Whole Living: 3 Day Reboot Detox

I love to cook but now that my schedule has been so busy, the last thing I want to do after working 16 hours a day is to get in the kitchen and cook.  This has led us to eating out more than we like and I was feeling a bit lethargic and not so healthy in general.  I recently subscribed to Whole Living magazine and I'm obsessed with it.  I read every single article and have really changed our food and eating habits because of it.  I came across this "detox" that sounded perfect for me.  From the magazine:
"New Year’s resolutions a distant memory? Whether you want to recommit to a healthier eating regimen or simply treat your body to some R&R, our three-day reboot is a delicious way to do it."

image via whole living

Last week, I did the 3 day reboot and the rest of the week I stuck to a generally healthy diet.  I ended up losing 3 pounds during the week (which to be honest, was probably just water weight) but not only that, I just feel a lot more "cleaner", healthier and energized.

Read more for my thoughts and tips on the detox...

I wanted to share with you guys because I often get questions about my diet and exercise which I'm hesitant to post about only because everyone's bodies are different and I'm certainly no expert.  For me, I generally like to cook/eat healthy for 4-5 days out of the week and the rest of the days we eat out.  Of course this varies and some weeks we eat out more but in general this what we like to stick to.

I'm a huge fan of detoxes every once in awhile and I've done them before but I highly recommend this "reboot" because the food is actually tasty!  Also, I know that juice cleanses are pretty big now and I've considered them but knowing that I like to eat actual food, I think juice cleanses would just make me feel stabby and probably not fun to be around :) 

Go to the Whole Living site for more details on the 3 day reboot and the recipes, which are very easy to follow and the best part is, that the first day you prep almost all of the food so that it makes it very easy to stick to the diet for the next two days.  One tip: in the beet salad, they have you put the scallions in the first day which was delicious but I ended up hating it the 2nd and 3rd day because all I tasted were the scallions which as you know, is a very strong flavor.  Next time I will only add them on the day that I eat the salad.

I loved the breakfast smoothie so much that I made it this week too!  I just made a batch on Monday and then filled the rest into mason jars for the next few days.  It's so easy to grab and go in the morning!  I also add in chia seeds which is an amazing little "superfood" that doesn't add flavor to your food but it add tons of nutrients.  Read here for the benefits of chia seeds.  I started adding them into my foods for the fiber but I've noticed all the other benefits including more energy and help keeping me feel full between meals.  I recommend making a chia gel to keep in your fridge which makes it easier to add to your drinks.  They become softer as I don't love the crunchiness of the raw seeds but I really like the texture of the chia gel in my drink, it's like a healthy version of bubble tea!

I order Chia Seeds from Amazon, mainly because I'm an Amazon Prime member and I love the free 2 day shipping so I haven't really shopped around but I think the price on Amazon is pretty good.

And because if you know me, I can't not have baked goods in my life.  These are for after the detox obviously but when I need something relatively healthy to munch on with my coffee or tea, I make these raisin bran muffins that are low fat!  They are just as good as any of those muffins you can get at coffee shops but you won't feel as guilty after eating them.

It uses raisin bran cereal (I get mine at Trader Joe's), whole wheat flour, only a 1/4 cup of brown sugar for 6 muffins and no butter at all!  I do suggest to add about a 1/2 cup (or more) of raisins to the batter if the cereal you use is skimpy on the raisins.  I love these muffins and they are really easy to make.  Side note: I make them a little less healthy by adding turbinado sugar on top but the crunchy topping completes it.  Trust me on this.  :)

Anyway, if you were thinking of doing something like this, I highly recommend the 3 day reboot.  3 days is nothing and is so worth how your body feels after you are done!

Quick and Easy Dinner: Clam Chowder Bread Bowls

When I first started cooking, I used to be scared off from recipes that had more than 5 ingredients and 5 steps.  I just felt like I couldn't handle all of that and the few times that I tried, I was disappointed with the results so was discouraged from cooking at all.  I don't know when it kicked in but when I finally learned to adapt recipes to my and my husbands tastes and make them easier for me to prep and cook, was when I started to enjoy cooking.  Nowadays, I not only need "easy recipes", I need recipes that can be put together and be on the table pretty quickly since I work almost all day and night (owning your own business does that to you) so I don't have a lot of time to devote to the kitchen daily. 
I love soup for dinner and clam chowder is an indulgence that I like to get at restaurants (Seattle has some great clam chowder!) but I've never made it myself.  I suddenly had a craving for it and decided, why not?  I looked at a few recipes and then made this one using the general ingredients but keeping it to my taste and using canned clams to make my life easier.  This recipe only took me about 30 minutes to make so is perfect for those of you like me that want delicious meals in a short amount of time!

Makes about 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 2-3 slices of bacon, diced
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 3 Tbsp flour (I used whole wheat flour)
• 1-2 cans of canned clams
• Reserve liquid from the canned clams + water up to 2 cups
• 6-8 small golden potatoes
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme or 1 tsp of fresh thyme if you have it
• 1 cup milk (I used non fat - use whatever you have)
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• salt and pepper to taste
• Sourdough bread bowls (not necessary but so yummy!)

Note: most recipes call for bay leaf but I didn't feel like paying $3 for a whole thing of leaves when I would only use a few so I left it out and it still tasted fine

My first thing is to prep all your ingredients.  This means dicing the clams (if you bought them whole), bacon, onion and potatoes before putting anything on the stove and pulling out all the other ingredients on your kitchen counter.  As I've learned through tons of cooking mishaps, when you aren't prepared is when you get in trouble with cooking and burning things.  

In your large pot cook your bacon until almost crisp.  Add the diced onion and butter.  After the butter is melted, add the flour slowly to the mixture and stir to blend.  This will help thicken the chowder.  While this mixture is cooking (you want the onions to be softened) pour the liquid from the canned clams into a large measuring cup and then fill with water until you get about 2 cups of water/clam liquid mixture.  (I used 2 cans of clams so I had about 1 cup of clam liquid and 1 cup of water).

Add the clam liquid/water mixture, diced potatoes, thyme and milk to the mixture.  Bring to a boil, continue to stir it as it boils.  Reduce the heat and simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally.

Add clams and heavy cream and bring to a simmer.  Cook for only a few minutes more (you just want to heat up the clams since they are already good to go) but don't cook too long as you don't want your clams to get tough.

Add salt and pepper to taste and you are done!

Scoop into your bread bowls and enjoy your yummy meal.

One note on the recipe: I used two cans of clams which turned out to be a tad bit clammy for us so next time I will only be using one can.  Just to let you know in case you don't want yours to be too clammy either.  Everything else was perfect!  

I got all of my ingredients from Trader Joe's including the bread bowls and I will say that the bread bowls were just as good as any restaurant ones that I've tried.

 

Have a good weekend!  I've got a busy one ahead but am glad it's a 3 day weekend! If you are in the mood for some new jewelry come check out my jewelry line and save up to $25 off your order!