Monday, December 28, 2009

Post-Christmas cleansing

No, I do not subscribe to a "cleanse" in the sense of chugging pepper-spiked lemonade. Gross. And no, I am not consuming only fruits and vegetables for the next 10 days. What I mean by "cleansing" is getting back onto the clean-eating and menu-planning track and refocusing on whole, clean foods again after a good solid week of holiday treats and party food.

I started this morning with a hearty bowl of steel-cut oats mixed with chopped walnuts, a few dried cherries (until my son ate them all--"Cheddies! Eat, eat!"--and some real maple syrup from the co-op. I would have loved to whip up a Green Monster smoothie, but I forgot to buy peanut butter when I went to Trader Joe's. Grr. Lunch was a salad with mixed greens, apple, and stinky cheese dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette. Planned snacks are raw almonds, dried apricots, blue-corn-flax chips and salsa, and 72% dark chocolate to ease myself off the steady sugar intake of the previous week.

This morning I was thrilled to get my first 2010 issue of Clean Eating Magazine! I am so excited to flip through it and get some fresh ideas. One of my tasks tonight is to peruse the grocery store circular for some green veggies; we have plenty of squash, onion, and potato from the co-op, but eating green things in the middle of a Michigan winter requires a little more non-local shopping (or preserving, oops), I've discovered. And besides, I've become rather fond of roasted broccoli, and I used my last two heads for dinner on Saturday.

This week I will be soaking some black beans, making a big batch of brown rice, and cooking a million-and-a-half chicken breasts to I'm ready for a quick snack or lunch without too much additional prep. I've said before how important planning ahead is, but I too often forget it myself. And now I need to choose something for dinner tonight... What's on your menu this week? Got any great recipes for acorn squash?

3 comments:

  1. I totally need to do that (get back on the clean eating wagon). As for the acorn squash, I like them microwaved in halves and then I just stir in a little butter and brown sugar.

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  2. I just discovered your blog, and I'm excited to read about your experiences with clean eating. I'm new to clean eating and just picked up the Clean Eating magazine, too. Pretty soon I'm going to start adding to my blog as I try to eat cleaner and learn to cook. (I have always avoided cooking until now!)
    Anyway just wanted to say hi and have a happy new year!

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  3. I was so excited to see the new issue in my mail box, too!

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