Week 2 March Makeover 28-Day Challenge

Welcome to Week Two (March 7 - March 14)

Did you have fun throwing out all that bad food. I would not even use the word "food" to describe anything with artificial ingredients that interfere with your body's metabolism and function plus cause inflammation and weight gain. 

Now that you've cleaned out your pantry, time to shop. Here is a list of items to restock it:

Stocking a Healthy Pantry

Buy organic, no sulfites, non-gmo’s as much as possible.

Artichoke hearts (jarred or frozen)

Beans (dried and canned) black beans, chickpeas/garbanzo beans, kidney beans, navy beans, black-eyed peas, pinto beans, lentils, split peas, and cannellini beans (When buying canned beans look for products without preservatives, such as calcium disodium EDTA, use low-sodium, and without added sugar)

Chipotle chilies in adobo (if you like spicy)

Cocoa powder/cacao (unsweetened)

Dried fruits: dates, raisins, apricots, goji berries, figs, papaya

Flour: chickpea, coconut, almond, sprouted wheat, spelt

Grains: red, brown, or black rice, red or black quinoa, old-fashioned rolled oats/steel cut, millet, barley, bulgar

Miso paste (white)

Nut butters and tahini

Nutritional yeast

Nuts and seeds: raw almonds, cashews, pecans, pistachios, walnuts, flaxseeds, sesame seeds, hulled hemp seeds (hemp hearts), pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds 

Organic veggie broth (low sodium)

Pasta and noodles: 100% whole-grain or bean-based spaghetti, linguine, lasagna, soba

Roasted red peppers (jarred)

Spices and dried herbs

Sauces and Condiments: hot sauce, coconut aminos, tamari, mustard, olives, pickles, sauerkraut

Sweeteners: Pure maple syrup, dates, raw honey

Tomato products: salt-free jarred, BPA-free canned, or Tetra Pak tomato products (diced, whole, puree’, paste, marinara sauce)

Tortillas: 100% whole-grain and corn, sprouted wheat

Vanilla beans/vanilla

Vinegars (apple cider, balsamic, rice)

Superfoods: hemp seeds, maca powder, flax seeds, chia seeds, spirulina

Stock your refrigerator with plant-based food:

• Use Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides and Produce from EWG to pick healthy produce.
• If you eat meat (I recommend that you go 100% plant-based for at least a month), buy meats that are 100% organic and grass-fed. Buy fish that is wild-caught (not farm-raised).
• Buy ingredients for basic juice: 
• Carrots
• Kale, Cabbage or Broccoli
• Celery
• Apple
• Ginger (optional)
• Buy veggies for making healthy, chunky salad:
• Cucumber
• Zucchini
• Beans (black or garbanzo)
• Red onion
• Cilantro

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Healthy Chunky Salad

Ingredients:

Carrot

Cucumber

Celery

Kale

Cabbage

Onion

Black or garbanzo beans (rinsed and drained)

Prep:

Cut veggies into bite-size pieces. Add beans. Dress with Apple Cider Vinegar and Olive Oil and your choice of spices—optional: add lemon juice and/or Balsamic Vinegar. Mix together and ENJOY!

Add walnuts, quinoa, pumpkin seeds, apple or pear chunks for variation. BE CREATIVE!

Make a healthy Super Food Green Smoothie. Click here for the recipe.

Prepare juice drinks, big veggie (Healthy Chunky) salad and Super Food Green Smoothie to eat/drink as you adjust to a plant-based, clean eating routine. Note: do not juice fruit—it concentrates the sugars. Juice vegetables then add to blender and add fruit if you find the taste too green. This will help you adjust your palate as you eat more veggies.

There are plenty of recipes to explore on this site for your new healthy lifestyle. So start exploring.

Continue your healthy makeover and see you here next week.