Happy Halloween, Veggies!!!

-♥ J :)

P.S.  I had such a great time serving up vegan Halloween treats at Lululemon yesterday!!!  Big thanks to everyone who came out to say hi!!  I'll have pictures and the much anticipated recipe for Vegan Peanut Butter Cups up tomorrow. 

Budget Detox: The Simple Answer

Oh, Veggies, if you could see my computer. I've been sitting here for over an hour (hmmm…more like 3 days) trying to write your Budget Detox.  After starting eight different versions, three separate shopping lists and procrastinating on Facebook** twice (maybe more than twice...) I have come to the conclusion that this topic is much larger than one post.  Therefore I have decided that I'm going to write you a bunch of posts.  Yippee!!!  Yay for posts!!!  So, where should we start???

You want to detox.  You want to do it on the cheap.  Well, then let's start with the principle of Occam's Razor that generally recommends when selecting among competing hypotheses the one that makes the fewest new assumptions is correct.  In other words…the simplest answer is the right answer.  Let's keep it simple...

Criss Cross Applesauce

It was a cool, cloudy day in LA**,  so I decided to curl up with a cozy cup of tea and my nutrition books.  I was fixin' to get a move on some good 'ole fashioned blog work.  A couple of hours in I was feeling equal parts peckish and lazy.  I wandered over to the kitchen to see what I could rustle up.  Pickins was slim. (It occurs to me that I am inadvertently writing this with what appears to be some sort of western accent.)  All we's had in the mess (now I'm doing it on purpose…) was apples, frozen blueberries and halloween candy. (Thanks, Mom.)  What's a lass to do???  Well, this lass made blueberry applesauce.

Blueberry Applesauce

Ingredients:
-2 apples (cut and cored)
-1 cup frozen blueberries
-1/2 cup almond milk
-1 tsp. chia seeds
-1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

1. Put all ingredients in blender.  Reserve some of the frozen blueberries for later.

2. Blend.

3. Garnish with frozen blueberries and more cinnamon.

4. Eat.

That's it.  Easy as apple…sauce.  This recipe is detox friendly (since I hitched me-self back on ye 'ole detox wagon...) and would be a great snack for the youngins as well.  Happy eatin' partners!!!

-♥ J

**Upon John's arrival home, I was informed that it was no longer cool nor cloudy outside.  He cranked on the air conditioning and said, "Why are you wearing a wool hat?!"

Fossil Product All Your Crap's Made Of

via The Zero Waste Home

-♥ J :)

The Weekly Round Up

Good Friday, Veggies.  Sorry for the radio silence of late (would it be called blog silence???).  John and I have had family in town, so I've been taking a (much needed) technological break.  We've been seeing the sites, spending time outdoors and trying to squeeze in as much giggling as time will allow.  Since I have a few minutes to myself this morning, I thought I'd give you the Cliffs Notes version of the week's events.

1. The past couple of days, I haven't been sticking to the detox.  And I don't care.  And you can't make me care.  We've been having too much fun for me to be worrying about what I should or shouldn't be eating.  So call the gluten police.  I plead guilty and have no remorse.
2. This didn't stop me from spending $92.43 on juice yesterday.  Apparently when it comes to fresh juice I am careless spendthrift who holds no regard for things like my debt to income ratio.  I see brightly colored juice in bottles and turn into a crazed hoarder.  I guess there are worse vices.
3. I know that I still owe you the Budget Detox post.  I also know that it won't be finished until next week.  Your patience is greatly appreciated.
4. True Food Kitchen is my new favorite restaurant.  This restaurant deserves a post unto itself (which I will give it), but for now I'll just say this…on second thought…I have no words.  Pictures are below.  It was unreal.  Go.  Now.   (Also, according to my nephew, they have "the coolest bathroom" he's ever seen.)
5. I broke my self imposed ban on buying any more workout videos and bought this one and this one.  My justification for this is that Erin and I are testing out a 30 minute workout theory and these videos are part of the research.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  In unrelated news, I had a dream last night that Tracy Anderson told me I need to work on my butt.

-♥ J

John's Grass Fed Bison Burger with Sweet Potato Hash

Squash and Ricotta Ravioli

Farmer's Market Salad

My nephew Eric...eating honey.

Natalia Rose Detoxes the World

Still wondering why any sane person would even consider doing a detox when there are so many more interesting things to do like…bludgeoning oneself with something heavy???  Well, put down that brick and have a gander at this.  In the video below the incomparable Natalia Rose (her name is Natalia even though the video title says Natalie...) gives the whats, whys and hows of all things detox.  I can not wait for her new course PhDetox at the end of the month!!  I will be there with pencils sharpened and green juice in hand.  

-♥ J

The Detox Files

Happy Friday, Veggies!!!  For those of you playing our home game, today marks Day 5 of Fall Detox 2011.  Since Monday I have been juicing during the day and then having a hearty vegan meal for dinner.  Even though this week was really busy, I found that juicing was surprisingly easy to stick to.  This was due in part to the discovery that Earth Bar, one of my favorite places to get fresh juice, now sells juice in prepackaged bottles! 

 I bought three days worth, so I would have them all ready to go whenever I wanted one.  The cost of the juice broke down to about $30 a day.  That's a little steep but, for me, the convenience was worth the price.  Besides, a lot of the popular juice cleanses charge up to $80 a day, so I felt like I was getting a deal. 

HOWEVER (big however), do not get discouraged if that is out of your budget or you don't live near a fresh juice bar.  Next week I am going to cover some cheap and easy ways to get your detox on without having to sell off all of your belongings.  Until then, here is my food plan from the beginning of the week.  Let me know if you have any questions!

-♥ J :)

Monday

10 a.m.- Green Juice: romaine, kale, spinach, celery, parsley, cucumber

12 p.m.- Coconut Bliss Smoothie: organic coconut meat and water, coconut manna, vanilla bean, extra virgin, raw, organic coconut oil, agave ice

4 p.m.- quinoa with broccoli

8 p.m.- Green Juice

Tuesday

10 a.m.- Green Juice

12 p.m.- Citrus Cleanse Juice: orange, green apple, kale, lime

4p.m.- quinoa with broccoli and lentils

6 p.m.- Gt's Kombucha

8 p.m.- Green Juice

Wednesday

10 a.m.- Liver Cleanse Juice: beet. apple, carrot, lemon, ginger, aloe

12 p.m.- Chocolate Supreme Smoothie: raw cacao, banana, raw almond butter, almond milk, agave 

3 p.m.- Citrus Cleanse Juice

6 p.m.- Green Juice

8:30 p.m.- Bill's Tender Greens Salad (Tender Greens Nicoise: NO tuna. NO egg. SUB grilled vegetables) vegan butternut squash soup and a side of hummus

Mmmmm....so yummy.