Yellow Split Pea Dal

I love the flavors in this dish! Served over brown rice, it's a perfect meatless Monday entree!

2 T butter, olive oil, or coconut oil.
1 onion, diced
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 1/2 tsp cumin, whole seeds or ground
2 whole cloves
dash pepper

1 cup yellow split peas, uncooked
3  cups water or vegetable broth


Heat oil in large sauce pan, add onions and salt and sautee until soft. Add in all of the spices and let cook for a few minutes until toasted and fragrant. Pour in 1 cup of water, scrapping the bottom of the pan to loosen the browned bits. Add in the rest of the water and the peas. Simmer until most of the liquid has been absorbed and peas are cooked to desired tenderness. This can take 20-45 minutes or more depending on preference and even the kind of peas!

Serve warm over brown rice... add some chopped cashews for fun crunch!

Detox/Cleanse Week 1 & Tri-Training Week 2 in Review

I last updated you just one full day into my cleanse. As I sat down to write on day 3 or 4, I realized, it would be horribly boring for you to read, so I decided, less is more.

Mango Smoothie

It's Sunday night, and week one is nearly complete. I managed to stick through it the whole time! Pretty amazing considering the temptations I had to face. On Day 2, we had a birthday lunch scheduled at work, I contemplated skipping, but I knew I didn't want to. So instead I looked at the menu and found a salad that would "mostly" work. This is a good tip in general, that I learned from a friend. When you want to stick to a plan, checkout the online menu first, and pick what you are going to eat. Then, when you are at the restaurant, you will be less tempted to go off your plan. As it turned out- it snowed like crazy on Monday night and the two birthday guests could not make it in. Crisis averted! Thankfully, I had brought the broccoli soup, for just this reason!

Beet and Spinach Salad

The next big temptation was Thursday... bowling night. I managed to make it through the night without drinking. At first it was pretty easy... but it's amazing how pushy your friends get once they start drinking. It actually wasn't that hard to say no, it's just that there was constant pressure... more annoying than frustrating.

I was nervous about the weekend, but I kept pretty busy and that helped. I know I'm a snacker when I'm home! I was not good about drinking water though-- I never am at home! It's probably good that I work 5 days a week!

Since this week was really low on the protein scale, I was a little nervous about how it would affect my training. If you've scanned the cleanse info, it says to stick to stretching this week, and don't be too active. This was not a problem for me. I completed all of my workouts as planned, with the exception of waking up Saturday morning with a headache that limited my interest in pushing myself. (when I got home from the gym, I used Peppermint oil, and it was gone before I got out of the shower- hindsight). Perhaps less healthy eaters would struggle more with energy levels, but I had no problems.

Sweet potato and Red Lentil Soup

I'm really looking forward to adding grains to the program! One of the things I've struggled the most with is not feeling full. I miss the satisfaction that only comes with grains!

Be sure to check the Whole Living website for these awesome recipes!