Heritage Tomato Salad

Thank you to my lovely mother for this recipe! She made it for dinner last night and I was very impressed :)

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Serves 6       Prep Time: 15 min

Ingredients

• 6 heritage tomatoes
• 1/2 cucumber
• 1/2 sweet onion
• 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 tsp hot sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• To prepare the salad, slice the tomatoes to 1/4 inch thickness. Next, slice the cucumber and the onion into very thin slices. Layer the veggies on a serving plate.
• To make the dressing, add remaining ingredients into a shaker bottle and mix until very well combined.
• Pour the dressing over the salad about half an hour before serving.  This will allow time to marinate :) ENJOY!

DETOX DAY 17 – Green Bean and Feta Salad

This delicious salad is Dr. Joshi Detox friendly!  It has so much flavour, I will definitely be eating it long after my detox is over.  One of the best salads I’ve ever had.

Ingredients for Salad

• 1 head of lettuce
• 2 cups green beans, cut into bite side pieces
• 10-15 brussel sprouts, cut in half
• 1/4 cup feta cheese (use goat feta if on the detox)

Ingredients for Dressing

• 2 lemons, juice and zested
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped
• 2 tsp dried dill
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Combine all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl.  Whisk until well combined.
2. Steam the green beans and brussel sprouts.  When the veggies are cooked, run them until cold water to stop the cooking process and cool them down.
3. Combine green beans and brussel sprouts in a bowl with the lettuce and feta cheese.  Drizzle with dressing and give it a good mix.  ENJOY!

NOTE – if you want to make this salad into a meal, you can add some cooked chicken on top :)

DETOX DAY 14 – Sunflower Seed Protein Cookies

Woohoo! Two weeks into my 21-day detox!

I was really missing having a little treat after dinner.  I LOVE my breakfast cookies so it kind of sucked not having them anymore :( Sunflower seed cookies to the rescue! I modified Amanda’s Protein Cookies to fit with my detox rules and created these little gems. Absolutely delicious!

Ingredients

• 1 cup gluten free oats
• 1 banana, mashed
• 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 tbsp sunflower seed butter
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup flaxseeds
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Using the Kitchen Aid mixer, combine all ingredients.
• Spoon onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. DONE!

DETOX DAY 6 – Eggs Florentine

It’s already day 6?!?! This detox just keeps getting easier. Not only am I feeling amazing, but my energy level has really improved. Yesterday I managed to do two workouts no problem, including a tough TRX class with Amanda at the end of the day.  The green tea is really helping with that extra kick of caffeine (even though its just a tiny bit lol).  My new favourite summer drink…green tea over ice with a bit of honey! Thanks Amanda for introducing me to that little gem! Doesn’t get much better then that while on this detox :)

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EGGS FLORENTINE

This delicious detox friendly recipe is from the lovely Amanda (Krystalfit)!  She got the recipe out of the Dr. Joshi Holistic Detox book.  Very easy to make! Plus her presentation is amazing! What a beautiful picture :) Not only could this be a great breakfast, but I’d love to have this dish at any meal!  Great detox dinner.  You could even add some chicken or turkey in there to bump up the protein if having it for dinner.  ENJOY!

Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa
• 4-8 eggs
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large bunch spinach, roughly chopped
• pinch of nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp paprika

Directions

• Cook the quinoa per package directions.
• In a pan on medium heat, sauté the onion in the olive oil until translucent.  Add the spinach and cook for about 2 minutes or until wilted. Season with the nutmeg and stir until well combined.  Set aside.
• Next, poach the eggs in about an inch of simmering water for 3-5 minutes.
• To serve, place a few big spoonfuls of quinoa on a plate and top with the spinach mixture.  Place a couple poached eggs over that. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil and some paprika on top. YUM!

DETOX DAY 4 – Veggie, Chicken & Egg Stack

Woke up on day 4 feeling FANTASTIC!!! The last few days I’ve had a headache and low energy, but not today! Thank goodness. Amanda (Krystalfit) felt the same way when she got up this morning too!  The fruit cravings are starting to die down as well.  I still don’t have quite as much energy for my workouts as I usually do, but that’s not a big deal for a few weeks :) I guess it’s ok to only do one workout a day for a while… :P

The thing I’m enjoying most about this detox (other then feeling great) is it’s forcing me to be super creative in the kitchen! I’m loving the new challenge. I found a meal similar to this protein stack on Pinterest and switched it up to fit with my detox diet. I liked it so much yesterday, I had it again today for lunch :) YUM! Lots of protein and veggies. I’m also not used to cooking with lots of lemon so this is a nice change.

VEGGIE, CHICKEN & EGG STACK

Makes 1 serving        Prep Time: 5 min      Cooking Time: 5 – 10 min

Ingredients

• 8 spears of asparagus
• kale (one stem) or spinach (two handfuls)
• 1/2 – 1 chicken breast (cooked)
• 1 – 2 eggs
• few slices of avocado
• juice of half a lemon
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

• Heat a pan to medium-low heat. Cut up the asparagus into bite size pieces. If using kale, chop up finely.
• Drizzle a little olive oil on the pan and add the asparagus (and kale if using). Cook for a few minutes and squeeze a bit of lemon juice on top.  Season with salt and pepper. Then, add a tiny bit of water to the pan, cover with a lid, and let steam for another few minutes.
• If using spinach, add when the asparagus is 1 minute away from being done.  Once the spinach is wilted, remove from the pan and serve on a plate.
• Slice up the chicken breast and place on top of the veggies.
• Drizzle the pan with a little bit more olive oil and crack your egg(s) into the pan.  Cook for a few minutes on one side, then flip and cook for less then a minute on the other side.
• Once the egg is cooked, serve on top of the chicken breast on the plate.  Squeeze the rest of the lemon juice on top and serve with a few slices of avocado on the side.  Ahhhh so good!!

Kale Chips

I’m not too sure why I’ve never written down this recipe. I make these chips all the time! I needed a good snack to have while on my 21-day detox, so kale chips are the perfect salty solution :) I’ve found they work better with dinosaur kale rather then the frilly regular kind.  ENJOY!

Ingredients

• organic dinosaur kale
• olive oil
• unrefined salt
• cajun spice (optional)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash the kale thoroughly, dry it and peel off the stem.
• Rip into chip size pieces and place on a greased baking sheet.  Lightly drizzle olive oil and salt.
• Bake for about 6 minutes or until crispy. Done :)

DETOX DAY 1 – Classic Hummus

It’s DAY 1 of my 21 day detox! My lovely friend Amanda and I decided we were going a little crazy this summer already…oooops! So we’re trying to get back on track and away from the booze with Dr. Joshi’s Holistic Detox.  Amanda’s done it quite a few times before, but this is my first.  So we’ll see how it goes! The whole point of the detox is to create a slightly alkaline environment in the body by cutting out acid forming foods from your diet.  Seems simple enough! The diet is fairly close to my diet already so I’m not too concerned.  The only foods I’m going miss and have a tough time not eating are: fruit, berries, and coffee! It’s making me nervous just thinking about it…

So it’s the end of day 1 and I would KILL for a strawberry right now! I was doing a detox shop at Whole Foods earlier today and was practically drooling walking by all the juicy, delicious blueberries, strawberries and raspberries! I had to leave the produce section and take a break lol it got too much. I’m sure it will get much easier soon!

After my workout, I obviously couldn’t have one of my regular smoothies.  So this is what I put in my detox-friendly shake – rice milk, half a banana, ground flax seed, honey, hemp protein, lots of kale, chia seeds, sesame seeds, and tons of cinnamon! It was actually pretty good :)

So far, I haven’t found too many sauces or dressings that I can eat while on this detox.  But hummus is definitely one! I quickly made this homemade hummus today so I would have something to make my food somewhat exciting.  I’ll try a different hummus recipe next time, as this one was pretty plain. Good for now though. Here’s the recipe for my hummus.

CLASSIC HUMMUS

Ingredients

• 1 can chickpeas
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp tahini
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Parsley for garnish

Directions

• Drain the chickpeas, leaving half the liquid, and add to the food processor or blender.  Then add remaining ingredients, except for the parsley. Pulse mixture until well combined and a smooth texture.
• Scoop into a serving bowl and sprinkle some chopped parsley and paprika over top.

Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Stew

This was AMAZING!!!!! So easy to make and honestly SO delicious.  Got the recipe from paleOMG.  Just throw all the ingredients in the slow cooker and you’re good to go in 8-10 hours.

Ingredients:

1. 2 lbs chicken breasts (I used 5 breasts)
2. 1 yellow onion, chopped
3. 1 red bell pepper, chopped
4. 1 can (4 oz) chopped jalapenos
5. 1 can (4 oz) chopped green chiles
6. 2 tbsp coconut oil
7. 1 can diced tomatoes
8. 1 can tomato sauce (or half a jar)
9. 3 cloves garlic, minced
10. 1 tbsp cumin
11. 1 tbsp cajun spice
12. 1 tbsp chili powder
13. 2 tsp dried oregano
14. Pepper, to taste
15. Bundle of cilantro, to garnish (chopped)
16. avocado, sliced to garnish

Instructions:

1. Put the chicken breasts in the crock pot.
2. Then add the rest of the ingredients on top in any order (except for the cilantro and avocado).
3. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 6-8 hours.
4. After it’s done cooking, use forks to pick apart and shred the chicken in the pot.  Stir in the chopped cilantro.
5. Serve over rice, quinoa, or steamed/stir-fried veggies and with sliced avocado on the side. YUM!!

The recipe makes a ton! So there’s plenty for leftovers or to serve a big group.

Bikini Ready Detox Soup!

Another amazing recipe from Amanda off the Oxygen Magazine website!

Ingredients:

1. 1 tsp olive oil
2. 1 yellow onion
3. 2 celery stalks
4. 2-4 cloves of garlic, diced
5. 2 large pieces of fresh ginger, diced
6. Chilli powder – to taste
7. 1 can diced tomatoes, drained
8. 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
9. 3 cups water
10. 2 handfuls spinach
11. 1/2 an avocado
12. Fresh pepper – to taste

Directions:

1. Chop celery and onion into bite size pieces.
2. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick pot.  Add in onions and sauté until soft.  Then add celery, garlic, ginger and chilli.  Simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, puree the avocado in a food processor.  Set aside.
4. Add the tomatoes, stock and water into the pot and simmer for about 15 minutes.
5. Pour the entire soup into a food processor and puree until smooth.  Or use an immersion blender (much easier!).  Add the soup back to the pot and simmer on low heat until warm.
6. Stir in the avocado puree and spinach to thicken the soup.  Serve with a drizzle of extra olive oil.  I also served it with sliced up avocado on top as well :) Enjoy!

This soup is really good but don’t plan on working out or being really active afterwards! I could feel it gurgling in my stomach all night lol super weird! Same thing happened to Amanda too.  But the next day I woke up feeling fantastic!!! So much energy :)

Juice Recipes

So i bought a juicer…best investment ever! I’m having so much fun coming up with different creations! It does make a massive mess though…

Here’s two of my favourite juice combos so far.

GREEN JUICE

• spinach
• apple
• orange
• pear
• ginger
• lemon

PINK JUICE – BEET, CARROT, KALE

• 3 beets
• 1 orange
• 1 apple
• 2 carrots
• 2 handfuls of kale
• 2 handfuls of spinach
• 2 tbsp ginger
• 2 ribs celery

Check out this post by Way of Gray on the many benefits of juicing!! http://wayofgray.com/to-juice-or-not-to-juice/