White Orchid Melody Blog

It’s Day 10, and I’m getting kind of sick of all this healthy eating! Ha! Part of that is hormones. All I want to do is eat chocolate and pizza, with a bottle of prosecco on the side, oh, and some fries.

Yesterday Alex asked for blueberry muffins (his favorite), so I broke out the gluten free flour and whipped up a batch using my normal vegan recipe. They were, well, interesting. I didn’t think they were worth the calories, but Alex ate two. I guess as long as he likes them they were a worthwhile endeavor. I think I will stick to my regular recipe in the future though. I’d rather have the real thing as an occasional treat than settle for some sub-par flavor on a regular basis.

I think that is true for lots of things. I am skeptical of any diets that suggest faux-foods. If you want to be vegan, be vegan. Don’t be a vegan eating fake cheese all the time. If you are dying for a grilled cheese sandwich, have one already! I speak from experience. I ate a lot of “fake” meat when I first went vegetarian, but ultimately that stuff is processed food and not healthy for you, at least not on a regular basis. So if you are only having it occasionally anyway, you might as well just have meat (with the caveat that you eat the healthiest meat you can find–raised humanely without added hormones, drugs, etc). We have turkey on Thanksgiving. I have no interest in Fo-turkey or To-furkey or whatever it is. I think if you can make a healthier replacement without sacrificing the flavor, then by all means do so. My vegan blueberry muffins are just as awesome as the ones with egg and milk. Meanwhile, our household is all dying for pizza. I don’t know if we are going to make it until the end of the 21 days!

I have reframed the way I look at meal time while on the cleanse. The extreme shift has been helpful in getting us un-hooked from our junk food habits, but it has also made me rethink how we can have our junk food in more healthy portions. Instead of ordering a bunch of pizza, order a smaller amount and have a big salad with it. Last night I made eggplant parmesan (with just a tiny bit of cheese on top!). Normally we’d have that with spaghetti. Instead, we had a big salad alongside and left the table feeling much less stuffed and much healthier. So, I can see a long term change in our eating patterns even after the cleanse is done.

Another good thing for me has been the morning smoothie ritual. I eat pretty light most of the day. Water first, then when I’m hungry a smoothie, then maybe a snack later if I’m still hungry, then a light lunch, my afternoon piece of chocolate, then dinner. I have found that if I start off eating too early in the morning, before I’m hungry, I eat too much all day long. We like having a nice big dinner, so it is helpful to keep the rest of the day’s food on the lighter side.

Tonight I’m going to try some lentil croquettes similar to some I had at this awesome vegetarian restaurant in Spain. I’m totally winging them, so that should be fun!

It’s day 8! We made it a week, with only a couple “cheats.” My first thought upon waking was, “a cappuccino would be nice. Maybe this can just be a one week cleanse. Or maybe I can keep doing the other things, but add in the cappuccino.” Uh-huh. Nice try. I got up and got on the scale. 5 pounds lost this week! Oh, okay, so maybe I don’t want that cappuccino after all!

In the book, Kris Carr suggests that the 7th day can be a fasting day, either partial or full—having just green juice or smoothies until dinner or all day. I was thinking of doing this, but by lunchtime, I was feeling hungry for something other than a smoothie, so I made some Coconut Curry Soup for Alex and myself. It was so good! So, here’s the recipe:

Coconut Curry Soup

1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
1 or 2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 zucchini, very finely chopped
1 carrot, very finely chopped
1/4 bell pepper, very finely chopped
1/4 cup tomato puree
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
1-15 oz can coconut milk
1/3 pkg rice sticks (check the asian section of the supermarket for these)

Saute your onion in olive oil until tender and translucent. Add garlic and saute until it is aromatic. Then throw in the spice mixture and stir well, letting the spices cook a bit. Toss in the veggies and mix with the spices. Then pour in enough vegetable broth to cover the veggies, scraping up all the spices that are stuck to the pan. Allow to simmer until veggies are tender. This won’t take long since we’ve cut them so finely. Add in the tomato puree, salt, and coconut milk. Bring back to a strong simmer. Meanwhile prepare your rice sticks according to the package directions. Mine said to soak in hot water for 10 minutes, then chop. I soaked them until they looked nice and flexible, then chopped them into about 1″ pieces. Add the chopped rice noodles to the soup and allow the whole mixture to simmer for another 5 or 10 minutes. Serve hot and enjoy!

Mornings are definitely the most difficult for me. To say I’m not a morning person is putting it lightly. Cappuccinos are pretty much my only motivation to get up in the morning. Sad, isn’t it? So, without the cappuccino happiness, I’ve been extra grumpy. But I’ve been sticking to tea and smoothies. I think maybe today was slightly better on the coffee deprivation front. I’ve been really tired though. I guess I’m still exhausted from our vacation. Combine that with being decaffeinated, and well, I need afternoon naps and early bedtimes.

Yesterday I went out to the big American grocery store, which is always a chore. But they have a good selection of gluten free items and I wanted to stock up to help us through the cleanse. I bought some gluten free baking mix just in case we have a craving for baked goods in a week! I don’t want that to be a reason for giving up on the cleanse. And so far, cutting the gluten from my diet has made me feel much better! So, I’m already seeing the benefits of the cleanse. It has really helped having Brian doing it along with me this time, too. Last time I had to smell his coffee in the morning. Oh, the agony!!! Plus he’s always so positive and cheerful, and that helps me stay motivated.

We’ve been having salads for lunch, smoothies for breakfast, and fruit or nuts or rice cakes for snacks. Last night we had a date night and went to our favorite local restaurant. That was a challenge. The owner/chef prepares everything to order and I knew she’d be most likely to prepare food that was close to the cleanse guidelines. We normally pig out on bruschetta, fried appetizers, grilled veggies, pasta with cream sauce, bread, dessert, coffee, and of course wine. So last night, I ordered a green salad, grilled veggies, and zucchini risotto. That was a huge improvement over our standard fare! It’s really crazy how easy it is to overeat in Italy. Just reading that list of our normal meal is kind of embarrassing. We did, however, succumb to a bottle of Prosecco, which is truly my wine-weakness. We ordered a glass and they brought us a bottle (this is also very typical in Italy). And of course I can’t just have a glass when there is a whole bottle sitting right in front of me. So, we slipped up. But we acknowledged our failure and got right back on track today.

That’s a big deal for me. Normally, if I gave into the temptation of something not on the cleanse, I’d just say to hell with it and go back to status quo. It felt good to realize we’d made a bad choice and get right back to making good choices. Oh, and we both had heartburn after the Prosecco. That helped to remind us that it was not the best choice!

Today we went to the local produce stand for our fruits and veggies. The fruit and veggie prep is really a lot of work! I chop up all the salad veggies and put them in separate containers so that they are ready to go for salads for the next several days. It’s convenient for quick lunches, but it takes a lot of time up front. I’ve been doing it for awhile just for me, but for the two of us it’s a twice a week chore.

At the market, I bought some pepperoncini picanti (hot chili peppers) to make fresh salsa. It turned out really spicy, but so good! For dinner, I served the salsa over polenta slices with lightly steamed green beans and homemade refried beans. It was the first time I’d ever had polenta. I bought a premade pack that you just slice and cook. The label said to fry it. I tried that it, but it was a mess–sticking to the pan and all mushy. So, the rest of the slices I baked in the oven. That worked much better and without the added fat! Awesome! But I think next time I’ll try to make the polenta from scratch.

So far, so good. We’re on track. The vegan and gluten free thing is pretty easy. The wine and coffee, a bit harder. But I’m committed to seeing it through–especially since I can already tell a difference!

Today was tough, though not necessarily because of the cleanse. I woke up in the middle of the night last night with my allergies flaring up. My mouth and ears were itching like crazy, so I got up and took some benadryl. Well, I guess it was nearly 5am then because when my 3 year old came in with a big “GOODMORNING!!!” at 6:15am, I could hardly open my eyes. I begged for mercy, but no luck. I tried to convince him to let me sleep for awhile longer, but it’s hard to convince a 3 year old who is so excited about life and NEVER tired that you are still tired and want to sleep. So, in my sleep deprived state I wanted a big cappuccino (or three) and a chocolate chip raspberry muffin. I drank my green smoothie instead.

I did have a cup of black tea later, which perked me up a bit. Then for lunch, red bean and vegetable curry with a bit of rice. And tonight for dinner we had a big salad and some fresh corn. Interesting thing about the corn. I specifically asked at the market if it was sweet corn– “mais dolce”.  He said yes, but apparently he and I have differing definitions of sweet. It was really starchy, so I fried it up like my grandma used to fry up field corn (minus the crisco!).

As much as I have loved living in Italy, the charm is starting to wear off. We said goodbye tonight to some friends who are moving back to the states. (oh, and we had a shot of limoncello with them…totally NOT part of the cleanse. oops.) Seeing them all packed up and heading off, I was a little jealous. I’m ready to be back on familiar ground. Of course, there are many things I will miss about Italy. My memories will almost certainly reflect the good things most prominently and the bad things as just quirky and amusing. But, seriously, being able to do more than one load of laundry a day will be awesome!

It’s the first day of the Crazy Sexy Cleanse! Several months ago, Brian and I did a 21 day vegan indulgence. We made it almost 21 days before life made it nearly impossible to continue. But really, I didn’t feel much different for it. Since then, I’ve read Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr. In the book she describes how your body processes foods–either alkaline or acidic. It’s not the same as the natural state of the food before eating. For example, lemons are alkaline to your body, but they are obviously very acidic. Citric acid anyone? So, it’s a bit complicated, but the gist of it is this: raw plant foods have living enzymes which aid in digestion. The less work your body has to do while digesting your food, the more energy it can spend on other things, like healing what ails you, renewing cells, etc.

Dead things don’t have enzymes. So when you boil your green beans for an hour, you’ve killed them. Additionally, meat and pasteurized dairy are acidic and difficult to digest. (Raw dairy, however, has it’s enzymes intact. Some folks even eat raw meat. Ew. But anyway.) The best stuff for your body are enzyme packed fruits and veggies. The Crazy Sexy Cleanse is designed to break your addictions to dairy, sugar, caffeine, and alcohol and streamline your digestion by adding gobs of live enzymes. It also eliminates gluten from your meals. I never would have thought I had a gluten intolerance, but a couple months ago, I tried the CSC for just over a week and could tell a huge difference in eliminating gluten! I was really shocked, but as soon as I ate pizza crust or pasta, I felt awful. Since then, I’ve cut back quite a bit on my gluten intake, but man, is that difficult in Italy!

My nutritional philosophy is this: a varied, seasonal diet heavy on plant foods. I’ve discovered first hand over the past couple years, that when you eat the same foods all the time, you can develop a food intolerance. I think this is what has happened with dairy, gluten, and even wine. If I eat dairy more than once a day, I feel bad. I was really over doing it when we first moved here, what with the pizza and pastas full of cheese, but after cutting back quite a bit, it isn’t bothering me as much. On our trip to France we were eating boatloads of bread and I felt HORRIBLE. Not sure if it’s the gluten or the yeast, but it’s not healthy for me. I’m doing the cleanse as a way of purging out all the things that might be making me feel so tired and bleh. Then, I’ll add back one thing at a time and hopefully learn more about what my body does and does not like.

We are all unique beings, and I do not believe one size fits all when it comes to nutrition. However, I do think there are some general guidelines that apply to all, i.e. “Eat your veggies!” But when I think about food intolerance, I think that seasonal eating makes a lot of sense. You really shouldn’t be eating spinach every day of the year. Your body needs a multitude of nutrients that simply cannot be found in one or even 20 different foods. This is bad news for most of us Americans since the supermarket looks pretty much the same year round. It can be difficult to discern what is truly “in season”. I think this is also one of the reasons so many people don’t like to eat fruits and veggies. They taste terrible out of season, or even in season when shipped 2000 miles. There is some of that even here in Italy where so much is local and seasonal. My local produce stand had zucchini out of season (don’t know where it was coming from) but it tasted bitter and awful! Then I remembered that it was April. Zucchini doesn’t grow in Italy in April. Right. Zucchini in July? Yes please! It’s the sweetest veggie ever!

Day 1 Menu:

breakfast: 20 oz smoothie: banana, green apple, nectarine, melon, zucchini, carrot, spinach, a splash of lemon juice and a teaspoon of honey (for my allergies)–we actually made a big pitcher of it to share between the 3 of us (alex likes them too!) so all of this made more than 20 ounces.

snack: hot green tea, green apple with peanut butter

lunch: big raw food salad with red and green lettuce, baby spinach, tomatoes, carrots, zucchini, red and yellow peppers, pumpkin seeds, chickpeas (cooked canned), tossed with a splash of orange balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and olive oil.

snack: 85% dark chocolate square, hot green tea

dinner: bell peppers stuffed with herbed potato/cauliflower mash with onion-tomato gravy; lightly steamed green beans and sauteed fennel with balsamic and raw garlic vinaigrette.  Yummy! (I haven’t made this yet and I can’t wait for dinner!)

and of course, water, water, water! But did you know that drinking water with a meal dilutes the natural enzymes in your stomach? So, it’s best to drink a glass or two of water about 20 minutes before your meal, and then wait an hour or so after your meal before drinking up!

If the peppers turn out as fabulous as I expect, I’ll post the recipe tomorrow!

Last week I started reading Vegetable, Animal, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It was so good I even took it to Istanbul with me. And yes, I had time for reading while there. Traveling with a toddler is very different than on your own. Naptime is mandatory. So, while he napped, I napped a bit, then read.

The book is the story of one family’s decision to eat locally for a year. They planned to feed themselves from their own garden, local farms, and the farmers’ market. This means no bananas from South America, no apples from New Zealand. Do you know where your food comes from? If you are like me, you probably never really thought about it.

I have thought about it insofar as to say that while living in St. Louis it was more important to me to eat organic food than local food. This is because of Monsanto, of course. In that neighborhood, if it isn’t organically certified it’s probably genetically modified. But anyway. That was as far as I thought about the issue.

Fast forward to 2010: I’m living in Italy. I buy a lot of my food locally, all my produce for sure. But I’m still making these mammoth shopping trips to the base once a month for “staples.” Staples, really? Are they really staples if people here don’t buy them? Well, partly it is a financial thing, with some foods being cheaper. Partly it is familiarity, not having to figure out what is the local equivalent. Very little of it is truly unavailable here. I’ve just been lazy.

In reading this book I realized the true price of my laziness. Not only does going shopping at the base stress me out and leave me in an ill mood, it also costs enormous resources, both in fossil fuels and tax dollars. That food is mostly priced the same here as in the states. In reality it is much more expensive for having been shipped overseas. Who pays the difference? The tax payer, of course. This was all the motivation I needed to kill those monthly trips. Truth be told, I can live without cheddar cheese. And that is about the only thing that is truly unavailable at the local stores.

So, I feel kind of stupid. I mean I know I’m only human, and we are all notoriously naive about all sorts of things. But one of my motivations for being vegetarian is caring about our planet and being opposed to factory farming. Meat is definitely the big boy when it comes to detrimental farming practices, but shipping regular food staples all over the planet instead of getting them locally is just as bad for the environment. So, I am confessing my idiocy and pledging to do better.

The book talks about how detached we have become from our food sources. We, as Americans, have no idea where our food comes from or when it is in season. If you actually buy fresh fruit and vegetables and not all processed crap, you are that much closer to your food, but still. You probably buy South American bananas every week, not just as an occasional treat. I have heard stories from when our parents were small about getting citrus fruit for christmas. This sounded crazy to me. (Fruit? What about toys?) But winter is citrus season in the US, so it makes sense. It was a winter treat. The fact that we now have bags of oranges year round isn’t natural.

Moving here, I have been so amazed by how good everything tastes. I thought it was the volcanic soil, but now I realize it is the difference in eating with the seasons. I bought fresh cherries today that are just to die for! I hated cherries in the states because I’d never tried any that were good, probably because they didn’t grow near where I lived. Same for sweet peppers. We have the most amazing red and yellow peppers here. They really are “sweet” peppers, not bitter like the ones you buy in American supermarkets.

I love good food. In my opinion, life is simply too short to eat food that doesn’t taste good. We aren’t designed to eat food that doesn’t taste good. Factory farmed food that has been shipped halfway across the country started out with less flavor and then lost what it did have in shipping. In nature, flavor equals nutrition. When you detox from processed crap and start eating real food, you realize your body craves certain flavors based on what nutrients you need. Your body craves heavier food in the winter to keep warm and lighter food in the summer when it is hot. Your body knows what it is doing.

Not only have we forgotten where our food comes from and when it naturally appears, but we have also forgotten what to do with it. What do you do in January or February when (you don’t live in southern Italy and) there isn’t fresh produce? You eat the food you preserved in the summer when it was abundant. Preserving food is a lost art. I have a date with my mother-in-law for sometime in the future when we are stateside to show me how to can food. Even if you don’t have your own garden, you can go to the farmers’ market and buy a boatload of whatever is in season and put it away in bags in your freezer or canned in the basement. Don’t think you have space? Stop buying things in cardboard boxes and you’ll find you have more space in your freezer (and probably more dollars in your wallet).

While living here, I will continue to eat whatever is available at the market whenever it is available, rather than trying to preserve things. I don’t think there was any point this winter that we didn’t have relatively local produce at the corner market. Sometimes from Sicily, but that is still pretty close. But whenever we move back to the states, I will certainly be planning ahead for winter when produce is not available locally. This week I’ll be venturing out locally to see if I can’t check off the items on my shopping list without wasting all those resources. It’s just one more thing I can do to make the world a better place. Every little bit helps!

I just finished reading a book I got from the library called Gorgeously Green. I heard of it somewhere or other and requested it from our local branch. It is a great book and I highly recommend it for all my gorgeous girlfriends!

We’re a pretty green household, especially compared to our neighbors. We recycle everything we can (we’ve even been known to pull other peoples recyclables out of the dumpster). We compost our kitchen scraps. We grew a vegetable garden this year. We buy organic whenever possible. We are a one car household. We walk and bike for local trips. So, I thought we were doing pretty well.

And we are, BUT we also have a lot of room for improvement. This book is a very thorough look at how to green up all areas of your life. I was more focused on the obvious things like what I put in my body. Little did I know of the horrors I was putting on my body. After reading this book, I am going to have to replace all my beauty products! 99% of them have carcinogens and there is nothing beautiful about cancer. The nice thing about the book is she reminds us that every little thing we do helps, so to focus on just one or two things a week.

Today I walked Alex and Susie down to Home Eco on Macklind. We are super lucky to have this cool eco-general store less than a mile from our home. I’d been wanting to get a new water bottle. I’ve been using a small nalgene bottle (bpa free), but I wanted something larger. So, I figured I’d go with the next step up and get stainless steel. The added benefit being no more plasticky tasting water. While I was there I perused their selection of eco friendly beauty and cleaning supplies. I got a bar of natural soap and a non-petroleum lip moisturizer. After I get myself organized with what I need, I’m going to go back for some cleaning supplies and shampoo/conditioner. I will probably use up what I have now. But I won’t be buying these toxic products again! I’ll make a better choice for my body, the environment, and support a local business to boot.

So, anyway, go to the library and get Gorgeously Green by Sophie Uliano. It will make you think!