This week I bought a pound of organic kale…for a dollar. I’ve struck leafy green gold at a dollar store near my hotel! I hop in every morning to see what sort of organic selections they have to offer me. Lately it’s been packs of romaine for juicing and today I was thrilled to snatch up their last box of organic cherry tomatoes!
Dollar Kale!
Britney and I have been working our way through this box the last couple of days- yesterday I threw together a kale salad dressed with creamy avocado, fresh garlic, a bit of plain tomato sauce, and a scoop of dijon mustard. The tomato/dijon combo was surprisingly amazing as a sauce!
Adorable Banana Babies
I’ve also been melting over these cute-as-heck baby bananas- they are so dense and cake-like. I’ve fallen in love. Speaking of fruit, I thought I’d mention some tweaks I’ve made since doing The Rose Cleanse last January. I happily juiced-til-dinner for the majority of February and still do on most days now. As long as it feels good, that’s what I do. I did however, find myself feeling a little lackluster once in a while and thought I’d tentatively experiment with some fruit. I used to get really bloated and sleepy eating fruit and doing a sugars cleanse felt really right. The first time I had some fruit post-cleanse though (and I’ve been eating similarly for a lot longer than just this year) I felt incredible! It was so filling and light at the same time and while I don’t indulge every day I’m able to feel out which days it’s really going to feel awesome and which days I’m happy with my veggie juices. I’ve tried out coffee and tea and amazingly (which was never the case before) the fruit feels better. I’ve gone the coffee route a few times in a frantic work pinch but it’s definitely not the norm.
A few other changes I’ve made: I like to eat some nuts and seeds with my dinner sometimes (tahini dressings make the top of the list), early veggie snacks before dinner tend to happen on long work days, and I’ve been toying with raw-honey sweetened desserts. I try not to take in any more sugar than my usual dark chocolate bar feeds me and sometimes a raw honey/cacao treat really hits the spot! That’s about all the changes I can think of. How are all of you post-Rose Cleansers doing?
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.“
) 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. 
very sweet kitties. I love to crochet blankets and scarves, read, watch documentaries and eat dark chocolate!
