Still going strong folks! No caffeine, no processed foods and I’m still feeling good. I started my day with a smoothie made of frozen peaches, almond butter and honey plus a red apple. They have a bounty of the Jazz variety at my HEB and I’m loving its extra crispy, tart taste.

For lunch, I had my leftover serving of the chicken and cucumber salad from last night. Now onto the main event – dinner. I decided I would have one red meat night this week and I chose to cook with lamb. Through my work with The Tri-Lamb Group I have learned to appreciate lean, nutrient filled lamb. I know some people go “awwww how could you?” when I say the word lamb but trust me people just give it a try and you will be saying “yummm, how couldn’t I?” If you are still not convinced, more for me then. 😉

Now I still wanted to choose a healthy lamb recipe and I hit the jackpot with this Lamb Chops with Pomegranate and Dried Fig Relish from Bon Appetit’s Fast, Easy, Fresh section and was also labeled low calorie and high fiber. I couldn’t find pomegranate molasses at Central Market so I decided to go ahead and use regular molasses for the relish…oh, the relish. The pomegranate seeds burst in your mouth with each bite and the molasses, balsamic vinegar, dried figs and fresh mint complemented the lamb perfectly. I also loved the cumin seeds on both the lamb and in the relish. I wish my camera worked because this was a visually stunning dish too with the colors of the red pomegranate seeds, fresh green mint and figs served over the lamb chops.

This truly was fast, easy, fresh and utterly delectable. There was nothing on my plate after I snarfed this down. Tomorrow is my total vegetarian day so we will see how it goes. Stay tuned!

So still no caffeine and I’ve limited my amount of processed food intake for the past two days…I’m feeling good!

I started day two with a blueberry and almond milk smoothie and then an apple. For lunch I had the leftover Fiery Coconut Curry Soup but this time added fresh slices of avocado and really loved this new addition to the dish.

For a snack I had almonds and freshly, sliced mango. For dinner I tried this Cold Sesame Noodle Salad with Chicken and Cucumbers from Cooking Light that was really fresh and very satisfying. I used whole wheat spaghetti instead of udon noodles and I also served – as recommended – with a simple side salad of spinach and radishes. I really liked the crunchy peanuts and fresh cucumbers and the dressing was really simple to make and delicious.

I halved this recipe and then saved a serving for my lunch tomorrow. Day two down!

So for the first day in my week-long journey on a diet shake-up, I started with a simple mango, coconut milk (light) and pineapple smoothie with a smidgen of honey plus a red apple.

For lunch, I made this Fiery Tofu and Coconut Curry Soup from Cooking Light and all I have to say is “fire in the hole!”. Yowza, this thing had some spice too it and it probably had something to do with the 1/4 cup of red curry paste in the soup. I have to say for a veggie tofu soup this was really good, but if you are not the heat lovin’ kind you might want to lower the red curry paste a bit.

For dinner, I made this Sauteed Halibut with Lemon-Pesto Butter (come on now, I had to have butter somewhere in my day) from Cooking Light and it was del-i-cious! The butter mixture was perfect over the halibut and I served this with a sauteed kale recipe from Bon Appetit magazine minus the nasty capers. The two dishes combined were perfect together and I highly recommend giving this a try. Also, if you haven’t explored the world of kale, this article from Molly Wizenberg might convince you.

Day one down and stay tuned for tomorrow!

I was supposed to make Bacon Mac ‘n’ Cheese from Cooking Light and it looked like a fairly simple recipe, but for some reason I just wasn’t feeling it. Instead, I wanted a BIG salad and I remembered coming across this salad in Everyday Food and decided to give it a try.

Starting on Tuesday, I’m going to take a healthier approach to my diet – for a week. After scanning my favorites here on Cooking Inside the Lines I noticed a lot of red meat, cheeses, BACON and bread products. While I like to think my diet is balanced, I’ve been feeling a little off-kilter recently and am thinking a week of a little more “clean” eating might do me some good, this also includes no wine or caffeine at all…at all…at all. So, no wine, caffeine or processed foods if I can help it, plus more fruits and veggies and vegetarian and fish options for a week. I’m hoping after the week is over not only will I feel better, but it might serve as an inspiration for me to continue to eat a wee bit healthier moving forward.