Salt & Humor

During my cleanse I am realizing some things that I will be changing.  While I can’t see myself completely giving up coffee, sugar and bread (gluten).  I will most certainly be reducing my intake of these food.  While I am giving it my best effort to stick to these dietary exclusions during my cleanse I realize just how darn hard that is.  I made veggie sushi one night and only afterwards did I think to check some labels! Wheat in the soy sauce and sugar in the Sriratcha!!

SERIOUSLY!

Some meals I think I pulled off pretty good.  I wasn’t too into taking photos because salads get a little boring after a while.  I made lentil, bean and sunflower sprouts.  They were great in salads and wraps. 

Salad with avocado, lentil sprouts and tahini dressing with

brown rice wrap of hummus, sweet potato and marinated tempeh

Each day I had 1-2 servings of green juice. Mine usually consisted of cucumber, celery, romaine, kale/collards or dandelion greens, green apple and ginger.

Also, daily exercise, about 8 hours of sleep, meditating, dry brushing and journaling have been daily tasks.  While this has been what I have been up to, I realized how little time left I have had to read, draw, paint, sew, talk on the phone, clean, play or BLOG.  I have been getting up at 5:30 to have ensure enough time to meditate, dry brush, make lunch and juice before work.  It has been quite the project and adventure.  I realized that it isn’t all that bad to get up at that time and if I can make it a habbit I want to start exercising at that time rather than after work.  The chances of getting it done after work are about 50/50.  This is a stretch but I would LOVE if I would make it happen.  So this is my goal.  I also realized that my heart just isn’t into blogging like it used to be.  I have so many other things that I need to be focussing on right now.  So as I am not sure what this might mean for Salt & Humor, I do think it is time for a BREAK.

I wanted to leave you with a happy accident recipe for a salad I made last night and the recommendation of Kris Carr’s book; Crazy Sexy Diet. I am really glad that I came upon this book.

WILD SALAD

sliced red cabbage

sliced fennel bulb

chopped celery

chopped green onion

very lightly steamed broccoli, chopped

sliced almonds

raisins

chopped cilantro

toasted sesame seeds

poppy seeds

Dressing: tahini, apple cider vinegar, salt, garlic, and stevia

As you know, when it comes to providing recipes I am a bit vague.  Those are the ingredients I used, as for the measurements, uh, I just go with it.  I can say this though, please try this salad! It was fabulous!!

XOXO

In the last three weeks I have been making lentil sprouts about once or twice a week.

I toss these in pretty much everywhere.

Amazing Sunday breakfast.

Brown rice, green beans, adzuki bean sprouts, kale, nutritional yeast and soy sauce.

For breakfast a few days a week, I have been having steamed kale or collard greens with grains and nutritional yeast and sprouts. Some mornings it quinoa, brown rice or oats.  Today it was cracked wheat.  Honestly, I have not photographed any on this because it may seem odd and it’s not a pretty dish. Besides, I don’t give myself enough time in the mornings to be taking photos.  It’s all about staying on time. This morning I had the time and took a photos of such craziness.

Cracked wheat, steamed kale, nutritional yeast, tahini and soy sauce.

Have you made any sprouts lately? They are very easy to make and are packed with some great nutrition stats!

Giveaway Winner: (Using random.org) is Jenn.

It is no lie that I love bread.  I really enjoy making my own bread, either by hand or in the bread machine.  I will usually make a loaf of bread last two weeks or more, by placing the sliced loaf in the freezer and only having a piece in the morning.  It seems I rarely need to turn to a recipe book because I find most ideas from other blogs. A while ago I made quinoa bread from this site.

It may be safe to say that this my favorite bread (for now)!  I used regular quinoa, as I did not have red.

My last visit to Reno, I came back with my mom’s sourdough book. I have only tried a few recipes so far.  This one is Jason’s favorite; banana sourdough.

Just recently I tried making brick bread from this site.

This bread is definitely one that you should plan out.  It takes a few days and is made in steps.  All in all, it was worth it.  You have to be in the mood for this bread.  It is really heavy and dense.  To make the brick bread I needed to sprout adzuki beans.  I wanted to share my method for sprouting.  I used to rinse the beans in a strainer every time and it was nowhere near as efficient.

1.) Soak the beans for 12 hours

2.) Rinse and let sit for another 8-12 hours.  They should be out of the way direct sunlight.  The temperature should be room temperature. 

This is what the beans look like after 12 hours of soaking.  I then cover the top of the jar with two layers of cheese cloth and screw metal ring down.  This is what makes rinsing so easy.

I just put the jar upside down in my dish drainer or lay the jar on it’s side on the counter.

3.) Rinse with cold water every 8-12 hours for about 2-3 days.

This is what mine looked like at day four.  That morning, they looked good so I rinsed one more time and placed them in the refrigerator.

*NOTE that the beans or seeds will usually yield two times or more than what you start with.  So, even though it doesn’t look like much when you start, know that you will have plenty.

I had more than the 1/3 cup that the recipe called for, so I have been slowly munching on them.  Last night, I tossed some in my stir fry and tonight I just had a few plain.  You could also have them is salads, soup or even in your oatmeal. Sprouting is fun and a great way to add dense nutrition to your diet.  The run down on adzuki is pretty good, if you ask me.

Have your tried sprouting?