Day 12-13, Standard Process Cleanse

Well there you go! An original photo. Because this is what I was faced with today, except on a grander scale.

And by today, I mean yesterday. It's 12:29 and I'm still up, so this post will count for today (yesterday) and tomorrow (today)... unless I decide to write again later.

So yes, this was the first time I had SERIOUS cravings. We went to Riley's grandparents house for lunch (hungry, mind you) where they had an aMAzing spread of food. Breads, cheeses, meats, chips, salsa, chips, dips, desserts, lemonade... and of course our beloved fruit and veggie trays that we resorted to the whole time! We did give them fair warning about our temporary diet restrictions, so at least we weren't being rude. But BOY was it really hard not to eat all that delicious looking stuff! And it probably was actually all pretty wholesome stuff compared to other parties you might go to this time of year. Alas, we cannot cheat and make the last 11 days count for naught. We're over the hump so I know we can push through to the end!

I've been learning how much I eat the kids food on a regular basis. Like their bits and pieces that they drop or a bite that I just snag from their bowl. Every time I have to catch myself and say, no, you can't have that popcorn/fortune cookie/cheerio/etc. Even today Josiah put a chip up to my mouth and I had to push it away. Oh my goodness that was really a challenge. So a few seconds later I lick my lips and get a taste of it, wow. Talk about temptation! Then everything I fed him that he had enough of and gave back to me, what am I supposed to do with it? Normally I would eat it but I can't do that, and I'm not gonna just put it back on the public serving dish...

Oh well, soon enough I can gorge myself on all those things I've been missing out on these 3 weeks. Although I'm hoping that even then I won't go overboard. I'm just not the kind of girl that can just take one bite. If there are sweets or yummy snacks at a party, I eat them all up. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to take so much that nobody else gets any, but I sure don't worry about making sure there are leftovers at the end of the night, knowwhatimean?

We watched Food, Inc last night and the rest this morning. Talk about timing. Makes me wanna never buy anything from anybody unless I've talked to the farmer personally and know exactly how it's being made and what's in it and all that. I know it's more expensive, but I also know we're at a turning point. We can join the ranks of the general public who buy whatever's easiest to get out there, or we can be intelligent about what goes into our bodies, and make the sacrifices necessary to take care of them. The question is where to draw the line... how much do we cut from other lines in our budget to afford better quality food? I guess we'll be working on that together soon. I'm thinking seriously about getting back into our organic produce coop. We took a break from it when we moved and now seems like a good time to resume! Actually 2 weeks ago would've been good... might've saved us a chunk of change on all these fruits and veggies we've been stocking up on. But hey, hindsight is 20/20.

I made chicken stock for the first time today! Super excited about that. Will probably never have to buy it again, depending on how often I make a whole chicken, and how often I just need broth. Anyway so I used the bones/skin from last night's dinner, added water, apple cider vinegar, celery and half a red onion, and let it sit on low in the crock pot all day. Tomorrow morning I better have figured out where to put it all, since I didn't think that far ahead when I set out on this little adventure. May need to make a run for some canning jars.

We had dinner at PeiWei because we couldn't find Genghis Grill, they must've closed down or moved or something. Got the cool lettuce wraps, which is what I always get there, and this time did not disappoint! I'm not gonna lie though, I might have cheated. Those little white thingies and probably some soy sauce mixed in there (didn't add any from the bowl they brought so at least there's that)... but hey, I was starving and it was at least mostly cleanse-friendly. I haven't cheated this whole time (except for that absentminded handful of cheerios on Day 1) so I'm not gonna beat myself up about it. I just hope it doesn't "mess things up" or anything like that.

This is the 3rd time I've forgotten to take my afternoon supplements, despite setting myself an alarm. Gah!

Well I better run, gotta decide what to put in the crock pot for lunch after church. Have a great Sunday!