Kitchen experimenting

I'm not "officially" on my cleanse anymore but that two week period definitely altered the way I cook. Poor Rene, he misses the nightly serving of meat. He knows better than to complain, for the most part. But occasionally he whimpers when we're having a vegetarian night. Don't get me wrong, I still cook meat, just not every single night like I used to. I can't help but think that will lower my grocery bill-although the increased organic produce definitely offsets the savings of buying less flesh.

I've impressed myself a couple of times this week. I made a very simple basil pesto sauce to toss with whole wheat penne the other night. It was a sauce a vampire would fear...and with only three cloves of garlic! Paulo wasn't crazy about it, but he tried it-twice. He ate his noodles with just Parmesan cheese.

Last night though was good! I really liked last nights dish. I cooked 1/2 cup of quinoa with 1/2 cup of bulger-they conveniently cook in the same ratio of water to grain and in the same amount of time! I sauteed the white part of a leek and added some frozen diced sweet potato and let that cook up for a while. Then added 1/2 of a zucchini diced up, very small, and thinly sliced mushrooms. Finally I added some left over steamed carrots sliced thin. Basically I was trying to clear out as much of my veggie drawer as I could! When the veggies were ready I dumped the grain mix into the pan and mixed everything up. To that whole tasty mix I added the lemon dijon sauce I, and Paulo, LOVE. Some halved grape tomatoes and a bit of goat cheese on top and voila! Dinner is served! For my carnivores I did add some of the left over Easter ham, I figured two meatless nights in a row might result in mutiny.

The truth is I love to cook. If I feed you I love you. That's what it boils down to for me, it's how I show love. I'm enjoying the expansion of my cooking repertoire. The challenge of trying to find new and exciting ways to present healthy, whole, real food to my family, it's become a bit of an obsession.

I started reading Robyn Openshaw's 12 steps from www.greensmoothiegirl.com. Love her! She's filled with great information and you can really tell how much she loves sharing it with people. Seems like she truly hopes that the changes we can all make will result in us feeling as great as she and her family does. I've had green smoothies for the past two days now, and I'm hooked! Still trying to experiment and find a ratio of greens to fruit that is palatable for Paulo-he's not sold on the smoothies, but he is enjoying his fresh juice and doesn't complain when I slip kale or collard greens in with his apples and kiwi.

Making a few changes, that admittedly do take some prep time, has made a huge difference in my energy level. I'm off caffeine-I can have a cup of black coffee if I want to but I don't need to. I'm off soda, I haven't had one since I started my two week plan last month. I have not heard the whisper of the candy bowl in a while. I feel like I manage stress better, although I know I have to be more protective of my sleep, when I'm tired I am a mess! And as a total added bonus I'm losing weight, without really trying. I've spent YEARS obsessing about calories, fat grams, proteins, carbs and obsessing about work outs with little result for my effort. Now without thinking about any of those things but simply focusing on fresh, whole, mostly raw foods (my daily goal is 60% raw) the stubborn last few pounds are slipping off. It's encouraging. It reassures me that I am on a good path to take care of my body. And only if I take good care of me can I take good care of my family.