marrakesh carrots

So! We are DONE! We made it through all ten days of the liver cleanse, *plus* a fast on the eleventh, finishing with cheddar chive waffles made into BLCATs (turkey bacon, of course). That is the best use for a savory waffle. You might want to try it.

Those ten days of liver cleanse did not pass quickly for me. They did not fly by. I did not feel extremely hungry throughout, as I might have expected. The protein shakes they had us taking really staved that off. But being kind of achy and having a slight headache for pretty much an entire week is not a recipe for time passing quickly.

I will say this: at the end of the fast on the eleventh day (something we specifically planned, so that we were not fasting during the cleanse, as that would be a mistake), when we had waffle sandwiches with turkey bacon (not part of the cleanse) and cheese (reintroduced cheese on Day 10) and also downed a full glass of wine (definitely not part of the cleanse), I felt fine. I ate *two* sandwiches (fasts make you hungry!) and had wine for the first time and I did not go to bed with that kind of alarmingly full feeling that I generally get after a fast (because your eyes are SO much bigger than your stomach at that point). I really feel like my digestive system is working better, more efficiently. I’m really hoping it keeps up the good work!

**This is the part where I tell you to ignore all of my ranting and moaning about the liver cleanse and do it yourself if you need/want to. It wasn’t that bad! I mean, not in hindsight. 😀 And if you want my menus, you are welcome to them! Happy to share! Did so much work on them!

I asked the doctor today what I could be doing to keep this newly-cleaned liver in tip-top shape, since obviously I don’t want to trash it after putting so much effort into cleaning it up. She said we’d talk on Thursday………. hum.

Anyway, in the meantime, I will leave you with the Marrakesh Carrot Salad [from Joy the Baker] I made to bring to our congregational potluck on Saturday. It has feta in it, which is how Joshua and I reintroduced dairy that day (followed by several slices of white cheddar as a snack at home – yum!). It’s one of my go-to recipes for a time when I need a dish that doesn’t need to be kept hot or cold. Because of the preferences of my family (i.e., my mom doesn’t like cumin), I leave out the cumin. 😀 Sometimes I replace it with coriander, but I didn’t this time, and I think I liked it better. So there’s that. Enjoy!