Reboot Standard Plan Day #3

Breakfast:

Day #3 started out with Maple Cinnamon Baked Apples and Pears, which for those of you following at home was the same breakfast as Day #1 (cherries really are out of season). But there was a twist this time! Instead of using Granny Smith apples we used Fuji apples, and for my taste this was a much better choice. The sweetness of the pear and now the sweetness of the apple matched perfectly with the spicy cinnamon and these tasty treats even managed to stay warm as I ran around the house trying to get myself ready for work. Prep time for the Maple Cinnamon Baked Apples and Pears was even quicker than Day #1, but what really threw a monkey-wrench into the cogs was also trying to also get the Mid-Morning Juice ready because today was the first day we had a time limit to the process. If I‘d read the recipe for the Minty-Fresh Berry Juice more carefully, I would’ve realized it calls for two cups of fresh mint and could’ve prepped this the night before. But I’ll have to cut myself some slack, it’s the first day I’ve tried to juggle the program with working out and getting ready for work. Lesson learned, it takes time so rise early… -er.

Mid-Morning Juice:

As mentioned above, the Mid-Morning Juice was Minty-Fresh Berry and I prepped and made this to carry with me to work for the first time in my new Zyliss Quick Blend Shaker bottle. It looked delicious and similar to the Blackberry Kiwi Blend; I couldn’t wait to try it. Unfortunately for me this time the mint was really overpowering. I didn’t know why there was so much mint thus far but thanks to Livestrong.com and the University of Maryland Medical Center website I have a better idea of why Mint in your diet can be important. According to these sites, it can relieve pain and indigestion, so maybe I should just suck it up and enjoy the minty goodness. I guess I’m only really complaining because I like fruit and the mint overpowered the berry flavor. But what should I expect when the juice is called Minty-Fresh Berry? Brief side note, if you are trying to juice Herbs of the green and leafy variety, make sure you juice something else at the same time as them and the process will go a lot smoother for you.

Lunch:

Lunch was prepared the night before and consisted of the leftover Green Vegetable Soup (Dinner from Day #2) and Seaweed Salad (the Afternoon Snack I skipped). First, I have to say as much as I complained about the Green Vegetable Soup being kind of bland the night before, it’s like sitting over night in the fridge it heard me and wanted to prove me wrong. For lunch it was great and actually turned some heads as I ate it (not just because it wasn’t a cheeseburger either). It was like the leeks, garlic and basil all teamed up overnight and really brought the flavor. The Seaweed Salad had believe it or not sort of an ocean smell to it; wonder if it was the avocado? But it was really quite tasty. The recipe didn’t specify how much fresh lemon juice to use so I used one half of a lemons worth and that seemed to work out nicely (and kept the avocado green overnight). I left out the Sea Salt and the Cayenne (mainly because of how spicy just a little made the Raw Ginger-Carrot Soup).

Sidebar:

Today I had my Physical so I could talk to my doctor about the dietary choices I was making and also get my cholesterol checked (waiting on the results). I skipped the afternoon snack again and managed to get a second workout in mowing the lawn.

Dinner:

So far in the program, I think my favorite meals have been breakfast and dinner and night three was no exception. Dinner was Vegetable Soup and Sweet Potato and Carrot “Fries.” All I can say is amazing! For the Vegetable Soup, picture Progresso Soup (a favorite of mine) fresh and without the preservatives and you’ll have the Vegetable Soup featured here. This is a recipe I can see continuing to make even after it’s not part of a meal plan. As far as the prep time, I’m not sure unfortunately because I was mowing the lawn and Jaclyn graciously made dinner (thanks again). The second part of the meal, the Sweet Potato and Carrot “Fries”, were also a keeper. These “fries” are oven baked and scrumptious even without Honey Mustard dipping sauce (how I’d normally eat them). Dinner was truly satisfying but our night wasn’t over. After how long it took us to get ready and make our meals this morning, we decided to prep for Day #4 early. Jaclyn made Refreshing Cucumber Salad that will be Day #4’s lunch and chopped up Fruits and Vegetables for both the Tasty Tart Treat (Breakfast) and Mexican-Style Jugo (Mid-Morning Juice) while I did the dishes and then prepped the Sunset Blend Juice and then did more dishes. With most of the meals for Day #4 ready to be made, we poured our cups of Decaffeinated Organic Green Tea and called it a night.

Day #3 Complete!

Total Cost of Diet for Two: $41.45