Welcome back fruit and grain!

This morning was a great morning – I got to eat an apple! After three days straight of nothing but vegetables, yes, that was exciting. Sean had a look of insane glee on his face this morning when I handed him his bag of berries from the fridge for his smoothie.

Today was meant to be a day of adding one fruit and one grain back into our diet. Same deal next day, etc until we’re back to how we were eating last week. Over our very large pre-game (Thanks again for the tix, Bec!) salads at Chopped Leaf (awesome place, excellent wraps, when I can actually eat them) last night, we made the executive decision that we were adding juice back in and that more than one fruit was okay. It was a good decision. My fruit of the day was Granny Smith apples which were supplemented with my breakfast yams and veggie lentil soup. Cranberry juice (not cocktail) and Sunrype fruit bars rounded me out which is good because I had to teach tonight. Energy is needed when teaching Pilates!

Speaking of energy, I had a great session with my work mentor today. Kat was a great choice for a mentor because we are very similar in personality, interests and how we view the world. We have an official monthly session and many impromptu conversations about work, career and life in general.

Every time I spend time with Kat, I learn something new. I was telling her about this cleanse which she thought was fabulous. She’s into yoga, healthy lifestyle and does Reiki massage so she was really interested in how Sean and I were coping. When I told her that we have been super hungry despite eating one week’s worth of veggies, chickpeas and lentil soup (with the addition of some white fish) in the last three days, she asked me what my blood type was. Weird question, right? But as it turns out, not so weird. Apparently our blood types dictate how/what we eat. My blood type (O negative) apparently needs more protein – which explains a whole lot. (Sean is A positive which, ironically enough, is vegetarian based – he looked at me like I was insane when I told him that. I guess he’s a black sheep of his blood type ;).)If you want to check it out, here are some links: http://www.drlam.com/blood_type_diet/ and http://www.dadamo.com/; or google “blood type food”. It’s pretty interesting.

Also interesting? This season’s “American Idol” – I really love the panel with Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler. They make a good group with Randy and Seacrest. And what about those 15 year old singers?!? Super talented – insane. And then there was that Chris Medina guy who brought in his fiancee in the wheelchair – Janice, you were right, I cried. I am routing for him; beautiful voice and a heart of gold.

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The soup recipe of this cleanse:

Slow Cooker Lentil Soup (makes 10 servings)

Ingredients:

• 1-2/3 large onions, diced (can be substituted with green peppers – really, really good)
  
• 3-1/3 carrots, thinly sliced
• 3-1/3 celery stalks thinly sliced
• 1 1/4 cup (300 mL) dried green lentils
• 3/4 tsp (4 mL) dried oregano
• 1-2/3 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
• 5 cups (1.25 L) vegetable stock (use organic with no sugar)
• 5 cups (1.25 L) chopped kale or spinach
• 3 tbsp (45 mL) lemon juice
• 1-2/3 dash hot pepper sauce
• 10 lemon wedges, (optional)

Preparation:
In slow cooker, combine onion, carrots, celery, lentils, oregano, bay leaf and salt ; pour in stock and 3 cups (750 mL) water. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 7 hours or until lentils and vegetables are tender.

Add kale (or spinach); cover and cook on high for 20 minutes or until wilted. Discard bay leaf. Stir in lemon juice and hot pepper sauce. Serve with lemon wedges (if using).

(Tonight’s dinner was fried basa fish breaded with quinoa (mixed with lemon juice, fresh rosemary, thyme, chili powder, salt and pepper), and leftover lentil soup. It’s nice to be eating something other than and along with vegetables.)

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After all this recipe hunting, I realize that I have a recipe (different from this one) for lentil soup from my friend Liss. She gave it to me at my bridal shower and once I have a break from lentils, I am going to try it and share it with you because it sounds delicious.

It’s really sad, but I am beyond excited to eat Kamut bread tomorrow. What has become of me?