My Simple Detox Day 1: Lemon Water
Inside: Let’s start at the very beginning . . . You know the song. Today is my simple detox day 1, and I’m focusing on lemon water. Read on to see how it went.
*This post contains affiliate links.
Why Lemon Water?
Many people start their day out with lemon water, and with good reason. Lemon water kick-starts your digestive system before your first meal. It also contains the minerals calcium, magnesium, and potassium and is a good source of vitamin C to boost your immune system. For our purposes, lemon water aids the liver in removing toxins from the body. And it’s simple to make. All you have to do is squeeze half a lemon in a glass of water and drink it. I like to slice a couple of organic lemons in my two-quart pitcher, add a couple of grinds of salt, and drink from that pitcher for the rest of the day. When it’s empty, I add more water for the following day. Sometimes I take a couple of slices to directly squeeze the juice into my glass of water for a stronger taste. I’ll discard the used lemons every other day and cut up fresh ones for my pitcher. For the duration of this detox I’m drinking lemon water, but if I choose to continue the practice after my five days are over, I’ll use a straw. The citric acid in the lemons isn’t good for tooth enamel, so the straw minimizes exposure.
Notes from Day 1
I found my 5 day detox plan to be pretty easy to follow on day 1 (yesterday). I already do a modified keto diet anyway, so this wasn’t hard. Having a busy day is helpful, so I didn’t have much time to think about food. I will confess to having a Larabar with my weekly decaf sugar-free hazelnut latte at the Bean on Monday with Mom, but since these bars are made of natural ingredients, it didn’t bother me. Emily turned me on to them a while back, and I eat one or two per week. (I’m saving a chocolate chip Larabar for a Saturday treat when the detox is over.)
Breakfast and lunch consisted of bone broth collagen shakes with a snack of guacamole. For dinner we had crustless quiche and roasted cauliflower, onions, and garlic. I had a bowl of blueberries for dessert. Later that evening before midnight I was hungry, so I ate a couple of ounces of chicken breast and a cheese stick. This also didn’t seem to do any harm. I suspect I’m eating less with the shakes for breakfast and lunch. The avocado made into a single portion of guacamole helped tremendously to keep me in check between lunch and dinner.
All in all, a good start with Day 1!
More on detoxing tomorrow, so stop by and see how I’m doing!
Have you ever detoxed? Tell us about it in the comments.
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My Simple 5 Day Detox Experiment
My Simple 5 Day Detox Experiment
Inside: It’s spring cleaning in more ways than one. In my pursuit of wellness, I’m trying a simple 5 day detox, with daily progress reports. Check in to see how I’m doing.
*This post contains affiliate links.
The Experiment
For a while now I’ve been wanting to do some kind of detox, yet I’m not the type to go for one of those methods that has you camped out near the bathroom for several days. I want to go the simple route, eat normally. Use food as part of the process. The last couple of weeks I’ve been doing a little research, gathering some helpful information to try my own tailor-made detox.
The Plan
My goal for the next 5 days:
Drink 12 or more 8-ounce glasses of lemon water throughout the day.
Breakfast: Bone broth collagen shake made with a little cream and almond milk.
Lunch: Bone broth collagen shake made with a little cream and almond milk.
Snack: 1 medium avocado made into guacamole.
Dinner: A small serving of meat or eggs along with a green salad or a cup of cruciferous vegetables. Plus working in two cloves of garlic and 1/4 to 1/2 of an onion into the dinner in some form each day.
Dessert: A half grapefruit or 3/4 cup of blueberries or strawberries.
Supplements: I’ll take my usual multivitamin and other vitamins, minerals, and herbs. Along with this, I’m going to take 2 activated charcoal tabs after each meal. (One doctor suggested taking 2 tablespoons of a healthy fat about two hours after taking activated charcoal to flush out the liver. I might try this once per day on the days I’m not going anywhere. I haven’t decided yet.)
This plan is subject to change!
At the end of each day I’ll post a short update, any observations, discoveries, or changes, plus insight into some of the food choices I’m making and how they relate to detoxing. I’m also going to monitor fluctuations in weight and inches to see if this makes a difference.
Stop by tomorrow to see how it’s going.
Have you ever done a detox? Tell us about it in the comments.
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Weed Beauty, Unusual Gifts, and Other News Fresh From the Farm
Inside: Weeds can be beautiful, my favorite kind of gifts, and my daughter the doctor.
Weeds Can Be Beautiful
When I was a child, dandelions were the most beautiful of flowers. Their bright yellow centers just invited the picking, and nobody yelled at you for it. Moms feigned delight and surprise at being presented with such bouquets. And the ones that escaped us kids? They rewarded us with white globes of traveling seeds, daring us to blow and set them free.
Then adulthood sets in. . .
Suddenly dandelions are the enemy, and we’re in the garden center waging war, buying products for weed control or handy tools to easily expel the dreaded weeds from our yards and gardens.
I’ve picked my share of dandelions in younger days and dug them up for being in my way as I’ve gotten older. I’ve blown on the seeds to see them fly and thrown them over the fence to be rid of them. But the other day as the sun sank low behind the farm, I saw them once again through child eyes. Dozens and dozens of tiny balls set aglow by the waning light of evening. My path illuminated.
And it was beautiful.
My Favorite Kind of Gifts
I’m not the conventional type, especially when it comes to gifts. Case in point, we were leaving the restaurant where Mike and I just met Emily for my Mother’s Day lunch a day early. We were in our cars ready to leave when she opened her door to say something and I rolled down the window. “They [the radio] just told me I should get my mom diamonds.” She laughed.
She knows me well. Her gift to me was a galvanized tray which will double nicely for both a photography prop and home decor. Plus the always appreciated Amazon gift card. And the following day her father surprised me by carrying a large black resin box with doors and vent holes, which got me all excited when I saw it. A compost bin! (Yes, Virginia, expect a post on the subject soon.)
I am such a practical gal.
Over the years I’ve gotten gifts that have raised more than a few eyebrows. Like the head lamp (think miners’ hats) Hubs got me for Christmas one year. When a friend from church inquired about his gift and he told her about the lamp, she looked horrified. I then explained that it was one of the best gifts I ever got. That I was feeding calves at night after milking, and holding a flashlight between my knees, several bottles of milk in my hands, plus trying to unwire the door to the pen while hungry calves were pushing to get at their supper. All in the dark, usually between 8:30 and 9–and in the cold during winter. That one gift relieved a mountain of stress and still ranks high in my memory of good presents.
My all time favorite gift, admittedly, wasn’t practical, though it didn’t cost anything. Newlyweds, we were living in a tent in Florida (by choice) and getting ready to go to the nearby town to work cleaning hotel rooms during the busy tourist season. Mike left to go to the shower and then returned a second later, huge grin on his face, and he placed in front of me a large green husk with coconut inside. That grin on his face, that time in our lives, seemed to be wrapped up in that humble gift. Some things really are priceless.
By the way, we never cracked open the coconut, and I still have it.
My Daughter the Doctor
The past two days we’ve been celebrating with Emily as she received her doctorate degree in political science. Thursday we attended her hooding ceremony at Washington University with Mom, which was pleasant. Early Friday we were back for the university-wide graduation held in the quadrangle. Outdoors. In the rain. Rows and rows of white, pristine chairs with puddled water in the seats. Parents, friends, and family donned rain ponchos over dress clothes and huddled under umbrellas listening to speeches–and, thankfully, spared speeches from speakers who put the water-logged grads and their loved ones’ needs before their own. We hung out with our son-in-law Jared and endured the rain together. The lower portion of my sweater sleeves where the poncho didn’t cover were soaked, along with my purse. (I was thankful I wore my boots instead of the sandals I’d been considering.) Mike’s pants got wet, and Jared’s raincoat got drenched to the point that it didn’t keep the rain out anymore. But he was patient and helped us navigate the campus and find Emily after the proceedings were finished and offered to bring the car around for us. Later we relaxed at their home, dried out some, and then went out for a late lunch at her and Jared’s favorite pasta restaurant.
Graduations are sometimes long with many speakers–and introductions to speakers–quite a few whose opinions differ from mine. Long walks around campus and to parking. Uncomfortable weather conditions–cue the steady rain. But the thing is, a little discomfort doesn’t hold a candle to the many, many hours of work and striving and disappointments with few triumphs that make up a post graduate degree. To say Emily worked hard is an understatement. She stretched the limits and pushed through at times when she wondered if she would make it. I admire her determination and perseverance and strength. She is an amazing woman!
I was glad to share in her graduation, standing there, watching her with a lump in my throat, moist eyes, and my stylish plastic rain poncho.
What’s been happening in your neck of the woods? Tell us about it in the comments.
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Crunchy Green Bean Snack
Inside: Green beans as a snack? Can you imagine? It’s true! Bake these babies in an oven, and you won’t believe how good they taste! Try our simple Crunchy Green Bean Snack recipe, and see for yourself.
Calling all confirmed vegetable haters! Have I got a recipe for you. It starts with a pound of frozen green beans, the thinner the better, a drizzle of olive oil before baking, and a nice shake of salt right out of the oven. Unbelievably yum!
I’d like to say I was the genius behind this recipe, but I’m not. I heard about it from Linda’s Low Carb Menus and Recipes years ago, and I’m not sure when I first gave them a try, but I’ve been making them since then. (She credits someone named Chris for the recipe, so I will, too. Thanks, Chris, whoever you are!)
For us they’re mainly a side dish to go with hamburgers because they remind me of fries. Notice, I did not say they taste exactly like fries, but roasting them brings out a fry-like similarity that makes them a treat for me. We typically eat them with no sugar added catsup. When we did a food photo shoot last summer, my mostly vegetable-hating daughter kept nibbling on them between shots. I saw that as a good thing. . .
Now I would be remiss if I didn’t give you a few warnings about preparing this recipe. It is a little tricky! The reason for that is because ovens range in temperature–your 375 degrees might not be what my 375 is. I bake them on a sheet pan and place the pan on a rack in the center of my oven, and at about an hour, I start checking them for brownness. Once they start getting close, I’m opening the oven every two or three minutes until I get them about as close as I can without burning them. The trick is to get them brown without getting them black. You won’t get every bean brown, and you will have spots of green, but you don’t want the beans to be under cooked with the consistency of a fruit leather. It might take some practice, but stay with it! Definitely worth it when they turn out right.
As I mentioned above, the thinner the green beans, the better. So think haricot verts for this recipe. Aldi has the perfect size with their Season’s Choice brand Extra Fine Green Beans which comes in a one pound bag. I dump the frozen contents from the entire sack on a lined baking sheet, drizzle with olive or MCT oil, and forget about them for an hour. Because I don’t know how hot your oven bakes, I recommend you start checking them at about 45 minutes–just in case.
I’ve basically given you the recipe already, but here it is in our nifty recipe box form.
- 1 pound of frozen green beans (preferably haricot verts)
- olive or MCT oil
- salt
- catsup for dipping (optional)
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil and spread green beans in a single layer. Drizzle with oil.
- Bake for 45 - 65 minutes or until the beans are browned but not black. Check often as the beans get close to being done.
- Remove from oven and salt immediately.
- Enjoy!
Notes: I’ve given most of my notes and comments above, but it occurred to me these might be good with different seasonings, such as barbecue or any of the toppings used on popcorn. If you try it, let me know. Enjoy!
Are you a fan of green beans? Tell us about it in the comments.
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