All Things Green

I could also title this post "What I gained while going through detox week". Yeah. Not all green stuff is good for the body. As in that vine with three leaves you find out there in the woods. That lovely hike through the woods on Sunday was so full of rich green views. One view I didn't share was the edges of the trail. Western North Carolina is currently covered in poison ivy. I could be exaggerating just a bit. Or not! My yard has quite a few patches. I am always observant when out on the trail. I knew I was walking dangerously close to the offensive vine. I forgot when I returned home. I usually wash with that special (and highly smelly) poison ivy soap. I was so interested in finding food that I neglected to wash any possible exposure. I'm paying for that now. Lesson learned. Always return home and wash up before launching into meal prep. Another option would be heavy socks and long pants but I can guarantee that isn't happening. Summer muggy heat has kicked in and I'm not interested in wearing long pants and tall wool socks. So now I'm avoiding the itch and moving forward with eating healthy.

Yesterday was my last day of detox. I continued my high intake of veggies and explored a new version of one. My breakfast salad had apricots as the fruit. What a treat! I so enjoyed having fresh apricots. I might have to pick up more of them. The diakon radish added some spice to the mix. Pretty colors and a nice variety of flavors.

For early lunch I had even more green. That spinach arugula mix, olives, broccoli, and green apple. All raw foods full of enzymes.

And then there was this.

What on earth?? Yes that is food. Edamame is one of the foods I encourage my clients to eat while on detox. The fresh green soy beans are tasty and full of protein. Protein is low on the detox plan. I cannot eat soy. It upsets my stomach. When I found these green garbanzo beans in the health food store I was shocked and pleased. I had eaten the beans already cooked in prepared salads. I had never found them raw before. They are a bit messier to eat than edamame but oh so tasty. The pods are boiled for 5-10 minutes. You open them up and eat the bean just like you would edamame. Most pods only have one bean but some have two. The puffy pods are filled with water. Thus the messy. These were my afternoon snack. Here is what they look like shelled.

Before heading into the gym to train clients I had an early dinner. I was feeling quite hungry. I was low on energy and felt to get through the night and lead a decent class I would need to have more substance. To achieve this I had some roasted garbanzo beans. I knew I would be breaking my detox today and felt with the oncoming poison ivy outbreak I needed more fuel. I did have it with plenty of raw veggies though. More daikon, jicama, and the end of the spinach and arugula mix. 

After work I had another sprout salad and more roasted yellow squash. I have rediscovered how wonderful yellow squash is. Full of flavor and completely satisfying! I'll be keeping it in the weekly meal plan. 

Sock progress?? Well. Yes. There was some. Not a huge amount. I knit a few rounds on the green striped socks. They walked back and forth to the gym a few times. There really isn't enough progress to show. I know this to be true. I've measured. They are currently in the mysterious knitting phase where you knit and knit and knit but only get 1/4 of an inch in length. The blue socks? I knit an inch on those. Also not enough to warrant a picture. You bet there will be one tomorrow though. Something has to have happened to the length of one of those socks. Something.