Tom Yam Soup

I am always trying new foods to broaden my palette and stumbled on this gem at Trader Joes.  It is a medium spicy yet light and refreshing soup that goes great with a light salad.  I love soup and this is perfect for a light lunch.  It's really easy to prepare as well.  Just enter the contents in a microwaveable dish and in 5 minutes you have a great tasting dish.

Omega VRT 350HD (Fruit and Vegetable Juicing Machine)

I recently completed 30 days of juicing and luckily living in California there are juice bars or options to get juice everywhere so I did not need to own a juicer.  I decided to take my commitment to the next level and invest in a new juicer for the convenience of juicing at home when I don't feel like making a trip to a store.  I owned a juice machine by Greenstar but one of the twin gears broke.  I did my research on the Omega by watching youtube videos and liked the way it performed.  I am however noticing that the vegetables I choose to juice do foam a lot but the quality of juice is amazing due to the low rpms.  I picked the Omega up from Bed Bath and Beyond.

Nekter Juicebar

Today marks officially 10 days that I have been on a juice only cleanse.  I am not weighing myself this time around nor am I setting an end date.  I've done both before and I find that I put too much pressure on myself to hit goals.  I do however feel at least 5 pounds lighter and I don't feel as bloated as I did before I started.  I would however like to stay on the juice cleanse for at least 30 days, but I'm just taking it one day at a time.  Nekter Juicebar is a new juicing franchise and it's fabulous!  The prices are extremely affordable and they have great promotions running all the time, for instance if you purchase a juice in the morning and then save your receipt and bring it back the same day after 2pm you will receive $2.00 off a 16 oz juice which is already just $4.75.  I work local to the location where I purchase the juices and also receive a 15% local employee discount.    I also took advantage of their $25 gift card order which comes with a free 16oz juice.  The photo is of a few of the juices included in a 2 day cleanse that I purchased to kick start my cleanse which was also discounted at $35 dollars (regular $65) for 6 juices.

Quick and Easy Pasta Meal

Lately, I have been craving pasta and discovered a new dish from Trader Joe's.  I really love this Linguine with Clam Sauce dish.  Once I like a new dish It's tempting to have it several times a week which is what happened in this case, it is so tasty and filling.  I actually only use the sauce and leave the clams out when I re-heat this dish.  After a long day at work its easy to prepare especially when you don't have time to cook from scratch.

Cuisinart Citrus Juicer

I had to pick up a new juicer because my lovely Black and Decker Citrus Juicer that I had for almost two years suddenly stopped working.  I immediately had to find a new one because I juice daily and lucked out when I found a really nice juicer made by Cuisinart at Bed Bath and Beyond.  I love the pulp control feature on this one as it allows you to add more or less pulp to your juice.  It's very easy to use and even easier to clean up.

Lunch Today

I love to eat vegan food and one of my favorites vegan restaurants in LA makes the best complete meal.       Real Food Daily has two locations and although a bit on the pricey side its worth every bite.  The dish below is the Real Food Meal.  The  meal includes Brown Rice, beans (which change each day  - other beans could be lentils, lima bean, etc.) Greens, Land and Sea Vegetables, pressed salad and house dressing.

It's Linner time ! (short for lunch and dinner)

I started my day pretty late yesterday and ended up getting a green drink freshly made from Wholefoods and later that evening (late afternoon) I ended up making a veggie burger with sauteed mushrooms with a light salad.  The cheese on the wholegrain bun is soy cheese and the burger is from a  a company called Morningstar and the brand is Grillers Vegan.

Holy Guacamole

I made some delicious guacamole.   I usually pick up the guacamole kit at my local grocery store (Trader Joe's), it's just easier when they have it all together in one place.  I like mine a little spicy so it's nice that they add the jalepenos.  I couple this with pita chips or in this case multigrain crackers.

Citrus Juicing

I love to make this citrus drink.  It is a mixture of Grapefruit, Lemon and an Orange.  I also add flax seed oil.  It's just a great way to get a boost in the morning.  Delicious!

Juicing

I've been vegetarian for many years and from time to time I love to Juice.  I recently went on a Juice Fast for 2 weeks and I plan on doing it for 60 days straight as a detox.  Below are some of the Juices I like to Drink.  I usually make them myself but it does take a lot of work so I buy them from Wholefoods (they have a fresh juice bar) and Pressed Juicery is another great company where I order Juices.  Another great brand is Evolution from Sprouts Markets.

Green Juice From Wholefoods
Kale  - Lemon - Ginger - Apple - Celery - Cucumber - Orange - Parsley - Spinach

Ground FlaxSeed - Almond Butter - Strawberries - Blackberries-Raspberries-Blueberries - Green Machine Naked Juice

Yum!