I’m doing a three day juice cleanse Wednesday – Friday of next week. It requires a lot of planning! For example for three days before the cleanse I can only eat salads, fruit and vegetables (steamed or raw). Tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday are my three preparation days to get my system ready for the three days of juicing. I can have some fish tomorrow but no meat on Monday or Tuesday. The only other thing I can have is some brown rice (or quinoa) or a sweet potato. I also can’t have coffee, sugar or dairy. Coffee, sugar AND dairy.
COFFEE, SUGAR AND DAIRY…ahem. I’ll get over it.
I used that as an excuse to make something cheesy tonight. Cheesy but still healthy. Quinoa and spinach are healthy kick start to the next six days of me being good 
I ate this for dinner tonight along with a baked sweet potato.
I plan to make posts for the next six days documenting what I eat (and don’t eat) and how I feel during my cleanse. Follow along if you’re interested!
Quinoa Spinach Mac ‘n Cheese
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 2 dashes nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces, shredded white sharp cheddar cheese
- 3 cups cooked quinoa
- 2 bunches fresh baby spinach (I used a 16 ounce bag of Whole Foods brand organic frozen spinach)
- FOR THE TOPPING:
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
Method
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium saucepan add 3 tablespoons of butter and flour and heat over medium heat. Whisk continuously until a paste forms. Whisk in milk. Increase heat to medium/high and bring to a boil whisking the whole time. Stir in the nutmeg, salt and cheddar cheese. When cheese sauce is smooth remove from heat.
- In a large bowl mix together the cooked quinoa, cheese sauce and spinach.
- Transfer the mixture into a casserole dish. Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
- In a small bowl mix together the butter and bread crumbs. Sprinkle over the top of the casserole. (I skipped this step because I was out of panko. I just topped the casserole with parm cheese and left the extra butter and panko off. I’m sure they would have added a nice crunch!)
- Bake for about 20 minutes, until bubbly.
- Remove from oven and enjoy!
Interesting! I’ve known (or read blogs about) other people who have done a juice cleanse, but never done one myself. I think you should expect to feel low-energy (and also hungry) during those three days. It seems to be a common consensus among stores I’ve read. Good luck!
The brand of juice I ordered says that energy level can range from fatigue to having a ton of energy and being really productive. I chose to buy it this time because the juicer I wanted is $400 and then buying all the veggies/fruits needed for the juice itself…I wanted to make sure I like it before I invest in a juicer.
Makes sense! Doesn’t mom have a juicer as well? Maybe you could borrow hers to see if a more expensive one is worth the investment.
Angela told me that Mom does have a juicer but doesn’t use it very often. I could probably borrow it to try out
Angela and J*** gave it to mom as a Christmas gift a few years ago.
It’s something easy to NOT use often unless you make a conscious effort.
Don’t you love quinoa? It’s so versatile!
I honestly just start cooking with it and I love it! Can’t wait to try your quinoa stuffing! And some of the juices you do. I read your blogs for over an hour last night