasted lambchop a with andouille.....

I think it's safe to say that at the end of day one... My cravings have taken over my body. 

I knew this would happen though, and in prepared myself! On the menu tonight, Spanish "rice" with kale and fresh tomato sauce. I'm hoping the thick, sauceygoodness with taste like home without breaking all the rules. 

I found the recipe here --> http://www.hummusapien.com/spanish-cauliflower-rice-let-eat-kale-cookbook-giveaway/

I don't think I've mentioned that while I LOVE to eat, I'm not much of a chef.... 

Even when following a recipe, something's just do not turn out.

After following this recipe *exactly*i was sort of let down. It didn't have the thick consistency that I was looking for, though the taste was quite enjoyable.

I forgot to take an after picture (I blame the hunger) but I'll upload one when I have it agin later this week (the recipe is for four, I am only one... Yay leftovers...)