It’s New Year’s Eve! I can’t believe the end of the year is already here! Any fun plans for tonight?? We’ve gone from planning on going to Oregon (I decided that I’m too tired after my crazy work week), to planning on attending our friend Evan’s party, to planning on a Harry Potter marathon (totally just typed marathong. Ha!) and chilling at home. Who knows what our final plans will end up being. 
As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I’m embarking on a bit of a bit of a cleanse this week, inspired by Whole Living magazine’s January 2012 issue. The first week of their plan involves eating a variety of fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, and some oils, while skipping out on processed foods, sugar, gluten, caffeine and alcohol. Dairy is also included on the magazine’s list to no-no’s, but that’s kind of a given here.
I don’t generally think that cleanses are necessary with a healthy diet. However, my diet has fallen apart lately, mostly due to laziness and a busy work schedule. As a result, I’ve been feeling incredibly tired, extra lazy, and I needed some extra inspiration to get my health on, and give me an extra push to eat clean, whole foods this upcoming year. Whole Living’s recipes were exactly what I needed to get back on track. I may end up indulging tomorrow for the holiday, but I plan on getting right back on the horse as soon as it’s over, and getting started on my resolutions.
In the spirit of Show Me Saturday, I figured I would show you some of what I’ve been munching on over the past few days!
Breakfasts
I’ve been starting my days with fresh juice and smoothies this week. One of my new favorite juices is this combo of grapefruit, carrot, and ginger.
The recipe on the website makes about three servings of this vitamin C packed juice. I made the full recipe on Tuesday, and made a half recipe yesterday. I’m not used to making non-green juices, but I really liked this one! It was a nice change from my norm.
Another new juice recipe I tried out this week was beet, carrot, apple and mint.
Honestly, I’ve been scared of raw beets up until this week! They just seemed a bit earty and fuschia to me. Just kinda weird. I’m so glad I got over that, because they can make for some great meals! Beets are great for helping detoxify the liver; something I’m sure many of you will be thinking about after tonight. 
I only had one problem with this juice, and that was trying to get the mint leaves into the juicer! As soon as I would put the leaves into the chute, they would fly straight back out, even as I was trying to put the plunger into the chute and quickly as possible! If anyone know a secret to this, please let me know!
Oh, and if you don’t have much beet experience, please don’t freak when you use the bathroom! Your poo will most likely be an insane color quite similar to the juice. You’re not dying, I promise!
Obviously, I also chose to create my strawberry kiwi smoothie for breakfast on Thursday, as a part of the cleanse.
Loaded with greens and nutrients, just the way I like it!
I also snuck some soy chai into my life on a couple of days this week.
I’m sure soy milk goes against the cleanse, but the spices in chai are very good for you, and really, I just needed the pick-me-up at work.
Lunch
I’ve kept my lunch options this week pretty simple. Mostly consisting of salads, as usual.
A new favorite of mine, taken from Whole Living, is a combo of kale, red cabbage, carrot, red onion, and pumpkin seeds with a homemade dressing of olive oil, dijon, and apple cider vinegar.
One day this week, I also tried out a mix of romaine, cherry tomatoes, avocado, and pumpkin seeds, with Goddess dressing.
Simple, but nutrient dense and cleansing none the less.
Dinner
Ready to see one of the freakiest looking soups ever? Beet and roasted garlic make a pretty good soup, but a really crazy color!
When I first made this soup, I sat in front of it for probably five minutes, just staring at it. I was too freaked out by the color to actually try it! Finally Keenan came over and took a spoonful. He deemed it edible, so I dug in.
We both agreed that the soup was good, but was a bit bland, and would probably be better as a base, with added veggies, like potatoes or corn.
One night I munched on some of my leftover cheezy broc casserole. With millet and kidney beans, it doesn’t really fit in the plan, but it needed to get eaten. I didn’t want to waste food, and it was still delicious, healthy, gluten-free, and vegan.
Snacks
My favorite snack this week has been cranberry-pumpkin trail mix.
The recipe is from Whole Living, although I left out the walnuts in mine. Since I wasn’t eating a ton of other protein, the almonds and pumpkin seeds in this were a nice addition to my diet. The dried cranberries and raisins sweetened the snack, satisfying my sweet tooth when it was needed. I’ll definitely be keeping a jar of this around for a while.
Another great snack option for this cleanse is steamed or roasted veggies!
Whole Living’s recipe for crispy roasted cauliflower simple, but very satisfying.
I also steamed some mixed veggies and topped them with Bragg’s Liquid Aminos on a couple of nights. Forgot to take pics, but they were so good!
I still have a couple of days left in my first week, so I’ll show you more of what I’ve been eating soon!
Check back in tomorrow for Lindsay Loves Veggies’ first giveaway! I’m giving away something very near and dear to my heart, that I use almost everyday, plus a bunch of random goodies! I’m really excited about this, so I hope you guys are as well!
Have an amazing night tonight! See you next year!
<3 Lindsay
