SPPP Day 21

Last day!  I’m doing a little happy dance!

Breakfast:

mixed berry/banana shake (frozen fruit, 2 C/1 F, water, 2 Tbsp ground flax)

5 Green Food caps

Lunch:

chicken and rice soup

Snack:

tropical shake

5 Green Food caps

clementine

Dinner:

1/3 cup brown rice

mixed veggie grill

Notes:

I am glad to be done, but I don’t know that I’ll change my diet all that much.  I need to do some more reading of The MS Recovery Diet and get up to speed, but I know that at least I can add in non-gluten grains, and it will be a relief to eat some rice crackers or something like that!

I made my soup just like last time, but w/ Trader Joe’s Organic Hearty Vegetable Broth instead of Wolfgang Puck’s All Natural Vegetable Cooking Stock.  You can see just by looking that WP’s (top) was richer, and that went for the flavor as well.  I much preferred the flavor of WP, but comparing ingredients of the two showed that TJ’s were superior.  TJ’s has water, vegetables, and sea salt only and is gluten-free.  WP, in addition to those items, has Yeast Extract, Cane Juice Solids , Natural Flavors, Safflower Oil, Barley Malt Extract, and is not GF.

WP also makes an Organic Vegetable Broth, but it contains Cane Juice Solids, Maltodextrin, Natural Flavor, and Soybean Oil.  Soy is not allowed on either of my diets, and while none of those other ingredients is necessarily evil, I prefer that TJ’s doesn’t have them.

 

 

SPPP Day 20

Breakfast:

chocolate raspberry shake (2 C/1 F, 2 Tbsp ground flax, water, berries, chocolate stevia)

5 Green Food caps

Lunch:

Chipotle Mexican Grill salad (romaine, grilled chicken, fresh tomato salsa, small amt of chipotle honey vinaigrette)

Snack:

mango, pineapple, banana shake (2 C/1 F)

5 Green Food caps

Dinner:

cod

ratatouille

brown rice

green salad

Snack:

1/2 sm caramel apple

Notes:

I checked the Chipotle website before lunch for nutrition info, and the only issue was that the chicken and the vinaigrette contain soy ingredients.

For the cod, I put a little EVOO on it and sprinkled lightly w/ Tony Cachere’s Creole seasoning.  I microwaved it, which I think would have been okay, but I overcooked it.  It was still somewhat edible.

I also ate some candy corn today. :/

I do realize that caramel apples and candy corn are not allowed!

 

SPPP Day 19

Breakfast:

mixed berry chocolate shake (frozen mixed berries, 2 Tbsp ground flax, 1 cup water, 2 scoops Complete, 1 scoop Fiber, 4 drops chocolate Sweetleaf stevia)

5 Green Food caps

Snack:

1/2 cup Bolthouse Green Goodness

Lunch:

ratatouille “soup”

1/2 c brown rice w/ rice milk, cinnamon, and 1/8 tsp stevia powder

1 med honeycrisp apple

Snack:

tropical shake

Dinner:

gluten-free (rice noodle) canned chicken noodle soup

1/2 cup V8

Notes:

Lunch was a major fail.  I had a lot of leftover ratatouille from the other night; I did try it cold like the recipe said, and it would probably be okay on some crackers.  However, since I didn’t want to just eat it cold by itself, I got the idea to put some of it in the blender with some broth, puree, and then heat it up like soup.  It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t good, either.  I didn’t eat very much.

Then, since I was still hungry, I took cold brown rice, poured rice milk over it, and added cinnamon and stevia.  You know, kind of like cereal.  When I was little my mom sometimes served us leftover rice with milk, sugar and raisins.  Of course, that was white rice and cow’s milk, but I liked it back then.  But my new version wasn’t ringing my bell.

This was just a bad food day overall.  The family had tacos for supper.  I decided to try to make a taco salad with romaine, cilantro, tomatoes, salsa and leftover cold chicken breast.  First bite, the chicken disgusted me.  I didn’t eat it, but resorted to the canned soup.

 

Tips

Now that I’m almost done with the Standard Process Purification Program, I thought I’d put together a list of a few tips that might help others getting started.  Some of these I did, and some I just wish I had in hindsight.

At the beginning of the week:

• Put together a big basic salad to keep in the fridge in a covered bowl.  Greens, cauliflower, broccoli, whole grape tomatoes, bell peppers…whatever you like that will stay fresh.  When you take out a serving, you can add items that won’t keep, such as avocado.
• Similarly, make up  batches of brown rice and lentils (in my case, quinoa) to keep in the fridge and heat up when needed.
• Mix up a couple of different salad dressings to have on hand, either from the SPPP recipes, or others that work with the program.  Store in mason jars, clean empty commercial dressing bottles, or Good Seasons bottles (I often find these at thrift stores for under $1).

Set up a smoothie-making station, preferably near the fridge so you have easy access to frozen fruit and the Complete powder (which must be refrigerated).

You can use your regular blender, or a personal blender such as the Magic Bullet.  I bought a blend-and-go cup for my Oster blender, so I didn’t have to use the blender jar and and cup every time.

Here’s the big one that I didn’t do but wish I had:  plan out your meals!  I had a fridge full of veggies but no plan, so I was always just trying to come up with something at meal time, which led to a lot of unnecessary frustration and a few less-than-tasty meals.  Find recipes, make up a menu, and go shopping based on your plan.

The more prepared you are, the easier it will be to implement the program.  Set yourself up for success!

 

SPPP Day 18

Breakfast:

homemade applesauce

raspberry chocolate shake (2 scoops Complete, 1 scoop Fiber, 1 cup water, 2 Tbsp ground flax, 4 drops chocolate Sweetleaf stevia)

5 Green Food caps

Lunch:

big southwest salad

Snack:

1/2 cup Bolthouse Green Goodness

1 Quaker Graham Pretzel Smashbar (sigh…another cheat)

Dinner:

more southwest salad with grilled chicken

Snack:

berry banana shake (frozen berries, 1/2 frozen banana, 1 cup water, 2 scoops Complete, 1 scoop Fiber, 1/8 tsp stevia powder)

5 Green Food caps

 

SPPP Day 17

Breakfast:

mixed berry chocolate shake (frozen mixed berries, 2 scoops Complete, 1 scoop Fiber, 1 c water, 4 drops chocolate Sweetleaf stevia)

5 Green Food caps

Snack:

baby carrots w/ 2 Tbsp guacamole*

Lunch:

romaine rice tuna salad (I made it with romaine this time, and while it was still good, I actually prefer it with the spring/spinach mix)

Snack:

blueberry banana shake (frozen blueberries, 1/2 frozen banana, 2 scoops Complete, 1 scoop Fiber, 1 cup water)

5 Green Food caps

Dinner:

1/2 cup quinoa

ratatouille**

Snack:

tropical shake (frozen pineapple, 1/2 frozen banana, 1 cup water, 1 scoop Complete)

Notes:

Yesterday, and now this morning, I felt more weak and worn out than usual.  It really doesn’t occur to me, until now, to wonder if it’s connected to my food choices the day before.  I need to start being more mindful of that.

*I’ve listed guacamole several times.  I bought a package of Wholly Guacamole Classic 10 days ago, and just finished it up today.  It’s all-natural (contains only avocados, jalapenos, vinegar, salt, onion, garlic) and comes in a bag.  I cut a corner off the bag, squeezed out what I wanted, pressed all the air out of the bag and sealed it with a tight bag clip (the kind that snaps shut kind of like a barrette), and it stayed fresh and did not turn brown.  I haven’t tried this, but maybe you could make your own guacamole and keep it in a ziploc and press all the air out every time and get the same results.

**I actually tried a recipe called Eggplant Antipasto.  The recipe says to serve it cold with crackers, but I ate it hot as some of the reviews suggested.  It was good, but basically just tasted like ratatouille.  Maybe I’ll try it cold tomorrow.

 

SPPP Day 16

Breakfast:

tropical shake (frozen pineapple, 1/2 frozen banana, 2 scoops Complete, 1 scoop Fiber, 2 tsp chia seeds, 1 cup water)

5 Green Food caps

Lunch:

romaine rice tuna salad

clementine

Snack:

chocolate raspberry shake (frozen raspberries, 1 cup water, 2 scoops Complete, 1 scoop Fiber, 4 drops chocolate Sweetleaf stevia)

5 Green Food caps

Dinner:

big salad (mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, red bell pepper, 1/2 avocado) w/  Dijon vinaigrette from SPPP guide

1 small slice Costco cheese pizza

1/2 small caramel apple

a few chocolate Twizzlers

Notes:

I’m getting a little lazy as the program winds down.  Just can’t totally give up my Friday pizza night, though.

Addendum:  I wrote the above last night, and now I’m thinking how lame that sounds!  The truth is, I could totally skip the pizza and treats; I have enough will power! I just didn’t want to.  So, there are 5 days left of the program including today (day 17 as I write this), and that’s it…no more cheating here and there.  Full on purification program!

 

Romaine Rice Tuna Salad

I was pretty skeptical about this recipe, because it just sounded like an odd combination, but I was looking for something to do with tuna that did not involve mayonnaise, and I had leftover rice in the fridge.  As it turns out, I was pleasantly surprised!  I would totally eat this again.  While the original recipe calls for romaine, I only had a spring/spinach mix, so that’s what I used.

Ingredients for 1 serving:

• 1/2 cup cooked brown rice
• 2-3 cups romaine or other greens, chopped
• 1/2 carrot, grated
• 1/2 can albacore tuna
• 2 tsp EVOO
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

(The original recipe includes cooking the rice, then mixing it with the greens so they will wilt slightly.  I heated my leftover rice in the microwave, but you could skip this step.)

Toss rice, greens, carrot, and tuna together.  Combine EVOO, balsamic, salt and pepper.  Pour over salad and toss.  Serve.

It looks pretty, too!

 

SPPP Day 15

Breakfast:

apple-cinnamon shake

5 Green Food caps

Snack:

1/2 cashew cookie Larabar (ingredients: cashews, dates)

Lunch:

small Quizno’s Harvest Chicken Salad (lettuce, apples, grapes, honey mustard chicken, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds) 

Snack:

strawberry-banana shake (frozen fruit, 1 cup water, 2 scoops Complete, 1 scoop Fiber, stevia, 2 tsp chia seeds)

5 Green Food caps

Dinner:

orange-ginger salmon

turnips

mixed green salad

1/2 small caramel apple

Notes:

Again the Larabar issue.  Nuts and dried fruit are not allowed, but as snacks go in general, it’s about the best you can get.  Larabars are raw, made of whole food ingredients, non-GMO, not sweetened, gluten free, no artificial anything.

Yeah, okay, Quizno’s is iffy.  I’m sure there were ingredients in the honey mustard chicken that were not on the program, and probably preservatives etc on the lettuce and stuff, but sometimes it’s a matter of making the best choice of the available options.  If I got what a really wanted, it would have been a sub.  I did leave most of the cranberries and pumpkin seeds, as they’re not “allowed”, and only used 1 tsp of the acai vinaigrette it came with.

Another yucky dinner.  The turnips were cubed and sauteed in oil; they were okay but not great.  And try as I might, I cannot like salmon, and believe me, I do keep trying.  Occasionally, for some unknown reason, I will find it acceptable, but most of the time I just don’t care for it.

So, not the greatest food day overall.

 

SPPP Day 14

I can’t believe I’ve done this for two weeks already…only one more to go! 

I did a little yoga this morning.  It’s somewhat depressing that 20 minutes of “gentle yoga for beginners” wipes me out (used at least one spoon!), and I can’t even do all the moves to begin with.  But hopefully if I keep it up, I will improve my abilities.

Breakfast:

tropical shake (3/4 c frozen pineapple, 1/2 frozen banana, squeeze of lime juice, 2 scoops Complete, 1 scoop Fiber, 1 tsp chia seeds, stevia)

Lunch:

chicken brown rice soup

clementine

5 Green Food caps (forgot at breakfast)

Snack:

1/2 apple

Dinner:

portobella, red bell pepper, onion, garlic, zucchini, stir-fried in a little grape seed oil

1/2 c quinoa

Snack:

kale chips

mixed berry, banana, chocolate shake (frozen mixed berries, 1/2 frozen banana, 2 tsp cocoa, 2 scoops Complete, 1 scoop Fiber, stevia, 1 c water)

5 Green Food caps