We are family (I got all my sista(s) with me)

To all my loyal readers who were waiting with bated breath, I did not (quite) suffer death by juice cleanse, I just didn't cover day 3 because it was a bit anti-climatic. And then I went to Iowa for Lisa's marriage reception.  It was 4 lovely (if a bit more humid than I'm accustomed to) days in the country:

The farm view from the porch of our cabin.  What a life!

If you ever find yourself in Clarinda, Iowa without a place to stay,
Iowa Country Cabins are AMAZING!

Picking ditch flowers for the reception bouquets!

visiting family:

Ma, Pa (before the unfortunate cigars and whiskey incident),
Lisa, Mark, Kevin and I

giving shoulder rides:

Little cousin Kinlee did not want her toes to get
nibbled by bulldog "pubbies"

and dancing.  So much dancing:

This is my "Look!  A baby!" face

Sista dancing!

I'm off to the Tetons next week for my Nothwehr grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary, so more family time for me!

In my couple of days at home I wanted to cook as much as possible, so today I made cookies, tried a new zucchini recipe for dinner: http://www.nytimes.com/recipes/1014910/Zucchini-Tian-With-Curried-Bread-Crumbs.html

and am making roasted tomato sauce for tomorrow night, inspired by a delicious supper at my dad's cousin Mary Anne's house (she also took the reception photos).

Juice Cleanse, Day 2

It's day 2 of my cleanse and day 3 of dog sitting.  I could get used to this:

Not so much the juice:

Juice 1: Dynamo (Cucumber, Celery, Spinach, Kale, Parsley, Dandelion Greens, Lemon)

I decided that dandelion greens in and of themselves are not my enemy.  It's when they're paired with burdock root that they become overwhelmingly bitter.  So as opposed to yesterday's juice number 1, today's seemed pretty neutral.  

Juice 2: Refresh (Ionized Water, Lemon, Chlorophyl)

Chlorophyl? More like bore-a-phyl! (6th grade me has been waiting all day for that one).  Actually, aside from the bizarre color from the chlorophyl, this was one of the more "normal" juices.  As in it was basically lemonade.  Darn good lemonade. Without any turmeric.  In fact, I set a record so far, finishing it in 30 minutes!

Juice 3: Clear (Cucumber, Celery, Spinach, Parsley, Burdock Root, Lemon)

By the time I got to juice number 3 I was thinking today would be easy.  Most green juices seem essentially the same - not too exciting, not terrible, just with slightly differing levels of bitter or sweet.  This one was middle of the road.

Juice 4: Soothe (Cucumber, Celery, Spinach, Parsley, Lemon, Apple, Ginger)

Oh wow. So so much ginger. Scratch what I said before about green juice.  This one was downright overwhelming.  I was able to finish most of it, but it was really intense.

Juice 5: Ensalada (Cucumber, Celery, Spinach, Kale, Parsley, Carrot, Yam, Lettuce)

Yams again?? Seriously?  Although I think the carrot might be worse.  I like carrots in general, but not in preparations that are overly sweet.  And juicing seems to concentrate the sweetness.  I drank as much as I could, but may have to pawn the rest off on my friend Kate who's house sitting with me while Kevin's out of town.

Juice 6: Glow (Cucumber, Celery, Spinach, Parsley, Lemon, Algae)

Another fairly inoffensive green juice. Just having trouble drinking anything more.  Since I skipped most of juice number 5, and the green cleanse was fairly low in calories, I decided to go off script and have some avocado with lemon juice, just to get something else in my stomach.

All things considered, I made it through day 2 ok, and on to day 3, which will look a lot like day 1.

Juice Cleanse, Day 1

For day 1, I did the Purify Cleanse, which was a mix of fruit and veggie juices, and a relatively safe place to start.

The instructions for the cleanse tell you to drink your 6 juices 2 hours apart.  I imagine the idea is that you sit down, drink your juice all at once and then do other things until your 2 hours have passed and it's time for another.  For me, I could only manage a few sips at a time, so it would take me more than an hour to get through a full bottle of juice.

I think the main lesson that I learned today was that it's really difficult for me to drink 16 ounces of anything.  Also, whatever green juice I had before was for sissies. Which brings us to...

Juice 1: Clean (Celery, Cucumber, Kale, Spinach, Parsley, Lemon, Dandelion Greens, Burdock Root)

This juice was proof that you don't really know how green a juice can be until you have one with dandelion greens.  Not my favorite way to start the day.

Really bitter, almost coffee-like flavor.  I sat out on the front porch in the morning sun and sipped on this one from about 8-9:30am, at which point, it was nearly time to start drinking...

Juice 2: Boost (Ionized water, Lemon, Turmeric)

Wow... they weren't kidding about the turmeric.  I always thought turmeric was more of a color than a flavor, but after 16 ounces, I realized just how incorrect that assumption was. It's a fairly strong, pungent flavor that I wasn't expecting. Even though these first two juices were a bit difficult to get through, I had high hopes for...

Juice 3: Support (Apple, Cucumber, Fennel, Ginger, Lemon, Mint)

Whew! Finally a really delicious juice!  The mint/ginger combo was a little bit strong, but all in all it was great.  But unfortunately between the liquid diet and the doggie waking me up every 15 minutes from 1-4am I was almost too sleepy for...

Juice 4: Young Love (Blueberries, Raspberries, Pineapple, Kale, Chia Seeds)

Another great juice. Almost like a smoothie! Although I'm beginning to worry that I only like juices with fruit in them.  And with two really tasty juices in a row, I wonder if this trend could continue throughout the rest of the day.  But then, I met this guy...

Juice 5: Beam (Carrot, Dandelion Greens, Yam, Burdock Root)

I had never before contemplated how juice might be extracted from a yam.  And contemplating yam juice is only slightly more appetizing than drinking it.  Especially after a long day of juice drinking. Which made me glad that the last "juice" was something completely different...

Juice 6: Nourish (Ionized Water, Cashews, Ginger, Vanilla, Cinnamon, Cardamom, Nutmeg)

This was sort of like horchata, and very comforting at the end of the day.

Tune in tomorrow to hear about the the Super Green Cleanse, where I meet my foe dandelion greens again.

Summer Cleaning

I haven't posted here in a little while, partially because I've been busy, but also partially because I've been eating a lot of junk, and I didn't really want you all to know.  And don't think the two are unrelated.  For example, last week we went camping (otherwise known as eating junk food around a fire pit) in Sonoma County.  A sampling of the food we brought:

Because what's camping without overly processed sticks of "meat"?

Or S'mores (why yes, those marshmallows do have gelatin in them)

I also made zucchini muffins... again

And lest you think I didn't at least nod to healthful eating, I made quinoa
salad with corn, cucumber, snap peas and basil

So after 4 days of camp food, dining out, and wine tasting, as well as an increasing pattern of carb over-consumption, I did what any self-indulgent self-respecting Californian would do: Juice Cleanse!!  

I'm house/dog sitting for my boss who lives up in Marin County this week so I chose Urban Remedy from the plethora of bay area juice companies, because it's only a couple miles from her house.  I picked up my juice after work yesterday, and the cleanse started this morning.  I'm doing a 3-day cleanse, which includes 6 16oz juices a day (that's 288oz total for those who are counting). 

Woah, that's a lot of juice!

I thought it would be fun to blog my experience, so I'm planning on posting each day with the details of that day's juices and any witty banter I can muster.  I may even tally how many times I have to pee.  Enjoy!