Cleanse for the New Year

by Green Gourmet L

Photo from mastercleansesecretsreviews.org

Around this time of year, alot of people think about doing a cleanse. You may have indulged in too many Christmas goodies. You may want a fresh start for 2011. You may be someone that does this every year as a ritual. Whatever the reason, cleanses can help restart the motivation to make conscious decisions about what you put in your body.

Cleanses can also be a bit scary. If you are thinking of doing one after the holidays, make sure you research the best one for you and talk to your doctor as some cleanses do not work well with certain medications, medical conditions, or body types. The most popular and trendy cleanse out there is the Master Cleanse. This involves drinking a concoction of lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper as well as taking laxatives and doing a salt water flush for at least 10 days. The theory is that the body builds up toxins and that this is a way to give your digestive system a rest and clear your body of whatever toxins may exist.

The Master Cleanse was developed by an alternative healer and there has not been much (if any) research done about it. But there is alot of anecdotal evidence that seems to be mostly positive in nature (weight loss, increased energy, etc). Be your best advocate and do your own research! If anyone has done the Master Cleanse (or any other version of it) and would like to share your experience, the Green Gourmets are very interested to hear it!

Photo from mastercleansesecretsreviews.org

 

If you don’t want to be as extreme as the Master Cleanse followers you can still cleanse by taking a few small steps to flush out your system. Mr. Green Gourmet and I usually do our own version of a cleanse right after the holiday season. This helps get us back on the right track for healthy eating in the new year.

This is what we avoid for at least 2 weeks:

• Caffeine
• Alcohol
• Anything made with High Fructose Corn Syrup or Hydrogenated fats
• All meats and poultry
• Sugar and sugar substitutes (splenda, equal, etc)
• Processed or packaged foods
• We also limit our intake of dairy

This might sound really hard (especially the caffeine part), but it is doable. If you decide to do this, make sure that you are choosing organic produce and getting enough protein through beans/legumes, nuts, and soy/dairy. Also, you want to up your water intake to 8-10 glasses of filtered/bottled water a day. I find that once I start making more conscious decisions about what I am putting into my body, I don’t crave the sweets, salt, and caffeine buzz like I used to. If you need some ideas for recipes, Bon Appetit has written out meal plans and ideas for a “Food Lovers” Cleanse. This looks good, but expensive.  Now onto other buzzworthy facts:

How to Eliminate Caffeine in Seven Days

Caffeine is an addiction. Taking yourself off of caffeine will probably be difficult and may lead to symptoms like headaches, fatigue, and irritation. BUT you also won’t have the roller coaster of energy highs and lows throughout the day. Can you imagine waking up in the morning and not NEEDING coffee to get going? It is kind of amazing. Give it 7 days. Credit is given to Mark Hyman from the book UltraMetabolism.

1. Start out on a weekend where you can take naps as needed
2. First three days: cut down to 1/2 of the amount of caffeine you usually drink (coffee, tea, soda)
3. Next four days: Drink one cup of caffeinated green tea. I like the Tazo and Yogi brands
4. For all seven days, increase your intake of Vitamin C (take 1-2 packages of Emergen-C powder)
5. Drink at least 6-8 glasses of filtered/bottled water

And guess what…you can still drink decaf! I love the taste and the ritual of drinking coffee, but I never liked the effect it had on me. I was either wired or exhausted after drinking caffeinated coffee. But decaf doesn’t leave me with any side effects, so I enjoy my cup each morning. Good luck with any version of a cleanse, the Green Gourmets would love to hear your experiences!

Pickled Shrimp

by Green Gourmet K

Happy New Years Eve!

Now add the recipe below to your New Years resolutions.  If you’re in the South, you must know how to make this. If you’re elsewhere, you can make this and people will admire your Southern cooking skills.

Have you had pickled shrimp before?   This Southern delicacy is so downright delectable – how about that for alliteration?  In the village where my parents live (yes, they live in a village), shrimp can be bought fresh most of the year.  Once you have fresh South Carolina shrimp for $4.99 a pound you will never, ever want to buy them from the grocery store again, unless desperate.  What the husband and I do is go by the seafood store (which is literally next to the docked shrimp boats) and pick up several pounds of shrimp and freeze it until we need it.  It’s cheaper, we know where our shrimp came from and we also like to support the shrimpers in the village.

Usually we just boil the shrimp with old bay and a splash of vinegar.  Then peel and eat them with cocktail sauce.  But having shrimp available for an appetizer is a great way to elevate your party food or treat you dinner guests to something special.  This is a very easy recipe that is best made the day before serving.  It lasts 2-3 days. [Update: A true “villager” tells me that this recipe will last a week or more in the fridge! It has always been gone within a day in my house.]

Ingredients

1 lb of medium sized shrimp (the smaller ones are better for this recipe)

1/4 of a large onion, sliced into thin strips

1/4 of a large green bell pepper, sliced into thin strips

capers – 1-2 tbsp

24 oz bottle of ketchup – try to get the kind with no high fructose corn syrup

1-2 tbsp of good mustard – suggest adding one tbsp then tasting your sauce

1 cup of white vinegar

drizzle of olive oil, 1-2 tbsp

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Boil your shrimp in old bay with a few bay leaves.  The minute they start to float and turn pink pull them out.  They will not be cooked all the way, the vinegar will do the rest.  Peel your shrimp and set aside.  Combine all the rest of your ingredients for your sauce and taste it before adding your semi-raw shrimp.  It should be tangy, spicy and sweet without too much of a ketchup taste.  Adjust your vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper to taste.  Once satisfied with your sauce mix in your shrimp.  Cover and refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours.  If you don’t want to let the vinegar cook your shrimp the rest of the way, just boil them as you would for boiled shrimp and then let them chill in the fridge with the rest of the ingredients for at least a couple hours.  Serve with crackers.

The next day it will look like this:

(That’s my brother’s thumb, he’s my hand model and food tester.)

This also makes a great gift.  Bottle your pickled shrimp into little jars and package it with some crackers for a great gift for a host/hostess.

To print this recipe: https://sites.google.com/site/greengourmetsprintablerecipes/pickled-shrimp