Clean Diet Round 2

The past month of my life has been consumed with which smoothie to make for breakfast and which soup to prepare for dinner. The words "I can't eat that," and answering the question, "What CAN you eat?" have been built into my conversations almost every day for the past 4 weeks. Ingredients like flax, chia seeds, nutritional yeast, cocao, millet, and tahini have become regularly used food items, whereas normal people food such as: bananas, strawberries, tomatoes, wheat, and yogurt have been off my list. 

I've turned into the food snob that I hoped to never be when eating at restaurants. For example, I asked for almond milk in place of regular dairy milk at a 24 -hour diner. I'm not sure the waitress had ever heard of almond milk. At a sushi place, I asked if I could have a bowl of plain soba noodles. Rejected again. This request was far too difficult for the kitchen. Clearly they only serve soba noodles with tempura vegetables smothered over the top. Don't ask them to take off the veggies. Also, avoid ordering real fruit smoothies at an ice cream shop. You will get a raspberry sorbet blended with club soda (but it will be the best and sugariest smoothie you've had in weeks). 

I will spare you the details of The Clean Diet because I'm sure you've heard more than you care to know if you've spoken to me over the past month. BUT, if you are interested....I wrote about my experience last year and you can read it here! 

My favorite part of this diet is finding new recipes. My sister and I did it together so we shared all of our cooking with each other. Some were a hit, others....not so much. We'll start with the biggest winners. 

Black beans & rice with sliced avocado
(they were supposed to be black bean burgers but I added too much rice)

Pineapple, mango, date, spinach smoothie

Roasted Mushroom & White Bean Soup

Chocolate Walnut Scones (they taste much better than the picture- believe me)

I told you I'd show you a big FAIL. It would have to be the Carrot Apple Soup. I could not even force it down. Three bites total. An equally large fail was the Carrot Cake Smoothie. Ugh. The carrot was not my friend this go-round. 

Now that I've powered through the hard part, I am happy to report that I'm 10 lbs lighter with lots of energy, deep sleep, and a clear mind. I think I'll keep this up!

-Caroline