Lessons Learned From 21 Days of Clean Food

Lessons Learned from 21 Days of Clean Food:

1.  We are convinced that more organic, plant-based meals are important to health. We found that when we cut out meat, we substitute it with more vegetables.  We don't miss the meat as much as we thought we would.   Sources:  In Defense of Food, True Food, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, Forks Over Knives  (I found these at our local library)

2.  We learned more about combining foods to make complete proteins.  We also ate a lot more quinoa, buckwheat, and tofu, which are complete proteins.

3.  It was helpful to start with just a few simple meals that we rotated, so that it was not too hard, which was recommended by Jimmy Page.  I was pouring over cookbooks and added meals to the rotation, if we liked them.

Our favorites were:

Eggs in a basket

Breakfasts:  Egg sandwiches on Whole-wheat bread, Ezekiel 4:9 cereal, Oatmeal, Puffed Millet, Shredded Wheat from Trader Joe's or Aldies, Smoothies

Lunches:  Soups with Bread and Green Salad, Whole-grain pasta with homemade tomato sauce and spinach, Big Salads with other sides, whole-wheat pita pizzas

Dinners:
Vegetable and Tofu Stir-fry with Brown Rice and a Green Salad
Veggie Sandwich (avocado, cucumbers, kale, and hummus on homemade whole-wheat bread)
Roasted Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes with apples, quinoa salad or another side
Kale and Cannellinni Bean Soup with whole-wheat bread and a salad
Pizza with Homemade Whole-wheat crust and Salad
Re-fried Beans or Black beans with Brown rice, whole-wheat tortillas, avocados, salad

4.  Clean eating, without refined sugar and white flour is wonderful, once you get used to it.

5.  Having nourishing snacks available is important.  If there are unhealthy snacks around, someone will find them!

6.  Celebrate now and then (like we did on Day 19), but keep going in the right direction, toward health.

7.  Join in the journey with friends and family, for support and encouragement.  Thank you all for your kind encouragement and sharing your own recipes!  I am thankful for River Valley Ranch, where Jon Bisset invites Jimmy Page to encourage the staff toward health.  These meetings began our journey in reading and learning about clean whole food.

8.  This is only the beginning.  Each day we decide what we will eat and drink, promoting or eroding our health.  Simply one day at a time, for the glory of God.