Yesterday, for breakfast I juiced 4 carrots and 2 celery stalks. The resulting tonic was quite yummy and wasn’t too heavy on my fragile, post-cleanse stomach. Then, my effing allergies hit with a vengeance. I tried not to.. I really did. But, in the end I had to take a Claritin to keep myself from sneezing into oblivion.

When I get an allergy attack the life gets sucked out of me and I usually succumb to taking a nap. Sure enough, I ended up laying down on the couch "until the Claritin kicked in", but ended up napping until 11am. Oh well. Just in time for lunch!

So, I heated up a small batch of my veggie soup and ate that very s l o w l y. The cramping I had the first time I ate the soup (from eating too fast!), was something I didn’t want to experience again. Luckily, I only felt some minor grumbling.

Today, I had orange juice for breakfast (not fresh-squeezed, though) before heading across town to have brunch with Kev’s mother and grandmother. I brought some whole wheat banana bread I made last night in the bread machine (Mmm) and a mixed berry salad, because usually all she offers is coffee and bagels. I dunno if you’re lucky enough to have a Trader Joes near you, but they have a great price on organic strawberries and blueberries right now. Grab them up!

So, I had two slices of my banana bread lightly spread with some crunchy peanut butter and two small bowls of my mixed berry salad. No objections from my stomach after that, except for some minor tensing after eating. Seems like it’s almost back to “normal”. I’ve been making a conscious effort to eat more fibrous foods, as well as fresh fruits and veggies since the cleanse.

After brunch, we went to Kev’s uncle to borrow his mitre saw and Lowe’s for the rest of the flooring supplies we need to start installing it. By the time we got home, I was hungry again so I made a huuuuge salad with lettuce, chopped zucchini, a handful of ‘Nuts About Antioxidants’ Trek Mix (from Trader Joes), a few green olives and about 1/4 cup cooked kidney beans. I tossed it with this new creamy, vegan dressing I found from Nasoya, called ‘Vegi-Dressing’ Creamy Italian. YUM.

Now, off to tear up some carpet! Weeee!

So, today I made the veggie soup, and had a small bowl for dinner. The soup is delicious, and it felt SO good to actually chew something again, but it feels like a brick is sitting in my stomach. I’m hopeful the feeling will pass and my stomach will catch onto digesting again.

Even though I’m vegan and have been for over 5 years now, I went with the meat-eater option of breaking the fast and not the raw food-eater option, because I (very rarely!) eat french fries and “fake” meat like vegan Boca burgers. The author of the Master Cleanser did not give instructions for breaking the fast concerning non-raw-food eating vegans, so I just went with the most logical choice.

Anywho, here is my soup recipe I used to break the fast after finishing the Master Cleanse. The veggies listed were taken directly from The Master Cleanser book (although, I omitted several). This recipe makes A LOT of soup, about 10 to 12 servings, but it can be easily halved for a smaller batch. I used the largest stock-pot we have.

Binary Blonde’s Veggie Soup Recipe

1 large white onion, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
4 red potatoes, unpeeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 1/2 cups of kidney beans*
3 tomatoes, seeded and diced
5 organic vegan vegetable bouillon cubes**
10 cups of water
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Prepare the broth:

Pour water into separate pot and bring to boil. Continue boiling and add bouillon cubes to water. Slowly stir cubes until they fully dissolve into a broth. Remove from heat.

Prepare the soup:

Warm olive oil in stock-pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and cook until tender but not brown, about 5 minutes. Add the broth, along with potatoes and beans. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, partially covered, about 15 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes or until all the veggies are tender. Serve hot.

Let soup cool before storing in fridge. Soup can be easily reheated in smaller batches, as needed. To freeze, ladle into smaller containers and seal.

*Read how to prepare dry kidney beans. For soaking, I used the overnight method.

**I used Rapunzel brand organic vegan vegetable bouillon cubes with sea salt & herbs, which I get at Wild Oats. Each cube made 2 cups of broth. If you are using a different type of boullion cube, read directions carefully on how many cubes make 10 cups of broth.

Last night, I had terrible insomnia and I gave up trying to sleep around 5 am. So, I got up and made my first cup of orange juice. I drank it slow, as directed in the book The Master Cleanser. Throughout the day, when I got hungry, I made another cup of orange juice and, ultimately, I went through 5 pounds of oranges! I should have bought more, because I am supposed to have orange juice for breakfast and lunch tomorrow.

I am so ready for some soup broth and a few veggies tomorrow! I chopped most of the ingredients to go into the soup and put them in airtight containers in the fridge. The soup will be my dinner tomorrow, as well as lunch the next day. Dinner on the third day will be more soup, but I will add a salad and a bit of fruit, depending on how I feel.

At the moment, I am hungry and am looking forward to being able to drink my juice tomorrow. Of course, after I head out and pick up some more.

So, 10 days, 12 lemons, 20 limes, a couple of teaspoons of cayenne and almost 4 bottles of maple syrup later, I am done with my first Master Cleanser experience. I just finished my last limeade and am feeling great. I know I could go longer, but that is for another time. This first cleanse was a great experience and a wonderful time to learn what works and what doesn’t. After feeling this great, now I know why many people go 2 weeks, 3 weeks, even a month on this cleanse. Of course, there were ups and downs, but the bottom line is to detoxify and that’s exactly what it did… and well!

I am so happy I did this and, also to know that I could. There were moments of weakness where, when I opened the fridge for my maple syrup and glanced at some yummy food or another, I wanted to just stop and eat. I am glad I didn’t, as I know how good it can be when you don’t give in and make it past those parts.

Tomorrow, I will drink only fresh orange juice. Thankfully, we have a juicer, so it will be minimal work to juice all those oranges for an entire day. I will also prepare for the soup I will be eating on the two days following. I found a great recipe for vegetable soup, so I will use that as a guide.

The end result of this cleanse is sorta contradictory to me, as I feel it made me obsess about food even more, but it the best of ways. It made me realise just how much pre-packaged/frozen food I eat. So, in a way, the cleanse has made me take a step back and look at the big “food picture”. Because of this experience, I will be eating fresher, better and cooking more from scratch. Especially snacks and desserts (carbs), which are the main pre-packaged culprits in my life.

As I mostly skimmed over any, uhm, details about what your body goes through during the cleanse, and I really don’t plan on revealing everything of that matter on my blog, I would be more than happy to answer any questions personally via my contact form. Or, you can try The Raw Food Site forums, which is a much better resource for answers to questions regarding The Master Cleanser.