October Unprocessed: Day Three

I am feeling pretty good today!  I started the day bright and early (6:30) with a workout at the gym with my trainer.  I did have a headache last night which I attribute to the fact that I had no coffee at all yesterday.  In fact, no caffeine at all!  Tomorrow morning I will be starting the Revitalive Cleanse which I am pretty excited about!  Revitalive will be delivering the cleanse to my office by 9 am so that I can start tomorrow.  Totally looking forward to that.

So for today, I am going to keep it simple and fresh. 

Breakfast

Fresh avocado, cucumber and tomatoes sprinkled with a little sea salt and a lot of pepper and some lemon juice.  Simple and delicious
Iced greed tea with sugar in the Raw (turbinado sugar).

Lunch

Quinoa stuffed pepper
Brown rice (I used a little Tamari sauce on the brown rice)

Snack

Cashews

Dinner

Vegetable Stir-Fry
Brown Rice

Vegetable Stir FryIngredients:

1/2 red pepper, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1/2 red onion, sliced to 1/4 in thick slices then cut in half through the middle
1/2 zucchini, diced
1/2 cup of button mushrooms, sliced thin
1/2 cup of Moyashi bean sprouts (you can buy these in the produce section near the salad)
1 leak, white parts only cut in half and then diced
1-2 gloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
 2-3 tablespoons of red pepper (depending on how hot you want it)
1/2 tablespoon of black pepper
Tamari Sauce to taste
Toasted sesame seeds
1/4 cup of cooked brown rice

Put your 2 tablespoons of veggie broth in a skillet and add all of your vegetables.  Cover and saute on medium-high heat.

Next add the red pepper and black pepper to the veggies and make sure they are all coated well.  Then begin adding the tamari sauce.  I start by adding about 1-2 tablespoons.  Turn the heat down to medium and cover, stirring often. 

Uncover your veggies and taste.  I usually end up adding a little more tamari here.  Then add the toasted sesame seeds (I like a lot, but totally your call) and the Moyashi bean sprouts.  Turn to low and leave uncovered.  You want the sprouts to remain firm and not get mushy, so you want to throw them in at the last minute, just before your meal is done.  This allows them to pick up the flavor, but not get slimy.  Stir everything really well and simmer for about 2 more minutes.
Spoon some rice on to your plate and then add the stir-fry on top!  Voila! Fast and simple dinner.

Snack

Last night I watched a movie and has some popcorn.  I checked the ingredients and the only iffy thing was canola oil. 

What is Tamari?

Tamari literally means liquid pressed from soybeans, originally it was the thick brown liquid that pooled in casks of fermenting soybean miso. For centuries this tamari was a rare delicacy reserved for special occasions. Eventually producers learned to brew tamari as a liquid soy sauce that had similar characteristics as the original by-product of miso. This tamari is brewed from whole soybeans, sea salt, water, and koji (Aspergillus hacho).

Why is Tamari ok for the October Unprocessed Challanege and soy sauce does not?

Unlike soy sauce, Tamari occurs naturally during the fermentation of miso.  Conversley, most (not all) soy sauces are often made from acid-hydrolyzed soy protein instead of brewed with a traditional culture.  These soy sauces  take only 3 days to produce and have a much longer shelf life, but are highly processed. 

Shoyu is another type of soy sauce that is fermented and not processed.  Both are great alternatives to traditional soy sauce, though a little more money.

So why on the challenge, if you need a yummy condiment- think tamari or shoyu!