Clean Mentality

 Today was a day of reflection. For all the families affected by 9/11, we will always remember. Pegs and I are sending lots of love and positive energy out there. It is days like these that remind me to count my blessings. Like my amazing parents, my wonderful sisters, my beloved family, my shanti-girl, my friends, our health, our planet, all the places I have seen, where I live, my home, where I get to visit, my body, my mind, my senses, my faith, and for the other half of my molar which I lost last night, thank you for all the delicious meals you helped me consume. 

**you were a great crown**

I am especially grateful of what I get to do every day. Being raised by such an open-minded woman who healed me through food. All of us have the ability to nourish our bodies with the freshest ingredients to keep our bodies healthy. Food is love. So love yourself!

On another note, Megs&Pegs are feeling great. I am trying to figure out my hemp protein powder, it makes my morning smoothies grainy, but all-and-all they are decently tasty and filling me up. Honestly, I am not even eating as much as Clean recommends and I am still feeling satisfied. This is what we ate today… 

 

Breakfast Smoothie

1 C raspberries (or blueberries)

½ C shredded coconut

10oz. coconut water

4 tbsp hemp protein (or suggested amount of another protein powder)

3 kale leaves

1½ tbsp almond butter

1 tbsp ground chia seeds

½ tsp vanilla

½ tsp cinnamon

Salmon with leftover Quinoa, Rice and Sunflower seeds (2 servings)

8oz. salmon

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp dill

½ tsp garlic powder

½ lemon juiced

-Heat pan on medium-high. Season salmon with lemon, garlic powder, and dill. Next add a tablespoon of coconut oil to pan. Sear salmon skin side down on medium-high heat for 3-5minutes covered. Carefully flip salmon and continue to cook covered for 3-5minutes (depending on thickness of fish and how rare you like it).

2 C cooked rice, quinoa and sunflower seeds

3 shiitake mushrooms chopped

2 cloves garlic chopped

1 yellow squash diced

1 zucchini diced

1 C yellow onion chopped

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tbsp olive oil

½ tbsp Celtic salt

-Heat pan to medium. Once hot, put coconut oil, garlic and onion in pan. Cook until the onions become translucent, then add mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms are soft. Lower heat to medium-low and then add zucchini, squash, salt and olive oil. When squash are soft, add rice mixture and re-heat for a minute or two.

2 heads of bok choy chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

1” ginger thinly sliced

-Heat pan on medium-low (we just used the same pan as the squash rice so it was already hot). Then add olive oil, ginger, and bok choy. Cook until leaves are tender.

 **Pegs with our new juicer**

Veggie Juice (32oz.)

7 stalks celery

6 kale leaves

2 carrots

2 small green apple

1 lemon

1 handful of parsley

1 handful of spinach

(in our glasses, we also added 1 tbsp of ground flax seeds)

 **AHH! Feels so good being Clean**

 

Clean Program

Today was our first day on the Clean program, and honestly, I don’t even feel like we are cleansing. I feel like I am cheating compared to all the other fasts and detoxes I have done… I never felt hungry today! Our eating schedule looks a bit like this:

• 9:00am            Smoothie
• 11:15ish           Snack (nuts, seeds & raisins OR apple with almond/sunflower butter)
• 1:30-2pm         “Dinner” our solid meal of the day
• 4:00pm            Snack (carrots, radish & celery with homemade hummus)
• 7:00pm            Juices or pureed Soup

Pegs and I had a fruit smoothie for breakfast that was delicious, wild rice and chicken salad for our “Linner” (which is a recipe in our book), and a very green smoothie for dinner. If I keep feeling like this, these next three weeks are going to be a wheat-dairy-egg-sugar-free piece of cake!

Breakfast Smoothie

½ a peach

½ a pear (OR ½ -1 C blueberries)

10oz. coconut water

1 tbsp ground chia seeds

4 tbsp hemp protein (or suggested amount of another protein powder)

3 kale leaves

½ tsp cinnamon

 Wild Rice Chicken Salad

2 C red and curly leaf lettuce mixture

½ C wild rice

½ avocado

¼ C roasted chicken

¼ C sliced red onion

4 green beans

2 tbsp pepita seeds

2 tbsp dried currants

¼- 1/3 C peg’s house dressing

Peg’s House Dressing

2-3 cloves garlic

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

½ tsp Celtic sea salt

1 lemon juiced (Meyer lemon = the best!)

½ C olive oil

 Very Green Dinner Smoothie (2 servings)

10 mint leaves

4-5 kale leaves

4 stalks celery

2 carrots

1 cucumber

1 green apple

1 lemon juiced

1 handful of parsley

1 C purified water (after drinking it, I would recommend 3-4 cups)

**It looked nice; however, this smoothie came out of the Vitamix too thick for Pegs and me… But hey, we are learning! I would stick to juicing my greens.

Sunday Cook-Off

FAMILY DINNER IS BACK IN THE 'BOAT :) 

**Betsy's Mango Salsa**

 **Our "Clean" Chicken**

 **The New Steamboat Fam**

 **Chocolate Volcano**

 **Chocolate Volcano with Gelato... If only...**

Cooking Machines

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Pegs and I have been on a mission. Since arriving in Steamboat Monday evening, we have made and photographed fourteen recipes for the GrowingGreat Families cookbook with no stop in sight! (Ok, so we are going on a hike tomorrow… but its Saturday!!)

  **Breakfast Burrito with Potato Hash**

**Simple Green Rice**

**Vegetable Ribbons**

With the amount of food we are making, it is a good thing we are doing a detox. A few ladies and I started the Clean program this week. Clean is a fabulous lifestyle approach I am all about! Peg has had our family eating healthy for as long as I can remember. And back when we thought it couldn’t get any better, six years ago, our diet became even healthier (for our genetic composition) once we went gluten-free.

Every year around this time I do some sort of detox. This year it’s Clean. I am a strong believer in cleansing my insides after days, weeks, and especially months of food overload. Obesity is an epidemic in the United States for a reason—we eat waaaayyy too much food. I recently began to read Clean by the brilliant Dr. Alejandro Junger.  The genius behind his Clean program are the foolproof easy guidelines he has written. In the book, he meticulously maps out the cleanse from eliminating specific foods to grocery lists, recipes, times of day to eat, suggestions on what to eat when, detailed explanations of the amazing benefits each week has on your body, and more! I have done my fair share of cleanses-fasts-detoxes, but Clean appears to be most informative and seemingly easy to adhere to, but I will confirm this once I start following the mealtime schedule.

I am not even concerned about cooking recipes for our book while on this cleanse, because of how much we are allowed to eat. And just to show you what I mean here is a GrowingGreat Families recipe we made Clean! 

Spinach Patties or Balls

1 bunch of spinach washed, chopped
1-2 garlic cloves minced
2 green onions finely chopped
½ C finely chopped shitake mushrooms
2 tbsp ground chia seeds soaked in 3 tbsp water (can keep adding water until a thick paste)
½ Cup leftover cooked brown, white basmati, wild rice, or quinoa
¼ Cup toasted and ground sunflower seeds
1 tsp Italian Seasoning (Spice Hunter)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Coconut or olive oil
Other seasoning choices: Thyme, cumin, Pesto, Curry powder, whatever sounds good to you! 

Sauté mushrooms, minced garlic and scallions in 2 tsp.olive oil. Add spinach, and cover until wilted. Drain and press off excess liquid, a little is ok. Set aside to cool.  In a medium bowl, add the rest of the ingredients, and then add spinach mixture. Mix thoroughly.

In the same pan, heat 2 TBL coconut oil until hot.  Form spinach mixture into patties or into balls and sauté until browned on both sides, approx. 5 minutes per side.  Serve warm as a meal, or makes a great appetizer. Also can Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until nicely browned.

 **our beloved taste-tester, Kathy**

Back in the 'Boat

Monday night I flew back to our home in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Peg truly enhanced the cabin since I was here last. She has added more sweet details, like the outdoor yoga deck (picture to come soon), new trees, more flowers, and other colorful details inside. The garden is overflowing with produce like kale, arugula, broccoli rabe, bok choy, garlic, chives, mint, and much more. I have fallen in love with this place all over again!

For the next 25days Peg’s and I intend to “finish” what we started here a year ago… And let me tell you, we are well on our way! Peg’s and I have already made then photographed six recipes. Thanks to our organization, we have mapped out the month of September planning each day around the thirty-five recipes we have left to photograph. And to think this book has roughly 150 recipes in it!

 **Peg hard at work**

 **Sam's Breakfast Sanwich**

**Halibut Piccata**

I am so excited to get back on track blogging and see this project through.

Summer's Green Sauce

 Summertime Pesto Sauce

Summer is the best time to stock your freezer with homemade pesto! Basil is in season and very cheap at local farmer markets here in southern California. My mom, Peggy, is famous for her homemade basil cilantro pesto sauce. It is great for pasta or pizza sauce, on sandwiches, in salads and so many other yummy dishes! It is a perfect flavor enhancer. Our family recipe below allows you to get creative by adding other green leaves, like spinach or arugula, or as much cheese you prefer to customize this into your very own pesto sauce.

Peggy’s Pesto
1-2 bunches Basil Leaves (about 40 leaves)
½ C-1 bunch of cilantro leaves (cut off the majority of stems leaving just the leaves, some stems are OK)
Handful of arugula leaves (optional)
3-5 Cloves Garlic
½ C Pine Nut
½-1 C Pecorino Romano finely grated
3/4-1 C Olive Oil

Pulse the leaves with the garlic then add the pine nuts, pulse again. 
Add Pecorino cheese and pulse. 
Continue blending/pulsing and slowly add in olive oil.

Fun additions: Add ½ C arugula and or spinach leaves.

Dairy Free: Omit the cheese, or add Vegan Parma


This makes a little more than two 8oz. containers. To keep fresh, add a thin layer of olive oil on top of the pesto sauce in the container (add a thicker layer of olive oil if you want to store in freezer).

MUFFINS!!

Muffins are a great guilt-free morning treat. I mean they are muffins, a universally acceptable breakfast cupcake! My all-time favorite muffin has to be Peg’s Maple Banana Nut Muffin with a maple glaze and streusel topping. SO GOOD!

We made these for a volunteer thank you brunch, and there wasn't one leftover!

Muffins are good for gifts, brunches, breakfast on the run, or even a morning treat (hey, no judgment here). They are fun to make and even more fun eating! You have to try this recipe for yourself :) Here is the play by play:

Maple Banana Nut Muffins

Streusel Topping

½ stick butter melted

1 Cup chopped walnuts

½ C maple sugar or brown sugar packed

2 TBL. Flour (I prefer coconut)

Combine butter, walnuts, sugar and flour.  Set aside.

Maple glaze

6 TBL. Powdered sugar

2 TBL maple syrup

Whisk sugar into syrup until smooth.  Set aside

Muffins

1 stick of softened butter

1/3-cup maple sugar or brown sugar packed

1 egg

1/3 Cup maple syrup

1 Cup flour (or ½ Cup GF all purpose & ½ Bette’s Featherweight) 

½ Cup whole-wheat flour (or GF coconut flour)

½ tsp salt

1 tsp. Baking powder

1 tsp. Baking soda

1 over ripe banana mashed

½ Cup sour cream

• Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Mix in egg, and gradually add syrup.

• Sift together flours, salt, baking soda and powder. Add to butter mixture. Blend until all incorporated.  Mix in banana and gently fold in sour cream to the batter.

•     Spoon into 12 greased or paper lined muffin tins.  Sprinkle Streusel Topping evenly over the top of each muffin.  Bake at 375-degree oven for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool slightly and then drizzle with Maple Glaze.