Cleanse Day 2

Cleanse Day 2!

So today begins the second day of my cleanse :) Yay! It feels like it's been a week, but it's only been a day so far (wah wah wah....)  I've been feeling pretty good! I have lots of energy, but I did have a headache yesterday and last night I was pretty hungry before going to bed.  But, all in all, I've really been enjoying this so far!

Today I started out with a MUCH better breakfast smoothie.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of kale
• 1 apple
• 1/2 cup of berries
• 1 tbsp of grated ginger
• 1 1/2 cup of almond milk
• 1/2 lemon (juiced)
• 1 tbsp of chia seeds

Directions:
Put all the ingredients in a blender and liquify! Then enjoy :) 

After enjoying my smoothie, I took the metro and a long walk (well pretty quick walk since I was running late--a lot farther than I thought!) to go to my barre class.  YES, that is how it is spelled.  If you live in DC, I HIGHLY recommend checking out BFitDC.  It is an amazing studio with fantastic teachers of the barre method.  I definitely notice my legs, hips, butt and arms working and it is relaxing and energizing all at the same time.  It's a nice break from running and doing more intense cardio and a great break after work!

Then, I came home and made a DELICIOUS and very filling lunch.  (Wow, I use a lot of CAPS and parentheses...sorry if that's annoying!)  Anyways, check it out below:

Butternut Squash Soup and Chicken Salad with Avocado and Vinaigrette  dressing.

Most of these recipes came from this blog....which was probably adapted from another blog :). So check it out below!

• Butternut Squash Soup
• Almond Baked Chicken (except this one was from another blog)
• Vinaigrette Dressing (Scroll down)

Besides the almond baked chicken, I put these in the salad, as well: 

• 1/2 avocado
• 1 tbsp of sliced almonds
• 1 tbsp of dried cranberries
• 1/4 cucumber
• 1/4 of a red pepper
• organic mesclun lettuce
• organic arugula

Now seriously, this was SUPER filling.  I almost couldn't finish it.  Maybe it was the avocado, or the chicken, or the soup or the combination of the two...but this is a definitely for someone who is hungry after a great work out :) 

Snacks:

• Some more fruit and nut bites
• Some roasted and salted almonds :)

Dinner

For dinner I whipped up some cauliflower, butternut squash, and chickpea coconut curry!  I had some leftover butternut squash from the soup I made a few days ago and didn't want any vegetables to go to waste! 

Check out the recipe:

Cauliflower, butternut squash, and chickpea coconut curry

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of cauliflower
• 0.5 lb of butternut squash (this is how much I had as leftovers, but use as much as you want!)
• 1 15oz can of organic chickpeas
• 1 yellow onion (feel free to use less, I just love onions!)
• 1 13.5 oz can of light coconut milk
• 1-2 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tsp of coconut oil
• 1 tsp of cumin
• 1-2 tsp of curry powder (I used 2 because I LOOOVE curry)
• 1 tsp of thyme
• 1 tsp of minced garlic
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cut cauliflower and butternut squash up into bite sized pieces.
• Put cauliflower and butternut squash in a medium bowl and drizzle with 1-2 tbsp of olive oil and top with salt and pepper (as much as you like).  Then mix around.  

• Place cauliflower and butternut squash on a baking sheet and roast vegetables in oven for 25-35 minutes (until lightly golden and easy to put a fork through the vegetables).
• While cauliflower and butternut squash is cooking, chop up some onions.  Grease a saucepan with coconut oil.  Put the onions in the saucepan and sauté on medium-high heat for 3 minutes.
• Rinse chickpeas and let strain.
• Add spices to onions and cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Add chickpeas to saucepan and let cook for 5-8 minutes at medium to low heat (until cauliflower and butternut squash are done).

                                                         

• Add cauliflower and butternut squash to saucepan.  Cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
• Add coconut milk and bring to a boil.  Then let cook for 5 minutes.
• Then enjoy!  This is great as a side with the almond chicken (like I have shown below).  Or, it is a great as a stew over quinoa!

                                            

After this delicious dinner, I SERIOUSLY had a tough time not cheating.  I don't know why, but I was pretty hungry.  Looking back, maybe I should have added a salad or something.  Let's just say that 2 Christmas Cheesy Hallmark Movies saved the day by keeping my mind off of it! Thank GOD for Netflix! (PS I highly recommend Christmas Kiss.  

Christmas Lodge was cute but pretty terrible acting.  

I mean TERRIBLE lines as well.  But still cute!).   PHEW! It was a close one for cheating on this cleanse.  Well, hopefully tomorrow is a little bit easier :)