Shroom-noa

I've been on the best detox ever. For 30 days I stopped watching the news, checking Facebook status updates and took a little blog break too. Working with my nutritionist Kasia Kines has been such a joy and I've learned so much from her. I will share some of the wonderful recipes I've adapted from Kasia's detox manual, with her permission. Please check out her new and improved website Kasia Kines and if you are in the Baltimore area, I highly suggest making an appointment. I was referred to her by my wonderful massage therapist Jennifer Ayers. After my first two hour appointment her one I joined the detox group with two other brave souls Fredye and Terra. Check back to my spring cleaning post for more details. It was a thirty day Whole Foods detox. I'm practically vegan still not eating eggs, milk, cheese and am also trying to stay gluten free. It is a lot easier than I thought and I've lost 10 pounds so it is definitely a great way for me to be eating.

One of my favorite classes was with Kasia, Terra and Fredye at Whole Foods in Mt. Washington a few Wednesday evenings ago. We spent two hours walking through the grocery store learning about how to read labels. It was invaluable for this new way of eating. We are avoiding corn oil, sugar, flour, and those items are in everything. Here she is pointing out the mushroom section and talking about their benefits.

I love mushrooms. One of my favorite parts of the movie Julie and Julia was when I learned not to crowd the mushrooms when cooking them. Makes all the difference in the world. To make Shroom-noa start with very good olive oil and the onion of your choice. I've been cooking with leeks, spring onions and tons and tons of shallots during this detox. When they are slightly cooked add your mushrooms and make sure not to crowd them. 

Add any other vegetables you like. I added zucchini. When the vegetables start to caramelize deglaze the pan with Braggs Liquid Amino (aka Hippie Sauce) which is gluten free and a great alternative to soy sauce. Soy sauce is made with wheat. Who knew?

Quinoa is the quickest cooking grain and a life saver in a pinch. You can buy Quinoa in the bulk section. For cooking instructions always remember two parts water to one part Quinoa. For more flavor I added vegetable broth as my liquid and cooked the spring onions in a bit of olive oil to start. Let it come to a boil. When boiling turn on low and cover for 15 minutes. 

I added carrots and broccoli for a nice hearty stir fry. Just like in the Five Spiced Chicken stir fry, you want to push the cooked vegetables to the side when adding a new one. This again allows each to cook and not steam or sweat. I put the lid on the pan to steam the broccoli for the last few minutes. Since we are off of corn I didn't use any corn starch to thicken the sauce. 

Voila, Shroom-noa! Enjoy.

The biggest secret to my successful new eating habit is to eat mostly vegetables and grain for lunch. This sustains my energy all throughout the day. Thank you, thank you Kasia.