Day 10 of Cucumber-ville!

We have only a few days left of this 15 day program.  Although most of the recipes are interesting I am getting tired of cucumbers being in like every one of them.  Have you noticed?  What do you all think about the cucumber patch in our refrigerators?

Today I'll just skip to the recipes as I had a nutty day running to and fro trying to tie up some loose ends before spending the next four days in a medical conference.  In the past being gone all day, having to wear something besides sweats, etc... would just be par for the course. Since I haven't been working for such a long time getting myself together, with all the stuff I need for the day seems like a daunting task.  Sorry to all of you out there that have really full lives, work all day, come home and have a full home life and deal with kids.  I do remember those days but not vividly.  In fact, I kind of wonder how I got everything done?  I think if I'm honest I recall that I let a lot of things slide.  Like my diet and exercise.

In addition to taking a class that in retrospect I'm not sure it was time or money well spent, I also headed back to Orange County for the third time to pick up my anniversary ring that MSB bought me way back in June.  It was finally, finally finished so I made the three hour trip to retrieve the thing.  It is gorgeous and so nice to look at especially since MSB is so far away right now.

So - on with our day:

First up for breakfast we have the Pear Lime Ginger Shake.  In addition to the pear and ginger there is a substantial amount of lime juice for a kick.  There's also pineapple, flax and a little of our new fav coconut oil to make sure we start the day with all the goodness that we've learned about. I completely forgot to take a picture of this nice shake but it was a lovely, creamy yellow, off-white color.  The lime counteracts the sweetness of the pineapple so I especially like that.  It didn't knock my socks off so I guess it gets a B rating.

This morning's mid morning fruit salad is the Watermelon Grapefruit Salad.  Just the thought of this salad is very tempting.  It was hard to not eat this while I was making it since the aromas are so enticing.  In addition to the watermelon and grapefruit the taste and smell is enhanced by fresh mint and a zing from the scallions.  This very refreshing salad deserves and A for sure.

For lunch we got to make a zucchini hummus that had cashews and garlic as well as some miso in the mix.  This is a dip that can be eaten with raw veggies or in a nori sheet (seaweed).  I used my last sheet of nori eating this and it was a bit of a mistake.  This hummus is quite loose but not watery but is not dry enough for the nori.  It is a great dip and I will probably make it again.  This dip deserves a B.

For the mid afternoon snack we have Curried Cilantro Cucumber Soup.  I was really ready to love this soup since it has so many ingredients that I love; tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, miso and of course cilantro and the ever present cucumbers.  Well - I was not terribly impressed.  If I hadn't taken this in the car with me on my long drive I don't know that I would have had the half a cup that I did drink.  Yup - sad.  It gets a C-.



Finally for dinner we have an interesting wrap thingy.  It is sort of a sushi type wrap with mostly veggies and a bit of miso to hold it together.  Like I said earlier I used my last sheet of nori earlier in the day so I used these very cute soy sheets - so that's why they aren't green.  This tasted pretty good but in truth there's not enough miso to really hold this together.  I've made sushi rolls before and of course its the sticky rice that holds everything together so that you don't have a mess.  Sadly, this ended up as a mess.  It gets a B.

Tomorrow is my first day of planning out the day, pre-making my meals and hauling them with me.  Wish me luck and I'll see you back here tomorrow to let you know if I succeeded or if it was an epic fail.

Here's the recipe spreadsheet:

Name	Category	Diet	Day	Page number		Rating
Vanilla Blueberry Shake	Shake	Fat Blast	eight	128		D
Red, White and blue berry salad	Salad	Fat Blast	eight	166		B
Kreamy Chipotle Salad	Salad	Fat Blast	eight	136		A
Kreamy Cucumber Soup	Soup	Fat Blast	eight	146		A
Zucchini Noodles	Dinner	Fat Blast	eight	160		C
Pineapple Cilantro Shake	Shake	Fat Blast	nine	124		B
Cucumber Guacamole	Dip	Fat Blast	nine	158		B+
Cabbage Salad with Cucumber Miso Dressing	Salad	Fat Blast	nine	131		C
Garlic Bell Soup	Soup	Fat Blast	nine	142		A
Celery Almond Pate'	Dip	Fat Blast	nine	158		A
Pear Lime Ginger Shake	Shake	Fat Blast	ten	122		B
Watermelon Grapefruit Salad	Salad	Fat Blast	ten	168		A
Zucchini Hummus	Dip	Fat Blast	ten	159		B
Curried Cilantro Cucumber Soup	Soup	Fat Blast	ten	141		C-
Mixed Vegetable Seaweed Rolls	Roll	Fat Blast	ten	154		B