Three Day Juice Cleanse

 

Right after I watched the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead (see the trailer below), I went out and bought a juicer. I have been doing it here and there for about a year and a half, but recently I decided to do a 3 day cleanse. I have read a lot of articles (both for and against cleanses), and I wondered if I could do it. I treated the whole thing as a challenge. Do I have the self control?! The last time I tried, I lasted 6 hours as my sister told me I had to eat because we were going wedding dress shopping for her the next day and she wanted me in a good mood :) Thankfully this time I lasted the entire 3 days!!

Kelly MacLean recently wrote an article called Surviving Whole Foods. The whole thing is hilarious and painfully true. My favorite passage was about juicing. I almost peed my pants laughing when I read this...

"I pass the table where the guy invites me to join a group cleanse he's leading. For $179.99 I can not-eat not-alone... not-gonna-happen. They're doing the cleanse where you consume nothing but lemon juice, cayenne pepper and fiber pills for 10 days, what's that one called again? Oh, yeah...anorexia. I went on a cleanse once; it was a mixed blessing. On the one hand, I detoxified, I purified, I lost weight. On the other hand, I fell asleep on the highway, fantasized about eating a pigeon, and crapped my pants. I think I'll stick with the whole eating thing."

While thankfully those last 3 things didn't happen to me... I did survive!!

I know that there are many companies out there who sell juices you can buy, sometimes on Groupon for $100 or like the juice above for $180, but I bought all my fruits and vegetables at Costco and Trader Joes and this only cost me around $65.

Ingredients:

• 60 baby carrots
• 18 apples
• 6 inches of ginger root
• 9 cucumbers
• 18 stalks of celery
• 48 leaves of kale
• 3 lemons
• 12 tomatoes
• 6 red peppers
• 3 limes
• 9 oranges
• 3 sweet potatoes
• 6 beets

(Crazy to think I "ate" all of that in the past 3 days... our fridge is much emptier now!)

Directions:

1. Wake up - drink 16 oz. of hot water with lemon and ginger
2. Breakfast - Carrot Apple Ginger Juice
3. Mid-morning - Mean Green Juice
4. Lunch - Gazpacho Juice
5. Afternoon snack - Citrus Inspired Green Juice
6. Pre-dinner - Sunset Blend Juice
7. Dinner - eat only fruits and vegetables (I ate a banana)
8. Before bed - cup of hot tea
9. Repeat for a total of 3 days 

Buy organic (if you can) and clean fruits and vegetables well before juicing.

I did workout during this (one hour of strength circuit training Saturday, one and a half hours of yoga Sunday, and an hour of kickboxing Monday). If you want you can drink coconut water after working out, or if you're not feeling well don't workout at all.

The hardest part was going out to brunch with my family and then dinner with my friends and not being able to eat anything. Andrew even ordered a pizza on Saturday... that was cruel. But overall it wasn't so hard! Juicing everything took forever but I'd say that was the most frustrating part. On Saturday and Sunday I made the juices when I needed them, but then I made all of the juices for Monday on Sunday night and put the first 2 juices in the fridge and the last 3 in the freezer hoping they would stay fresh for as long as possible.

Enjoy! And good luck!!

Kelsey

Mean friends enjoying their pizza... and my juice. So lame.

I still got myself a slice for the next day. Let's be honest, I'll probably have this for breakfast tomorrow

All information found here

Gazpacho Juice

 Juice 3 of the Three Day Juice Cleanse

Ingredients:

1. 4 plum tomatoes
2. 1 large cucumber
3. 2 celery stalks
4. 1 red bell pepper
5. 1 bunch of spinach
6. 1 lime 

Directions:

1. Clean everything
2. Juice
3. Pour over ice
   

Enjoy!

Kelsey

This was probably the least appetizing of all the juices... you've been warned. The original recipe calls for onion and parsley, so perhaps that would make this better!

Original recipe here

Sunset Blend Juice

Juice 5 of the Three Day Juice Cleanse

Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet potato
• 5 baby carrots
• 1 red pepper
• 2 large beets
• 2 apples 

Directions:

1. Clean everything
2. Juice
3. Pour over ice
   

Enjoy!

Kelsey

Inspired by this

Citrus Inspired Green Juice

Juice 4 of the Three Day Juice Cleanse

Ingredients:

• 8 leaves kale
• 1 bunch spinach
• 1 cucumber
• 2 oranges

Directions:

1. Clean everything
2. Juice
   
3. Pour over ice
   

Enjoy!

Kelsey

Inspired by this

Mean Green Juice

Juice 2 of the Three Day Juice Cleanse

Ingredients:

• 1 cucumber
• 4 celery stalks
• 2 apples
• 8 leaves of kale
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 inch ginger

Directions:

1. Clean everything
2. Juice
3. Pour over ice
   

Enjoy!

Kelsey

Original recipe here

Carrot Apple Ginger Juice

Juice 1 of the Three Day Juice Cleanse

Ingredients:

• 15 baby carrots
• 2 apples
• 1 inch ginger

Directions:

1. Clean carrots and apples
2. Juice
3. Pour over ice
   

Enjoy!

Kelsey

From here

Blueberry Muffins with a Buttery Cinnamon Sugar Crumble Topping

I just love a good blueberry muffin. My favorite part is the crumble on the top, so I usually just eat the top of the muffin, which always makes me think of Seinfeld...

Andrew loves blueberry muffins as well, so I thought I would make him one last birthday treat (Mini Cupcakes, Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake, and a Beer Cake... I'd say it was a pretty good birthday!)

When I put the crumble on top, while the muffins baked, the crumble mixture sank to the middle so the muffins had a small topping but also a delicious buttery cinnamon sugar center. Yum! I would absolutely make these again.

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 c. flour
• 1 1/4 c. white sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/3 c. vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 c. whole milk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. fresh blueberries
•  1/4 c. butter, soft and cubed
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Grease muffin cups or put in liners
3. Combine 1 1/2 c. flour, 3/4 c. sugar, salt and baking powder
   
4. Combine oil, egg, milk, and vanilla extract
   
   
5. Add wet mixture to flour mixture
6. Put in blueberries and stir gently
   
   
   
   
7. Fill cups about 2/3 of the way high
   
8. To make crumb mixture, combine 1/2 c. sugar, 1/4 c. flour, butter, and cinnamon
   
9. Mix well with fork
   
10. Sprinkle crumb mixture over muffins
    
11. Bake for about 22 minutes or until done 

Enjoy!

Kelsey

Original recipe here

Homemade Dog Treats

I made dog treats with my Mom before Riggins came home and it was so easy and he just loved them. We recently learned Riggs has a sensitivity to grain, and a lot of treats aren't grain free, so I decided to make my own. These are super easy and he loved them!

(I used oats here. Other treats use whole wheat flour instead. I did some research and most is cloudy on whether oats are 100% grain free, but because he does okay with grain in small doses, I decided it should be fine. If you want to use flour instead of oats, try it out!)

The bacteria in Greek yogurt is great for their tummies, and parsley helps with bad breath.

Makes: 18 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 c. oats
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c. canned pumpkin
• 2 tbsp. peanut butter
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 c. Greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp. parsley

Directions:

1. Set oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix all ingredients together
   
3. Make small balls of dough and plop on Silpat or greased baking sheet
4. Top with parsley
5. Bake for 30 minutes

   

   Riggins literally sat outside the oven and waited

6. Cool on a cooling rack

They're not the prettiest things in the world, but I don't think your dog will mind :)

Enjoy!

Kelsey

Recipe inspired by this

Beer Cake

I saw this online and thought it was the cutest idea. While I made Andrew cupcakes (Mini Cupcakes) and a Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake, I thought a beer cake could also be a perfect table centerpiece for the party! And something that you could drink later!

Ingredients:

• 30 pack of whatever beer you choose (I used Busch Light)
• Banner

Directions:

1. On the first layer, put together 3 beers with a circle of 8 beers around it
2. Arrange a second layer of about 10 cans
3. Arrange a third layer of 4 cans
4. Arrange a fourth layer of 1 can
5. Top with cupcake (optional)
6. Top cupcake with mini cupcake (also optional :))
7. Put banner around each layer

Enjoy!

Kelsey

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Beer Dip

Cooking with alcohol, and specifically beer, intrigues me. When I made Beer Candied Bacon, I used Budweiser. For this dip, I decided to use Goose Island. Easy and delicious!

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 4 c. shredded cheese
• 1 envelope ranch dressing packet
• 2/3 c. beer (I used Goose Island but you can use anything!)
• Pretzels

Directions:

1. Mix cream cheese, ranch dressing, and beer together on low
   
   
2. Stir in cheese
3. Serve with pretzels

I let mine sit in the refrigerator for about an hour to clump up the consistency

Enjoy!

Kelsey

Original recipe here

Pigs in a Blanket

For Andrew's birthday, we went on a trolley. The trolley started at 7, and I was worried people weren't going to eat dinner before, so I thought pigs in a blanket were a perfect classic appetizer for people to get a good start to their night.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of crescent rolls
• 36 mini hot dog rolls
• 1 tbsp. butter
• Ketchup, mustard, barbeque sauce

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees
2. You can buy the crescent rolls with triangles, but I just had the sheets. So I split each sheet into 18 rectangles using a pizza cutter
   
   
3. Roll each mini hot dog in one rectangle
4. Place on baking sheet
5. Melt butter and spread over top of each pig
6. Bake for 8 minutes and turn sheet in oven
7. Bake for another 8 minutes or until crescents are golden brown
8. Serve warm with condiments
   

Enjoy!

Kelsey

Mini Cupcakes

I saw an idea online to make cupcakes using ketchup cups. BRILLIANT! The ketchup cups are sturdy so you can throw a bunch of them on a baking sheet and not worry about a cupcake tin (which I always find so annoying to clean). Also, I think people appreciate a small bite instead of eating an entire cupcake... much more party friendly!

I went to McDonalds and asked them, "Can you give me a sleeve of those ketchup cups?" After a little bit of confusion... "So you don't want any ketchup, just the cups?" they gave me 36 cups and charged me $1.00. Thanks McDonalds!

Makes: 36 mini cupcakes plus one regular sized cupcake

Ingredients:

• Box of Funfetti mix
• Can of frosting
• Any toppings (we used red, white, and blue sprinkles for Andrew's America! party)
• Ketchup cups

Directions:

1. Set oven to 350 degrees
2. Stir Funfetti mix according to directions
   
3. Arrange ketchup cups on baking sheet
   
4. Spray with PAM
5. Take a spoon and fill each cup about 1/2-3/4 way
   
   
   
6. Put in oven and check every 2 minutes after 12 minutes until toothpick comes out clean (this took me 18 minutes but our oven isn't the best)
7. Let cool completely
8. Before frosting, snip one side of each cup with scissors so the cupcake "liners" are easier to peel off
9. Frost and top

Enjoy!

Kelsey

Egg and Cheese Bread Boat

I've always just loved the crust of bread and never liked as much the inside part. Even when I eat bagels, I take all the inside out and just eat the outside. This was the perfect post-workout Saturday meal. And it was easy to make just one for myself. Multiply to make more!

Ingredients:

• One sub roll
• 2 slices white American cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 c. whole milk
• Salt and pepper
• Dried basil, oregano, parsley

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cut top of roll off and take the white stuffing out
   
3. Put the two pieces of cheese in the bottom of the bread
   
4. Whisk eggs, half of the cheese, and milk in a bowl
   
5. Pour egg mixture in the bread boat
6. Top with small dashed of basil, oregano, and parsley, and salt and pepper
   
7. Cook for about 20 minutes
8. Top with the rest of the cheese and bake another 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and egg is set inside

Enjoy!

Kelsey

Original recipe here

Penne with Roasted Broccoli, Chicken, and Balsamic Butter

I made this dish a few years ago when I was cooking about 3 meals A YEAR and it turned out really delicious. I was having a few friends over for dinner, and I thought this would be a healthy, easy option when cooking for a group.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound penne
• 1 stick butter, cut into pieces
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 c. + 2 tbsp.balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. brown sugar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Chicken from here (optional)
• Roasted Broccoli

Directions:

1. Make Roasted Broccoli
2. Meanwhile, put vinegar in a small saucepan. Put heat on low, and simmer until 3 tablespoons remain (I filled the saucepan with 3 tablespoons first so I knew what to look for)
3. Stir in brown sugar, a dash of pepper, and remove from heat
4. Cook penne in salted water until just done
5. Drain the pasta
6. Put butter at the bottom of the large bowl
   
7. Top with broccoli
8. Then Parmesan
9. Then pasta
   
10. And finally balsamic mixture
11. Top with salt and stir so everything is evenly coated

I also added in chicken, following directions from Kooker Pasta

  

Enjoy!

Kelsey

Original recipe here