Friday 5 August 2011

Day 1 & 2 of my 30 day accountability...

It's hard to do this. Well, of course it is or I wouldn't have to keep starting over, would I? 
So I am sticking to this truth - every day is new, yesterday is gone forever. 
Today I have been able to stay on track. Yay!! \o/\o/ Day 1 (yesterday) and Day 2 have been good ones.
Last night I made us a simple Beef stir fry with Udon noodles, because my husband LOVES Udon noodles...
...and for dessert we had freshly made Bliss Balls.
These are so easy, lovely and sweet, but most importantly they are healthy and a good alternative to baked desserts.  To make them just add equal amounts of dried apricots and dried figs to your food processor and whizz them until they become a paste. Roll them in balls and toss through coconut lightly.
The recipe I used is from the Detox DVD (you can see the pic in my left hand sidebar), and it actually shows to roll the balls in a mix of sesame and sunflower seeds. I would have done that but my family would have shied away immediately. However, rolling them in coconut was wise as they all ate them! 
Personally I love sesame and sunflower seeds, but I do have them most days in my homemade Sprouted Buckwheat Granola, so omitting them from the Bliss Balls wasn't a tragedy. 
This morning I added home-made yoghurt, fresh passionfruit and strawberries, and white chia seeds to my Granola. 
 
The recipe for Sprouted Buckwheat Granola is on the right hand sidebar. 
I was out and about most of the morning (walking is good, yeh?), and could feel the effects of no caffeine. - low energy, and yawning a lot. I think it's also my body in a right mess at the moment, and working at ridding itself of the build up of sugar and toxins.
I am back to herbal teas...
My favourites are Licorice, Chamomile & Spearmint, and Cinnamon & Apple. In future though, I'll save the Chamomile & Spearmint till bedtime. LOL! I have Red Clover as well because it's good for menopause, but the taste isn't something I yearn for. 
I have decided I will have a de-caff soy coffee each day as soy is a miracle for easing off my hot flushes. The soy milk I use is Vitasoy, and it's so nice that I have had no problem omitting milk from my diet altogether.
I'll experiment with soy yoghurt making in a few weeks. The ones you buy at the supermarket are ghastly!
Lunch was a fresh salad...
 
Lots of different greens and 1/2 an avocado, snow peas, shallots, cherry tomatoes, and a dry bakes Kiffler potato. I made a simple soy dressing and it was lovely. 
Another Bliss Ball for dessert, and I am about to brew the kettle for another herbal tea. I am drinking more water than usual, but still not enough. 
A book I ordered last week arrived and it has some fabulous recipes!
 
The book arrives in a recyclable drawstring pouch and is printed on recycled paper with low ink. The authors are two Aussies and the recipes look normal, and quite do-able.
Do-able recipes are important, aren't they? I have some books that I thought would be great to make meals from but the recipes have way too many ingredients and too many steps - not to mention ingredients I cannot find and some I have never heard of. 
You can read more about this book at their website. 
It was the name that got me looking. ;-)
I should clarify that I am not vegetarian. I used to be a few years back, but I do eat meat these days. My reason for owning and purchasing more good vegetarian cookbooks is to widen my ideas on what to serve with meat. My man loves meat. My son loves meat. I can't forget that. 
Tonight I am going to make one of Jody's recipes from the Detox dvd, Lime & Lemongrass Chicken. I was salivating watching her make it!
Dessert will probably be a fresh fruit salad as I bought a freshly picked pineapple today and I have strawberries, passionfruits, and blueberries on hand as well.
I hope you are encouraged by my daily posts during this Accountability - your comments certainly help me. :-) 
Hugs
Jenny

4 comments:

Heleen Groot said...

Dear Jenny, How great to read this! I will be starting the 17 day diet on Monday..... This calls for a lot of the same things. I will keep checking up on you! Stick to it, stick to it, stick to it (if you say it three times it is true). Good luck!

Chrissie said...

Well done so far, glad you are feeling a little better. We too have allergies to certain foods and have to cut out dairy, oats, wheat to a minimum eggs bananas, worst for me is chocolate :( and oranges. Cutting out alot of the above helped my migraines hope yours improve too.
The availability of fresh veg here in Spain is good but alternative grain etc is expensive and limited. Don't lose heart if you slip a little we are only human after all!

debbie said...

Good to hear you are trying again! I understand how hard some of these decissions can be. I had to go sugar free a few years ago. I do not do artificial sweeteners at all. Occasionally when I feel the need I use stevia, and quickly change my mind. I also stay away from high sugar content fruit. Every thing tastes so much better when sugar and salt are eliminated from cooking. The true flavor of the food comes through. Did you know green beans are sweet? I heard some complaining from MR, but told him he is free to eat before he comes home from work, if he so chooses. It is more than just a health concern for me, but necessary to get rid of a disease that lives on sugars and fats. He is allowed one food that I can not (choose not to) eat in the house at a time. I simply stated that I love him enough to care for him in a healthy manner, and hope he can do the same. Some times he is not happy with my choices, but usually gets use to them.
The other thing that I do not eat at all is Soy! Yeah, everyone thinks it is a miracle food, but it has reprocussions too. It is likely that one problem is most soy in the US is genetically engineered. I have a thyroid problem (as do all of the females in the last 3 generations of my family...go figure). Soy prevents the body from using thyroid hormones properly, whether they are natural or a medication. Blood levels will look fine, but symptoms still persist. I've not had migranes since I started eating to balance my thyroid...and that is a whole other food issue. It always seems to be something.
I wish you luck in finding the balance that works for you. Blessings :o)

Allie said...

Jenny, you are doing GREAT! I'm not going to say how I'm doing, as I won't be getting my book until Tuesday....sigh. All this food looks so yummy and healthy, I'm proud of you, girl!