So, when we decided to go full blast on the juicing fast, we quickly came back to reality. I realized that I cannot do juicing alone. I crave solid foods. Honestly, it does make me crave healthy solid foods. Even if it is spaghetti squash or cabbage soup, it's still solid and amazing compared to straight juicing. What I've found I can do that keeps me satisfied all day is start the morning (6:30am) with whole grain toast and a tablespoon of Trader Joes natural crunchy unsalted almond butter (this stuff is amazing). Then I'll have my AM juice (12oz). Honestly that will last me until about 10:30 or 11. For lunch I'll have leftovers from dinner or tuna with my green juice. If I'm dying, I'll eat nuts or a banana. Then I'll make a delicious dinner. This has really helped curb the cravings for sweets and soda. I've had maybe 1 soda since I started this. I hope to get that number down to 0.
Here are some juicing combos I really like:
AM Juice:
Cranberries
Pinapple
Orange
Cabbage
Carrot
Ginger
PM Juice:
Cabbage
Celery
Bell Pepper
Lemon
Spinach or Kale
Cucumber
I have been trying to incorporate mainly vegetable dinners into our diet. Very little chicken, mostly beans, veggies and rice. Here are a few we've liked:
Curried Cabbage Lentil Soup (I made this up)
2 cans of lentils (or you can use dried lentils, which I'm trying tonight)
1 box of vegetable or chicken broth
celery, onion and carrots diced
curry spice (I bought a mix at Whole Foods, you can use whatever though)
half a head of cabbage
Saute the celery, onion and carrots in a saucepan with olive oil. When that's softened, add the curry spice to the mixture. Transfer all to a crockpot and add in the broth, cabbage and lentils. Cook until cabbage is soft.
Lentils have an amazing amount of protein in them! For one serving they have about 18 grams of protein and 16 grams of fiber. Amazing for such a little legume!
Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti
1 whole spaghetti squash
1 jar of pasta sauce
1 cup of spaghetti squash only has 45 calories, 10 carbs, 2 grams of fiber, 4 grams of sugar and 1 gram of protein. Spaghetti Squash is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Niacin, Vitamin B6, Pantothenic Acid, Potassium and Manganese, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber and Vitamin C. All facts are according to Self Magazine's Nutrition Data site.
Cover squash with olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook the spaghetti squash in the oven at 475 degrees for 45 mins to an hour. Scrape out the squash with a fork. Cover with heated sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. I honestly love this and so does my husband!
We are working on getting more adventurous with our healthy cooking.
