Day 16: I'm always hungry.

Only 5 days left on the cleanse!

I realize in looking through my blog, that I haven't included too much of what I have been eating. I'm sure you already know what mashed sweet potatoes look like, so I'll spare you the minutiae... just kidding.

Something new that I tried during the cleanse was making Indian daal or lentils as we, I mean, you white people call them. A friend of mine helped me out by giving me all the spices needed and the yellow lentils and the recipe.

 

In addition to the lentils and spices, you can add ginger, onions and tomatoes.  Oh, you also add a glob of [vegan] butter at the end.

 

You basically simmer this down for 2 hours. Turn on the vent or your house will smell.

 

Ta-da! Brown mush that provides you with protein, iron, fiber and essential amino acids. I paired this with rice and potatoes and some corn tortillas, which I pretended was nice warm naan bread.

Did you watch The Office? 

Kevin and I are so much alike. Not only is the resemblance uncanny but today I learned we have the same eating schedule: 

First Breakfast

Second Breakfast

First Lunch

Second Lunch

First Dinner

Second Dinner

After-Dinner Delight

It's hard to believe there's time for anything else besides eating. I'm not even exaggerating, but I really do eat this often. Sometimes it's not a full meal for second breakfast, but there's definitely a first lunch at noon and a second lunch at 3:30. Then first dinner at 6 and second dinner at 9.

When I was teaching English in China, there was a bus that picked up all the teachers in the city early in the morning and dropped us off in the evening. One day, the one somewhat handsome of the Chinese teachers [okay, after 7 months your judgment starts to gets cloudy] turned around and said to me, "You're always eating," like me shoving food in my face every day on the bus was bothering him. 

I wanted to pull a Chris Farley skit out of my ass and say, "LAY OFF ME. I'M STARVING!" But he's Chinese and they don't even know who the Beverly Hills Ninja is. 

One thing this cleanse has helped me with is preparing my own meals. Don't get me wrong, I love to cook and this Yan Can Cook. I'm just a control freak so it's been annoying have to cook in my parents' [and grandma's] kitchen. It's not neat. There's Chinese herbs, soy sauce and baos everywhere. So it's made me have to stake a claim in the kitchen and just work with what's there.

Our oven has been broken, so I'm now a master toaster oven chef. This week I have roasted a combination of vegetables: eggplant, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, asparagus, sweet potatoes. I just bought some zucchini and yellow squash today to roast over the weekend. Just coat them with some olive oil, sea salt, pepper and a generous helping of herbs.

 

  

I sometimes top it off with some pasta sauce, but it's not a necessity. Today I tried brown rice pasta for the first time and I actually really like it. I'm one of those people who thinks wheat pasta is not as good as regular pasta. For people who claim they can't taste a difference, something is seriously wrong with you. It's gritty. Pasta should not have that texture. 

I also learned that I can eat an entire eggplant by myself during first lunch. I had to scrounge around for stuff at work for second lunch. So here are some snacks that I like to have:

These are perfect. Absolutely the best snack to carry around. Everyone loves them. And they really are filling. 

 

Definitely not the same as munching on a bag of Zapps Salt & Pepper flavor but tasty enough to get me through to first and second lunch.

How awesome is it that the day that I buy these, Jillian totally plugs them on the Biggest Loser! So Lara Bars are my new best friends. When I was running, I had Clif bars all over the place. In my purse, in my car, in my desk [until a little mouse decided to try out my protein bars.] But these are not only all natural, but somehow they are gluten-free, dairy free, soy free, non-gmo, vegan and kosher! AND they are the only source of sweets, besides fruit and agave necter, that I have had! I have the chocolate, lemon bar, pecan pie, and today I picked up a coconut creme, chocolate mint and banana nut. They're my dessert.

Every day, even before the cleanse, I bring a grocery bag full of food to get me through the work day. What can I say? I'm a hungry, hungry hippo.