This is a bit of a twist on the Mexican Chocolate Milk Juice. I recently tried some dark chocolate covered crystalized ginger and when I was making my juice yesterday that was what popped into my head and here is what came of it!
Ingredients:
1 cucumber
2 pounds carrots
1 head romaine
1 knob ginger
1 Tbsp. raw cacao powder
2 droppers NuNaturals Vanilla Stevia
Run veggies through your juicer, add to blender with cacao and stevia and blend until frothy.
I’m about to finish three days on just juice! I have to admit, today felt slow, I was hungry, and I felt like I needed a TON of juice (as you’ll see below). I’m looking forward to breaking the fast tomorrow with some Pumpkin Pie in a Bowl. I’m also very aware of how easy it can be to break a fast poorly, binge, or eat less than ideal foods and I’m prepared for those sorts of feelings to pop up. Here what was on today’s menu:
28 oz jicima/romaine/kale/lemon juice
34 oz cucumber/turmeric/fennel/mint juice with coconut water with vanilla stevia, bee pollen, and cayenne pepper
40 oz Wasabi Spiced Veggie Juice*
24 oz Gena’s Nourishing Veggie Broth
32 oz carrot/kale/fennel juice with spring water and bee pollen
32 oz parsnip/romaine/carrot juice with spring water
*Wasabi Spiced Veggie Juice
Ingredients:
8 roma tomatoes
10 carrots
1 cucumber
1-2 lemons
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp wasabi powder
big pinch black pepper and sea salt (optional)
Juice all veggies and add spices. I didn’t include any sea salt but it would have been delicious.
This was such a fun departure from my normal juice routine and I’m excited to try out some more tomato-based juices! I’ll keep you posted on how the break-fast goes, have a good night!
Filed under Juice, juice fasting, Recipes
Day two was very smooth! I ended up running more errands than anticipated before getting juicing groceries so I did end up quite hungry at one point but other than that it’s all going very well.
Today’s juicy goodness:
32 oz basil/garlic/lemon/celery/carrot juice
24 oz Tazo Passion herbal tea
8 oz parsley cilantro juice and young coconut water (with a probiotic)
30 oz Casey’s Mexicana Green Juice
32 oz Gena’s Nourishing Vegetable Broth
34 oz romaine/carrot juice with vanilla stevia and cinnamon
I also thought I’d share my favorite ways of assisting my body in the detox process. As previously mentioned, I’ve attempted fasts before without employing anything of this sort and either failed to finish the fast due to uncomfortable symptoms or didn’t end up with any noticeable benefits at all. It doesn’t do any good to hydrate all the old stuff in your body if it doesn’t leave, and my body seems to appreciate all the assistance it can get.
My can’t-live-without detox treats:
1. Booty cleansing (colonics and enemas)
3. Indian Healing Clay (my absolute favorite facial mask, I mix it with Apple Cider Vinegar)
4. Inversions (I have a cheap board that works just fine).
5. Rebounding (this! and this! and this!)
6. Yoga (stretching, twisting, and deep breathing are very helpful and feel wonderful, I got a stack of new yoga dvd’s from my library this week!).
and a few things I love but haven’t indulged in this go round…
6. Massage
7. Hot epsom salts baths (I’m freshly tattooed so no baths for me right now…pictures when it’s finished 
)
8. Infrared sauna (I used to have this one and it lasted about a year, not bad for the price and I loved it).
Do you have any suggestions to add to the list?
Filed under juice fasting
I’m home for about 24 hours. I had an appointment today but it’s back to Arizona tomorrow for another day on call. I realized last night how much I’d missed my cat-friend (he totally missed me too) and this morning how much I missed my rebounder! I miss Britney all the time so there was no realization there.
Today I’m taking a cue from Megan, who’s “What I Ate” posts have been so enjoyable and inspiring, and I’m sharing my day’s eats with you.
This morning I had around 32 ounces of herbal teas in various flavors. Acai Berry and Mint were both on the menu along with a Dr. Ohira’s probiotic.
By early afternoon I was quite ravenous and after I dropped Britney at work I headed to the Whole Foods Jamba Juice for a 16 ounce carrot juice. Probably not organic but it worked in a pinch.
While at Whole Foods I picked up ingredients to make 32 more ounces of carrot-kale-romaine juice for later. I added a few drops of chocolate stevia and split it into 2 servings.
Bell peppers were on sale so I went colorful for dinner. A big bowl of these chopped up with arugula, about 5 ounces of shredded Zamarano Mitica (a raw sheep cheese), minced raw garlic, and a meyer lemon-stevia dressing.
Post-dinner I broke off a little under 3 ounces from my ONE POUND Trader Joe’s dark chocolate bar. I didn’t photograph it but it was eaten completely melted. Absolutely delicious.
And that folks, is a pretty standard day at The Vegetable Centric Kitchen
Filed under Goat Cheese, Recipes, Travel
I am not a fan of licorice. I have, however, fallen head-over-heels for a little vegetable called fennel which is strangely reminiscent of it in flavor (imagine licorice as a crunchy veggie if you can 
). Along with juicing it and thinly slicing it into salads I absolutely love my Sweet-and-Salty Fennel Fries and frequently return to Lauren’s Iced Carrot No-Cappuccino. Today I’d like to bring to you that cappuccino’s cacao-free cousin:
Ingredients:
2 lbs carrots
2 heads romaine
1-2 bulbs fennel
liquid stevia (I use 4-5 droppers, it ends up pretty sweet)
a hearty dose of cinnamon
Juice the fennel, romaine, and carrots and pour into a blender. Add stevia and cinnamon to your liking and blend. You can also just stir in the cinnamon and stevia but I like mine frothy.
The cleanse is officially over! I plan on doing a re-cap in the next few days but I have something a little bit different today that I’m only comfortable sharing because I feel like the moment I’ll be describing below was a little “turning point” for me. I’ve had a lot of turning points in my life, this one just happened to be journaled.
This post is quite a vulnerable one and I really debated whether or not I should post it. But alas, here we are. Over the holidays I had a great time making beautiful veggie-centric dishes for myself and whoever I was cooking for. It was, overall, the best holiday season I’ve had yet but I didn’t make it through without a handful of tumultuous days and anxiety-fueled, food “extravaganzas”. I was finding it extremely frustrating that after all of the physical cleansing and emotional work I’d done I would still find myself in a painful situation because of my poor or very excessive food choices. I journaled this late one night, not able to sleep because I’d eaten poorly and heavily while stressed out before bed. Natalia Rose often quotes spiritual teacher Almine saying “Pain is a call for change.” and this is what was running through my head when I sat down to write.
…Please forgive me if it seems a bit dramatic, I’m not always such a drama queen but it’s what I was feeling in the moment.
“”Pain is a call for change.”? Well its time for a change. This emotional eating shit is getting in the way of my life and I will have it no more. I get in these frantic states where I’m bored or stressed and I feel like I might be “missing out” on anything delicious that might be available in my world at that moment…It’s not true. The supposed “deliciousness” of whatever edible thing is in my face at the moment is getting in the way of my living. It’s getting in the way of my creativity and my energy. I will have no more of it. I want vibrancy and lightness, not scrambled eggs at 10 p.m. I want
real energy stemming from a clear body and mind, not a large americano at noon. I want real excitement, not stimulation. If I so happen to wake up at 4 a.m. (ahem…) I want to be filled with gratitude for my warm cozy bed, a few more hours of sleep, the fresh air blowing in from my window, and the rain outside…not filled with midnights macaroons…even if they were for “ebook testing purposes” (amazingly, they don’t digest any better, even with the “best intentions”)…I don’t want to feel angry with myself anymore, to feel like I can’t trust myself. There was a time when this was about weight. I’ve pretty much got that under control these days. I’ve carefully practiced loving myself no matter what I look like and while I’m not always perfect at it, it’s a habit I’ve pretty well got down. Not to mention I take care of myself to a degree most of the time now that my weight stays in a pretty happy range. This is beyond that. This is about not wanting to use food as a crutch to get through a difficult workday (I’m reading the book “Positive Energy” and “emotional empath” describes me to a “T” making airplane work incredibly overstimulating) or a tool to get through a boring evening. Come on, I’m more creative than that!! I can be bigger than this. I love food. I. love. food. Like, a lot. I write a freaking food blog!! But at the moment…the way I’m using it…it’s blocking me from living as myself completely. Not all food of course, just food at inappropriate times, when it’s being used for something other that nourishment and is hardly even pleasurable because I’m not even hungry, just avoiding something. It’s all too often used as a drug, masking whatever awesome self is under that layer of fullness. No more nonsense. I am strong enough for this now. I’ve been in this place before and I know how to get out. I trust that I can learn not to hurt myself physically or emotionally this way anymore.“
…I remember writing this and feeling a lot of peace. I’ve felt it all the way through the Rose Cleanse and, despite ups and downs emotionally I have been able to use the tools that I’ve learned over the last year or so to use food in a way that serves me (and I manage to enjoy it immensely ) instead of leaving me feeling defeated or obsessive in any way. It’s felt very balanced and I’ve felt very confident that this is the right thing for me right now.
Now that the month is officially over, I’d love to hear your experiences! Did you have any turning points or moments worth sharing?
Below is a delectable crimson treat that is almost entirely veggie based. It was the one day on the cleanse when I had a little cacao in one of my juices and for this one, it was totally worth it
1 lb carrots
1 bunch spinach
1 large or 2 small beets
1/4 cup water or homemade nut milk
1 tbsp cocoa
1 tbsp carob
vanilla stevia to taste
Juice spinach, carrots and beets. Pour into a blender with remaining ingredients and blend until frothy. Sweeten to taste.
On a final note, if you haven’t already, you have to watch a video entitled “Stuff a Rose Cleanser Says” by Lola York. I’m pretty sure I’ve said every one of these things at some point!
Filed under Juice, Recipes, Rose Cleanse
