Cleanse Day 9

Another busy day. I had hoped to spend most of the day working on "studio stuff" while the handyman we'd hired did the jobs we'd contracted him to do. Instead, I seemed to spend too much time running errands and preparing food.

Between 7:00 and 7:30 a.m., my husband and I prepared our room to have the ceiling repaired from a roof leak years ago: moved and covered all the furniture, took down all wall hangings and curtains, moved the rugs ...

Then it was time for the first trip of the day to drop husband and daughter off for work and school respectively. Then home to meet the handyman. Then off to Home Depot to get the kitchen faucet the handyman was to install (it has a built in water filter for drinking water - woo hoo!). Then this afternoon, I discovered I didn't have any ceiling paint or outside paint left (although I have a dozen other varieties in the basement) so I went to Home Hardware for paint. On returning home, the handyman said we needed a new "faucet riser", gave me the specs and back to Home Hardware I went (good thing it's a scant 5 min drive from home). I returned promptly with the right piece but he said "we need TWO". So back to Home Hardware I went, returning in time to see daughter walking home from the bus stop and give her a lift. Whew! The final car trip was to take our two cats to the vet for their annual appointment.

Somewhere in there, I ate breakfast: Chia with chopped apple and soy milk and lunch: lentil spread (recipe tomorrow!) with rice crackers and salad with oil and lemon dressing. My afternoon snack was the ubiquitous almond butter on rice cakes. For dinner, I ate Winter Vegetable Soup with Buckwheat from the Wild Rose cookbook. It was ok once I added a few more herbs but really wanted something exciting like mustard or red wine vinegar which I can't eat on the cleanse - ah well :-) Recipe below.

This afternoon I taught my hot flow class, and as my husband's store is open later in December, we all arrived home close to 7:30 and ate a late dinner together. I put daughter to bed and then husband and I dusted and reset the furniture in the bedroom. I'm looking forward to being in my bed!

Winter Vegetable Soup with Buckwheat
(adapted from Wild Rose Herbal D-Tox cookbook)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup buckwheat
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
1 small onion, diced
1 cup carrots, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup turnip or parsnip, diced (I used parsnip)
1 medium potato, diced
6 cups vegetable stock* or water
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp ground thyme
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste
2 tbsp parsley
dash Bragg's liquid aminos

Method:

1. Saute the buckwheat and caraway seeds in the oil over medium-high heat until the seeds begin to pop, approx. 3 minutes

2. Add onions, carrots, celery, parsnip / turnip and saute for 5 minutes or until the vegetables start to brown.

3. Add potato, stock, , rosemary, thyme and salt and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 20-25 minutes until vegetables are cooked.

4. Garnish with parsley and liquid aminos.