MangiaMore: CLEANSE

RER 3.12.13

Oh hey. It was just a lazy afternoon, with a quick bite and some quality basic television. The Oprah spinoff Dr. Oz was on, gabbing at us with his mild lisp about things that are good for us, that contradict almost every episode. But today, today he was talking about his 3-day detox cleanse. Holy moly, did that inspire my boyfriend. We had to dance around the room and switch seats on the couch about a thousand times to get the reception of the channel to be clear, but once we did, we were mildly intrigued.

This cleanse consists of shakes; three shakes, four times a day: breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. Dr. Oz assures us that these recipes are cultivated for maximum vitamin absorption, maximum results, with minimum discomfort (“They taste delicious…” “I did the cleanse and never felt hungry,” “Dinner was good, wasn’t it?”). They all include our natural pharmacy; fruits, veggies, fats and all that good stuff, contrived to keep you full and moving, while helping your body to dispel all the toxins it has accumulated.

RER 3.11.13

Part of this detox and rejuvenation is taking a few supplements, like omega 3, pro-biotics (“to get the good bacteria in your gut”) and a multivitamin. It was also starting the day with a cup of hot green tea, with nearly a whole lemon sliced in it, you know, “to get things moving.” And the most relaxing thing, Dr. Oz assured us, was the detox bath with Epsom salts and lavender oil… too bad I don’t like baths.

Dr. Oz also claims that this detox cleanse was very affordable and somewhat enjoyable at just under $17 a day. And asking people who have tested out and participated in the cleanse to reveal their excellent and perhaps unlikely results felt like a deal maker.

RER 3.12.13

We consulted.

Deep deep deep down inside, I have always wanted to try a cleanse, you know, minimize bloat, clear the mind and body, shed that nasty water weight…blah blah blah. But the lack of chewing and amount of deprivation have always been intimidating ( I have minimal discipline, put a jar of candy corn in front of me and I will eat it, even with electric shock punishment). Being that I am a major food consumer, lover, indulger and so forth, the thought of spending 3 whole entire days without this joy, was hard to bear. This time, the prospect was not so bleak, because I would not be wandering the woods of starvation alone, but one of my favorite people ever would be holding my hand in the scarcity, lost and hungry with me.

RER 3.12.13

After a little back and forth, we decided to dive into the detox.

Dr. Oz so kindly created a little cheat sheet with all the info for the shakes and the routine, along with a giant grocery list at the top. Also during that life-changing episode, the doctor proclaims that all the ingredients could be found in local grocery stores. Unfortunately, this was not true of my local grocery store and that of my boyfriend (and I live in the middle of yuppieville and my local A&P did not have almond butter or kale at the moment). So we had to resort to the fancy organic store to purchase some of the goods needed.  The list is pretty easy, from kale to spinach, to celery to various fruits, but there is also ground flaxseed, coconut oil, and almond butter, which are a little less friendly and recognizable.

RER 3.12.13

Finally, after several trips to many different stores to get everything we needed, we were able to start. My nerves were all over the place, and doubt was creeping all the way up to my eyeballs, and my stomach was hurting from the mere thought of starvation, but I got my act together. I spent the night before our starting day tossing and turning, reading comments about the cleanse over and over, scanning the internet for more information, and creating questions that remained unanswered by Dr. Oz (Can we drink water? Can we work out?  Can we EAT?!).

 And we started on a Tuesday. We wisely secluded ourselves from the outside world, in an effort to save the other people we love from our terrible hungry dispositions, and the evil delicious temptations that the world has to offer. And like the website and further reading suggested, the morning of the beginning of our adventure I weighed myself and wrote down my measurements (for the first time ever), just to see if there would be any change.

RER 3.11.13

Breakfast

1 banana

1 cup raspberries

¼ cup spinach

1 tablespoon almond butter

1 tablespoon flaxseed ground

1 cup water

2 teaspoon lemon

Oh man. I know you know the little saying breakfast is the most important meal of the day… well, in this cleanse case, it most definitely was. This was mainly because it was the only meal of the day that was easy for me to drink, get down and keep down. The texture was chunky and weird because of the many raspberry seeds and the less than smooth consistency of the almond butter, but it was sweet and hearty feeling. Banana and the spinach kind of clash in theory, but when pulverized to a mess there was no way of knowing that your pretty fruits were mixed with a leafy green. I felt full and energized after this morning mélange…enough to make it to the gym and not pass out.

Because all the goodies for these drinks were in one location, every night we would prep two breakfast shakes for the next day, so we could “eat” (hahhaa…) breakfast in our respective places.

RER 3.12.13

Lunch

4 celery stalks

1 cup pineapple

1 cucumber

1 cup kale

½ green apple

½ lime

1 tablespoon coconut oil

½ cup almond milk

Unfortunately, lunch did not have the same “swallowability” that breakfast did. Like many of the complaints and comments I read in my preparation for this deprivation, lunch was my least favorite. I really did not mind the flavor of the drink at all, it was a little fruity, a little tangy, and a little tropical, but it was very green and chewy. I can’t honestly say I am severely fond celery; there is something not natural about its stringy and crunchy texture and the bitterness that comes with it. Perhaps it was the 3 (not 4) stalks we put in our lunch drink that poisoned it for me. The drink was much thicker and slower moving than the breakfast feast, we almost had to chew it. It was long and drawn out and probably would take me at least an hour to drink almost the prescribed amount.

RER 3.12.13

Dinner

½ cup of mango

1 cup blueberries

1 cup kale

¼ avocado

1 tablespoon flaxseed ground

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon lemon

1 ½ cup coconut water

Well dinner was quite refreshing after the chunky disaster that was lunch. It was much easier for me to inhale from starvation than lunch, but at the end of the day, after drinking what felt like my weight in highly nutritious shakes, drinking anything was difficult. This dinnertime wonder was hot and spicy from the little bit of cayenne, but also sweet and thick caused by tropical mango. The super food kale was hardly perceptible in taste, but morphed the color of the shake to something evil. It did not feel as fulfilling as breakfast, or as filling (in a “I can’t really force myself to eat any more of this” kind of way) as lunch, because by the end of the day, true starvation was setting in, along with the doubts and blurry lapses of discipline. But I would drink this dinner mix again… like the breakfast drink, almost voluntarily.

RER 3.14.13

All in all, it was an experience… one that I don’t think I need anytime soon (not even the suggested every three to four months). Not gonna lie, it was difficult. It is much harder not to chew or missing chewing than you think.

The visitors on the tv show made it sound like it was easy and extremely rewarding for the body and soul. I, on the other hand, did not encounter that. They mentioned feeling light and refreshed, focused and renewed. I just felt tired and hungry. I was severely uncomfortable most of the time with bellyaches and disrupted routines. There was nothing light feeling with me, other than light headed. I think my boyfriend had a similar reaction to me. We both had a hard time. Cool, we were focused for like 30 minutes after consuming a shake, but after that there was a steep plummet into un-productivity and overwhelming lethargy. It was naptime all day and strenuous headaches frequented from lack of sugar and caffeine, things that I didn’t really think my body was so reliant on. It was deffo not as easy as they made it seem, on the body and the mind.

RER 3.11.13

Good news is, I temporary lost weight and inch (yes one). I would like to emphasize temporarily. Dr. Oz and his friends kept talking about this weight loss and eliminating, but they never mentioned what would happen once you started eating again. Some of the weight has come back and my belly still hurt for a few days after this rejuvenation.  Yes, it was harder to eat more, and my body was less excited about the greasy, heavy, and sugary things that it once used to be, but that lasted about five minutes (enter Easter candy).

It took very strong will and desire to see it through to really get through it. I was really lucky that I had the full support (though sometimes grumpy) of my boyfriend who suffered through the dissatisfaction with me. This cleanse really ended up being a bonding experience, and different kind of way of exploring food and what it does for our bodies and minds…. But I really did miss solid food, like a lot.

RER

3.19.13

RER 3.12.13

 

MangiaMore: OUR take on Tuscan soup

RER 1.25.13

Ever since stumbling on the Refinery29 detox soup recipes like the Sweet Potato Squash Soup and the Super Green and Bean soup that we tried, I have been soup obsessed. And I am pretty sure that I have said before, that I am not a soup kind of girl. For some reason I have always thought them plain, limp, and not particularly filling. And I'm sure as you have been able to infer, I can eat. But this new breed of soup, this good for you kind of soup, has opened me up to the hundreds of options that the soup staple offers.

JAR 1.25.13

Yes, there have been many occasions that I have had soup, and many times because I had to, soup is what's for dinner. You must be familiar with that, food forced upon you because that's what mom or dad or whoever made, and that is your only option. I have had various bean soups, hearty with pork and meat, as well as corn chowders floating with potatoes and tiny red pepper slices. I have even had hot pumpkin soups, spicy with curry and cooled with sour cream....all at my mother's table.

Maybe I have liked soup all along, because I can not honestly remember not participating in soup dinners. Perhaps my only complaint would be with the skinny ones, the wet ones with no meat and bones. I never believed, and still have a hard time believing that soup on its own can serve as a full meal...unless it is the full package.

RER 1.25.13

So on this soup binge, I opted for the less cleansing and healthy variety, first introduced to me in London by one of my lovely flatmates. This soup is the Tuscan soup. For the longest I could not remember the name of the soup, and continually called it an Italian Wedding soup (which incidentally has some similar components, mainly meat, broth, and a leafy green). But after foraging through emails around two years old, I found the correct name of the soup I was lusting for, Tuscan soup.

RER 1.25.13

The recipe is easy enough, just browning some hot sausage links with some chopped onion, mixing that goodness with your chicken broth in a large pot, followed by the addition of cubed potatoes (we chose red potatoes). Then allowing the lovely mixture to boil until the potatoes get soft. Throw in the spinach, cook that to wilt. And then adding the evaporated milk once the cooked soup is removed from the heat.

See easy. That is one of the things I have discovered as of late with soups. There is not always a ton of work involved, but the flavor and heartiness achieved is very high. Because I often lean towards heavier, meal like soups, we made some random, yet thought out additions. 

RER 1.25.13

1.kale I really love the dark leafy super food, and so does my boyfriend, so somehow it manages to find its way onto our dinner plates quite frequently. Sometimes we roast the kale in the oven and add salt and enjoy the crispiness while other times we cook it like collards, slow and long. We had no problem throwing the green into this Tuscan soup in addition to the called for spinach. Spinach and kale, even when lightly cooked have completely different textures. The kale did not wilt and become as soft as the spinach, even though we added it first. Its curly resilience countered the smush of the earthy spinach nicely. It was one of the only things in the soup that had a crunch to it, which in many minds seems contradictory to the connotations of soup. But that crunch was necessary, making some spoonfuls not slurps but something to chew.

RER 1.25.13

2. roman beans To add heartiness, more protein and depth of texture to our interpretation of the soup, we added in a can of rinsed roman beans. These little beans kind of look like white cannellini beans, yet they are doused with a darker red like color. Their flavor is not quite as mild, a little meatier and nuttier, but deffo a great add on to the soup. These beans too added some more fun texture to the already mixed soup. The legumes were smooth and creamy like the boiled potatoes, and their skins added something different to the soup.

RER 1.25.13

Overall the soup was not as delicious as I remember. The combination is a dream; fatty and spicy sausage, luxurious and decadent, like the evaporated milk added at the end; the earthy and thick spinach,very vegetable tasting; the cooked potatoes, soft and smooth, heavy. I love all the elements and components that the soup entails, even our special additions of kale and roman beans, but somehow it fell short. We added salt, pepper, chili powder, some garlic powder, to season the limp broth. The potatoes really did not absorb any flavor,even though they were cooked with the added seasonings, and I think that their blandness was overwhelming, and muted the other ingredients unfortunately. Despite that, I would chow down on this soup again, and even figure out a way to remedy the pitfalls (maybe use stock with some sodium). Cooking is experimentation and in a way self-discovery. I sure learn more about myself every time, what I like and don't like, or what I rather not admit I actually do like (ahem, soup).

RER 

1.25.13

RER 1.25.13

MangiaMore: Sweet Potato Squash SOUP

RER 1.23.13

It's a few weeks into the new year and everyone is still fighting to maintain those resolutions. You know the drill-- new year, new you. Like for many people around the globe January 1st means war. For some it is a project about getting fit and losing weight, while for others it's about chasing dreams and love and passion, and for some of us it is all of the above. For me, resolutions always tend to be losing battles; I start strong, and them bam, I fall off, and never pick it up again.

And winter weather and plummeting temperatures do not help. The cold does not make me want to take my behind to the gym leaving the comfort of the warm indoors or even eat light and healthy food. My body craves warmth, comfort and satisfaction, not deprivation.

RER 1.23.13

But who says you have to sacrifice to keep up with your healthy resolutions? Refinery29 (fashion, health, and beauty), revealed some great options for getting the things I long for in the winter months, while keeping balance and working on my health. In a article called "Soup Secret: 3 Recipes for a Healthy Cleanse," they list three soup recipes that can help you maintain your healthy new year resolution, while being satiated and sacrificing nothing. Each of these soups have a low calorie count, but large amounts of nutrients and super foods.

RER 1.23.13

I recently tried the Sweet Potato Squash soup. Not only was it easy to make, it turned out pretty delicious and hearty. The recipe is moderately low maintenance, considering so many other recipes out there, just some chopping, stirring, waiting and in the end, smashing (my favorite). What first caught my eye about this recipe was the sweet potatoes. I have never really though about sweet potatoes as healthy super foods, because of their innate sweet and delicious nature, so I thought, there was no way that this soup would feel healthy (like bunny food) to me. I was also struck by the combination of ingredients; butternut squash, onion, green apple, sweet potatoes, and a touch of olive oil. Nothing felt sacrificial about these ingredients, or that I was giving up any kind of comfort (just my kind of "healthy" recipe). And in some ways it made me feel skeptical. How could all these goodies create something labeled as a "detox soup," but whatever makes it one, I like it.

RER 1.23.13

But in the end, after it was all said and done; the skinning, the chopping, the cubing, the dicing, the pouring, the stirring, the waiting and the smashing (I know, sounds excessive), we ended up with a delicious soup. The soup was hearty and erred toward a puree. It was thick with pieces of the squash and sweet potato, and lined with remnants of granny smith apple. The sauteeing the onion and the apple in olive oil gave the soup a buttery feeling, and a sense of luxuriousness, without the less healthy elements of real butter. The butternut squash was not really perceptible in flavor, but the difference between it and the sweet potato in texture, was present and added interest.

RER 1.23.13

The recipe, however, called for no seasoning whatsoever. That, I found very odd 1. because I am all about seasoning, spices, flavors, add-ons, what have you... and 2. Just a few days later Refinery29 had another article "How To Eat Super- Healthy In The Dead Of Winter" which praises the additions of herbs and spices. So, we added some hot spices, mainly chili powder and hefty amounts of pepper, to our sweet potato squash soup. This gave our soup some kick, and added even more benefits (the benefit of extra deliciousness!). Also, when serving, we added a tiny bit of sour cream to offset the sweetness of the ingredients and add some tang. The creaminess added decadence, but also decreased its "healthy" perspective.

RER 1.23.13

This is a great soup to make to detox, or even when you are in a winter rut. It is super filling, nutrient and fiber rich, but also delicious and colorful for the colder months. It brings comfort and warmth while making your belly happy.

 RER

1.24.13

RER 1.23.13