After: Diet

I've finally gotten to the "After" phase of my purification, but I'm not quite ready to post the "After" picture yet. My three week program ended two weeks ago. That three weeks consisted of a total of twenty-one days, in case you weren't counting. I don't know how many hours or minutes, but when I first started the program I was considering making the calculation. It seemed like a long stretch of time, but it went faster than I thought it would. The first ten days I couldn't eat anything but fruits and vegetables. I struggled with that a bit, but it got better. I discovered that I really like to eat kale chips. Kale chips are addictive. The kids like them, too. I had to keep the chips right next to me during dinner or the kids would try to grab them. Luckily, I'm quick with my fork. By the way, you don't eat kale chips with a fork. The fork was for protection. Of the kale chips. Not the kids. Kids get too close to the kale, they get hurt. Just sayin'.

I cooked a bunch of really nice side dishes throughout those three weeks, but no real main courses. The girl child kept wanting to try everything, like wild rice sauteed with mushrooms, and mashed butternut squash with sweet mayan onions and apples. I told her to eat her own food and leave mine alone, but then I wound up letting her have some. I am a sucker. I never quite got the hang of making an all veggie meal though because I wasn't allowed any beans and very little brown or wild rice. I got a cup of lentils a day. I don't understand how those folks on the purification blogs that post all the food pictures do it. They must have a lot of time on their hands to figure out all those good recipes. Anyway, on the eleventh day, I was allowed lean meats. I thought that "meat day" was going to be much more of an event than it turned out to be. I was happy to have the protein back in my diet, though. It made it easier to eat with the family.

It is very important that I've learned to pronounce quinoa. The girl child thought it was hysterical that I didn't know how to before, but she had never seen how it's spelled, so what the heck did she know? She is a know-it-all, that girl child. Anyway, I have been needing to say quinoa quite a bit lately, so now I can say it with confidence. Keenwa. Why don't they just spell it like that? Anyway, I say quinoa because I've gone gluten free, and a lot of that stuff is made from quinoa. I'm not a purist, though. In other words, I cheat. But I'm the only one who suffers if I do, so that's OK. My family went out for chinese food to celebrate the lunar new year recently, and I paid for that big time. I won't be doing anything like that again soon. But it's not like I have a condition that will make me super sick if I eat something I'm not supposed to. I'm very lucky in that respect. I've got a bunch of different kinds of corn and quinoa pastas hanging out in my pantry now, and a pretty tasty organic gluten free multi-grain bread. I ate my first slice yesterday. I toasted it. I burned it. Seriously, have I forgotten how to make a piece of toast in five weeks? That is just pathetic. But, maybe it's better that way. I'm trying to stay off the carbs.

Mostly carb free has it's benefits: at the end of the three weeks, I lost eight pounds. Eight. Count ’em! one-two-three-four-five-six-seven-eight. Oh wait! I've been in post-purification mode for two weeks, and the pounds are still gone, so you can count ’em again! one-two-three-four-five-six-seven-eight-nine. Oh, did I go up to nine that time? Well, yes, yes I did. Because yesterday the needle on the Hello Kitty scale went down one more pound, I'm happy to say. A very nice side effect of purifying. A very nice side effect, indeed.

But, the most important aspect of the purification is how it makes me feel. I'm not belittling the weight loss though. Really. I'm not. But my energy level these days is incredibly high compared to the way it was in early January and before, and I can attribute that to my new diet. My skin is better, and so is my digestion. The diet consists mainly of fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and beans. I've cut out most dairy. I've discovered gluten free chips and crackers and am trying to stay away from them because they taste really good and I can eat an entire package. Oh, and then there's the dark chocolate. The doctor said that dark chocolate is good for you. I'm not sure if that's such a good idea, but you can see why I keep going back to him. I think he is a very smart man.

There are a lot of recipes out there that I can try, but I'm having some fun making up my own. I tried one the other day that I'll share with you. I call it Faux-lafel. I've discovered that my faux-lafel will not be the only one out there—the name is not exactly original—but I don't think anyone has the copyright on it so I'm calling mine that, too. I kind of ripped off the recipe from the ingredients label of a veggie burger they make at my local grocery store. I bought a package and liked it so much I decided to start making the burgers myself, but then I realized I could roll the mixture into balls and pan fry them. The rest of the family liked them a lot. I think they would be better for everyone than real, deep fried falafel, so next time I'll be making the faux.

I'm also going to share one of my fave breakfast ideas with you. Since it's been really cold out, I've wanted to eat a hot breakfast. I used to eat oatmeal, but I wasn't allowed to eat that for three weeks. What could I make easily at work that would be warm and satisfying when I could only have fruits and veggies? And then it came to me: a "baked" apple made in the microwave. Not bad. Enjoy!


"Baked" Apple

Core the apple, sprinkle some cinnamon, and place into a shallow bowl. Cover with a paper towel and cook in the microwave for two or three minutes until the apple is soft and there's a yummy syrup at the bottom of the bowl. Eat. Carefully. Don't burn the roof of your mouth.

Faux-lafel

I use a food chopper I got from Pampered Chef* to chop all of the ingredients for this recipe. It makes life a heck of a lot easier. All the quantities can be played around with to your taste. I faked it myself, so you can, too.

1 can organic chick peas, drained and mashed
1/2 carrot, chopped fine
3/4 bell pepper (red, yellow, orange, green or a mix of all), chopped fine
1/2 medium onion, chopped fine
1/2 zucchini, chopped fine
2 large white mushrooms, chopped fine
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped fine
1-2 teaspoons cumin, to taste
salt and pepper to taste
flour and panko crumbs if you eat gluten; gluten free flour and cornmeal if you don't

Mix together all ingredients in a large bowl. Form into patties (makes about 5) or into 1" round balls. Pan fry in grape seed oil until golden brown. Tasty!

*I have to give a plug to my pampered chef guy, David Meenan, aka the Broadway Chef. If you live in NJ and want to have a party, you should call him. My party was a long time ago, but he sang and did Riverdance on a cutting board. He is a hoot.