Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Kayleigh's Walnut Pesto Pasta





This is for my very wonderful friend, Ms. Kayleigh Brown.




Raw Walnut Basil Pesto



1 c fresh basil


3/4 c walnuts


1/4 c extra virgin olive oil


3 or 4 cloves garlic


a generous squeeze of lemon juice


1 tsp sea salt



(3-4 tbsp of water as needed)




Directions:


Place all ingrediants in food processor and pulse like crazy.


Goes beautifully over zucchini pasta!




xxx

Friday, June 17, 2011

Day 3: Good to the Last Drop!




Today, a greens juice saved my life :-)




Upon rising: lemon water, probiotic and 2 shots frozen wheatgrass.


For breakfast, I enjoyed a vanilla peach smoothie (peach, coconut water, Sunwarrior vanilla, and coconut oil.)


snack: apple.


At lunch, I devoured a bowl of kelp noodles, layered with homemade hemp pesto.


snack: coconut water and wheatgrass


My glorious supper (above): kale, romaine, cucumber, bok choy, celery, ginger and lime.


I could have definitely added some garlic and/or chilies, but I am out :-(




Now the challenge will be to stay out of the kitchen until bed!


Big day tomorrow: I am leading Yoga in the Park, followed by Summer Solstice Mala --108 sun salutations for charity!


This may require one whole lot of juice ;-)




peace.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Day 2: Chocolate Covered Sabotage!


Wow!
This is good!
Likely, really, really good.
Good enough to mess up my detox (though it is technically allowed -- in moderation!)
It is good on smoothies. It is good on it's own. It is good mashed up with an avocado and stuffed in a romaine lettuce leaf.
I am sure that I could find an infinite number of uses for this outstanding product.
Fortunately, the bag is empty.

You can get yours at the Herb and Spice on Bank.
You may find me outside of the shop at 8 am, pacing back and forth, waiting for the doors to open...

Tomorrow, I am all about wheatgrass.
I can do better.
I swear!

Love,

K

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Day One of CLEAN!



Today is my first day of the CLEAN program.

I picked up the CLEAN manual at Mother Tongue bookstore on Monday, and I figured I'd give it a go!
Over the course of my twenties, I have completed most other detoxes on the market: the Master Cleanse, juice fasting, mono-fruit diet, herbs, potions and lotions... but this time around, I am looking to create a healthy, affordable and sustainable change.
Not that I have a poor diet; I eat largely raw, mostly organic, high vibe living foods, with an occasional piece of seafood, cup of gelato, or slice of fresh bread tossed into the mix. The trouble is that I have a habit of consuming too many sweets and eating too late at night.
(Not to mention the wine... the artisanal cheese... the occasional Americano... all in good fun!)

Today is day One.
It is a moon day (full moon and eclipse!) so I did not have Mysore practice.
I wake at 5am, enjoy a double shot of wheatgrass, fire water, bio algae and a mug of matcha tea with coconut milk. After returning my e-mails, I blended up a beautiful blueberry smoothie (blueberries, dates, hemp milk and chia) and took my wonderful pooch, Guillaume, for a walk. Got home, showered, read twenty pages of a Thomas Hardy novel and biked to Hintonburg to meet up with an old friend and to teach my Wednesday Pranayama class.

After yoga, I treated myself to lunch at the Table. The Table (http://www.thetablerestaurant.com/) is a fresh, organic, vegetarian buffet. I have had mixed experiences here in the past, but today's fare was divine: Marinated dandelion greens, fresh sliced cucumbers, vegan broccoli slaw, and a heaping spoonful of mung bean salad. I am not big on beans in general, but I have to admit that it was colourful, tasty, and good for my belly. Oh, and I had a kombucha tea for dessert.
I have to load up big on lunch, because on the CLEAN program, dinner is a liquid meal.

On CLEAN, one eats three times per day: a liquid breakfast (fresh juice or smoothie), a solid lunch, and a blended dinner (smoothie, soup, etc.) No dairy, wheat, gluten, soy, corn or added sugar. Bananas, grapes, oranges, grapefruit, strawberries, pistachios, macadamia nuts, honey, nightshade veggies, shellfish, red meat, alcohol, tobacco, black tea, coffee, etc. are also off of the menu.
To speed things along, Dr. Junger recommends taking a good probiotic and a digestive enzyme at every meal. The program also encourages you to take a magnesium supplement (I love Natural Calm: http://www.naturalcalm.ca/) to help keep things moving ;-)
Oh, and drink water... lots!

Is it worth it?
Demi and Gwyneth say so. And so does Martha Stewart.

I would do almost anything for skin that glows, eyes that sparkle and for this strange blockage in my right ear to go away. I would love to sleep better, be kinder to others, and fly through my Ashtanga practice at 6 in the morning, without hijacking Tippy's coffee!

Tonight I will make a massive green juice with celery, cuke, kale, sprouts, romaine, apple, ginger and lemon.
I am supposed to eat a whole clove of garlic every day, but this has not happened yet --

Not convinced?
Learn all about the CLEAN program, download oodles of killer recipes, connect with other CLEAN detox participants, and check out some awesome videos at http://www.cleanprogram.com/

And, yes, it is FREE!

At least my $16.99 went to support an local, independent bookstore.

peas and veggies to all,

K

ps: I will post my favorite CLEAN meal of the day, everyday, in order to keep detox fun.
Do note that agave sweetened, raw chocolate pot-brownies would technically make the "approved" list :-)