Cleanse

In the last year or so, twice I've done a "cleanse." First with my mom then with my sister. It wasn't my idea, not at all, but they wanted me to help them and I made the menu and the food, so I figured I'd go along with it. No gluten, no meat, no dairy, no sugar, low sodium, low fat. Pretty much just fruit, veggies, and rice. For one week. I definitely wouldn't recommend it. The food wasn't bad, and it wasn't as hard as I expected, but it seemed pointless. My mom and my sister both liked it, but I didn't feel any better, if anything I felt worse. I think it's because I live on gluten, noodles especially. I just felt like I wasn't getting all of the nutrients that I needed, so to compensate I ate a lot more than usual. But I did find some pretty tasty, healthy recipes. I ate salad of course.

But I was surprised at how many other yummy things there were, like wild rice,

quinoa tabouli (first time I'd had quinoa, it's a new favorite),

chipoltle black beans and salsa (in the back you can see the cheese for my brother-in-law and the kids)

amazing barley soup,

and my favorite—baked potatoes with olive oil, steamed broccoli, sautéed mushrooms, and caramelized onions.

For snacks we had plenty of fresh strawberries

and peaches

and tomatoes (good thing I learned to like them).

But the second we were done—midnight on the last day—I was ready to eat gluten smothered with sugar and wash it down with a big glass of dairy!