So, for the past week I have been following a cleanse diet, designed by an herbalist friend of mine, which requires me to stop eating things like sugar, caffeine, alcohol, etc. What's left, right? The idea is that by eating lots of good-for-you organic veggies and things and cutting out all of the bad-for-you stuff, the body will be cleansed, healed and healthy. Following this regimen is a bit tough for me because I DO NOT cook and it's not as though I have any experience whipping up a healthy vegetarian dinner using alternative grains and ingredients. Um, yea.

Well, I have managed for the past week to stick to this diet reasonably well and I'm not starving. I can tell that something is happening because my face looks thinner and, although I don't feel any significant changes otherwise yet, I certainly am eating healthier than usual. Frankly, I can see following the basic principles of this diet for general day-to-day eating forever, allowing myself to add a few of my old favorites back in every once in a while, because, well life is too short not to enjoy SOME of the stuff that is bad for you.

Which brings me to last night's slippage from the regimen. I'd had a bad day and was feeling sad. I went to my favorite neighborhood restaurant because they know me there and I can sit at the bar to have something to eat and talk to the waitstaff and usually see at least one other neighborhood regular. I started out not half bad with some white bean soup. Yes, I had some red wine. But then. But then ...

Coconut Bread Pudding

This stuff was made with brioche, topped with cinnamon crème fraiche, sitting on a pool of warm chocolate ganache. Simply orgasmic. With some crunchy chocolate cookie crumbs on the top it had the perfect combination of flavor and texture. It was better than ambrosia. Cleanse be damned, because I was in heaven.

(I am happy to report that today I am feeling much better, no worse for the fall off the wagon, and am back to being a good girl. Sort of.)

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 5:04 PM