Dr Oz: 3-Day Detox Diet Smoothie Meal Plan recipes

Thanks to a friend, Jeff and I have been inspired to do a 3 day detox.  We've never done one before, so here's to new experiences.  And it never hurts to purge your body of toxins!  right?... right?? =/

I plan on following the Dr Oz: 3-Day Detox Diet Smoothie Meal Plan, as described here.  But that page doesn't actually tell you the recipe on how to make each drink (I think that's their scheme to get you to buy his book.).  So instead, I scoured the internet for the recipes (or ones that are similar enough), made a few tweaks to the recipes, and also followed some tips from my friend who did the detox already.
I'm super excited.
So I wanted to share with you right here, all the recipes I compiled for the detox drinks.  Also, so I have a place to reference back to later if I want to make the drinks again. =)

BREAKFAST:  Green Goodness Smoothie

• 2 cups spinach
• 1 -2 medium cucumber (approx 2 cups)
• 1 stalk celery
• 1/2 inch gingerroot (or 1 teaspoon)
• 1 bunch chopped parsley (approx 1/2 cup chopped)
• 2 apples, cored
• 1 lime, juice of
• 1/2 lemon, juice of
• 4 ounces almond milk or water

Blend. makes 3 servings. Dr. Oz suggests adding other items at first to sweeten the green drink to your taste.

MIDMORNING SNACK: Raw Almond Milk

• 1 cup raw almonds
• water for soaking nuts
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)

Soak the almonds in water overnight or for at least 6 hours.Drain the water from the almonds and discard. Blend the 3 cups of water, almonds and dates until well blended and almost smooth. Strain the blended almond mixture using a cheesecloth or other strainer. Homemade raw almond milk will keep well in the refrigerator for three or four days.

LUNCH: Cranberry Apple Juice

Mix together 100% cranberry juice with 100% apple juice. 

 

AFTERNOON SNACK: Sweet Potato & Apple Smoothie

• 2 peeled sweet potatoes boiled or baked
• 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
• handful of walnuts
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Blend  (makes 2 servings)

DINNER: Bravocado! Pear Avocado

• 4–8 ounces cold water
• 1⁄2 cup unsweetened coconut milk beverage (such as So Delicious)
• 1⁄2 avocado, pit removed, flesh scooped
• 1 pear, peeled and cored
• Blend (makes 1 serving)

Evening Snack: Raw Walnut Milk

• 1 cup walnut halves, rinsed (4 oz.)
• water (about 3 cups)
• 1 tablespoon honey (or agave nectar)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1: Place walnuts in a medium bowl and fill with enough water to cover by 1 inch. Cover and set aside. Soak at room temperature at room temperature to soak at least 1 hour to 12 hours for easy blending.
2: Drain walnuts; rinse thoroughly. In a blender combine walnuts, 3 cups water, honey, vanilla, and salt; blend on low until very smooth, at least 2 minutes. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.  Yields 3.5 cups

Our backyard - back wall edition

Finally! I think we are finished with our backyard revamp.
After installing fake grass, mulching the palm trees, getting patio furniture, and building a succulent container garden, we did the last and final touches: repainted the far back wall of our backyard and covered up the hideous alley+corner.

2 weeks ago, my good friend Savannah came over and helped me paint the back wall.  It was dirty, chipped, and had random splotches of pink.  I picked out a cute beige-tan color at Home Depot the day before, called "weathered sandstone", and we got to work!  Jeff watched Caitlin while S and I got to work; she made sure I didn't half ass the task (grr!).
Our 2 hours of hard work paid off.  The wall looks terrific!
Here is the before and after.  (by the way, the paint color ended up coming out WAY lighter than on the color swatch.  liars!!).

who knew a fresh coat of paint makes a world of difference.
we didn't even repaint the red trimming.  It just looks so much bolder contrasted against the clean coat of beige paint

Next is the creepy corner of my backyard.
There already is a filthy alley there, that we covered up with 2 succulent shrubs a few months back.  But the wall adjacent to the alley needs a lot of TLC.  The wall has paint (but it doesn't look like paint.  It looks like someone previous painted a layer of plaster on the wall) that is peeling away and falling off towards the bottom.   To fix it would require scraping the layer of plaster off, sanding the wall, then putting on some new coats of paint.  It's really a lot of work.  Not to mention, this "wall" in the back of my yard is actually the side of my neighbor's house. WTF! Only in LA do houses not come with real partitions.  To put in so much work would require the approval of my neighbor, and I also feel like I shouldn't be fixing my neighbor's house unless I'm getting paid for it!
So, we did the quick easy solution:  add even more succulent shrubs to cover the wall!!  We purchased 3 pots of firestick succulents this weekend and moved some of my succulent containers (from my container garden) to the wall as well.
I think this area of my yard looks a lot better.  

ooh, that new paint job on the right looks fantastic

All the work on my backyard is completed just in time for us to host Caitlin's 2nd birthday party in March!  (We are getting a bouncy castle in our backyard!)  It's a great excuse to show off our new yard to our friends and neighbors too =)