Vegan 21-Day Sugar Detox: Day 20

Day 20 on the vegan sugar detox didn't feel that different from the days leading up to it. What I did feel was excitement about being so close to the finish line. And yet, it was also bittersweet knowing that it was coming to an end and feeling like this was the pinnacle of eating healthy in terms of not eating sugar--the culprit of many ailments. Even though I'll still be sticking with my vegan diet after this, there's nothing quite like constantly seeing and feeling the positive effects that abstaining from sugar has on your body. (I know I've said this many times, but you really do wake up feeling lighter and lighter, even if the weighing scale doesn't always reflect it.)

Breakfast: Diane Sanfilippo's Grain-Free Banola (Raw)

Diane Sanfilippo's  Grain-Free Banola (raw version)

Lunch: Vegetable Coconut Milk Curry

Vegetable coconut milk curry

Snack: Green Banana and Almond Butter with Cinnamon and Pumpkin Pie Spice

Green banana drizzled with almond butter and sprinkled with cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice

Dinner: Marinara with White Beans and Asparagus

Marinara with white beans and asparagus served over quinoa

My boyfriend and I were too tired to cook yet again, especially on a Friday night when the temptation to eat out is just too great. But of course we couldn't break the streak after getting this far on the detox. So we decided to cook a really simple meal: pre-made marinara sauce with asparagus and canned white beans over quinoa. I was actually surprised that this dish surprised me: the white beans actually tasted like a creamy cheese when mixed with marinara. Now I'm wondering if the white beans could be used as a cheese substitute for other dishes, or used to make a vegan creamy alfredo sauce. Hmm...

Ingredients:

• 1 jar of Trader Joe's Organic Tomato Basil Marinara
• 1/3 bushel of organic asparagus, chopped
• 1 can of white kidney beans
• Himalayan salt and pepper to taste
• Garlic powder

Pour the marinara into a pot and simmer on low heat. Put the chopped asparagus in next, then add seasonings to taste. Add the white kidney beans last, just long enough to heat them up. Once the asparagus has softened, remove from heat and serve over quinoa.

Vegan 21-Day Sugar Detox: Day 12

It's hard to believe that I'm already almost two weeks into the vegan 21-day sugar detox. Since this was by far the most challenging of the three other sugar detoxes I've done, I thought it would be painfully slow. Thankfully, it hasn't been, and things keep getting easier as I go along. 

Today started out very unusually. I didn't eat until around 1:30 pm today (so nothing in my stomach for almost 14 hours) because of some unnecessary drama at work. 

Lunch: Vegetable Coconut Milk Curry

When I did finally eat, it tasted twice as good because I was extra hungry. I think this dish is my favorite one on the detox because there are so many ways to modify it to make the flavors fresh and exciting. You can add lime and basil or cilantro, radishes, or use different sweet potatoes. It's also great as leftovers because the flavors become more prominent the next day and it's easy to reheat.

Vegetable Coconut Milk Curry

Dinner: Roasted Broccoli and Japanese Sweet Potatoes

It was tapas night tonight ... mainly because it was much easier to create small, simple dishes. I just didn't have the energy to cook.

Ingredients for Roasted Broccoli:

• 1 bag of organic broccoli florets
• Himalayan salt and pepper to taste
• Paprika to taste

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and lightly grease it with oil (I used coconut oil). Preheat the oven at 350 degrees. Evenly spread out a layer of broccoli over the cookie sheet and season with salt, pepper and paprika to taste. I like to make sure every floret has equal amount of seasoning. Roast in oven for about 15 minutes. Mix the broccoli around on the sheet, and roast it for another 10 minutes. 

Lightly fried Japanese sweet potato fries

Ingredients for Japanese sweet potato fries:

• 3 baked sweet potatoes
• Himalayan salt
• 3 tbsp coconut oil

To bake sweet potato: Preheat oven at 400 degrees. Wash the potatoes, dry, and prick them all over with a fork. Place on foil-lined cookie sheet and bake for about an hour. Flip the potatoes after 30 minutes. Check again after 15 minutes to see if they need to be baked for the full hour. Place in fridge to cool.

To fry sweet potatoes: Once the potatoes are cool, cut them into thick fries. Using 3 tbsp of coconut oil, lightly fry small batches of the sweet potatoes on medium heat. Season with Himalayan salt immediately after frying. 

Vegan 21-Day Sugar Detox: Day 11

My body has definitely gotten used to the smaller portions and clean foods on this sugar detox. I've been snacking less frequently (whereas before I would pretty much graze all day). As for my boyfriend, he says he's eating fewer servings.

Breakfast: Green Apple and Almond Butter with Cinnamon

Lunch: Mushroom Zucchini Quinoa

This was just a mix of leftover mushrooms, zucchini and bell peppers from the spiralized zucchini and pasta sauce recipe. The mushrooms were stir fried separately with garlic, onions, Himalayan salt and pepper. The zucchinis were stir fried with the bell peppers. I mixed them with quinoa and added a big dollop of good ol' guacamole. Mmm tasty!

Mushroom Zucchini Quinoa

Snack: Raw Pistachios

I had less than a handful of raw pistachios. I like the shelled ones because it's the fastest way to get them from point A, the bag, to point B, my stomach.

Dinner: Vegetable Coconut Milk Curry with Quinoa

I said this was going to be a repeat dish throughout the sugar detox ... so here it is again folks, this time with a picture! I finally remembered to snap a pic before chowing down. This recipe was slightly different in that it has more sweet potato, more coconut milk, baby carrots and is missing the tofu (I forgot to buy some). I thought it tasted even better than before. The extra sweet potato really enhanced the flavor because it absorbed the curry sauce.

• 3 cans of organic unsweetened coconut milk
• 2 baked Japanese sweet potatoes
• 4-5 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 bell pepper
• 1/2 bushel of organic asparagus
• 1/2 bag of Trader Joe's Power to the Greens (organic baby kale, chard and spinach)
• 1/2 bag of organic baby carrots
• 1/2 cup of diced onions
• 1 tbsp of curry powder (season to taste)
• 1/2 tbsp of turmeric powder (season to taste)
• Himalayan salt & pepper to taste

Vegetable coconut milk curry with quinoa

Vegan 21-Day Sugar Detox: Day 8

Well, it's the start of the second week on the detox. It has surprisingly gone by pretty fast so far. I don't know if it's because of the food I ate last night, but I woke up with a raging headache. Thankfully it went away about an hour after taking Excedrin.

Breakfast: Vegetable Coconut Milk Curry with Quinoa

Once again, I was too hungry to remember to take a picture of my meal before chowing down. I'm sure this dish will be a regular on this detox so I will take a picture of it next time. 

Lunch: Black Beans in Veggie Quinoa Soup

This wasn't so much a soup as it was a vegetable quinoa dish. Since I still had a tupperware of cooked black beans, I added it to the quinoa. I topped it off with salsa and guacamole since the two take anything to the next level of yum. 

Snack: Sweet Potato Fries

This was prepared similarly to the Japanese sweet potato fries. The only difference is that these can get too mushy to cut with a mandolin slicer so you have to be careful not to over-boil it. Start out with 10 minutes but check frequently to see if it's soft enough to use on the mandolin. Fry small batches in a wok for even frying and less mess. Put the fries onto a plate lined with paper towel. Season with Himalayan salt and anything else you want for a punch of flavor. 

Raw Sweet Potato Fries

Sweet Potatoes Fries in a Pan

Sweet Potato Fries

Dinner: "Not Your Momma's Black Eyed Peas Soup"

For once, the two hearty meals I had today along with the sweet potato fries kept me pretty full well into the night. Even though I wasn't really hungry, I ate a small serving of the leftover "Not Your Momma's Black Eyed Peas Soup". I added my go-to condiments on this sugar detox: salsa and guacamole! So far I've shown no signs of getting sick of them. I could practically eat them by themselves. 

Vegan 21-Day Sugar Detox: Day 7

Day 7 was a little sweeter, not just because it was Saturday, but because Week 1 on the Vegan 21-Day Sugar Detox was almost over! 

Breakfast: Vegetable Coconut Milk Curry with Quinoa

This is something my boyfriend cooked the other night. It is deeeelicious! In my rush to eat it though, I completely forgot to snap a pic.

Ingredients: 

• 2 cans of organic unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 baked Japanese sweet potato
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• 1 bell pepper
• 1/2 bushel of organic asparagus
• 1/2 bag of Trader Joe's Power to the Greens (organic baby kale, chard and spinach)
• 1/2 container of Trader Joe's organic sprouted tofu
• 1/2 cup of diced onions
• 1 tbsp of curry powder (season to taste)
• 1/2 tbsp of turmeric powder (season to taste)
• Himalayan salt & pepper to taste

Chop up the bell pepper, onions, sweet potato and asparagus. Pour the 2 cans of coconut milk into a pot over light heat and simmer. Add seasonings along with garlic, onions, asparagus, bell pepper and mixed greens. Add the tofu and already-baked sweet potato at the very end--just enough to heat them up. 

Lunch: "Not Your Momma's Black Eyed Peas Soup"

This dish is once again courtesy of my boyfriend, who's also doing the detox with me. He also named the dish.

Black Eyed Peas Soup

Black Eyed Peas Soup with Salsa - 1

Black Eyed Peas Soup with Salsa - 2

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of black eyed peas
• 1/2 bushel of asparagus
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1/2 bag of Trader Joe's Power to the Greens (organic baby kale, chard and spinach)
• 1/2 cup of diced onions
• Himalayan salt & pepper
• Garlic powder

Boil the black eyed peas for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and let it sit for 60-90 minutes. Drain the water. Add 3 cups of water per 1 cup of beans. Bring to a boil. Then let simmer for 1 hour. Add the vegetables long enough to heat them up. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste.

Dinner: Shaved Fennel & "Freekehlicious Salad"

Normally my social life is nonexistent on sugar detoxes since I'm limited on what I can eat and drink. So I usually end up staying home. This time, I made an exception for my friend's birthday dinner with our other college friends. It's hard to get our schedules lined up since two of them have young kids. We celebrated at Love & Salt in Manhattan Beach, California. 

As a first-time vegan dining in a meat-centric restaurant, I was pretty horrified by their adventurous menu--an animal lover's nightmare. It featured things like duck egg wood-oven pizza, corned lamb tongue panini and rabbit porcheta. I thanked my friends for not getting the roasted glazed pig's head ... a meal breaker. I half-jokingly said that if they had ordered it, I probably would've eaten my food outside. 

I went with two side dishes--the only ones closest to the YES foods on the detox (I didn't want to be that person who just orders water with lemon). I got the shaved fennel, minus the parmesan, which resulted in an overpowering taste of lemon and a hint of black pepper. It looked pretty bland and boring without the texture of the parmesan. The "Freekehlicious Salad" was surprisingly really good. It featured 5 grains, 5 herbs, shaved radish, black currants and toasted hazelnuts. I thought the black currants and toasted hazelnuts really made the dish. I know black currants aren't allowed on the detox but I figured I've been really good so far, and it wouldn't hurt to 'live a little' and enjoy one dish as it was meant to be eaten. I'm glad I chose to do so because even though I couldn't partake in the chocolate- and lemon-cream-filled sugar donuts, the Freekehlicious Salad left me fully satisfied.

Love & Salt's Freekehlicious Salad