Organic Products

Here's some favorites I've been consuming lately.

Lollipops aren't necessarily on my Maker's Diet list of approved foods (especially due to the fact I'm only allowed sweeteners of 3 tbsp. honey and small amounts of Truvia each day).  But man, these pops are awesome!  They are so fruity and flavorful!

Coconut oil is great for cooking (good saturated fats), weight loss, and a great skin/hair/nail conditioner.

Yummy yummy Herbamare is a substitute for the everyday table salt.  It's a bouquet of dried herbs and sea salt with less sodium than regular salt.  And you don't have to use as much as you would with table salt thanks to it's great salty flavor.

Kefir is similar to drinkable yogurt but contains more probiotic goodness.  I've had plain and added fresh cut blueberries or defrosted organic strawberries and I've had the raspberry flavor.  Very delicious and serves as a great snack or addition to your morning breakfast.

I had no idea that Flaxseed oil is also called Linseed oil.  Linseed oil was a major medium I used in oil painting back in the day.  How funny?!  But back to flaxseed oil......it has great Omega-3 fatty acids and is great is tuna and chicken salad.  Just use 50% flaxseed oil to 50% mayo.  Delicious and beneficial!

Maker's Diet - Phase One - Days 15-22

Been another busy week in the world of Cindar.  So I'm just now updating my blog.  So I've moved on to Phase 2.  I still can't have carbs (bread, rice, crackers) but I now get to add beans, lunch meat, a few more fruits and veggies, all-natural dressings, and cow's milk products!  yippee!  It really is a big deal after the first two weeks being really restrictive.  I'm sure the exercise has helped but I think the 6.5 lbs that I have lost has been bc of the Maker's Diet.

Here are a few of the meals I've been enjoying.
BREAKFAST

• hard-boiled egg w/ blueberries
• scrambled eggs w/ onion, goat cheese & turkey bacon
• cow's milk kefir w/ blueberries, stevia, and honey.  cow's milk raspberry kefir
• cow's whole milk french vanilla yogurt 

LUNCH

• apple/cinnamon tuna salad or natural-nitrite&nitratefree turkey lunch meat over a bed of baby spinach salad w/ sliced blueberries & orange-cranberry viniagrette
• Zoe's greek salad w/ grilled chicken & onions & oil and vinegar dressing
• egg drop soup
• homemade chili & salad
• homemade apple/cinnamon tuna salad & celery sticks

SNACK

• celery sticks or cherries dipped in raw almond butter w/ a swirl of honey
• raw almonds & blueberries
• cow's milk kefir w/ blueberries, stevia, and honey.  cow's milk raspberry kefir
• cow's whole milk french vanilla yogurt
• clementines & granny smith apples

DINNER

• homemade chili
• scrambled eggs w/ mushrooms, onion, goat cheese & turkey bacon
• chicken fajitas (minus the rice and tortillas)
• baked tilapia, mexican corn, green lentils

BEVERAGES

• water
• natural sparkling water
• coffee w/ half-n-half & stevia
• Pablo's Cantina banana margarita (you gottah treat yourself sometimes!)

Maker's Diet - Phase One - Days 8-14

Wow, it's been a hectic week.  Part of that has been my recent engagement.  Bam!  Can you believe it?!  I can't!  I am truly blessed to have my fiance (wow, first time typing fiance) Jason in my life.  And the outpouring of love and encouragement from friends and family has been awesome.  I never thought I would get to this point in a relationship after all the drama in my life......but here I am.  Thanks God, for keeping your promise that you would get me through some tough times in love to where I am today.

This past week has been a toughy in terms of the Maker's Diet.  I finally finished the book and discovered that folks that are exceptionally healthy don't necessarily have to do all three phases of this nutritional makeover.  Jordan Rubin suggests those that are overweight or have health issues due to obesity or digestion complete the full 14 days of Phase 1.  Those that don't necessarily need the full 14 days of detox should at least do a few days to get their body rebooted.  Well, after reading this Jason suggested I go ahead and move on to Phase 2.  But I decided that since I had gotten this far I met as well finish the phase out.  Now of course, financially and taste-wise, I did certain things to cut corners.  For instance, eating local honey as opposed to raw honey, cow's milk kefir instead of goat's milk kefir, etc.  But I must say I'm pretty proud of my progress and dedication thus far.  Jason and I went to his family reunion yesterday and as Jason said, "you get a 2 hour leave from your diet/fast."  I think he was right in saying that because I needed a breather from feeling restricted.  I enjoyed some of the best fried garlic mushrooms I've ever had, an onion ring, grilled tilapia w/ a ginger-sesame glaze, black-eyed peas, green beens, a hushpuppy, and um..............a slab of strawberry cake w/ cream-cheese frosting!!!!!!  woo hoo

Here's some of my random eats from this past week.
BREAKFAST

• hard-boiled egg w/ blueberries
• scrambled eggs w/ onion, goat cheese & turkey bacon
• cow's milk kefer w/ blueberries, stevia, and honey

LUNCH

• poached chicken over a bed of baby spinach salad w/ sliced blueberries & home-made mustard-vinaigrette dressing
• Zaxby's grilled chicken caesar salad (minus the bacon and croutons) w/ home-made vinaigrette dressing
• Zoe's greek salad w/ grilled chicken & onions & oil and vinegar dressing
• homemade coconut chicken soup
• homemade chicken salad

SNACK

• celery sticks or cherries dipped in raw almond butter w/ a swirl of honey
• raw almonds & blueberries
• cow's milk kefer w/ blueberries, stevia, and honey

DINNER

• homemade coconut chicken soup
• homemade chicken salad scooped up with celery sticks
• scrambled eggs w/ mushrooms, onion, goat cheese & turkey bacon
• poached chicken over a bed of baby spinach salad w/ sliced blueberries & home-made mustard-vinaigrette dressing
• chicken saag (no rice, no naan) at Silver Coin indian restaurant

BEVERAGES

• water
• natural sparkling water w/ lime
• coffee w/ half-n-half & stevia
• hot mint green tea w/ honey