Abundance Diet, Day 17

Remember how I said in last night's post that I wanted to run this morning but I was afraid it'd be raining when I woke up? Well, it was. And I don't mind running in the rain when it's warm, but it was, like, 30 degrees out. But just as I'd resigned myself to staying in and doing yoga instead, the rain let up right at 6 a.m. So I threw on my running gear and headed out. It was cold and damp out, and about 45 minutes into my run, it started sleeting. But it stopped before I even made it back home.

Once I got home, I had some electrolyte water (from a Vega mix) and a scoop of Vega One Berry protein mixed with cashew-almond milk. I typically put my protein powder into my smoothies, but today's green smoothie on the Abundance Diet didn't sound like it'd be good with protein powder. It was this Creamy Mint Mojito Green Smoothie made with cucumbers, lime, spinach, celery, apple, mint, avocado, and stevia.

This was my least favorite smoothie on the cleanse so far. But it wasn't bad! It was just a tad more veggie-heavy than I prefer in a smoothie. I usually opt for sweet, milky, fruit-based smoothies. This one was super-creamy from the avocado (I used a half avocado), and it had a great mint-lime flavor. But I think maybe cucumber in a smoothie just isn't my thing.

By the way, if you've not been following along this month, I'm 17 days into a 28-day detox using only recipes from Somer McCowan's The Abundance Diet cookbook. It's whole foods-based, gluten-free, white sugar-free, and processed food-free.

For my salad today, I had the Ultimate Lentil Salad, a hearty cold legume salad with radish, carrot, raisins, pecans, capers, onion, and a sweet mustard-vinegar dressing. I'm such a fan of bean or legume salads. They're a nice change from lettuce salads, and they're so satisfying. Loved the raisins in this since they added some sweetness. The recipe called for currants, but I couldn't find any in the bulk bins and didn't want to buy a whole box for a couple tablespoons when I had raisins in the pantry.

My soup of the day was Tomato Basil Bisque, a simple soup made with blended tomatoes, fresh basil, onions, and cashew cream. The only thing that could have made this delicious soup better would have been a buttery Daiya grilled cheese on the side. I'll have to make this soup again when I'm back on gluten and vegan cheese.

My afternoon snack, which I enjoyed at my desk at work, was more Cucumber Tzatziki made with homemade cashew sour cream, mint, and dill. I had cauliflower, broccoli, and radishes for dippin'.

Dinner was one of my favorite meals so far! BBQ Tofu & Avocado Spring Rolls!

These rolls are stuffed with homemade, baked BBQ tofu strips, avocado, carrots, cucumber, purple cabbage, mint, basil, and green leaf lettuce, and they're served with a sweet and spicy peanut sauce. I always keep a massive pack of rice paper wrappers in my pantry for quick spring or salad rolls, but I don't make them often enough. Clearly, my wrapping skills leave much to be desired. I'm out of practice.

I had four of these rolls before my community yoga class at Co-Motion Studio this evening. It's blustery cold out! The temp is 33 now, but the Weather Channel says it actually feels like 26. Down South, that's what we call "cold as a witch's tit."

And when it's cold, I don't like to go outside (unless I'm running, and then my body thinks it's about 15 degrees warmer). So as I was leaving yoga, I thought, "You know what would make this cold more bearable? Hot cocoa." And lucky me, I had some healthy hot cacao mix in my pantry that my mom picked up for me at the end of last winter. It contains a little coconut sugar, but that's better than white sugar. Plus, it's loaded with superfoods — cacao, lucuma, mesquite, pink salt.

I'm enjoying this cup now as I type. And I already feel much more warm and cozy. This really hits the spot since I've been having some chocolate cravings over the last couple days.