Standard Process Day 14

Today I woke up to this:

Sweet succulent 132. Just 7 little pounds stand between me and my ultimate goal weight. Last year I weighed 152, that was not very cool (before anybody leaves a comment yelling at me, please know I am a whopping 5'2)!

I had some coffee with soymilk to celebrate, even though I had to sit in front of the fan to enjoy it!

Today I was hot. Like hello-it's-90+-degrees-again-for-the-fifth-day-in-a-row-and-your-dumb-central-air-is-still-dead- hot! I decided to have a shake for breakfast and that held me over until lunchtime. I took my supplements then enjoyed a leftover kabob from bbq #3 yesterday. Turkey, peppers, onions, and mushrooms. Mmmm. Don't forget a little EVOO, a little sea salt, and a LITTLE chipolte pepper. Where has chipolte pepper been my whole life, by the way? I got it for a recipe I wanted to try on the cleanse and have used it almost every day since!

For dinner, I took my supplements of course, and then whipped up some gazpacho. I used 4 tomatoes, 1/2 a small onion, 1 yellow squash (is that weird?), 1 cucumber (half in the puree, half diced), 1 red pepper (half in the purree, half diced). Puree all the above with 2 tsp EVOO, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper!  Puree in food processor and serve chilled. I chilled our bowls and did stick the puree in the fridge for 20 minutes. Amazingly refreshing.

For dessert, as a treat, I cut up 2 fresh peaches, threw in some fresh spinach, ice, water, and frozen whole strawberries and we all had a smoothie. Mmm also way refreshing! I stopped sweating for a minute or two while enjoying dinner/dessert tonight!  The picture looks really tomato-y but I swear there were none in there.

After dinner I really wanted to find some central air and snuggle up in it, but instead I went for a 2.5 mile run. Eep! It's hot out there! haha! I survived though and feel glad that I did.

LESS than a week left!

I'm kind of sad.

I am weird, I know.

Standard Process Day 13

Any day that starts with weight loss is a good day. I got on the scale and was down another pound, making that 8 total on the cleanse!

I went light on food today since yesterday I felt so icky.  I had a shake in the AM and one at lunch along with supplements. I included fresh local strawberries and spinach in my shakes. Mmm.

I went dress shopping in the morning for a friend's November wedding. It was pretty exciting to be at Alfred Angelo and fit comfortably in an 8 (usually you have to get a size or two up from yours), but I also tried on a few 6's that looked pretty okay, too! YAY!

I drove home from Cherry Hill and arrived home at 2, which is what time bbq#3 of the weekend started. I chopped up a green pepper, a red pepper, a small onion and de-stemmed some mushrooms. Then I cut turkey cutlets from Bolton's and fashioned a few kabobs for myself. I pulled the second jar of bean dip out of the fridge and prepared some asparagus from our CSA. I put them in a ziplock (bpa-free) with some EVOO, pepper, salt, and ground up some fresh garlic (ground?). I shook the bag around then threw that in the cooler, too.

At the party I had some veggies and white bean hummus, and 2 kabobs. They were insanely good, even though the mac 'n cheese, baked beans and taco dip were beckoning me. Dessert for everybody (except me) included ice cream and fresh whipped cream. I wasn't hungry in the least, but in days past would have definitely had some anyway.  Physically, I feel much better today. Not bloated and in pain. I have never ever attended 3 bbq's in a row and come out on the other side not feeling like total crap. I am so proud of myself and really excited for future events. I am so motivated by this cleanse! I love living my life my way and making smart choices that make me feel good!

I hope you had a good weekend!

CSA Week 1!

Woo hoo! Yesterday was our first CSA pick up at Palovchak's Produce in Doylestown. It was great to see John and Yvonne, as we haven't seen them since our last pick up in the fall!
They were braving the heat and ready to go with all kinds of goodies for us!

We also had our first monthly chicken pick up from Ledamete Grass Farm (Let 'Em Eat Grass)!

We got:
a peony
rhubarb
starwberries
letuce
asparagus
scallions
lemon basil
peas
chives
thyme
rosemary
cilantro
oregano
whole wheat flour
and our two chickens!
Not bad for so early in the season!!!!!

Standard Process Days 11 and 12!

Eep, I'm behind. I have not hardly been home at all these past few days, running from photo sessions to bbqs and today it's running from bridesmaid dress shopping in NJ to another bbq. I'm going to be quick and a little more brief.

Since I was running all over town, it was hard to get in all my shakes. I even missed supplements last night.  I added protein back in which was very exciting, so Saturday, it was mahi mahi, yesterday, a little sushi at lunch, white bean hummus and salmon with dinner. Guess what though? I got a huge stomach ache after the sushi that lasted into the middle of the night last night. Bummer.

I also added coffee back in. YUM. I love my coffee and for now am adding plain soymilk, though I honestly don't love soymilk. Normally I use a little milk and honey. It's kind of been too hot for coffee, so I take it in the car on the way to my session and enjoy it with the ac blasting on me!

Let's see, what did I eat? Random stuff, and been loving juicing still!

I take all that, throw it in the juicer, and get this!

Here's Abes and I enjoying bbq #1 of 3 this weekend!

I made avocado dip for Saturday's party, and white bean hummus for Sunday and Monday's parties.

I drank lots of shakes of course, and ate lots of veggies!

Make Your Own: No Sugar Added Jam

I found this super-easy jam recipe while browsing Super Healthy Kids. You don't add any sugar, and the process is really simple and fast. Check it out!

No-Sugar Homemade Berry Jam Recipe

• 5 cups berries (I used frozen strawberries and blueberries)
• 1 package “No Sugar Needed” Fruit Pectin (I bought Ball All Natural 1.75 ounces)
• 3/4 cup water

Place frozen berries in a pot and begin to simmer.  Once berries begin to break down and defrost, pour berries into a blender and pulse until desired consistency.  Return berries to pot, add water and pectin and bring to a boil.  Boil for 1 minute.  Skim foam off the top.  Pour into prepared jars.
This jam set up super quickly.

Standard Process: Day 10

Today was great. For the first time in ten days, I did intense yoga. You're supposed to work out when you can on the cleanse, but in the begining I did NOT feel like it. Then I had some energy but literally every day I'm running from the time I wake up until the time I go to bed. The yoga felt good and really had me sweating. It's a 50 minute one on On Demand (Comcast), called Yoga Works Slim. I actually was able to hold the one-armed plank for as long as they tell you to, which is a first for me! YAY!

I woke up and drank a smoothie and was THISCLOSE to drinking some coffee. I made it for my husband and put a little extra in (I even mixed the caffeinated and decaf).  He poured his into his huge Lifefactory Bottle, and then proceeded to pour his milk in, while noticing a nasty stench. Yup, the milk went, so down the drain went all the coffee and oddly enough there was JUST enough for him to fill up another bottle, so I took it as a sign, to just wait until tomorrow:)

Ava and I busted out the juicer and made some juice with tomatoes, carrots, an apple, juice from one lemon, and 4 celery stalks. AMAZING! We put two straws in and drank away. We kissed at the end (since it was so romanic hehe) and then she demanded, "MORE!" Of course, I didn't have any, but I did have the warm fuzzy feeling in my heart, knowing my two year old just drank tomato-carrot-lemon-apple-celery juice!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lunch was a smoothie, my supplements of course, they are always taken 3x per day, and some stir-fry with 1/2 cup brown rice.  Stir fry veggies are NOT my favorite. I used a mix of fresh and frozen and just kind of got it down.  The rice was delightful.

As a snack, I roasted some Brussels Sprouts. Delish.

I got word today that TOMORROW (day 11) I can include nuts and beans in my diet as I add in lean protein! This is a major score, as I am getting a little bored, I want some hummus (made with white beans), and I have two parties this weekend. I'll take hummus one day, avocado dip another, so I have more choices to eat.

Around 5pm, I took my supplements and drank my shake. We went to my in-laws for a bit so when I came home I wanted to try juicing again because nothing looked good in the fridge (except cheese, turkey, fish, etc).
I juiced 1 beet, several baby carrots, many stalks of celery, 1 lemon, 1 orange. It wasn't delicious, but it was oddly good, but was definitely ruled by the beet. Ava and I put two straws in again and shared the juice. I thought to myself, "she is never going to drink this" but guess what? Again she asked for more. If you plan to juice with a child, check out this site for daily intake recommendations for kids! I love this juicing thing and am going to spend some time looking for blogs on it--if you have any please leave them in the comments!!

Last but not least today, I finished up with a little serving of sweet potato chips!

Standard Process: Water

Just wanted to mention---I drink tons of water in general. While on the cleanse I am also drinking tons of water. It's very important to get enough on the cleanse to help flush out toxins!

Drink up!

Oh Snap! There's an App for That!

App:  True Food Shopper's Guide

Price: Free

Why it's Awesome: Learn all about genetically modified food, secret ickiness lurking in your food, and the good stuff in there, too!

Go See: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was worth the wait. Of course, with Johnny Depp's return as the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow, we knew there would be laughs, deceit, and of course, mutiny.

The movie starts with Gibbs being tried as "Jack Sparrow." Captain Jack comes to his rescue, where Gibbs informs him there is an imposter "Jack Sparrow" who is getting a crew together.  Captain Jack finds the imposter and immediately knows who it is: Angelica. Jack finds himself on a ship with Angelica, sailing to the Fountain of Youth. But whose ship is it? None other than Blackbeard's, of course! And without Jack's help, they won't make it to the Fountain of Youth in time. So with twists and turns when you least expect, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is bound to leave you wanting more.

Thank you to Dianna, our contributor, for checking out the movie and for writing up this post.

Dianna was provided with two complimentary passes to attend an advanced screening to help facilitate this review. All opinions are 100% her own.

Standard Process: Day 9

Day 9 was good, on the go as always! I had a photoshoot in the morning (Ava came with), then we went to Bolton's Turkey Farm to pick up turkey lunch meat , turkey cutlets and some local peanut butter (none of which I can eat)! Next, we headed to Care 'N Share in Souderton because my cousin tipped me off that they had a juicer!

I got this for $60, regularly $90!

I also picked this up for $15:

This was really exciting for me because my blender had a plastic pitcher. I have been wanting glass for awhile now but couldn't justify the cost since mine still worked. A few weeks ago, I set the top of the pitcher down on the hot stove and completely melted so I have to put a bowl on top of mine every.time.I.use.it! Enough of that!

The juicer was particularly exciting for me because my girlfriend generously gave me a juicer she found in her basement---this little guy:

Well. I scrubbed all his parts, prepared my fruits and veggies, and fired him up. I got halfway through and he stopped working. Then, he started smoking and a brown fluid started dripping out of the back! Crap!

Today I had two smoothies with strawberries and spinach. I made beet chips from 1 beet and sweet potato chips from 1/2 a potato. I ate 1/2 for breakfast and half with lunch.  With the go ahead from my nutritionist, I ate some edamame as well.

After my thrift store scores, Abes and I headed to my cousin's house to learn how to make pickles, and to learn how to can by using a 10-minute hot water bath.

Don't they look amazing?!

Ava and I ate some fruit while we got ready for dinner today, fresh local strawberries and very non-local pineapple.

Dinner for me was an artichoke and a portobello mushroom, yummy!

I lost another pound, bringing my total to 7 on the cleanse, 10 since starting my class. Woohoo!

Day 8: Standard Process Cleanse

I told you I am missing coffee, a ton. I reached out to my nutritionist today to see her thoughts. She said I can add some in, but to wait until Day 11 to let the Green Food supplements get into my system (I just started taking them today). I am SOOOOO super excited! She also told me I can add turkey as well as chicken this coming weekend. I'm thrilled and already bought some fish to consume Saturday. I might even have it for breakfast, no promises (I LOVE SEAFOOD)!
Crystal also let me know that I can have green tea on the clease! Eep! I didn't know!
So I drove over to Starbucks after seeing my students and pulled up to the window:

Me-"Hello! I have a weird question for you."
Barista- "Sure, go ahead!"
Me-"Do you have plain green tea?"
Barista- "Of course we do! Why is that weird?"
Me- "Oh, I don't know, I don't you only had fun drinks! That's what I normally get anyway, haha!"
Barista- I hear laughing over the intercom. :)

So today I  got two shakes in. I used kale in one, spinach in the other.* I also added some carrots in. They were starting to turn and I didn't want them to go to waste. I used some frozen berries as well.

 You know I had some sweet potato chips! They are so addicting. I roast them in the morning then put them in a reusable lunch bag and take them in my purse. They do not stay as crisp because I don't have time to let them cool all the way, but they're still damn good!

For lunch, I took my supplements and had the rest of my tomato soup from last night. The tomato soup is just AWESOME! It's soooooooo good! I just love it! The work room at my office was psychotically hot (like always), so I actually ate it chilled and it was just as good- and really refreshing!!!

I forgot to take a picture of my tall tazo green tea. Mmmm.
I got home from work, and basically had to get ready for class, so I took my supplements, made my smoothie and jumped in the car!


*Whenever my fresh spinach or kale is starting to turn, I throw it in a bpa-free freezer-safe ziplock and throw it in my freezer. It's perfect for smoothies!

Make Your Own: Mini Tostadas with Guacamole and Shrimp

I found this delicous looking recipe on Gorton's website and cannot wait to try it!

Mini Tostadas with Guacamole and Shrimp
4-6 Servings (12 mini tortillas)

Ingredients:

• 1 (8oz.) package Gorton’s Classic Grilled Shrimp
• 4 ripe avocados
• 2 tablespoons lime juice (or the juice of 1/2 lime)
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
• Salt to taste
• 10-12 mini tortillas (about 3″diameter), toasted or round tortilla chips

Directions:
1. Prepare Gorton’s Classic Grilled Shrimp according to package instructions.
2. In a medium bowl gently mash avocado pulp with a fork.
3. Add lime juice, cilantro and salt. Fold gently.
4. To assemble tostadas, place mini tortillas on a serving platter and divide guacamole among all the tortillas.
5. Top each prepared tortilla with one prepared Gorton’s Classic Grilled Shrimp. Remove shrimp tail for easier eating.

Day 7: Standard Process Cleanse

Still going strong on Day 7.  I still really miss my coffee and am really considering adding it in, black, half-caff. Gotta talk to my nutritionist about that one, though in the beginning she told me she's had people that still drink 1 cup per day. I can't imagine it would hurt and feel like it would only help, I'm just not as productive while cleansing!! :) I take a walk with Ava while pulling her in the wagon and I am downright exhausted when I am finished. Last night I was in bed by 8 haha! That's happened several times over the last week.
I have one more day of work to get through and then I should be doing much better, my days off from teaching are WAY easier I have noticed.
Today I only got one shake in me. I couldn't stop home for a shake at lunch, let alone get to my office to try to make one. I ate on the road and got my first take out salad: Spinach, roasted red peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, avocados, and red onions. Mmm.
I also had:

Sweet Potato Chips

Portobello Mushroom "Sliders" + Steamed Broccoli

 Homemade Tomato Soup!!!!!!

Day 6: Standard Process Cleanse

Day 6 was a work day for me. I was nervous to see how I'd do on the road, but it was okay! I was thrilled to see the scale said 135 today. That is down 49lbs from two years ago, the day I had my daughter. It's 17 less than I was when I got pregnant with Ava, and 9lbs down from where I was when I started this nutrition class! Woo hoo! I have ten pounds to go until my goal weight, but I am psyched.

I also took my measurements on May 2 so I could have a baseline. I measured again today and found that
I lost:
1in on my thighs
2in above my knees (huge trouble spot for me and I THOUGHT they were looking better!!!)
2in on my hips
3.5in around my waist (!)
and 1in on my arms

Pretty awesome.

Today I ate varied shakes with powder, spinach or kale, and some type of frozen fruit. I took my supplements 3x per day also.

I wasn't very hungry today, I'm not sure if it's because I was really busy, or if I was stressed that our hot water heater blew, or what.

I also had some delicious roasted mushrooms! Mmm!

Go Read: In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

I recently read In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan. The book was relatively short and for me, a really easy read. The book explores the Western food industry and food culture. I learned a lot about processed food, the laws surrounding what the industry must tell us (and all the things they don't have to!), and now have a better understanding as to how things got so bad. The book is not preachy, and it is not dripping with medical jargon. If you're ready to listen to your body and feed it what it needs, consider checking this book out. It is a good one!

This is just an "I love this book" kinda post;) No sponsors, just me giving props!

Day 5: Standard Process Cleanse

I can't believe I am already at Day 5! Day 5 was good. I felt less hungry today, maybe because I was insanely busy. I woke up, drove 45 minutes to Peddler's Village, had a photo session, drove back home, edited some pictures, got gussied up, drove an hour to Bowman's Wildflower Preserve for an 80th birthday party (if you're counting this is the second party I have attended while cleansing). After being at the party for 3 hours,we drove back home, I edited a full session, started another, and finally laid down to watch the finale of Celebrity Apprentice (love it, though I wanted Marlee to win!).

No weight loss today. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a teeny bit bummed, but I am feeling good so I will go with that! I am about 12 lbs away from my goal weight of 125lbs.  I am 5'2 and haven't weighed in the 120's since early college. Crazy right? On the day of Ava's birth, I weighed 184 after gaining 34 with her.  That's a lot of weight for a little frame to carry!

Today I ate:
Three shakes all containing the protein powder, taken along with my supplements.

After my session I ate a big plate of veggies with avocado/spinach dip.

After lunch  I had some more sweet potato chips (1/2 a sweet potato is 1 serving)...you pour some EVOO in a bowl then add cinnamon and chipotle pepper. Dip each one on both sides, and roast them at 400 for about 15 minutes (flipping them every 4 minutes). MMMMMM! So addicting and perfect to eat on the go!

I didn't get my last shake in until about 8pm at which  time I was hungry, but the shake took care of that, so I didn't bother with the spinach salad I was planning to make.

I still keep putting fruit in my shakes- sometimes I go all out with a banana, strawberries, and spinach, other times, I keep it low-key with kale and fresh pineapple. A cup with a straw is essential, unless you're eating the jacked up yummy smoothie, all the others taste pretty bad. I will say though, I am actually getting used to the taste, so it's not awful, but it's still not good!