Winter Cleanse

Last week I did my first ever cleanse. I gave up alcohol, caffeine, sugar, dairy, gluten & red meat for 7 days. To be honest, I didn't think I would be able to do it. I'm definitely a carry out & dine out girl who loathes going to the grocery store. However, I wanted to prove to myself that I could. The hardest part was actually all of the preparation- it's definitely cheaper & easier to eat crap. But I made some great dishes, a frittata & lots of soups! I also had the support of great 2 friends who did the cleanse with me & did recipe swaps with me.

I have always been somewhat skeeved about preparing fish at home. I've worried that I wouldn't cook it all the way through or that it would stink up the house. Tilapia was a great fish to start with. A simple blend of lemons, capers & a little olive oil + sea salt made a surprisingly good meal that I made 2 nights out of the week!

Here was my first foray into turnips! I must admit the entire time prepping this concoction with white beans, carrots, onions & vegetable broth I thought that it was going to be a bust. I was pleasantly surprised at its creamy deliciousness!
I also bought a Vitamixer that I'm still experimenting with, but one divine treat I whipped up was with frozen strawberries, frozen bananas, an orange & a splash of coconut milk. It was like frozen yogurt- delish! I had warned all of the girls at the spa that I might be a raving lunatic & to bear with me, but ironically I felt pretty great. A little tired in the mornings without my coffee pick me up(which I had weened myself off of the previous week), but in general happier. Yesterday was my first day back & I felt a little lost as to what to start adding back in. I wanted to 'splurge' but couldn't find anything worthy & didn't want to set myself back. Even a 'healthy' grocery like Fresh Market presented tons of temptations. Hopefully this will be a turning point in trying to cut back on all the processed food in my life- fingers crossed!

Peace. Love. Lipgloss. M