Quitting Sugar Week 2 – What We Ate

In Week 2 of the Sugar Detox the focus was to add in more healthy fats. I don’t think I did as well as I could have with this though. Sarah Wilson recommends eating lots of avocados as one way to add in more fat, but being allergic to them I had to ditch that idea. Instead I ate more cheese than normal. I am not a big fan of eggs, but to get through Weeks 3-6 I think I will have to make an effort to incorporate those into my breakfast routine.

I have to say I am very proud of my boyfriend and he has exceeded my expectations in his avoidance of sugar. When I have given him the option to have a treat this week he has declined and stuck to our plan. Frankly I am surprised since he’s such a little sugar addict but maybe losing 10 pounds already has something to do with it.

Here is what we ate:

Breakfast
Blueberry Almond Coconut Overnight Oats MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY

Scrambled Eggs with Spinach SATURDAY

Veggie Frittata, Rosemary Potatoes, Fruit Parfait and Champage SUNDAY (one of my best friends hosted a Sunday Brunch and I had a cheat meal. I probably shouldn’t have had the parfait or the champagne, but I mean come on, I’m not on Week 3 yet!)

Lunch

Lentils, wheat berries, tomatoes, onion, veggie bowl MONDAY, TUESDAY

Polenta with shiitake mushrooms and leeks WEDNESDAY

Eggplant with tomatoes, garlic, onion, and cinnamon and Roasted vegetables: squash, onions, zucchini, and mushrooms THURSDAY

Black bean, salsa, and cheddar cheese burritos FRIDAY

Snacked while meal prepped for the week SATURDAY

Brunch (see breakfast)

Dinner

Polenta with shiitake mushrooms and leeks MONDAY

Eggplant with tomatoes, garlic, onion, and cinnamon and Roasted vegetables: squash, onions, zucchini, and mushrooms TUESDAY

Pizza with artichoke hearts, olives, and garlic WEDNESDAY

Veggie Bowl THURSDAY

Pasta with Immunity Boosting Sauce from the Oh She Glows Cookbook FRIDAY

Vegan Chili SATURDAY

Soba Noodle Bowl SUNDAY

Snacks

Tortilla chips and savory almond dipping sauce, blackberry and oat bar (natural sugar only) MONDAY, TUESDAY, THURSDAY

Almonds, walnuts, blackberry and oat bar WEDNESDAY

Cheese FRIDAY

Veggies SATURDAY

N/A SUNDAY

Cowspiracy – A New Documentary On Netflix // My On Again Off Again Plant Based Journey

So I just finished watching COWSPIRACY, a documentary released on Netflix September 15th and WOW…

Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret is a groundbreaking feature-length environmental documentary following intrepid filmmaker Kip Andersen as he uncovers the most destructive industry facing the planet today – and investigates why the world’s leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it.

Animal agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, water consumption and pollution, is responsible for more greenhouse gases than the transportation industry, and is a primary driver of rainforest destruction, species extinction, habitat loss, topsoil erosion, ocean “dead zones,” and virtually every other environmental ill. Yet it goes on, almost entirely unchallenged.

As Andersen approaches leaders in the environmental movement, he increasingly uncovers what appears to be an intentional refusal to discuss the issue of animal agriculture, while industry whistleblowers and watchdogs warn him of the risks to his freedom and even his life if he dares to persist.

As eye-opening as Blackfish and as inspiring as An Inconvenient Truth, this shocking yet humorous documentary reveals the absolutely devastating environmental impact large-scale factory farming has on our planet, and offers a path to global sustainability for a growing population.

If you are interested in the environment, the human race, or worry about what you can do to make a difference, then you should definitely watch this film. I am already passionate about the food I choose to eat and always have been, so I’m probably more into this than a lot of people out there. However, I learned so many new and startling statistics from this film and it really makes you think about the choices you make on a daily basis. Even my meat eating boyfriend was quite interested and I’m sure he’s terrified I will try to force him into being a vegan now (bwahaha)!

With that said I have to do some serious thinking about my own food choices, the information is just too obvious to ignore and it has made me seriously consider heading back down the vegan path. I was a hardcore vegetarian for a decade (& by hardcore I mean I wouldn’t let people cook meat in my pots and pans, I didn’t eat any seafood and only ate a little bit of dairy). However, I started down that path in my late teens and I was not a healthy vegetarian. I have always been on the thin side and have a pretty fast metabolism so I always felt hungry except when I would fill up on bread and pasta. I hated salads because I would eat one and 20 minutes later I would be starving. I love fruits and vegetables, but I just didn’t eat a properly balanced vegetarian diet.

I began working out a lot (I have always been a runner but I started adding weights in as well). Then everyone started telling me that I couldn’t exercise and be a vegetarian, I needed meat in order to build muscle and stay healthy. I didn’t get back on the moo for awhile after that. It was a combination of things that got me to eat meat again, and among those were thinning hair and dark circles under my eyes. I know now that I wasn’t eating a properly balanced diet but at the time I slowly incorporated meat back into my diet to see if I could get those issues to disappear.  I began to eat beef, chicken, and some fish although I’ve never been a huge meat eater and it would still gross me out a lot of the time.

I lived in Portland, OR for a few years and had a brief vegan stint. I felt great and enjoyed it while I was adhering to that plan.  But after a series of life changing events, I ended up back in Southern California with a lot less time on my hands and so I was back to being an omnivore.

What got me back on the mainly plant based diet was a lunch with a coworker at a fast food Chinese chain restaurant. I ordered a stir-fry dish with chicken (I was going to get the tofu but changed my mind at the last minute). I got my food and started eating, but the food seemed to be extra crunchy. I kept eating, but something just wasn’t right. I finally looked at my bite of chicken and realized it was only white on the outside, the inside was not cooked. It took everything I had not to loose my lunch right then and there. I couldn’t even think about it without gagging and when my coworker asked what was wrong, I could barely tell her without getting physically ill. I stopped eating chicken again at that exact moment. Over the next two months I cut out everything else except fish.

So now after watching Cowspiracy, I really need to re-evaluate if I even want to eat fish anymore and beyond that, do I want to eat dairy? I could easily give up eating fish and probably will, dairy will be a little harder but I’ve done it before and it wasn’t that big of a deal. I can’t say what I will do for sure, but I can say that this film really has me thinking about my choices and what I can do to make a positive impact right now.

Even if if you are the biggest carnivore on earth and can’t go one meal without eating some form of animal, I would still recommend you check the film out. It may change the way you view your food and educate you on a whole list of other issues that you’ve probably never thought about in relation to your hamburger.

Quitting Sugar Week 1 – What We Ate

We made it through week 1 of the I Quit Sugar Detox. Week 1 is about cutting back on sugar so we did still eat fruit and natural sugar (pure maple syrup). Meal prepping for the week was a lot of work, and I still had to do small things in the kitchen each night. But having the main meals already prepared really helped.

I’ve already learned that you have to have a plan and something waiting for you when hunger strikes.  When you get ridiculously hungry you will be tempted to just eat whatever you can find. This didn’t actually happen, but I came close. Saturday morning I was starving, running out the door, and wondering what I could possibly eat when I remembered I had a granola bar.  So I didn’t blow the detox on the first week!

Here’s what we ate week 1 (as close as I can remember). Some days I ate the same thing everyday, which I am ok with but may drive other people crazy.

Breakfast
Blueberry Almond Coconut Overnight Oats MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY
Coconut Fluffs FRIDAY

Tropical Granola Bars SATURDAY, SUNDAY

Lunch
Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas MONDAY
Soba Noodle Bowl TUESDAY
Clean Green Bean Casserole WEDNESDAY
Savory Roast Veggie Latkes THURSDAY
Savory Roast Veggie Latkes FRIDAY
Savory Roast Veggie Latkes SATURDAY
Soba Salad SUNDAY

Soba Noodle Bowl Ingredients

Dinner
Clean Green Bean Casserole MONDAY
Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas  TUESDAY
Mashed Potatoes (for me) Chicken and Mashed Potatoes (for my boyfriend) WEDNESDAY
Soba Noodle Bowl THURSDAY
Homemade Cheese Pizza FRIDAY
Enchilada Filling Hash SATURDAY
Random Snacks While Cooking (snacked on what I was cooking for this week) Chicken for the boyfriend SUNDAY
Snacks
Savory Crackers: Rosemary & Garlic // Fig & Pepper MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY
Cheese WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY
Gogi Berries WEDNESDAY
Veggies & Hummus WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY
Granola Bars MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY

 

Two Days Into The Sugar Detox // Delicious Homemade Sugar Free Dairy Free Coffee Creamer

Having completed two whole days of the I Quit Sugar detox plan by Sarah Wilson I have to say so far it’s going pretty smoothly. Week 1 is about cutting back on sugar so you don’t have to go cold turkey and can ease into it. The only sugar my boyfriend and I have had the past two days has been natural sugar (blueberries and maple syrup in our breakfasts of Overnight Oats) and a small amount of dried figs in the crackers that I made. I actually haven’t craved any sugar so far, but after lunch and dinner I notice that I do think about eating something sweet, probably out of habit. But I just acknowledge the thought and move on.

My boyfriend has lost 3 pounds since this past Sunday! He didn’t believe it so he weighed himself again 30 minutes later (nothing changed). He’s attributing it to surfing (uh-huh), he surfs almost every day so I don’t know why all of a sudden he would start losing weight. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact he isn’t taking down a quart of ice cream in one sitting.

Straining the almond pulp from the milk

On a separate note, this morning I had THE best cup of coffee I’ve had in a long time and it was thanks to a recipe I discovered on the Detoxinista blog for coffee creamer made with almonds, water, and coconut oil. It was really easy and fast, you just need to soak 1 cup of almonds in water for 6-8 hours before you get started.

Once your almonds are soaked and rinsed, put them in your high powered blender with 4 cups of filtered water and 2 tablespoons of coconut oil. Blend until creamy and then strain the pulp from the milk. I used a cheese cloth and a sieve, next time I will try using a nut bag (I will be making this weekly from now on so I think it’s time I bite the bullet and buy one).

I am in love with this creamer because it tastes amazing, doesn’t separate and get gross in your coffee like store bought ones can, doesn’t have any artificial ingredients or preservatives, and was very satisfying due to the little bit of coconut oil. Tomorrow morning I am going to try adding in a little cacao powder (a suggestion in the comments section of the Detoxinista blog post) and see how that tastes. My search for a good non-dairy coffee creamer has been a long and disappointing one…until today!

Quitting Sugar // The Experiment Begins

Tomorrow my significant other and I are starting an 8 week sugar detox and to be honest we are not looking forward to it. BUT it needs to happen. My boyfriend is a gnarly sugar addict (like eats a quart of a Trader Joe’s Vanilla Ice Cream almost every night kind of addict). I don’t blame him, he is sober and as he points out, this is the only vice he has (besides compulsive surfboard and motorcycle collecting).

However, the poor guy has a really bad case of psoriasis, degenerative disc disease, is always tired and feels foggy. I am convinced it has to do with his diet. My diet isn’t perfect either, but thankfully I don’t have those symptoms. I just want him to feel better because it isn’t normal to feel that bad all the time. So, once he told me he was willing to try to quit sugar I jumped on it and am committing to do it as well.

What this means is that I have committed to making all our meals and snacks for the next 8 weeks (please shoot me). Because when I sign on to something I tend to go all in; not necessarily a good thing. I basically decided that we should give up all processed food while we’re at it. And I eat a plant based diet 95% of the time (fish once in a while), so this little experiment is going to be a little gnarly.

So today after a 3 hour motorcycle ride in 90 degree weather (I just upgraded my brake so I had to test it out on some twisty back roads!) I meal prepped for the week. It ended up taking me six and a half hours, I was not expecting that. But, I made some really delicious meals and I know I will be happy I got it done later in the week. I know that when I get tired and hungry I do not want to cook. I commute two hours a day, so the last thing I want to do is spend another hour or two making dinner.

I am a huge procrastinator so this is really going to be a test for me. But I have the best motivation ever in trying to help the person that I love so it’s totally worth it. We went grocery shopping Saturday and I made home made granola bars and crackers Saturday night (we really know how to party). And then today was a marathon in the kitchen. I can honestly say I have never cooked so many things in one day – it is exhausting. I’m just hoping I will get faster the more I do it!

Here is a list of what I made over the last two days:

Savory Crackers: Rosemary & Garlic // Fig & Pepper

Tropical Granola Bars

Blueberry Almond Coconut Overnight Oats

Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas with Cilantro Hummus (made a double batch so I could freeze one)

Thai Peanut Soba Noodle Bowl Prep

Clean Green Bean Casserole

Cut up a bunch of parsnips, bell peppers, cucumbers, spinach, green onions to use later in the week

Black Fig & Pepper Crackers

Tropical Granola Bars

Thai Peanut Soba Noodle Bowl Prep

Clean Green Bean Casserole

The Perfect Veggie Burger

I love a good veggie burger, but I am not a fan of the grocery store variety. I order them occasionally at restaurants and when I find a good one I take note for the next time. As I’ve tried to clean up my eating habits I’ve had to be more selective and so I finally decided to just try and make my own.

I found this recipe from a Google search and it led me to a great vegan website, Oh She Glows by Angela Liddon. I kind of fell in love with her site and bought her cookbook which has some great recipes (The Sweet Potato & Black Bean Enchiladas with Avocado-Cilantro Cream Sauce are f’ing amazing! I had to sub out the avocado with jalapeño hummus that I made because of my food allergy but it was still delicious in my opinion as well as for 3 meat eaters who ate it up before anyone got seconds). If you buy the cookbook, which I highly recommend, it’s on page 147.

 

So here is the Oh She Glows Perfect Veggie Burger Recipe: it’s colorful, healthy, and delicious.

Our Perfect Veggie Burger
Crunchy, chewy, with a crispy outer shell, these delicious veggie burgers have all the right elements we love in a veggie burger. Light on the beans, these burgers aren’t mushy in the middle, but have a nice mixture of breadcrumbs, chopped almonds, sunflower seeds, and seasonings to round them out. Best of all, they work great in the oven, frying pan, or even on the BBQ. They can also be made gluten-free by using gluten-free oats, Tamari, and breadcrumbs. Don’t have breadcrumbs? Just process a few slices of bread in the food processor for instant breadcrumbs. I used 3 slices of Ezekiel bread.
Inspired by Whitewater Cooks.
Yield: 8 burgers
Ingredients:
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 large garlic clove, minced
Flax eggs: 2.5 tbsp ground flax + 1/2 cup warm water, mixed in bowl
1 cup oats, processed into flour* (other flours might work)
1.5 cups bread crumbs (I processed 3 pieces of Ezekiel bread until fine crumb)*
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup cooked black beans, rinsed and roughly pureed or mashed
Heaping 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley (or fresh herb of choice)
1/3 cup almonds, chopped (toasted if preferred)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, (toasted if preferred)
1 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tbsp Tamari (soy sauce)
1.5 tsp chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. oregano
Fine grain sea salt and black pepper, to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp salt or a bit more)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F (if baking). In a large skillet, sauté onions and garlic in 1/2 tbsp oil. Mix your flax egg together in a small bowl and set aside for at least 10 mins while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
2. Place all ingredients (except spices and salt) into a large mixing bowl and stir very well. Now, add seasonings and salt to taste.
3. With slightly wet hands, shape dough into patties. Pack dough tightly as this will help it stick together. I made 8 medium patties.
4. Cooking methods: You can fry the burgers in a bit of oil on a skillet over medium heat for about 5 minutes on each side. If baking in the oven, bake for 25-30 mins (15-17 minutes on each side) at 350F, until golden and crisp. For the BBQ, pre-bake the burgers for about 15 minutes in oven before placing on a pre-heated grill until golden and crisp on each side. Our preferred method of cooking was frying in the skillet!!
GF Note: To make these burgers gluten-free, use certified GF oats, GF Tamari, and gluten-free breadcrumbs.
Read more: http://ohsheglows.com/2011/07/13/our-perfect-veggie-burger/#ixzz3lN5vZoB6

Grain Free Gluten Free Muffins That Actually Taste Good!

In my journey to clean up my diet the biggest challenge has been what to eat for breakfast. Unfortunately I am allergic to avocado and so that cuts out a lot of options as a vegetarian (technically I am a pescatarian but I only eat about 3 kinds of fish and when I do eat fish it’s quite rare; I’ve never been a big fan of seafood). The other issue I have is that I don’t like eggs. I know, I am a very picky eater and a lot of that has to do with having a highly sensitive stomach. I will eat eggs if it’s part of the recipe, but that’s about the only time it happens. So, having a healthy, filling breakfast that fits my needs has been pretty illusive.

Then I found this recipe online through the Yummly app! I think this is my new favorite app, and I’m not a big app person. It was titled 5 Minute Muffins which caught my attention, but I’ve made them 3 times now and it’s definitely taken me longer than that. The cool thing is you just throw everything in your blender and then pour them into the muffin cups (I recommend using those, the one time I just used the muffin tin it was a disaster).

My variation on these is that I have to bake them about 10 minutes longer than the recipe says (& I have an oven thermometer so I know that my oven is at the right temperature). This time around I made my own almond butter by just throwing a cup of raw almonds in my Vitamix and then added about 3 Tablespoons of Hempseed Oil to bind the almonds into a butter. After I did that I followed the recipe below and then sprinkled some Unsweetened Coconut Flakes on the top before throwing them in the oven.

These are really easy to make, taste great, have barely any clean up, and keep you pretty full.

Paleo, Gluten Free, Grain Free Mini Muffins Made With Bananas

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Total time: 15 mins

Nutritional Information: Calories: 165 Fat: 11g Carbs: 13g Protein: 6g
Serves: 24 mini muffins or 12 large muffins
Ingredients
1 cup nut butter
2 medium sized bananas or approx. ⅔ cup of smashed bananas (The more ripe, the sweeter!)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons of raw honey (or other sweeteners such as maple syrup, stevia, etc.)
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Toppings: dehydrated unsweetened coconut flakes, raisins, flaxseed, dark chocolate chips, cinnamon, and/or anything else you can think of.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375º degrees F.
Place all ingredients into a blender or food processor. You can also use a stick blender if you have one.
Blend until well mixed.
Pour batter into a greased muffin tin. You can also use a mini muffin tin to make 24 mini muffins.
Add additional toppings of your choice to each muffin and lightly stir into each cup
Cook time: 15 minutes for full size muffins and 10 minutes for mini muffins.
Reheat in a toaster oven for about 4 minutes at 350 degrees F, or eat at room temperature.

Welcome to The Darkest Shade of Green

Single Serving Friend. Oil on Birch, 2014

You’ve somehow managed to find The Darkest Shade of Green, welcome. I have always been relatively into health and wellness, but recently I have somehow kicked it up to a whole new level. I thought it would be interesting to keep track of the journey my man and I are making as we try to feel the best we can while making adjustments to our lifestyle (he is not as excited about it as I am and is being dragged along only partially kicking and screaming).

I decided to name the blog The Darkest Shade of Green because both my man and I are fans of darker side of life…as in dressed in black head to toe is our normal, we love everything from horror movies to motorcycles, stoner metal (& a lot of random music in general) to a serious leather jacket obsession. And then there are the farmers markets…(which is where the green comes in).

If you stick around, and I can keep up with the demands of posting content on a semi-regular basis, you will see healthy recipes (mainly vegetarian and vegan), find tips that I’m learning through my health journey, and maybe even find out how to survive quitting sugar, which we are going to attempt (and are both terrified to start).  There will probably also be a lot of motorcycle related content as well as my artwork (above), so if you’re into that sort of thing I hope you’ll keep checking back.

~Sarah