So the cleanse is going good. I'm almost at the end of day 3 and feeling OK. I've been a bit tired throughout the day, but that could be the lack of exercise due to my busted knee. Although, I have started thinking about Friday night and how I like a nice glass of wine or 4 - it's amazing how dependent on alcohol we become without even realising it. I'm hoping I can make it thru a week sober!!!
To help me get thru the cleanse I made a big pot of sweet potato & carrot soup with some chicken stock I had in the freezer. I also made a big coleslaw (without any dressing) with red cabbage, spring onion, carrot & some herbs (vietnamese mint, mint, & coriander). The herbs weren't on the cleanse list but I figure they ain't gonna be bad for me. I put this in my salads and I also stir-fried it with some rice for brekkie. Yum! Tonight we're having chicken with turnip mash & green beans.
The bubs are obviously eating as normal, so that has been kinda tempting when I cook them something that I like. I have made a couple of new dishes this week, a mish-mash of recipes I already had and some ideas I found online. Last night I was at a loss as to what to give them, and somehow came up with the idea of lentil bolognese - it went down a treat! Recipe is as follows:
Lentil Bolognese
Half an onion
Garlic (you choose how strong you like it. We like lots!)
1 eggplant (aubergine)
Corn from 1 ear of sweetcorn
1 cup of red lentils (I used dried whole red lentils but you can use tinned ones too!)
1 tin of tomatoes
Some Italian dried herbs
Some chopped fresh parsley
Spaghetti
Cheese for top
NB I'm not a big fan of being totally precise when it comes to these sorts of dishes. Just use whatever veggies you have in the fridge and go for it!
Fry the onion in some butter or olive oil or coconut oil for a few minutes.
Add the garlic, eggplant, sweetcorn & herbs and fry for another 5 minutes
Add the lentils and enough water to cover them. Simmer until the lentils are soft, adding more water if needed
Add the tin of tomatoes and the fresh parsley & heat thru for a few more minutes
Serve with spaghetti and grate some cheese on top!
Voila - an easy healthy dish that anyone not doing a 7-day cleanse can enjoy! The bubs ate it up, hubby scoffed his and I ate my soup! The only comment from hubby was that it could have been saucier, so next time I would probably add some tomato paste and maybe another can of tomatoes (or some fresh tomatoes).
The other new recipe I tried this morning was some filo pies stuffed with chickpeas, chicken, leek, sweet potato, carrot, zucchini, aubergine & ricotta. Let's call them Chicken, chickpea & veg pies!
Chicken, chickpea & veg pies
1 or 2 chicken breasts/thighs (I already had some cooked chicken in the freezer which I used)
half a leek
some cooked, mashed sweet potato (again, I had a little in the freezer)
half a large aubergine (eggplant) chopped into small pieces
half a large zucchini (courgette) chopped into small pieces
1 carrot - chopped into small pieces
Half a cup of chickpeas (I use dried ones but you can use a can of chickpeas instead)
pinch of cumin
a couple of tablespoons of ricotta cheese
Filo pastry
Brown the chicken (if not already cooked) then add all the veggies (apart from sweet potato)
Add the cumin
Fry for about 5 minutes.
I then added a little water and simmered it off for about 10 minutes.
Once everything is going soft, add the sweet potato & chickpeas (and the chicken if you are using cooked chicken)
Fry for another few minutes
Take off the heat and add the ricotta.
You then just need to make these into little filo parcels. I had enough mix to make 12 pies. You therefore would need 6 layers of filo pastry and some melted butter. To make the pies, cut each layer of pastry into 6 squares, which gives you 36 squares. Lightly brush one square with butter, cover with another square and brush with butter. Add a 3rd square and brush the edges with butter. Place a heaped dessertspoon of filling in the centre. Bring up the corners of the pastry over the filling and pinch the edges together to form an envelope. Repeat with the remaining filling & pastry!
The above may seem daunting if you've never done it before, but trust me it is easy. It is only my second time making filo pies and they have turned out great both times! I had never bought filo pastry until 2 weeks ago - I had to ask the store clerk where it was kept! So if I can do it, anyone can do it.
I'll take a photo of the finished result for you to see.
Must go now, I hear some hungry bubs waking up for a snack. Think I'll give them some peach & plum slices cos it's easy!
