Wednesday, January 22, 2014

29 candles no cake

Day 3 of the detox and I'm happily cooking birthday dinner for my daughter at her lovely little place in St.Paul.  We went shopping for the ingredients at Lund's after pedicures and then we high tailed back to her apartment.  Our birthdays are four days apart and always notoriously bitter cold.

the menu:
Wild Atlantic Cod poached with lemons and herbs
Caramelized onions
Baked yam with toasted pecans
Steamed brussel sprouts
Mango, red pepper and avocado salad
Sparkling water




It was fun to cook in her tiny but well stocked galley kitchen.  Caroline is familiar with a diet cleanse having done one at her yoga training on the Baja and she is AOK with my program.  The verdict on the main course:  Cod is bland.  There is a reason that it is enjoyed deep-fried and served with tartar sauce.  I've used it in cream fish stews previously.  For this diet detox I'll stick to salmon, shrimp and scallops.

One great thing about leftover cod, onions and red pepper strips is they can go right into a breakfast omelet the next morning.  Sprinkled with nutritional yeast you can almost pretend to taste parmesan cheese.  


After our omelet and juice we were out into the cold crisp morning for a Slow Flow Vinyasa Yoga at core power yoga.  Just what I needed.  I am realizing that this detox is no simple matter for scheduling proper meal times and appropriate snacks.  Many of my go-to "emergency I'm hungry" snacks like yogurt, or cheese and crackers and even a glass of soy milk are on the Eliminate List.

Consider that our ancestors spent over 90% of their waking time hunting, fishing and foraging for enough calories to stay alive.  Juxtapose that to our fast food and instant gratification society and you need to have a big shift of priority.  I am grateful that I have had a 3 to 4 day period of a relatively light work schedule, so that I can rest and prepare the food that I need.  It takes time to tune in to the physical and mental sensations, not all pleasant, that come from withdrawing sugar, caffeine, and alcohol.

While my beautiful daughter is kicking up her heels and red tipped birthday toes I'll be taking my second bath and heading to bed.

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