Clean Eating Detox: Day 4

We're closing in on a third of the way through our two-week clean eating challenge!

For info on Days 0-3 click here or use the "Clean Eats" label to the far right.

Each day of the detox features a breakfast, lunch, daytime snack, dinner and nighttime snack. Wednesday's fare included:

A breakfast of a scallion and feta omelet; and it was delicious! The scallions were softened in the pan with olive oil before adding the eggs and their flavor intensified. Also, contrary to my "I love cheese" lifestyle, an ounce of feta, goes a long way - you don't need a ton. This added just the right amount of saltiness. And two eggs were actually more than enough for me (men get 3) to keep me full. I will say though, I had to get up earlier to make my omelet, so I was hungry earlier than I would be if I could eat my breakfast at work. I will make this again - and tomorrow, we get another omelet!

A Greek salad (no yogurt, thank God) with leftover "big batch lentils," spinach, red pepper, cucumber, parsley, feta and more "big batch lime vinaigrette." This was also great. It was a bit more sparse than the past few salads, but it was still filling and delicious. One thing I've loved about this challenge is it is totally re-inventing the salad for me. Including items that are 1. normally served warm, and 2. served as sides has added great texture, flavor, substance and oftentimes, meatless protein to what could be a plain salad. We did opt to only use 1/2 a red pepper and 1/4 of a cucumber (we get the giant English cucumbers, and 6" of cuke in a salad is overkill) each though.

Chia seed, mango, and banana smoothie for our daytime snacks. This was AMAZING. Beats the kale-banana smoothie by a mile. This had amazing flavor -- it was sweet!!!! -- and the texture was really good too. It was more drinkable than our Sunday shake and the chia seeds had softened some since morning and had a slight crunch that was really pleasing. Winning recipe.

The dreaded roasted fennel, spinach and "big batch roasted chicken" bowl. However, I must admit, we "cheated." We could not bear the idea of making a "big batch" o' fennel - so we instead made another "big batch of steamed kale." Still clean, just not the flavor profile they were looking for. The recipe didn't include a dressing, since fennel would be the leading (read: overpoweringly gross) flavor, so it was slightly bland but still good and filling.

And, uh, this happened.. 

And a nighttime snack of two almond-stuffed medjool dates. I was skeptical about this snack only because I thought it would no way be filling, but it was a decent snack to end the day. And, more importantly, it was deliciously sweet. My parents used to make a "unclean" date snack at the holidays with plain dates, stuffed with a mix of powdered sugar and cream cheese and topped with a pecan. They are heavenly - and probably like 300 calories a piece. Medjool dates are much bigger but still with a wonderful, rich, earthy sweetness and the almond stuffed inside adds a great crunch. I can see myself packing this in my lunch or something later.

Day 4 synopsis: Overall, today's food was pretty great. These are all meals I'd eat again, several of which I'd actually order at a restaurant just hearing the description. This is what clean eating is about  -- it's not about eating kale until you're green or drinking nothing but wheatgrass shakes. It's about appreciating the flavors that already exist in nature. Nothing here was "jazzed" up; everything included ingredients that were just that ingredients - our salad dressing was lime juice and olive oil only - and that's the point. There are so many good foods out there for us to enjoy, that our bodies need and can appreciate in a healthful way that there's no reason to add monosodium glutomate or high fructose corn syrup.

However, those processed things really do get their claws into you. I've told you that I've been craving sugar; J said from the get go that next Sunday he wants a giant cookie cake that says "Happy Birthday" on it, and now, he may or may not be lucid dreaming just to eat food. The night before last, my frequent sleep-talker either said "Ok, so.." or "queso" and fell back asleep and last night he dreamed about Taco Bell; tonight he said "I hope I dream about a big chocolate cake!"