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Thanks for the comments to my 2011 Kick Start Plan. It was really interesting reading your thoughts about detoxes. As I said in that post, I guess this is a kind of detox, but its more about making a focused effort to eat better, look after myself and be a little kinder to myself too.

Waking up on New Years Day there was only one thing I was craving - a big super green monster! This one contained leftover spinach, watercress and rocket, 1 frozen banana, 2 ice cubes, almond milk, 2 chopped dates, 1 teaspoon of maca powder, 1 teaspoon of spirulina, 1 teaspoon of ground flax and a few drops of milk thistle tincture. I topped it with some goji berries and also had a small glass of orange juice with echinacea tincture and a mug of detox tea.

After visiting the family we came home and I made a tasty lunch of courgette ‘pasta’ with a tomato, basil, garlic and mushroom sauce.

I also had a fruit salad containing 2 figs, 3 satsumas, 1 plum and a chopped apple.

Mid afternoon I finally got to try out my new juicer! I made a juice with 2 apples, 6 small carrots, 2 handfuls of kale and a chunk of fresh ginger:

It was utterly delicious! I also had my first go at popping corn in the microwave. I managed to get a couple of cupfuls of plain pop corn before I ended up burning the rest and ruining my favourite plastic tub :-( Plain air popped corn is only about 30 calories a cup and contains plenty of fibre so I thought this would make a great snack. I also had a few brazil nuts:

Dinner was some Kabocha Squash and Adzuki Bean Stew with steamed cabbage, mixed seeds and shoyu:

I still really love this dish, its so simple but full of flavour and really good for you.

Dessert was an experimental recipe!

Super Charged Nutty Berry ‘Ice Cream’

• 1 cup of mixed  frozen‘black forest’ berries
• 1/2 cup of frozen raspberries
• Non diary milk (I used almond)
• 1/2 cup of fresh orange juice
• 4 ice cubes
• 20mls acai berry juice
• 1 tablespoon of almond butter

Blend all ingredients until smooth, using enough milk / orange juice to get a thick consistency. Serve with flaked almonds:

This tasted wonderful and made a huge bowlful. I can see me eating lots of this over the next few weeks!

Today I had a lovely comforting bowl of porridge for breakfast. I used 1/2 cup of rude health fruity date oats, 1 1/2 cups of water, 1 tablespoon of wheat germ, 1 chopped apple, 1 teaspoon of ground flax and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. I topped my bowl with a spoonful of peanut butter:

I also had a cup of detox tea. The porridge was lovely, it was actually quite nice to have a plainer bowl of oats after all of the crazy toppings I’ve been adding lately (i.e. cookies and sugar stars!) The peanut butter went all melty and was delicious!

I hit the gym when it opened at 10. I did 1 hour of HIITs on the step machine, cross trainer and bike followed by some abs exercises. I’m waiting until I’ve completely recovered from this cold until I start to change up my HIIT routine.

Lunch was leftover Kabocha and Adzuki Bean Stew and cabbage same as last night. I also had a plate of fresh pineapple as I had picked one up from the reduced section and I love fresh pineapple!

Mid afternoon I made myself another juice. This one contained 1 apple, 1 stick of celery, 4 inch chunk of cucumber, 2 handfuls of kale and a piece of fresh ginger:

I also added some spirulina and some milk thistle and echinacea tincture. While me and the hubby watched movies I snacked on a bowl of grapes and had a tea pigs Winter Spiced Tea:

For dinner I had some home made hummus with 2 RAW Italian crackers, carrot sticks and cucumber:

This hummus just tasted divine and reminded me that I should make it myself whenever possible! For dessert I made a smoothie in a bowl using 2 plums, 2 figs, 2 dates, 2 ice cubes and some hazelnut and almond rice milk. I topped it with some granola.

This was lovely!

So there’s my eats from the first two days of 2011, so far so good! Its great to be ramping up the fruit and veggies again, especially in the form of juice. Are you a fan of fresh fruit and veggie juices? Do you own a juicer? What’s your favourite juice blend?