CSD: Day 11

Yesterday was Day 11 on the Crazy Sexy Diet (CSD). Everything is becoming much more of a habit, I am finding it much easier to eat clean and have not had too many cravings for anything off the cleanse. One the biggest improvements I have noticed is in my digestion. When I am eating too much junk, I tend to get acid reflux or bloating. I have not experienced either of this issues and feel much lighter.

I started off my day with hot ginger tea, cayenne pepper and lemon.

Around 8 AM, I had my green juice. In this batch was:
• 1 cucumber
• 1 green apple
• 1 lemon
• ½ bunch of cucumber
• a handful of broccoli rabe
• a knob of fresh ginger

I was hungry again around 11 AM. I warmed up my lunch and dug in. I had leftover vegetable soup & a piece of Ezekiel bread toast + smashed avocado & a sprinkle of sea salt. This kept me full most of the afternoon. I did have a handful of almonds around 3 PM (not pictured) to power me through my afternoon run.

I had a meeting to attend right after work, I knew the half hour commute home could sacrifice my daylight (and give me time to talk myself out of it), so I brought my clothes to change and started running as soon as my meeting was over. I do not often run in the area where I work, because there are massive HILLS. There is no escaping them, but, hills are good for me, so I may need to do it more often. I did 3 miles, I am very slowly building my mileage again, very slowly.

By the time I got home, I was pretty hungry. I have another economical, fast and delicious dinner to share with you. This was the perfect meal to whip up quickly, but still nutritiously.

I warmed up 1 can each of Amy’s French Country Vegetable & Chunky Vegetable soup. ($2.99/ea.) My Love sauteed us up some brussel sprouts ($2.29), we topped everything off with fresh, cracked black pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice and red pepper flakes and dinner was ready in minutes. This dinner cost $5.28 and fed 3 people.

 

I have a recipe for dinner tonight that I am really looking forward to and am excited to share here! Is it sad that the things I look forward to most in my day, are my meals?

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Vegan on the Cheap

One thing I hear pretty frequently is that it is “too expensive to eat healthy”. This viewpoint does have some validation. I can rack up my grocery bill some weeks with good quality, flavored olive oil, kombucha drinks, coconut milk frozen desert and Gardein fake meat products. However, it can also be inexpensive to cut out animal products from your diet and eat whole, nutritionally dense foods.

Last night’s dinner is my favorite cheap, fast and healthy meal. This is great for weeknights, after work & yoga, when there is not much time and I do not feel like making a huge meal.

Baked sweet potatoes and vegetarian chili (canned, although you could make a big batch ahead of time) have that balance of sweet and savory that I love.

The sweet potatoes cook in the oven, wrapped in foil, poked in holes with a fork, for about 1 hour. I have also put them in the crock pot on high, as soon as I get home, and by the time I am back from yoga a few hours later, they are done. To serve, I put just a little Earth Balance on and top with a sprinkling of sea salt.

My favorite brand of chili is Trader Joe’s Vegetarian Chili. I also love topping it with chopped scallions & diced avocado.

1 can of chili is $2.59, 4 sweet potatoes cost $2.25, 1 avocado was $1.19. I already had the scallions from last week’s farmers market trip & the rice mixed with the chili was leftover from eating out Thai.

Not counting the scallions, this vegan meal cost $6.03 and fed 3 people. It was also fast and easy to make, not to mention delicious! This picture does it no justice, try it for yourself and let me know what you think!