I am thinking of doing a detox diet next week which is something I haven’t done for at least 7 years, prior to children sharing my body. I have tried a couple of times since giving birth, to be honest, but it is ridiculously hard to feed children 3 meals and oodles of snacks all day and not cave in to a yogurt cup or nut thin cracker. Maybe the trick is to find a less rigorous detox because the only two I have followed before are pretty demanding. They are, if I remember correctly in my toxin-inundated brain, the following: One is to drink nothing but veggie juice all day until around 4: when you eat an early dinner of as much brown rice and steamed veggies as you possibly can. You can season this meal in any way, as long as there is no fat. The veggie juices should be freshly made, but in a pinch store bought veggie juice is OK, but no fruit is allowed. You do this for 6 days and really, I’ve never felt better than when doing this, though part of that is the fact I wasn’t taking in any of my allergen foods. The other one is to eat brown rice and  mung beans cooked with ghee, turmeric, coriander, and cumin, and nothing else, for several days. This is actually easier to stick to b/c you can eat actual food all day, but then you get sick of the meal pretty darn quickly. The thing is, lately I’ve been feeling like I need detox to really enjoy food again~ everything I make tastes kind of lackluster and I constantly have that hungry-but-nothing-sounds-good feeling. But both the boys are off for two weeks so that means even more feeding them than normal, so maybe I should wait for the new year…Well, I have until tomorrow to decide I guess.

This is not a traditional miso. For one thing it is packed with broccoli, big chunks of tofu, and rice noodles. For another thing I do not add fish sauce because although I do eat fish, the idea of “fish sauce” just grosses me out. As does anything soup-y and fish, or sea food, or basically anything fishy besides tuna, halibut, and salmon. But anyway, I’ve been making this soup a long time and is my son’s favorite way to eat tofu and broccoli, so naturally I do it as often as possible. This is one of those things I’ve never written down so a lot of variation happens, but here are the basics: Add 1 or 2 T of olive oil to a pot that can hold at least 5 cups of stock plus lots of veggies. Warm the oil, then add 1 medium chopped onion. Stir until the onions are translucent, then add several cups of chopped broccoli (as much as you want really) and small squares of extra firm tofu. (I use one package of Whole Foods’ 365 brand which is 14oz.) Then crush about 3 cloves of garlic into the pot, add at least 1T of balsamic vinegar and 1T of tamari (wheat free of course!) and black pepper and herbs to taste. I like a lot of pepper and add at least a teaspoon of Coastal Goods Mediterranean Salt, basil, oregano, and herbs de Provence. Once the broccoli is bright green, about 3-5 minutes of stirring, then add 4 cups of veggie stock. I like Rapunzel’s Vegan Vegetable Bouillon which means putting a pot of 4cups of water on to boil when I start the soup and then adding the cubes with the water at this point in the soup making. Then another cup of water with a bunch of rice noodles. Next 1-2 T of miso (make sure it’s the gluten free kind!)  The soup should never reach a boil especially once the miso is in it. Then, just a squeeze of lemon, turn off the stove and let it sit with the lid on. As with all soups, it is much better the next day, though still awfully good right away.

I’ve written before about how much I love Yogi Teas~ their flavor, their packaging, their cute little messages on the tops of the tea bag strings~ so today I was devastated to read on the back of one of the teas I was contemplating buying at Whole Foods these nasty little words: barley malt. No! Say it ain’t so! This probably sounds overly dramatic, but really, it ruined my day. I’ve been crafting a letter to them in my head ever since. Something like this: Dear Yogi, I am a huge fans of your teas, drinking on average 3 cups per day of (lately)your Kava tea, but my daily intake varies among your many wonderful blends. But, just today I realized you put barley malt in your teas, which means I can no longer drink them. See, I’m gluten intolerant and barley malt is on the do not intake list. Please consider taking the barley malt out of your teas, or substituting with something friendlier to the growing number of gluten intolerant people out there. Thank you!
I imagine it will take a lot more than just one complainer, but it is a start.

Not only do I need to think up a menu for Thanksgiving dinner, but my son’s preschool is having a feast where we all bring food to share. What should I bring for a class of preschoolers and their parents to share at 2:15 in the afternoon? It’s a sweet idea and all, but terribly inconvenient considering I can be there all of 25 minutes before leaving to get my other son, then back to the preschool. Hmmmm~ I’m leaning towards carrots and hummus. Naturally gluten free and it’s the kind of food I like at 2:15PM. For Turkey day I want to make butternut squash soup and a quinoa dish. The quinoa is easy~ I toast the dry quinoa in a pot with olive oil for 2-3 minutes, then add the appropriate amount of water (or stock). While the pot works up to a boil I add chopped up onions and garlic. Once boiling, I turn it down and put a lid on it. About 5 minutes later I add the chopped broccoli (and sometimes tofu cubes)so they can steam. At that time I also add black pepper and whatever herbs I have, usually basil and oregano and thyme. When it is finished I add soy sauce. It is good warm and also cold~ straight from the fridge the next day. Nothing like Thanksgiving leftovers!