The Reluctant Detox Partner

January 23, 2012 By 2 Comments

That is me … the reluctant detox partner. Brian and I just finished the 3 week detox plan based on the 2012 Whole Living Action Plan. I joined in on this eating plan to support Brian. The idea of eating a 3 week vegan detox, a 3 week vegan diet, and 6 week vegetarian diet was NOT on my resolution list for this year. I love cookies and hot tea and … well, a lot of stuff that we suddenly aren’t eating. That being said I joined in to support Brian’s efforts, I survived and so can you.

How did it go for me?

  • The first week and half I craved cookies ALL OF THE TIME. Yes, all of the time. I wanted cookies. I missed my morning hot tea like crazy. It is cold out and I wanted something warm not a smoothie.
  • On the topic of smoothies, the smoothies were surprisingly OK. The berry smoothie and carrott-mango smoothie are the only two I recommend though. They are also the only two we still make.
  • Lunches have been salads for three weeks. It is boring but I am OK with salads. I like salads. I like olives and mushrooms on my salads so that adds variety. We also discovered the olive bar at the grocery store so that has  made my salads more fun.
  • Dinners left something to be desired though. This is not a bash on Brian’s cooking but just that they left me hungry … a lot.  Eating roasted veggies for dinner just doesn’t seem like dinner … even now. Sorry, babes.
  • I learned to snack. I snacked before this but I snacked on cookies and whatever else was around (like that candy bowl on my desk at work.) I learned to snack on fruit and nuts. My favorite evening snack is apples with peanut butter. Thank goodness for peanut butter … it saved me these past three weeks.
  • The people that tell you feel better while detoxing and that you will have tons of energy and you will just love it … are smoking something or on crack … or don’t have kids and a job and a life. To be honest, I felt like CRAP the whole time we were on the detox. I found out the last week that this is normal. (Where was that warning when I agreed to do this?!?!) Most people do claim to have energy but feeling crap left me sleeping like crap. Plus we have three kids that run us ragged on a normal day and left me more tired than normal (I didn’t know this was possible!). Anyway, I felt sick the whole time. Today is two days after detox and I feel normal for the first time and am so happy about feeling normal!

Was the detox worth it?

I really want to say no because it took so much self control that I didn’t know I had. But I can’t say it wasn’t worth it. It was worth it.

Even though it is a sin, I learned to say no to the chocolate cake left in the work kitchen. (I still feel guilty over that and that was THREE weeks ago!) I learned to enjoy fruit and peanut butter as a snack. I learned to live without my hot tea in the morning. I remembered to drink water because everything else was off limits. The icing on the cake that I wasn’t allowed to eat was that I lost weight. I am down about 9.5 lbs.  Not bad for three weeks of watching what I eat and not finding any more time to exercise than before (which is no time right now!)

Would I do it again? Probably … but not right away. I think I will need some chocolate cake before I try again!

Have you ever detoxed? If so,what was your experience?
Are you considering a detox? If so, what are your questions about the one we did? Leave me a comment and let me know!!

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Meatless Monday: Chickpea-Brown Rice Veggie Burger

January 16, 2012 By 3 Comments

So here it is, the last week of our 21-day challenge.  Finally, we get to add grains back into our diet (grains, yes, but gluten, no).  It was soooo nice to feel full again yesterday!  We thought we would try out this Chickpea-Brown Rice Veggie Burger.  We aren’t usually big fans of veggie burgers, but this one looked pretty decent.  As it turns out, it wasn’t half bad.  The taste was a little nutty (because of the brown rice) and earthy.  It had a crisp texture on the outside, but was creamy on the inside.  I had to be pretty careful flipping them because they wanted to fall apart on me.  In my mind, it was more like a salmon or crab cake.  Shaped a little smaller and served up with a little lemon juice or some kind of sauce and they would probably fill that bill just fine.  We served it up with lettuce, tomato, red onion and a small serving of french fries (hey, you’ve got to indulge sometimes, right?)

As for making the recipe, I had a couple of hiccups doing it.  That always leads to tips for you guys!  First of all, the recipe calls for an egg.  Since we are following a vegan diet for a bit here, that presents a bit of a problem.  I found a solution, though!  Take 1/4 teaspoon of flax seed and whir up to a dust in your spice grinder (I use a cheap coffee grinder that I never use for coffee).  Then blend that up for a couple of minutes with 1/4 cup of water.  That will replace one egg as a binder in your recipe.  The recipe also says to mash the chickpeas and rice.  Unless you’ve got arms of steel, pull out a food processor and spin it until you’ve got a nice dough-like consistency.  Then add the rest of the stuff in.  Here are the results!

I cooked the rice, mixed up the burger stuff and cooked these in between breaks of football games on Sunday so I know that you can do this at home.  A little time and patience and you too can put good, healthy (and cheap) food in front of your family.  By the way, the kids devoured it!

We hope you enjoy this Meatless Monday.  Leave us a comment if you enjoy it or let us know what you are having tonight.  If you are interested in Meatless Monday and want to get some more information about joining in the movement at your home, check out this site or send us an email.

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Meatless Monday: Two Soups at Once!

January 9, 2012 By 1 Comment

This week we thought we’d change things up a little bit.  We are still on the 2012 Whole Living Action Plan and this week we get to add beans and lentils to our diet.  As such, we were able make a couple of hearty soups to help sate those hunger pangs from last week.  We spent some time on Sunday making Red Lentil Soup and White Bean and Mushroom Stew.  These soups were quick, cheap, and easy to make.  I made them side by side and the entire process took less than an hour and a half, including all of the chopping.  That winds up being four dinners and several lunches this week.  That’s saving time and money!

The soups themselves were pretty good.  The White Bean and Mushroom Stew never really thickened up like I would have liked.  Perhaps omitting some of the water or crushing up some of the beans would have helped that out.  Make sure you season with plenty of salt and pepper.  Believe me, the soup can handle it.  The Red Lentil Soup tastes great as well, but we weren’t able to use red lentils because they were not available at our local supermarket.  So we used green lentils instead (I would suggest soaking them for a bit before cooking).  We also do not like turnips, so we substituted parsnips instead.  The changes worked out well for us.  Again, plenty of seasoning is definitely called for.

Both soups would have been markedly better with some bread or crackers to sop up and to add a textural note.  Since our diet right now does not allow that, we’ll just have to watch the kids gobble it up.  The White Bean and Mushroom Stew, in particular, was enjoyed by our girls with bread and oyster crackers.  They enjoyed it so much that they actually asked for more soup to go with their leftover crackers!

Here are some pictures of the process:

I had to keep everything separated to keep myself straight and not mix up the ingredients!

Super simple ingredients for a basic, hearty lentil soup.


Could this be any easier?

Less than ten ingredients and 45 minutes away from filling, comforting soup.


So I forgot the picture of the soup cooking with the tomato puree.  What are you gonna do?  I was just so excited about tasting it all!

Make sure you take the opportunity to try these recipes out.  With the cold creeping into your bones as winter’s chill finally rears its ugly head, these soups are sure you warm your belly.

What did you have for Meatless Monday?  Leave us a comment and let us know.

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January 2012 Monthly Meal Plan

January 1, 2012 By 4 Comments

Our Monthly Meal Plan has kind of become a staple of our budgeting process.  Rather than planning for meals from week to week, we put in a little extra time and effort and knock it out right away.  It takes a little discipline, but sticking to the plan can keep costs down and lead to a healthier and closer knit family.  Research supports the notion that having dinner as a family has a number of benefits for the kids (http://children.webmd.com/guide/family-dinners-are-important).

It’s a brand new year and with a new year comes a feeling of renewal and a great opportunity for a fresh start.  For us, that means kick starting our diet.  We are starting the year off with the 2012 Whole Living Action Plan, a 21 day detox designed to give you more energy, help you sleep better, and help you lose weight.  Basically, it cuts out every that we eat from day to day and replaces it with the produce section.  The plan eventually adds in seafood and eggs, but we are pushing the envelope a bit.

For the first six weeks of 2012, including the 3-week detox, our diet will be totally vegan.  No meat, seafood, cheese, eggs, milk, or even honey will be included in our meal plan during that time.  For the following six weeks, we will adjust to a vegetarian diet, reintroducing animal products, but not animal flesh.  Many of our dinner leftovers will be re-purposed as lunches.

We hope that this 12-week plan will not only help us to accomplish some much needed weight loss and increase our energy levels, but to give us a greater appreciation for what we are putting into our bodies.  We hope that it helps us to focus our meal plans less around meats and processed starches and more around healthy grains and fruits and vegetables.

With that, here is our first meal plan for the new year.  We hope that you find it intriguing, varied, and, most of all, delicious.

January 2012 Monthly Meal Plan

Week 1 (January 1 – January 7)

Sunday–Potato, Cabbage, and Chickpea Stew
Monday–Steamed Broccoli and Butternut Squash w/ Tahini Dressing
Tuesday–Roasted Peppers and Cauliflower w/ Almonds
Wednesday–Stir Fry Veggies
Thursday–Butternut Squash Soup w/ Steamed Cauliflower and Sauteed Mushrooms
Friday–Greek Salad
Saturday–Roasted Ratatouille

Week 2 (January 8 – January 14)

Sunday–White Bean and Mushroom Stew
Monday–Red Lentil Soup
Tuesday–Roasted Vegetables and Cannelini Beans
Wednesday–Baked Sweet Potato w/ Broccoli
Thursday–White Bean and Mushroom Stew
Friday–Red Lentil Soup
Saturday–Falafel

Week 3 (January 15 – January 21)

Sunday–Acorn Squash w/ Quinoa and Pistachios
Monday–Chickpea Brown Rice Burger
Tuesday–Veggie Fried Rice
Wednesday–Kale, White Bean, and Potato Stew
Thursday–Rice Noodles w/ Broccoli, Kale, and Mushrooms
Friday–Polenta w/ Mushrooms and Tomato Sauce
Saturday–Lentils w/ Rice and Kale

Week 4 (January 22 – January 28)

Sunday–Chickpea Curry w/ Naan
Monday–Veggies w/ Lentils
Tuesday–Quinoa Salad w/ Almonds
Wednesday–Spaghetti Dinner
Thursday–Baked Sweet Potato
Friday–Veggie Stir Fry w/ Rice
Saturday–Polenta w/ Mushrooms

Week 5 (January 29 – February 4)

Sunday–Dahl w/ Naan
Monday–Pasta w/ Peas and Mushrooms
Tuesday–Squash and Kale w/ Rice
Wednesday–See February Meal Plan
Thursday–See February Meal Plan
Friday–See February Meal Plan
Saturday–See February Meal Plan

As always, if you are looking for recipes or answers on monthly meal planning, please leave a comment or email us with your questions.  We can’t promise that we will have all of the answers, but we will do our best to find them!  Just send us an email at simplybudgeted@gmail.com.

Have you tried monthly meal planning? How did it go? Any tips or suggestions?

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