Surprising Finds

So yesterday I was strolling through Home Goods, tossing things in my cart that I didn't really need, when I came across the Natural/Organic section.  I've seen it before but never really cared enough to stop and look.  I found a lot of great things in the little section.  They had Chia seeds, organic veggie chips, organic cookie bars, flax seed, oils, etc. Everything was about half the price of Whole Foods.  So next time you're in a discount store like Home Goods, TJ Maxx, Ross, take a look at the natural food section.  You might just find something surprising!

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Sorry, Too Busy to Eat

I'm adding a new principle to eating clean...stay busy!  I was so busy today...running errands, chasing my son, going to the gym....that I totally forgot to rummage through the kitchen for junk to eat! I didn't have time to stare down the bag of chocolate chips that are sitting in my freezer.  That is all.  Stay busy. On it.

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Food I'm Loving

Food I'm loving this week...

Almond Butter

I finally scraped (licked) my peanutbutter jar clean and decided to branch out to new nut butters, despite their heavy price tag ($5.50 a jar!?). Grocery bill aside, I have to tell you...I'm loving almond butter.  Sometimes I eat it on a banana for a quick snack or spread it on a Ryevita cracker (and let me tell you...those Ryevitas need all the help they can get for taste). 

Here's my answer to a PBJ:

Chai Latte

While meandering through the natural section of the grocery store (this always spells trouble for my wallet), I picked up a carton of organic chai.  I thought it might be a good replacement for coffee a few days a week or a nice evening "snack". I was right. Mmmm.....you mix the chai 50/50 with milk (or almond milk) and heat it in the microwave or on the stove. Chai is deliciously spicy and always reminds me faintly of pumpkin pie. I'm thinking it's found a new place on my shopping list. 

Goat Cheese & Cranberry Salad

Whenever I'm ordering a salad at a restaurant, I look no further than the one with goat cheese.  Well as I rummaged through the fridge trying to find something quick for dinner last night, I realized I had all of the fresh ingredients to make my own salad....arugula, goat cheese, dried cranberries, boiled egg, sunflower seeds, olive oil, & balsamic vinegar. I have to say...it was just as good as the restaurant's, except for the fact that I had to make it myself & put my own bowl in the dishwasher. I don't have a picture because I ate it too fast.

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Lean Protein + Complex Carbs

I am trying to eat a combination of lean protein and complex carbs at every meal.

This one has been tricky for me.  Carbs?  I'm good on carbs.  I could eat them all day long.  Oh, complex carbs?  Not as easy, but still...I can swing it. The lean protein is where I get stuck.  It's hard for me to quickly think how to work it into my meals. I'm not a big meat eater.  It's not on purpose, but I sometimes go for days and realize I haven't eaten any meat.  I know there are many other ways to get in protein, but it's something I have to stop and think about. 

So...I made myself a cheat sheet to hang on the fridge.  Hopefully this will give me (and you) some good ideas for mini meals throughout the day.

Complex Carbs & Lean Protein List

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Trying to Kick the White Powder Habit (No, not that one!)

Today my goal is to avoid white sugar and white flour.  It's amazing how many things have white sugar and flour in them! It's pretty easy to avoid these things when I'm cooking something from scratch, but when buying boxed or canned items, watch out! Here are a few sneaky names that  simple sugar goes by on ingredient lists:

• glucose
• fructose
• monosaccharides
• lactose
• maltose
• sucrose
• raw sugar
• brown sugar
• beet sugar
• cane sugar
• confectioner's (powdered) sugar
• molasses
• turbinado
• maple syrup
• sugar cane syrup
• cane juice
• invert sugar
• malt syrup
• high fructose corn syrup                          

Reference: Fit Sugar

AHHHHH!!! How am I supposed to remember all of that?  Most likely, I won't.  But I just may bring a handy reference list to the grocery store next time. If I don't let it go in my cart, I won't have to worry about it when I'm eating at home.  Even better, maybe I'll just try to eat more fresh foods.

Here are some other names for white flour:

• enriched flour
• bread flour
• bleached all-purpose flour

A good article with some interesting info: White Vs. Wheat

Flour....not so terribly hard to avoid.  But SUGAR is in everything.  I tried, but I know my day was not completely sugar free.  At least I'm more mindful of it now. Good luck!

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Eating Frequently

I get to eat 6 times a day?! This is reason enough to start eating clean. But I've found out that it's not as easy as it seems.  I'm used to eating three meals a day and mindlessly snacking in between.  Eating clean requires me to actually think about my snacks/meals and plan accordingly. It's not very easy to grab a clean snack when I'm out running errands and am starving.  I definitely don't feel like hauling my baby into the grocery store just to search for a clean snack in the produce section.  I'd much rather swing through the drive thru, grab some chicken nuggets, and call it a day. The eating clean guru, Tosca Reno, suggests packing a small cooler with clean snacks and meals to get you through the day.  (She even has a cooler meal plan in her book. ) I don't need to pack all of my meals because I am home during the day.  But I do think I need to start keeping a few ready-to-go snacks in the fridge to grab on my way out the door if I'm going to be gone for awhile.

Anyhoo...eating a small, clean meal every 2-3 hours was my focus today. (I also tried to keep guzzling my water.) Here's what it looked like for me:

7:15- oats with flaxseed, wheat germ, & almond milk/coffee with almond milk & Stevia/water
10:30-plain organic yogurt with chia seeds and nuts/water
1:15-leftover chicken lettuce wraps/natural salt & vinegar chips/water
5:00-banana with peanut butter
7:15-baked salmon/baked green beans/water
9:00-2 kiwis/water

These meals are definitely not perfect...I could use some work on getting protein & carbs in every meal...but I'll save that for another day.  

Writing down the time I ate and a quick note of what I was eating helped me to remember to eat frequently.  It also reminded me of the notes I used to keep when my son was just born...how many ounces he ate...when he ate it...when's his next feeding...  

Okay, so far I've got my breakfast, water intake, and frequent eating back on track...what will tomorrow bring?

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H2O

Do you know how much 2-3 liters is??!!!  2 liters is about 68 ounces or about 8 cups. 3 liters is about 101 ounces or about 13 cups. Let me tell you, that is a lot of water. Today my goal was to focus on getting in my water, so first thing in the morning I filled up my big 30 oz. water jug.  It is now 8:00 PM and I've filled it about 2 and a half times and I've been to the bathroom about 15 times...no joke. I started with the water principle because I thought it would be easy. Well I overestimated how much water I already drink each day...apparently not enough. I had to purposely make myself pick up the cup and drink, even if I didn't feel thirsty.  I think the only way I'll get used to drinking this much is if I carry around my big souvenir hospital jug marked with ounce measurements. So that is what I plan to do.

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Back to Basics

So this weekend included a lot of compromises on my part...too many.

• Friday: You know, I'll just have a couple of margaritas because it is margarita night with the girls.  I guess I'll also throw in a cheese & chicken quesadilla...because that's what I eat with margaritas.  
• Saturday: I'll just have one burger because my dad did grill it and it would be rude not to eat it.
• Sunday: Okay, I'll have just a small glass of wine because my friend doesn't want to drink alone!

So....I'm thinking it's time to get back to the basics.  That is what Mondays are all about, after all. Now I'm not opposed to compromising once in awhile, but I can't do it every. single. day. of the weekend.

So here are the basic principles of eating clean.  Everyone's different and some people have more or less guidelines for themselves.  These are the ones I'm focusing on:

• Eat breakfast every day 
• Eat every 2-3 hours/6 small meals a day
• Drink 2-3 liters of water a day
• Eat lean protein & complex carbs at every meal
• Avoid over-processed food, eat fresh, whole foods (in general, avoid labels with ingredients you don't recognize or with more than 5 ingredients)
• Avoid white flour and sugar
• Limit alcohol

I think I'll take a day to focus on each one.  I've gotten pretty good at eating breakfast every day (usually oats, egg whites, and coffee), so I'm going to start with getting in my water.  

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Three Little Words

Ugh...I just heard three words that threaten to completely derail my clean eating....Girl. Scout. Cookies. I totally forgot that it's Girl Scout cookie time.  Otherwise, I may have delayed my clean eating venture. (Just kidding....) Last year at this time I was big, happy, and pregnant.  I remember spinning around in my wheelie chair behind my desk while devouring a sleeve of "Lemonades". Mmmm..those were the days.  Now that I can see my feet again, I'd like to keep it that way. So while I do not promise to completely forego my Lemonades and Caramel Delights, I do promise not to double fist them.  In fact, I'll try to limit it to one a day and only one box total.

Yes, I am completely aware that these are not clean.  However, I am also aware that they only come around once a year. Anyway, what kind of citizen would I be if I didn't contribute to the local GS troop?

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Subbing

Last night my parents invited us over for dinner.....beef and noodles. My mom loves making big, hearty, down-on-the farm meals. There's always, noodles, mashed potatoes, a giant ham, or some sort of roast involved in her dinners. I didn't want to turn down the invite, but I also didn't want to devour a big plate of noodles and white potatoes.  So I decided to bring along a dish of whole wheat couscous to substitute for the noodles.  I even got my mom to try some. 

 I also tossed a lemon, chia seeds, and Stevia packets in my bag to make a couple of Chia Frescas for my husband and me. This made it a little easier to turn down the wine.

To get your mind off of wine...oh, wine....here's an interesting article about chia seeds: The Powerful Health Benefits of Chia Seeds

Okay, when I first saw "chia seeds" on my detox grocery list I immediately thought of Chia Pets. (I killed many of these as a child.)  After a quick Google search I found that it's true! Not only can I make a healthy drink, but I can also grow an amazing head of hair for my terra cotta pots.

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Veggie Lasagna

Yesterday I made a big vegetable lasagna that I thought would last for a couple of days....and it's gone. My husband loved it and even our baby boy devoured it in his highchair.

It was very easy...

cauliflower, bell peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, red onion, a little tomato sauce and mozzarella on top

The eggplant and cauliflower made it nice and firm, so you didn't miss the pasta. YUM!

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Menu Planning

Before I went grocery shopping I sat down with my Eat Clean cookbook, laptop, and notebook to try to get a grip on what dinner will look like at our house this week.  I basically looked through and picked out the recipes that looked the best to me and ones I thought my husband would enjoy.  I figure we have a better chance of staying on track if we're eating well! 

 Here's what our dinner menu looks like this week:

• Sweet Potato Patties & Cucumber Salad
• Chicken, Apple, & Onion Sandwiches with Kale Chips
• Shrimp in Saffron Sauce with grilled Asparagus (Looks like I'm going to have to rethink the sauce for the shrimp because it turns out saffron threads are ridiculously expensive!)
• Vegetable Lasagna
• Lettuce Wraps
• Clean Eat Pizza

Other things I plan to make:

• Clean Chocolate Walnut Brownies
• Yogurt Bread (similar to banana bread)
• Citrus Spread
• Clean Tortilla Chips (The one thing my husband has really been missing is this tortilla chips for his salsa.)

Here's a link to my grocery list.

I actually had a lot of fun while grocery shopping.  I spent most of my time in the produce section and the natural food section.  Even though this is my third trip to the grocery since I started cleaning up my diet, this is my first all out meals planned-list made- shopping trip.  I was so proud to fill up my cart with clean food and I didn't spend much more than I usually do, probably because I saved a lot of money by skipping out on chips, frozen pizzas, cereals, etc.. 

Here's my cart on the way to the check out lane (I swear, I didn't touch that Valentine's candy in the background!)

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Chia Fresca

Something caught my attention while watching one of the morning shows today.  Some health guru was talking about eating healthy and mentioned how Chia seeds are a "superfood".  That made me think...'Hey!  I have a big bag of those in the kitchen left over from my detox'.  Other than the pudding I had made, I wasn't sure what else to do with the expensive little things.  What to do in such a dilemma? Pinterest, of course!  When I searched "chia seeds" I found all kinds of recipes for Chia Fresca and since I had the ingredients, I gave it a try.

All you need is:

• 3tsp.chia seeds (I found mine in the body section of Whole Foods, near the supplements)
• 2tsp. natural sweetener (agave nectar, Stevia, etc.)
• 1 lemon
• cold water

Put about 3 tsp. of Chia seeds in 12 oz. of cold water and let it sit for about 10 minutes.  This allows the seeds to soak in the water and soften.  Remember to stir it occasionally so that the seeds don't all clump together. Next, add the sweetener, squeeze in the juice of one lemon, and stir.  It makes a really refreshing lemonade-like drink.  I loved it and am planning on having many more of these! It was a nice change from water. (I've been missing my juice lately.)

I snapped this with my phone. It's not a great picture, but you get the idea. (Plus the cup briefly made me think I was drinking a margarita...almost.) Don't let the floating seeds turn you off.  They get really soft and are easy to drink.  Even my mom, who is currently skeptical about my new eating clean venture, thought it was really good!

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Loving Breakfast

Breakfast is my new favorite meal of the day.  Here's what it looked like for me this morning:

• Coffee (with almond milk and Stevia)
• Oats with unsweetened fruit
• 2 eggs (only one yolk)
• water

This was so good and kept me satisfied for at least three hours.

For dinner I decided to make a big stir fry, mostly because I had lots of vegetables to use up before they go bad.  It turned out to be delicious and was so big we have enough for a couple more meals.  I think I'll be making a lot more of these as an easy way to get in veggies and to clean out the fridge!

Stir Fry

broccoli, celery, bell peppers, green onions, parsley, snap beans

chicken marinated in Tamari sauce

garlic, olive oil, fresh ginger

served over quinoa

Here's to another successful day! I think I'm starting to get the hang of this eating clean thing.  Of course, I'm not sure how I'll tackle it when I'm not at home.  But I'll leave that for another day.  

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Feeling Successful

My breakfast got me off to a good start today.  The homemade oatmeal definitely is not as sweet as my usual instant variety, but much more satisfying because I felt like I was actually doing something good to get my morning started....and I am not a morning person, so I could use a little help in this area.  It was also even easier than the instant packets since I already had it served up into individual dishes.

For a midmorning snack I had a piece of toasted sesame Ezekial bread with peanutbutter. It definitely has a different texture than white bread, but is much better for you. It is made without flour and can be found in the freezer section of your grocery store (in the natural/organic section). It is much more expensive than a regular loaf of bread. I paid $5.50 for it, but at least I can have a sandwich or toast without feeling like I've wrecked my new eating habits.

You can find more of the Ezekial products here: Food For Life.  I'd like to try out their cereal, although I have a feeling it won't hit my sweet tooth quite like Lucky Charms.


For lunch I made a tuna salad with lots of veggies (and left out my usual mayo and cheese).  I used this  recipe: Clean Eating Tuna Salad and added a couple of things to spice it up....jalapeños, roasted red peppers, sprouts, and a spoonful of pesto.  It made for a delicious lunch and I have a lot left over for tomorrow. I did eat it with a few crackers, which were not "clean". I may try it over lettuce or spinach next time.

For dinner we had quinoa falafels over kale.  I love falafels and this was my first time making them at home. I made a cucumber yogurt sauce to go on top.

I'm on the lookout for some simple clean recipes for a quick dessert to fend off my sweet craving in the evening. Any good ideas? 

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Grocery Shopping

I am feeling much better today as I sit down to write this post.  I spent awhile this afternoon reading through the Tosca Reno book, Eat Clean Diet Recharged and finished feeling like this was a lot more doable.  There was no big detox and no major changes that must be done now! I like that I was given an option to ease into clean eating, which is much more my style. She even had great meal plans and grocery lists to get me started. I took the list and headed to the store...again.

 I did not do all out shopping since my husband is still in shock from the Whole Foods grocery bill from last week.  I just grabbed a few things that I wanted to have on hand to cook with during the week.  Sadly the natural part of the regular grocery store was tiny. There were not many choices and of course the prices were much higher.  It was amazing how many items I walked by and never even thought to pick up after having just finished reading up on eating clean.  In fact, I passed by several complete aisles I knew had nothing for me.  It actually felt nice and made shopping a little easier in a way.  My choices were limited, but I felt better about what I was spending my money on.

With all of this on my mind, one thing in particular caught my attention.  I passed by a family of 3 whose cart was toppling over with food.  I glanced inside and saw several cases of pop (okay, "soda" if you're not a midwesterner like me), potato chips, tv dinners, and they were currently discussing which frozen pizzas to buy.  I couldn't help but notice that all three of them were very overweight, including the young boy.  Now I don't know these people and I'm not trying to pass judgement.  But it did make me realize that I don't ever want to lead my own family down that path and now is the best time to make these good changes since my family is so young. My son is just now starting to eat table food and I want to make sure it's everything he deserves.

So here's what I came away from the store with today:

• Stevia sweetener
• bananas
• Agave nectar
• garbanzo beans
• frozen fruit
• herbal tea
• almond milk
• oats
• low fat cottage cheese
• Ezekial bread
• quinoa
• brown rice flour

Tonight I made a large batch of oatmeal and put it into single serve dishes for my husband's and my breakfast this week.  I put the frozen fruit in the fridge so we can add it to the oatmeal.

I would say today was much more successful than our previous two days of "detox". I'm looking forward to making these healthy changes, one step at a time.

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Detox Derailed

I woke up today to my husband asking where the thermometer was because he thought he was sick.  He had just thrown up (TMI?) after having his morning lemon/ginger water. Our day didn't get much better from there.  We were both starving and tired and just felt....ugh. We even crawled back in bed to join our son in an afternoon nap.  Before dinner I finally broke and told him that I think we need to end the detox, or at least add something to it.  You should have seen the smile on that man's face.  Apparently he had been waiting all day for me to come to my senses.  After eating some baked chicken and a glass of juice, our day took a turn for the better.  We still had our Potassium Balance soup and Chia Pudding for dessert.  (I also may or may not have eaten a few M&Ms out of the bowl at my parents' house.)

So I can't really say the detox was successful for us.  To be honest, by day 2 it had us feeling pretty awful and food, or the lack of,  was all I could think about. That's no way to live...at least not in this house! HOWEVER, this is not to say I'm giving up on eating clean.  In fact, I checked out two books from the library today that I'm hoping will motivate me to keep at it.  From our experience, I don't think the detox was the best way to start eating clean.  In fact, it deterred us if anything.  But after looking through the books and reading through some blogs of successful clean eaters, I'm ready to give it a shot.  It's not going to be perfect.  I'm sure a few more stray M&Ms are going to find their way to my mouth, but if I can at least change some bad habits and add in a lot more fresh, healthy foods, then I'm all for it.


Here are the books I'm taking a look at:

How about you?  Has anyone else tried a detox?  Was it worth it?

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Detox Day 1

So far, so good.  I opened the fridge many times this morning to lurk for food purely out of habit.  Then I realized I already had my entire day's food mapped out for me and I closed the fridge and moved onto other things, like chasing down my 10 month old.

This is what I'll be eating for the next 3 days:

Here's what day 1 looked like for me.  I tried to remember to take pictures to share with you:

After Waking:
Lemon & Ginger Water

Much to my surprise, this actually was pretty good and refreshing.  Now the texture, I could do without.  I think part of that is because I had too many larger pieces of ginger root floating around on top. Tomorrow I will be more careful when grating it.

Breakfast:
Super Detox Green Juice

My blender was filled to the top with green vegetables plus one whole lemon.  I stirred and stared for a long time before trying my first sip.  I even called my husband at work to see what he thought of his green juice this morning.  He warned me that it had a little bite...and it did.  It wasn't bad, but the texture is what got me again.  I definitely had to chew this. Now I will say that the recipe calls for juicing the vegetables, but says you can blend it if you don't have a juicer.  Since I don't, I blended everything, which I'm pretty sure accounts for the thick grittiness.  It also made a lot...almost two extra large glasses, so I only drank one glass and am saving the rest for later.

Mid Morning Snack
Cucumber, Celery, and Carrot Sticks
To be honest, I didn't even attempt to eat these.  I had my fill of veggies before noon.  Maybe tomorrow.

Lunch
Sushi Salad
** I was so excited to eat something that I completely forgot to take a picture.  But trust me, it looked pretty good!

By this time, I was very hungry and couldn't wait to get my hands on something I didn't have to drink out of a cup.  I have to say, it was delicious!  The avocados and homemade ginger/lemon dressing was very satisfying.  I do think I'll add a little less lemon juice to the dressing tomorrow because it was almost too much to take by the end.  But all in all, it was very yummy and made me think I was eating a  sushi roll.

Mid Afternoon Snack
Activated Almonds 

I soaked the almonds in sea salt and water overnight.  They were delicious and I had to make myself eat only one handful.

Dinner
Potassium Balance Soup

I prepped this big pot of soup earlier in the day and cooked it about 30 minutes before we were ready to eat.  It's enough for the whole week and I will just warm it up as we eat. It had good flavor, but I'm getting a little tired of veggies at this point.

You will do a lot of veggie chopping.  You may as well clean and chop all of your green vegetables (except avocados) when you get home from the store.

Dessert
Chia Pudding

This was pretty good and the consistency reminded me of tapioca pudding. At this point, I was more than happy to eat something that wasn't green.

After Dinner
Calming Chamomile Tea

I was glad to have something to drink in the evening.  I'm a big nighttime snacker and this helped me not feel like I was starving before bed.

All in all, I have to say I'm pretty proud of myself for making it through Day 1 without "cheating".  My biggest accomplishment today was turning down a lunch invite from a friend.  As good as that sounded, I knew I may as well throw in the towel if I went.  We still got together, just not over lunch.  It was a struggle toward the late afternoon/evening, and I found myself daydreaming about Reesee's cups and coffee. But I made it. One down, two more detox days to go!

If you're interested in trying the detox for yourself, here's a link to the rundown:
http://www.hungryforchange.tv/article/3-day-detox-plan

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New Endeavors for a New Year

Every January I seem to have the same resolutions....lose weight, get healthy, blah, blah, blah. Every February I'm usually sitting on the couch stuffing my face with potato chips & regret. This year was no different except for my obsession with Pinterest. (I've lost many potentially useful hours of my life to Pinterest.) I stumbled on a post for clean eating and started clicking.  It led me to several different blogs and lots of information that seemed to make sense.  The basic idea is:  put good things in, get good things in return. You are what you eat! I really liked the fact that it's not a diet, but a general way of life and that there are no counting calories, points, carbs, etc.  In fact, the goal is to be healthy, not to lose weight.  (That's just a side effect I'm pretty fond of.)  

By the way, I am by no means an expert on this.  In fact, I have not yet completed one single day of "clean eating". (That begins tomorrow!)  This blog is just a way to keep me motivated and honest. If it 
does the same for others, that's just another one of those lucky side effects. ;)  

After reading the book Hungry for Change, I decided to kickstart eating clean with the three day detox outlined by the authors.  Not only this, but I actually got my husband on board.  This means I didn't have to hear one complaint about the outrageous grocery bill after my shopping spree at Whole Foods!  This also means I had to prep his breakfast and pack his lunch to make sure he's actually detoxing tomorrow and not devouring a fried chicken sandwich at his desk while I'm at home gnawing on carrot sticks. 

So here goes nothing....wish me luck!  

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