My plan with this detox/cleanse was twofold, eliminate sugar and other foods that may be contributing to a sugar addiction and causing problems with leaky gut and candida. Second, determine what foods my body can tolerate and what foods should stay out of my diet. My goal was NOT to deprive myself from now until eternity of treats, but more to learn to make treats truly treats that you have occasionally and to learn how to cook meals without hidden sugar and use less refined carbohydrates.
There are also a few reasons I decided on 90 days. The first and most obvious was that I was intrigued by a Facebook page that a friend of mine started the exact same time I started the sugar detox, it was a 90 day candida cleanse. Because the cleanse and the sugar detox were so closely aligned, I decided that step one, 21 day sugar detox, step two, continue on the additional time to complete the 90 day candida cleanse. If you are interested in learning more about it, the page is called Crushing Candida on Facebook and Sharla has done an amazing job of putting together resources, a questionnaire to determine if the cleanse is right for you, a webinar explaining the process and documents to help you decide what to eat and what to avoid while on the cleanse. My second reason for trying to stick to this for 90 days was because I know my brain, and while many behavior modification books say it takes three weeks to change a habit, I find it can take about two days to slide right back into that habit. Think about it, if you have been eating a certain way your entire life, 3 weeks is a drop in the bucket. Because of this, I knew it would take a longer amount of time for me to truly develop habits that become so ingrained in my brain, that I know they will stick and be my new nutritional habits.
I have to conscientiously decide every morning to not have the things I have always eaten, simple carbohydrates are so easy and have always been my "go to." I no longer have toast with jelly, or a bowl of cereal, or leftover spaghetti (yeah, and not just once, but many times. I have eaten spaghetti for breakfast since I was a kid. Remember, spaghetti sandwiches with buttered bread have been my ultimate comfort food!). Now, I have chia seed pudding made with unsweetened almond milk and topped with berries, or a bowl of sauteed vegetables with an egg, or half a green apple with unsweetened almond butter, and sometimes a smoothie; but made with less fruit and more vegetables with some healthy fats like coconut milk or avocado blended in. My smoothies are also smaller than they were in the past. When they aren't filled with tons of wonderful sweet fruit and vanilla yogurt that has now been blended into a creamy delicious "one step away from a milkshake" morning beverage, I no longer suck them down in 30 seconds. They last longer because they aren't so sweet and the fat from the coconut milk satiates me much faster and stays with me much longer. When I am in a pinch, I have hard-boiled eggs already made and in the refrigerator that I can grab for some on the go protein or half an avocado with a squeeze of lime juice and a little cracked pepper. The shell of the avocado makes a perfect bowl for on the go! If I have time to dice and put the avocado in a bowl, then I will add chopped cilantro with the lime juice and pepper.
In addition to learning to make new breakfast items for myself, I am trying to modify the way I have always cooked dinner. Pasta was always a staple in our house for dinner, and quite honestly, probably always will be, but I have found ways to make this work. When making spaghetti for the kids, I make a batch of zucchini noodles (or Zoodles) for myself. I recently bought this spiralizer from Williams Sonoma. I don't get any kick back for telling you this, I just like to share when I find a gadget that I really love. I actually used it to make radish noodles too. It's pretty darn incredible! I do eat brown rice on occasion, but more often I make riced cauliflower when the kids have rice. Here is a great recipe for cilantro lime "riced" cauliflower from Skinnytaste.com. I also have found others and have pinned them to my Pinterest board, For the Love of Food - Sides, if you are interested in finding other recipes. Be warned, if you start looking at my Pinterest boards, I have A LOT of recipes that I pinned prior to going on the cleanse, don't assume that all my recipes in my boards are "cleanse friendly." A future project is to organize them to make it easier to find those recipes, but for right now they are stuck in with the rest.
While I have been on this journey, I have talked to a few people about teaching others how to make meals that don't have hidden sugars, are free of some of the major food sensitivity ingredients - soy, corn, gluten, and dairy, and are easy recipes to make. Well, so far, I have been successful in two of the three areas. I feel as if I now have a small, but solid foundation of these types of recipes, my only hurdle, turning them into easy recipes that don't take a ton of time in the kitchen. I am working on creating a collection of easy recipes though, and intend to share them through my blog and through cooking classes. As I create them, I am trying to time myself to find out if they fit the bill of a meal that can be made in 30-60 minutes. The first recipe that I have tried this with where I actually remembered to write down and measure the ingredients and found that it took 60 minutes because I remembered to time myself is Chicken and Cauliflower with Salsa, served over Cilantro Lime Brown Rice. I did not make this with the riced cauliflower because I was making it to take to Thing 1's swimming banquet and was afraid riced cauliflower may be a little over the top for that venue! But, would probably make a batch of that for the next time I make it at home. The recipe follows, but unfortunately there is no picture! In the mad dash to get out the door, I forgot to take a picture to have on the blog! So instead, I put a picture of some lovely roasted cauliflower until I can edit it! I have some additional links below for products and stores that I use. Again, I don't get compensated to mention them, I just like supporting local businesses and sharing great finds.
Also, if you are interested in some one on one cooking help or attending a cooking class, let me know. While I am still in the planning stages of developing my health coaching practice, as I fine tune what services I will be offering, and when classes are scheduled, I will be sure to let you know. Being in the kitchen with me, will certainly be another Hayward Adventure!
Chicken and Cauliflower with Salsa,
Served over Cilantro Lime Brown Rice
Cilantro Lime Rice
1 cup brown rice, prepared using package instructions.
(Make sure to start this first as brown rice takes easily 40 minutes to prepare.)
Zest from 1 lime
Juice from half a lime
(Just zest the lime, cut it in half and leave unjuiced for now, you will use the other half of the lime below)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
While rice is cooking, continue with recipe below, when rice is done, stir the lime zest and cilantro into the cooked rice. Take half a lime and squeeze the juice over the rice, stir to incorporate.
Chicken and Cauliflower with Salsa
olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 head of cauliflower, chopped into florets
3 cloves of whole, unpeeled garlic
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped
1 lb leftover chicken, shredded
1 can diced tomatoes
1 c water
1/2 - 1 teaspoon Chipotle chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 c salsa (look for one with no added sugar, I used Epic Pickles brand salsa. If you are local you can get it from Carriage House Market)
1/3 c chopped cilantro
Juice from half a lime
Condiments
Chopped black olives
Julienned radishes
Diced avocado
Chopped green onion
Chopped cilantro
Sour cream
Cheese (I used queso cotija which is a grated cheese, but queso fresco would be nice too. If you are local, El Agave in Hanover carries this.)
Note, if going dairy free, obviously the sour cream and cheese are not good garnish choices.
Preheat oven to 425*. Coat a rimmed baking pan with olive oil, toss the cauliflower in the oil, place the 3 cloves of unpeeled garlic on the pan, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, roast for 20 minutes. While cauliflower is roasting, chop vegetables and saute in olive oil over medium heat until crisp tender in a large pan. I use the chop and drop method here, which means I put oil in the pan and turn the heat on, as the oil heats, I chop the celery, add it to the pan and give it a stir. Chop the onion, add it to the pan and give it a stir. I make my way down the list of the vegetables until they are all incorporated. Add the chicken. (Note, I used leftover chicken from a roast I made the previous day that was already shredded. If using raw chicken, I would chop it and saute it first, then proceed with the vegetables. This will take longer to do this way.) By this point the cauliflower should be done and can be added to the pan. Set aside the roasted garlic for a moment. Stir in the tomatoes and water. Push the chicken and vegetables in a ring around the outside of the pan, the tomato juice and water will pool in the middle of the pan. Peel and chop the roasted garlic and add the garlic, seasonings, tomato paste, and salsa and whisk into the liquid to incorporate completely, then stir all the ingredients in the pan together to coat. (Note, I used 1/2 teaspoon of Chipotle chili powder because the salsa has some kick to it and because I was taking it to a banquet and didn't want it to be too hot. I would lean more towards the 1 teaspoon if making this at home. But it really depends on your personal taste and the heat level of your salsa.) Lastly, add in the cilantro and squeeze the juice of half a lime over the top and stir.
Serve over rice and garnish with suggested condiments.
