Taste Test: Coca-Cola Life

We’re back from Memorial Day and bringing you another taste test of an American classic: Coca-Cola. This time, we’re comparing classic Coca-Cola to new-to-the-US Coca-Cola Life.

Coca-Cola Life was debuted in Argentina in 2013, followed closely by a release in Chile. It was designed cooperatively by their mad soda scientist labs. Life is a healthier version of Coke in several interesting ways.

Where traditional Coke in an eight-ounce glass bottle has a little over 93 calories, Life has only 60. This makes it a reduced-calorie soda, not a mythical diet drink with zero (less than 4 calories/12 oz.) calories.

The difference in calories also comes from the varied sweeteners used. The Coke of our childhood relies on high fructose corn syrup for its classic sweetness. Cult followers of Diet Coke and Coke Zero (I do love me some Zero) know and love it's aspartame flavoring. There’s also what J and I (incorrectly?) call Mexican Coke - which comes in taller glass bottles with Spanish labels - and is made purely from cane sugar.

Now we have to start splitting hairs and for lack of a better cliche, choosing the lesser of two evils. This is not unlike the low-fat, no-fat, high-fat diet stupidity we’ve all considered while in the butter aisle.  Unsalted butter is just made from cream, but it’s so fatty...I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spray has no calories or real ingredients...Which is worse for you?

Coca – Cola Classic

Made with high fructose corn syrup  

+ High calorie

= Highly processed, bad for you

Diet Coke/Coke Zero

Sweetened with aspartame

+ Low- or zero-calories

= Highly processed, but better for you than corn syrup

“Mexican Coke”

Sweetened with pure cane sugar

+ High calorie

= “Clean eating,” but still high calorie and should be consumed in moderation

Coke Life

Sweetened with cane sugar and stevia

     + Reduced calorie

     = “Clean eating” and moderate calorie

Theoretically, Coke Life should be the healthiest choice on the market. It’s lower calorie and made from natural ingredients. But, we all know that the bigger question is - Is it the most delicious choice?

Just like our other product review Taste Tests, this one will be based on what I call fundamental criteria. For a Coke, those criteria include: Color, Fizz, and Flavor; Flavor will be broken into the parts I call The Sweetness and The Burn.

The Color:

In the South, every caramel-colored carbonated drink is called coke. When we think of dark, rich sodas, Coke is what instantly comes to mind, even though RC and Pepsi have big bottling industries in the South. It’s such a striking image of almost black contents contrasted against that bright red logo. Iconic, really.  And in the bottle, Coke Life looks pretty similar to classic Coca-Cola. I will argue, however, that the glass bottle of dark liquid with a green swath across its mid-section looks a lot like another classic product that’s stood the test of time: Kikkoman (reduced sodium) soy sauce. (J, however, liked the styling, calling it “clean” and thought it really gives the impression of being a healthier choice).

But at first pour, I noticed a subtle difference in the colors. Life is lighter in color; it is closer to “caramel” than the tar-like look of Classic. While that may come from the healthier formula (maybe using less artificial dyes), it gives me another impression: watered down Coke. Coke straight from the perfected chalice of a curvy glass bottle is supposed to look its purest; but with this slightly lighter color, it looks like an over-carbonated soda fountain drink.

The Fizz:

Coke has wonderful carbonation and that dark coloring only helps you to see the bubbles bouncing around in every glass. Where Life might not have delivered on color, it brought the bubbles! This was an incredibly heady pour into our antique brandy snifters and the bubbles just kept on coming. To me, Coke is a youthful brand - it reminds you of the treat after school, ice cream floats in the summer, sharing a straw on your first date - and that kinetic energy of childhood is in those bubbles! Too often “green” alternatives can be stuffy and make us show our age (no kid ever independently questioned the GMO content of his nuggets); but Life’s fizz makes could keep young.

The Flavor:

To me, Classic Coke has two distinctive flavors - unbridled sweetness and a sharpness that almost burns as you swallow (and is only more pronounced the less ice you use). Both of these things sound terrible on paper, but on my tongue are perfect! And on both fronts, Life has toned it down a notch; which for J is a great success.

J likes clear-to-yellow soft drinks like Sprite or Mountain Dew and has never been fond of “Coke” (see that Southern colloquialism?). Tasting Life he was quite surprised and we were able to suss out why he hadn’t like Coke before. J has a sweet tooth, but with his sodas he wants balance of sweet and acidity; thus preferring citrus-based soft drinks instead of nothing-but-sugar drinks like Pepsi or Coke. But with dialed back and alternatively sourced sweetness, he was pretty satisfied.

But it was a little too subtle for me. I missed that tangy burn of Classic or “Mexican” Coke and I thought it was verging on Diet Coke flavoring. While many things convey sweetness, nothing tastes like sugar, like, well, SUGAR. Maybe I have a nuanced soda palate or maybe I’ve tried enough sugar substitutes to realize stevia isn’t my thing. It’s not gross or unpleasant, just not my drink of choice.

I guess I’m back to the what’s worse for you battle. And if I’m treating myself to a delicious drink, this wouldn’t be it, I’d choose Classic; If I’m making a calorie-driven choice, I’ll probably go “extreme” and get Coke Zero. The healthier middle-ground approach isn’t quite working for me.

So, we’re back to the obvious: Coca - Cola has something for everyone. Sweettoothed, waist-minded, clean eaters - everyone. If you feel guilty drinking high-calorie AND highly processed stuff, and are seeking a more natural approach, Coke Life could be the thing for you. And even if it’s not, I’m sure they can find something you’ll enjoy (hit up the Taste It! exhibit at World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta to be sure)!

Clean Energy Snacks

We're still keeping up our clean eating but one of the biggest struggles is with finding good snacks. Dinners are easily cleaned and can make for lunch leftovers, breakfasts are incredibly easy to "clean up," but snacks are a weakness. The snacks we ate on our challenge were great but you still miss the "old" snacks like cookies and cakes; and the exciting thing about this recipe is that it has all the yumminess of a hearty cookie but with clean, fresh ingredients.

First, let me say I've struggled to name these - I adapted them from a recipe that referred to them as "balls," but when I told my dad that I ate a "clean energy ball" he said "Is that something from Candy Crush?" And let's be honest, I tutor part-time and any of my kids over the age of 7 would laugh uncontrollably if I told them I made some delicious balls; and c'mon you know you laughed at SNL's classic Baldwin Schweddy balls segment.

This snack is a no-bake recipe with fruit, nuts,  peanut butter and chocolate - all the good things that make for an easy, yet sinful, snack; so I've settled on calling them Granola Truffles. Sounds delicious, right? And they are.

The hardest part of the whole recipe was "harvesting" the fresh coconut from it's shell - that is way too much work for me. However, once I got the meat peeled away from the hair brown layer (wow, not helping the innuendo of the balls post), my Ninja blender did all the work; and it also took care of pulverizing the dates.

I can't say enough nice things about medjool dates (or my Ninja). If you enjoy sweets, dates are perfect to eat plain or slip into recipes that need a sugary boost. They are remarkably sweet, so in recipes where you mix them with more bland or savory flavors, the sugariness still comes through clearly. In this recipe, the dates are the only boldly sweet item and they tie all of the flavors together and brighten the peanut butter, which unlike "traditional" pb isn't full of corn syrup.

This recipe makes about two dozen, 70-calorie truffles which keep in the fridge for a long time without going stale or drying out. And unlike some sweet snacks, these aren't sticky or hard-to-eat. I grab two in my hand and run out the door and they don't make a mess, which is remarkable because I'm a disgusting eater. And even more remarkably, they're filling. With the oats, peanut butter and nuts, they're full of long-lasting protein, perfect for an afternoon pick-me-up or mid-morning munch.

 Granola Truffles

Ingredients:

3/4 c old fashioned oats
1/2 c natural peanut butter
1/4 c unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted
6 medjool dates, pitted
2 T raw, unsalted pistachios
2 T dark chocolate (or cacao nibs)
1 T chia seeds

Method:

In a food processor, pulse the dates until they are pulverized and form a ball.

Place dates and remaining ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and mix thoroughly with your hands.

Using a tablespoon, pack mixture level to spoon and turn out onto parchment paper.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Clean Eating Challenge: Completed!

For those of you "just joining us," the hubs and I have just recently completed a  two-week clean eating challenge!! For the daily posts, click here or use the "Clean Eats" label to the far right.

Each day of the challenge we receive breakfast, lunch, a daytime snack, dinner and a nighttime snack.We did it hoping to feel better and by the end we did; we both also lost weight and have become committed to incorporating clean eating into our lifestyle. 

Here's our big picture synopsis of the experience:

Take Away Lessons

• Eating less processed food does in no way mean it's less flavorful. These salads with just 2 T of all-natural vinaigrette are more flavorful than the most processed foods ever will be. 
• We, as Americans,really overdo it with meat. Vegetables can be incredibly flavorful, vitamin-rich foods that actually fill you up! Four ounces (or six for men) of meat is more than enough and paired with hearty vegetables like cauliflower, or the ONLY whole protein plant, quinoa, you'll get full and stay full. 
• We, as a couple, really overdo it with snacks. At night, we are really bad to graze - a handful of nuts, a bowl of potato chips, a few pieces of Easter candy, some hummus before bed. And that adds up, and more times than not, it's totally unnecessary. We were able to get full on two dates and two almonds; crazy right? 
• This is do-able. It takes planning, it does take effort and when you do this challenge it is expensive. But as you find your way with recipes/ingredients you enjoy, become more comfortable with the techniques and adapt it to fit your lifestyle, it is within reach. 

Advice

• If you choose to do the "challenge," take the time to read through the recipes and add up your ingredient quantities yourself; there are a lot of errors. Also, check the online version (in addition to the printed PDF) for additional instructions; there are a lot of errors there too. 
• Try new things and be open, but be honest about your palate. If you notice there's too much basil in something, but the next recipe calls for the same amount, customize it to your preferences. Given the amount of typos and loose ends in the recipes, they are not tried and true, perfected recipes like you'd find on America's Test Kitchen or within the pages of Taste of Home - so don't feel like your hands are tied. 
• With that being said, be honest when you don't like something but don't cheat! Accidents don't happen on a diet, you don't trip and land face first in a pizza. When you're making a commitment like this (not a lifestyle by the way), don't plan to have certain bad dishes just because, or reward yourself with a treat - you're not a dog. If you don't like the fennel, make a clean swap in your salad, use cabbage. Keep it clean -- you can do this!
• They do feature an equipment list, and they aren't lying about some of them. You WILL need: a lot of plastic storage bags, airtight containers (we like Lock and Lock or mason jars), good knives (some of the best are the commercial use sets from Sam's Club - you don't need a snazzy, celebrity-endorsed product, these are good enough for restaurants, they're good enough for your home kitchen) and cutting boards, a good blender (we love our Ninja), lots of measuring cups/spoons, and a kitchen scale. Check out our day-to-day must have kitchen tools list for other helpful items. 

Top Five Best (and Worst) Recipes 

The Standouts - Rated 1 (worst) to 10 (best) (Jordan, Amanda)

Scallion omelet (9, 9) - this is so good we've made it several times since!

Pear and almond butter snack (9, 10) - actually almond butter with any fruit was great. 

Black bean chili with paprika yogurt and zucchini ribbons (10, 9) - I can't wait to eat this again, especially on cold winter days. 

Cauliflower steaks with lentils (10, 9) - It's what's for dinner tomorrow!

Tamari shrimp in lettuce cups (9, 10) - My mom is already begging for us to make this for her.

Honorable mention: I must admit, dark chocolate did get 10s from both of us, but it isn't really a "dish" all we did was weigh it and then savor it slowly.

The Dregs - Rated 1 (worst) to 10 (best) (Jordan, Amanda)

First, it goes without saying that the three fennel heavy dishes sucked (incl. kale, chickpea and fennel salad; chickpea, fennel and blueberry salad; and roasted chicken with roasted fennel and spinach). Ick. 

Snap pea salad with feta, radishes and hard boiled eggs (0, 3) - J got pretty hangry from this dish. It also lead us to reinvent the lunch that was supposed to be made from leftovers. 

Red pepper strips with hummus (n/a, 1) - Just ick. Didn't even bother to take my own picture. 

Original Buzzfeed photo

Overnight oats with blueberries and chia seeds (1, 2) - The strawberry version of this is wonderful. I love it. But with blueberries, it was too bitter to be enjoyable. 

Blackberry yogurt parfait (2, 2) - Again, tart berries and tangy yogurt.

Blackberries with yogurt (3, 1) - Are you seeing a theme here with the yogurt? 

Original Buzzfeed photo

Moral of the story being, Greek yogurt will ruin your life. 

Clean Eating Detox: FINAL DAY! (14)

We  have successfully completed our two-week clean eating challenge!! For info on days 0-13, click here or use the "Clean Eats" label to the far right.

Each day of the challenge we receive breakfast, lunch, a daytime snack, dinner and a nighttime snack.The last day of the plan included:

Scallion and feta omelet. This was a winner when we first ate it and was just as good today. I think we will regularly incorporate this into our breakfast repertoire. I have realized though, that I think eggs and I aren't BFFs - they are far too filling and just wear me out. After this is over, I'll probably only eat egg-y breakfasts once or twice a week, certainly not this 15 eggs per week nonsense.

Portobello mushroom caps with feta, shallots and tomato (we nixed the mint). J was very skeptical of this dish. We enjoy mushrooms and he has some great portobello recipes - including a yummy sandwich with goat cheese - but this felt a little odd to him. However, it was delicious. The recipe calls for minimal cooking of the caps, but we sauteed them a little longer because that raw mushroom texture is awful! And having the tomatoes warmed in the pan and layered with the salty feta made for a great combination. I will say though, that eating the components separately was a little off, but when you make those "perfect bites" with a little bit of everything they were impeccable. Portobellos are incredibly meaty and are surprisingly filling. We were actually supposed to have three apiece but thanks to the error-riddled shopping list, I only bought 4 (which left us short for dinner too. Thanks, Buzzfeed; you will be getting comments on that); but three would have been entirely too much food. 

Apple with almond butter. We are converted almond butter/ natural "nut butter" lovers now. On today's shopping trip we scoured the peanut butter aisle and are trying a new type. We haven't opened the jar yet, but I will give a shout out that Trader Joe's natural almond butter was delicious, comparatively priced and only had one ingredient: almonds. That's clean eating at its finest. 

Chicken, mushroom and snap pea stir fry. This was pretty simple and delicious. We made our own marinade for the chicken early this morning and it soaked up the great flavors of lime juice, tamari, honey and olive oil beautifully. Too often when we make "Chinese food" at home, we soak everything in sauce and you just don't need it. We used less than 3 T of sauce and it was still full of flavor. My only complaint was that there was too much red pepper for my taste but I could work around that. This is also a quick dish and would be really easy to prep ahead of time and throw together after work. 

One ounce of dark chocolate. Ending on a sweet note! 

Day 14 synopsis (a complete overview is coming tomorrow): I am so proud of us. We have challenged ourselves in other ways before and only put forth a half-assed effort. But we finished! We didn't cheat, we didn't quit mid-way, we finished it! That may be because we spent an arm and a leg up front on groceries, but I think it's because we knew we could do it, and more importantly, that we should do it. 

We thought this was just going to make us feel good (see our inspirational GIF below), but it's done that and more. Both of us have felt satisfied, have felt more natural energy (coffee-free), relaxed better at night and lost weight! J has lost around 15 pounds and I've lost around 6 - men, sigh. 

This challenge has changed the way we look at food, cooking and eating (more descriptive lessons tomorrow). And we enjoyed these changes; so much so that today's grocery shopping trip and menu planning was based on clean eating principles. We have picked some challenge recipes we want to eat again, some new ones we'd like to try and are re-inventing some of our favorite dishes into clean reincarnations. While shopping we looked for ingredients that had 6 or less ingredients, all of which we could pronounce and knew what they were. We've also decided that it's unrealistic to think we can clean eat 24/7, especially right away; so we're doing a 2-day cheat plan that will allow us to go out with friends, try new recipes (for Fat Kid Friday?) and not feel deprived of our favorite things. 

Thanks for sticking with us! 

And yes, we're doing this dance through the house tonight, but won't subject you to that video. 

Clean Eating Detox: Day 13

We are one day away from completing our two-week clean eating challenge! For info on days 0-12, click here or use the "Clean Eats" label to the far right.

Each day of the challenge we receive breakfast, lunch, a daytime snack, dinner and a nighttime snack.Our final Friday menu included:

Overnight oats with strawberries and chia seeds. Now remember, dear readers, we tried this overnight oats recipe on Day 2 and as we would come to find out with most of our Greek yogurt dishes, it was bitter. We liked the texture, how filling it was and the concept, but the flavor was just a little too tart and while the blueberries were a burst of flavor, they too, were bitter. This go-round with strawberries was wonderful! Admittedly, I added around an extra tsp. of honey to each of our jars, but the results were amazing. This is a great breakfast that kept me full well into the day even with high activity and it's so easy to throw together at night and then eat on the go or take in my lunchbox to work. I've found a webpage with 19 overnight oat recipes that look pretty darn good - I'll keep you updated. P.S. sorry for the less-than-artful photo; I remembered to take a picture after I'd already started chowing down and had settled in on the porch with Love in the Time of Cholera. 

For lunch we were supposed to have a snap pea and radish salad with quinoa and arugula. Considering how unsuccessful the first incarnation of this dish was on Wednesday, J decided to create his own salad at work and I tried to rebuild it from the ground up (nix the arugula in choice of kale, nix the balsamic and just use olive oil), but it sucked. If you like the dinner on Wednesday, you'll enjoy this. If you didn't, try something else clean.

Original Buzzfeed photo (of what we should have eaten)

Carrots and hummus - again, yum! 

Spicy tamari shrimp lettuce cups. PF Changs makes a phenomenal chicken (or tofu) lettuce wrap dish that is phenomenal. This recipe leaves those pitiful wraps in the dust. I was thinking on the way home from work that Chinese food would be so good tonight, and this fulfilled my craving in a healthy way! It was amazing and full of flavor! The tamari sauce created this deep, earthy, umami flavor that resonated through the dish. The textures were fabulous and unlike some of our other non-bread wraps, the lettuce cups were the perfect vessel. They added a bright, freshness and crunch. I loved it! I told J that I'd be hesitant to make some of these dishes when we had company over - who knows how someone will react to a cauliflower steak - but I would make these for any dinner party!

An apple drizzled with 1 tsp. honey. I worried this would be cloyingly sweet and sticky but this pairing actually worked. We used granny smith apples which contributed tart crunch and were so juicy that the honey dissolved a little and made more of a sauce than a sticky drizzle. I bet this dish would taste so different using different varieties of apples and honey. If you haven't done a honey taste test before, give it a shot. Honeys from different areas and made from different plants have such varied flavors; check out a local farmers market to find some great honey options.

Original Buzzfeed photo - gmail crashed!

Day 13 synopsis: We talked tonight about things that we're surprised we haven't missed since we started clean eating. We were both surprised to realize that we haven't eaten bread or pasta in over two weeks and hardly even noticed it; which is quite wild for us given that I could eat pasts 3 times a day and J works at a deli. It goes to show you that your body has amazing skills for adaptation. If you're planning on making a change in your life, give it two weeks. It may not be enough to completely cure or change you, but you'd be surprised at how quickly you adapt to not eating bread, enjoying "natural" sweets not artificial ones, smaller portions and more. Gradual "ten percent" changes over time will result in you completely turning around your habits!

Clean Eating Detox: Day 12

We are nearing the end of our two-week clean eating challenge! For info on days 0-11, click here or use the "Clean Eats" label to the far right.

Each day of the challenge we receive breakfast, lunch, a daytime snack, dinner and a nighttime snack. Thursday's menu included: (p.s. we got lazy with pictures today, most dishes were repeats, anyway)

Blackberry yogurt parfait breakfast...again. Ughh...I think this is the last heaping serving of Greek yogurt, though.

Black bean chili with carrots. This chili is left over from from Friday's dinner, and again, was delicious. This will become a common meal in our household. 

Original Buzzfeed Photo

A pear with 2 T raw, unsalted peanuts at lunch. I have been eating peanuts my entire life - all types, in all sorts of dishes (and drinks!) and by the handful; I even went to the ER when I was two because I'd stuck a peanut up my nose. But, I've never really eaten plain, unsalted ones. And they weren't half bad. I don't think I could eat these with the same compulsive inability to stop shoveling them into my mouth the way I can with salted, dry or honey roasted nuts; but maybe that's a good thing. I ate my pear and peanuts separately in two mini-snacks, but J ate them together and said they paired together really well. I will say though, that something was up with my pear - the skin made my teeth almost feel furry, it was really bitter and had a crazy texture. 

Original Buzzfeed photo

Asian-style cod in parchment with bok choy. This meal was interesting, and probably flawed. First, it is supposed to contain six (!!) baby bok choy in each parchment packet. But we couldn't find baby bok choy at any local grocery store, so we tried using regular bok choy. That may have contributed to the weirdness in texture and that it wasn't incredibly filling. The flavor from the "spicy tamari dipping sauce" were great and worked really well with the chopped peanuts. However, even with the very flavorful sauce and peanuts, the fish didn't really absorb much flavor. We don't cook fish often, so this may just be a "cod thing" we aren't aware or or a taste preference we haven't developed, but the fish tasted more like fish than any seasonings; almost bland. It was juicy and tender and cooked with perfect technique, but the flavor was off. With some tweaking, this could be a really good dish. 

"Hot cocoa" was listed as our evening snack. But, as we learned on Day 3, this doesn't make for the dreamiest hot cocoa. So instead, we drank our milk and savored our chocolate separately. Since I don't normally eat dark chocolate and my tastebuds are aching for sugar, I can't be a real expert on this, but I must say that the chocolate bars we bought are delicious. I don't know if they are any better or different than your standard 70% cocoa bar, but I have thoroughly enjoyed our choice. We got them at Harris Teeter and they are a fair trade product called Divine, 70% Dark Chocolate Intensely Rich. At Harris Teeter, a favorite grocer from college, they were on sale for less than $2.50 apiece and worth every penny. I highly suggest looking them up if you're seeking a clean choco fix. 

Original Buzzfeed photo

Day 12 synopsis: Now, I don't know what this says about me, or J for that matter, but on Day 1 he started to feel the urges and cravings for cookie cake and coffee, but for the most part, I've been pretty satisfied. Other than my Sunday musings about how good a family dinner would be, I've willingly done without our "old food." Maybe it's because yesterday's meals weren't filling, we had to eat more shitty yogurt and I watched my mother eat from Taco Bell in front of me (Cinnabon puffs... *drools*), but I wanted to junk food. We are two days away from completion and this part of me was screaming "FORGET IT! BUY DORITOS!!" I don't know if that means that I have a really strong will and I've been able to hold out for so long, if junk food isn't incredibly dear to me or if that I'm just PMS'ing, but man, I can't wait until Sunday. Actually, J thinks that the challenge ends when we eat our last snack Saturday and the page says "Congratulations!," ergo, we can immediately go to the casino and drink and eat donuts. I'm not so sure; but Sunday will be a junk food fest. 

Quoteth Buzzfeed: "Two More Days! TWO MORE DAYS!"

Clean Eating Detox: Day 11

We are nearing the end of our two-week clean eating challenge! For info on days 0-10, click here or use the "Clean Eats" label to the far right.

Each day of the challenge we receive breakfast, lunch, a daytime snack, dinner and a nighttime snack. Today we ate:

A kale and banana smoothie. In the Buzzfeed article this has a vibrant green color and what looks to be the consistency of juice. I tried to blend this for a super long time and make it more like their product... it didn't work. But luckily, we're both quite happy with the way this turns out every time.

Tuna salad in romaine cups. This was delicious! The big draw of this tuna salad is that there isn't any mayo in it. Instead you add just celery, boiled eggs and a dash of olive oil; and honestly you don't miss the mayo. I will say though, that despite this tasting great, it wasn't very filling. I thoroughly enjoyed the flavors but I was hungry within a few hours (which is part of clean eating - you should eat every 2-3 hours) but then we followed it up with a not-so-filling snack and a useless dinner. I'd make this again but pair it with more filling meals later in the day.

Banana avocado pudding. Again, Buzzfeed takes some creative license here with calling this a "pudding." Have you ever watched cooking shows like "Chopped" where some panicked contestant introduces their dish with some fancy name and the judges just shoot them down? "This isn't a pomegranate gastrique! It's just juice!" Yeah, this is nowhere near a pudding. The only similarities between this and a pudding is that you could eat both with a spoon. But honestly this has the consistency of a smoothie, so I drank mine through a straw; while I was hoping for a fluffy, creamy mousse. Despite my aggravation with their word choice (ahem false advertising ahem), the flavor was great. I think of bananas as fairly mild - seeing how you can swap them in recipes in place of eggs and 1. never realize the eggs are missing and 2. never taste the banana; but, mixing them in all of these breakfast dishes, I'm seeing just how flavorful bananas are. They really hold their own and contribute a wonderful flavor to everything they're paired with.

Pea salad with feta, radishes and boiled eggs. So, let's be real about this salad. It's not awful and as a lunch salad, in a smaller portion I could probably enjoy it. However, this really left dinner lacking and here it is 2 hours later and I'm starving. The pairings of ingredients in this salad were weird, like most salads thus far, but they didn't quite work here. You had peppery, spicy arugula with a bunch - no not "whoa that's a bunch of cookies" but the literal grouping they grow in, meaning 5+ radishes - of spicy, peppery radishes. And then you add tangy dressing with tangy feta. Everything was over-the-top which made the first few bites (to me, not J) okay but it got old fast. And lucky us, we get leftovers of this for lunch Friday. Woot.

1 ounce of dark chocolate was on the menu - but because we're famished we are pseudo cheating. We had an oz. of chocolate and also 1 T raw pistachios and 1 T raw almonds. We are only cheating in that we are eating "more" (technically not since 50+% of our salads went to waste) than prescribed, but we're not cheating because everything we added in, is clean.

Day 11 synopsis: I'm hungry. This is the first day I've been even slightly annoyed about being hungry. And if that's the worst of it, so be it. I think we've done really well so far and I've been impressed with the recipes and the detox. In our hangry fits tonight I've had to remind myself that we are only three days away from completion and have a very successful run! This minor bump in the road (or rumbling in my belly) won't deter me from continuing to eat clean.

Rest assured, this Buzzfeed is highly inaccurate. I'm not feeling that funky and/or awkward.

Clean Eating Detox: Day 10

Just finished Day 10 of our two-week clean eating challenge! For info on days 0-9, click here or use the "Clean Eats" label to the far right.

Each day of the challenge we receive breakfast, lunch, a daytime snack, dinner and a nighttime snack. Tuesday's menu included:

A breakfast of cauliflower hash with fried eggs. Only in this diet will half a head of cauliflower and two eggs count as a single portion. What a filling breakfast! I can't say enough about pairing paprika with cauliflower, it adds such depth to an otherwise bland vegetable. Like tofu, cauliflower takes on whatever flavors you throw at it, so adding paprika brings out an unconventional, and delicious smokiness. And if you haven't experimented with fried eggs you're missing out. The runny yolk is truly one of the simplest to create, yet most complex tasting sauces ever - and it's completely natural! Throw an egg on top of vegetables and you've made your own velvety breakfast, lunch or dinner!

A lunch salad made from arugula, feta, eggplant, avocado and chickpeas. On Day 2 I was toying with the idea that Balsamic wasn't my favorite flavor; today, I confirmed it. And I figured out why I can't bring myself to enjoy it - it smells like garbage, like hot, steaming garbage. I only put a third of the 2 T portion on my entire salad and still grimaced when I got an overly "ripe" bite. But I loved the composition of the salad - I thought the flavors paired really well together, but might've been a little on the mushy side. Here, J and I disagree. He loved the dressing and being the anti-argula person he is, hated the contents of the salad. Opposites attract, eh?

Red pepper slices and hummus for a daytime snack. This was not the snack for me. I love peppers in meatballs, sauces, sauteed for fajitas but raw, not so much. Only within the past six months have I started eating any raw peppers and it's only on my sandwiches at Subway. But I thought I'd give this a try. Instead, I ate one and then ended up eating all of my hummus using a pepper strip as a spoon. I love hummus, but immediately regretted this decision. I think the peppers have too bold of a flavor, they overpowered the hummus and left me tasting nothing but rawness.

Original Buzzfeed photo

Shrimp, kale, mushroom and avocado bowl for dinner. This was a surprisingly quick dish that took only 10 minutes to make (not counting the prep of the falsely titled "EZ Peel Shrimp"). It was full of flavor with the garlic, tamari and of course, J has rejoiced at having two meals that included hot sauce in the recipe. And it had great textures, kale seems to retain a bite to it at all levels of cooking so there's slight crunch, with the incredibly softened and silky mushrooms, unique shrimp texture and the smooth coolness of the avocado slices. I continue to be impressed with the pairings that are included in these meal plans. I enjoy each of these elements but probably would never have put them together, especially topping the whole thing with avocado. What seems haphazard on paper is actually delicious and apparently, well-planned.

And a big ol' bowl of blackberries for our evening snack. Despite being a dumbass and dropping the box on the floor and then having to wash all the cat hair off, the berries were delicious.

Day 10 synopsis: Today I was leaving work, I realized that this detox has really simplified our lives and our marriage. Despite having a lot of prep and feeling like we are continuously cooking, this plan has cured one of our biggest stressors and reasons that we eat poorly - rushed indecision. Since we got engaged, and even now, we have been very busy on weeknights with Game Night, Relay meetings, Beer Night and more. And while we try to plan out grocery lists with meal schedules - to save time and money - we either get stressed out overthinking our hasty meals or do a half-assed job planning and end up swinging by a restaurant or pick up random bits at the grocery store after a conversation of "What do you want to eat?" "I don't know, what do you want to eat?" This plan has given us direction and order to our days. And while the type and sheer quanitity of groceries we've bought has been insanely expensive, if we were to build on these lessons with cheaper items (less organic, more freezable or non-perishable bulk) and focus on weekly ads and seasonal deals this could be just what we need to keep our wallets and our waists in line.

Ten clean eating points to Gryffindor!