Herbal Tea and Ennui!

I think that is the cleverest title I will ever come up with.

Today I am officially over the hump. I don't feel super energetic or my normal bouncing off walls self. But I definitely feel more like myself, not at all spacey or really even that hungry. Just a little...blah. That being said there was some chocolate sitting out at the lab today and I almost cried passing it by.

In addition to the juice, I've been drinking non-caffeinated herbal tea, so that I can have something warm every once in a while. I'm generally a bit of a puris when it comes to herbal tea. Mint, chamomile, lemon-ginger, etc. I typically avoid fruit teas cause they don't taste like fruit, and frequently taste like poop. That being said I bought an herbal sampler from Stash Tea a while back, because I wanted to drink herbal tea with a little honey rather than having dessert. As if that was even a reasonable substitute. In an effort to try new things I've been going through them and I have to say so far they've pretty much adhered to what I said before. Except for Apple Cinnamon Chamomile. Which is delicious. It tastes like a slightly watered down version of hot apple cider if you add a little honey.

Juice of the Day!
...I don't know what was in the juice cause Chris made it!

But my protein fruit shake for tomorrow's breakfast is
2 Nectarines
2 bananas
1 clamshell of strawberries
Juice from 1 orange
2/3 cup protein powder
Yum!

Day 3: Squashy Goodness

Today I am definitely feeling better. Not great, but better. Yesterday was lousy. I drank some Acai berry tea from a sampler pack. Either I was having some other issue at the same time or that tea made me feel like I had a headache and was going to vomit at the same time. Gross.

I have found the secret to making protein shake tasty, Peanut butter. I don't think it's in line with the whole juice fast thing, but I could use the extra proteins and fatty acids. That being said I think I'm going to go to Whole Foods or some place where they have those own choose yo' nuts and make some buttah! things. I wish they were marketed that way. Anyway I'm thinking at least that way I'll know it's fresh and there won't be any additional ingredients.

Juice of the Day!

Squashy Goodness
2 summer squash
1 zucchini
2 apples
1 pear
3 cups of spinach
1 cucumber
ginger

Super yummy. I think a little mint would have made it, unfortunately I don't have any right now.

Chris and I got up really early this morning and walked around the lake. It felt kind of taxing, and I just didn't feel like I had much energy, which doesn't really bode well for hiking next weekend. Oh well. Chris and I are planning on eating while hiking. Nut butters, avocado, whole fruits and Veggies. Maybe even some soup (just some veggie puree stuff). That way we'll actually have some fuel for our bodies. There will definitely be an update after that.

Protein Foam Shake..sounds naughtier than it is.

Despite the fact I just posted I have to update now that I'm drinking my shake. I've never had whey protein before. Jesus it's sort of like what I imagine drinking a foamy version of play-doh would be like, just texture-wise. It's all foamy and pink from the strawberries. Kinda freaky, but not bad.

Revival!

Chris and I have decided to start a 30 day Juice fast. Since I've finally settled into my new job's schedule, and work from home now which definitely makes blogging easier, it seemed like a good time to revive my food blog. My makeup blog will follow shortly.

So! Today is day one, and I'm feeling pretty alright. Although I did an hour of kickboxing this morning and I think that's going to have to stop for a while. I'm feeling a little light headed and a little headache-y which I'm hoping will go away when I have a protein shake (water, whey protein, strawberries and banana) on my lunch break. I'm also cold. Which is not surprising considering it's chilly and my metabolism is probably freaking out a little.

Juice today was the original Mean Green Juice
6 Kale Leaves

1 handful of spinach (added not from original recipe)
1 Cucumber
4 Celery Stalks
2 Green Apples
1/2 Lemon
1 piece of ginger

It definitely tastes leafy, but good, I'm going to increase the ginger next time since we used a piece about as big as my thumb for a doubled version of this recipe. I think doubling that amount of ginger would be perfect. Chris and I decided that we wanted some plant matter in rather than just juice. So we actually blended the spinach and the leaves from the kale (we juiced the stalks). 

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Roast Squash Stuffed with Wild Rice, Sausage, Cranberries and Hazelnuts,

This one is really yummy. Chris says it's one of his new favorites. I made it with brown rice, because that's what I had, but I think wild rice would make it waaaay better. I added sausage and Parmesan for a little more substance, but this would be a great side dish to roasted or grilled meat if you didn't want to just make this. I used a mild sausage, but again, I really think this would be better if you used spicy Italian. I'm going to make this for my Grandma on Wednesday before Thanksgiving, since she tends to be overwhelmed with cooking afterward... It's such a perfect fall recipe.

Ingredients
2.5 Cups Cooked Wild or Brown Rice
3 small acorn squash (each about 10 to 12 ounces), cut in half, seeded, or 1 butternut squash
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 finely chopped onions
2 teaspoons crumbled dried sage leaves

1 lb spicy Italian sausage (remove casings)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons dried cranberries (about 3 1/2 ounces)
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons chopped toasted hazelnuts (about 3 ounces)
1/4-1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
Parmesan Cheese

Directions
Cook Rice. Transfer rice to large bowl.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Oil baking sheet. Place squash, cut side down, on sheet. Bake until tender, about 40 minutes. Cool. Using spoon, scoop out pulp from squash, leaving 1/4-inch-thick shell; reserve shells. Transfer pulp to medium bowl. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.

I did the first part of this while the squash was cooking to save time....
Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onions; sauté until very tender, about 15 minutes. Add sage; stir 2 minutes. Add rice, squash pulp and lemon juice; stir until mixed, breaking up squash pulp into smaller pieces. Mix in 1/2 cup cranberries, 1/2 cup hazelnuts and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

Divide rice mixture among reserved squash shells. Place in roasting pan. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top.

Bake squash until filling is heated through, about 25 minutes.

Delicata Squash with Rosemary, Sage, and Cider Glaze

I realized that I've not really been updating. I promise I will fix that.

Last night Chris and I were feeling a little lazy so while we were grocery shopping we picked up a rotisserie chicken. We had some left over mashed/pureed cauliflower and potatoes and a recipe for Delicata Squash that I'd been dying to try.

Chris and I were split on how this tasted. I really liked it, can't wait to make it again, Chris thought it was good but not amazing. The one thing that I didn't like about the recipe was the directions are not great, so I've fixed them just for you! In the original directions it said to cook over medium heat an an even boil, but 3 cups of cold liquid takes a LOOOOONG time to come to a boil in the first place and the directions don't indicate that you should increase the heat to bring it to a boil and THEN cook on medium. Anyway, I decided to follow the recipe exactly and about 20 minutes in decided to pull the squash and then reduce the sauce separately.

The only other change I made was that I used red wine vinegar instead of sherry vinegar. IF you do this, you need to add a little sugar. I used about 1.5 teaspoons of brown sugar. I also think a little heat wouldn't go amiss in this recipe, but choose something that won't muddy up the flavor. I suggest red pepper flakes, maybe 1/4 - 1/2 tsp.

Bottom Line: 4.3 Stars