Day 23 Clean Eating Challenge Group

Day 23 Taco Tuesday! Here is a recipe for tacos that is clean and filling!



Rondas Chicken Tacos.docx (239 kb)

Marinade recipes

Over the years I've compiled marinade recipes all in one spot. Marinades are a great way to change up simple meals like meat and veggies add a side of rice, quinoa, pasta, or a salad and you have a clean eating meal!

Day 19 Clean Eating Challenge Group

Day 19 it's BBQ Season! When in doubt make a kabob! A kabob can be customized with any meat, veggie and fruit. Line up your ingredients and let everyone make their own combinations. Pair it with a salad and you have a perfect clean eating meal. Kabobs are also perfect for camping!

http://www.cleaneatingmag.com/recipes/thai-chicken-skewers/#_=1400819804161&count=horizontal&counturl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cleaneatingmag.com%2Frecipes%2Fthai-chicken-skewers%2F&id=twitter-widget-0&lang=en&original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cleaneatingmag.com%2Frecipes%2Fthai-chicken-skewers%2F%232&size=m&text=Thai%20Chicken%20Skewers%20-%20Clean%20Eating%20-%20Clean%20Eating%3A&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cleaneatingmag.com%2Frecipes%2Fthai-chicken-skewers%2F%23.U37QQPh9wi4.twitter&via=cleaneatingmag

Day 17 Clean Eating Challenge Group

Day 17 Eating Clean on a budget. You can eat clean for probably less than you're currently spending on groceries. A couple years ago I gave myself a budget of $125 a week ($500 a month) for my family of 4. I remember when we were on this strict budget we even had a BBQ with family and stayed within the budget! My current budget is $550 a month (2 teenage boys and a Mt Rainier training husband forced an increase). I don't clip coupons. 95% of what I buy is organic. I simply buy only what's needed and I plan my meals so that if I have to buy a bundle of say, basil, it's used in other meals too so nothing goes to waste. I typically spend $150 at Costco for the month and then the rest is for grocery store and the farmers market. We started eating an actual portion size instead of an 8 oz steak, we had 4 oz steak with lots of veggies on the side. To stretch taco meat I would cook 1lb of ground beef with 16 oz of black beans, it doubles the amount of taco filling for only a few cents more! Something else that has saved alot of money is making my own yogurt! I was tired of spending .50 (if I was lucky enough to find it on mark down) to $1.00 per container. Buying 14-20 containers a week really adds up! I know I could buy the big containers of yogurt and save money but when you're family doesn't eat them it turns into a big waste of money. They like they're individual containers. I'm not telling you to make your own yogurt that was something I tried and it was easy and it was good so I kept doing it.

Here are some tips to stick to a budget:
1. Set a specific budget - make it realistic
2. Plan out your meals for the week - reuse foods that will not be used in one meal, repeat breakfasts, snacks, and lunches, eliminate or substitute an ingredient
3. Know what you have on hand and use it - inventory your fridge and freezer
4. Buy produce that's in season - it will usually be cheaper
5. Only buy what you need to avoid waste
6. Make foods from scratch - if you buy it in a box you are likely spending too much. Dried beans are so cheap. If you have a meal plan you know the night before that you will need beans, throw them in a bowl of water so they're ready to cook the next night.

Day 16 Clean Eating Challenge Group

Day 16 Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread! I remember when I mom first started hiding zucchini inside of a delicious chocolate "cake". It was sooooo good! And I still crave it. So I leave you with this recipe that you too can hide some zucchini in.  http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chocolate-chip-zucchini-bread-10000001809024/

Day 15 Clean Eating Challenge Group

Day 15 you can make your S'moreffle and eat it too. Don't feel like everything you eat has to be 100% clean. You have to give yourself wiggle room or you will fail. We made S'morrfles last night. The graham cracker waffle was homemade and I knew exactly what was in it. But the marshmallow and Hershey's...not clean. But that's ok because I know I ate good for the last week and so I took the time to enjoy my S'moreffle.

Day 14 Clean Eating Challenge Group

Day 14 Meal Planning. Sorry it's been a couple of days since posting. After traveling for work during the week then turning around and heading to the ocean for a long weekend my brain needed a break! It's Sunday which is a great time to think about your meals for the up coming week. Don't just think about dinners though plan out your breakfast, lunch and snacks too so you're prepared. Here's a yummy dinner meal plan from Cooking Light Magazine. I think this is what I'll do for my dinners this week. Now that was easy!

Day 11 Clean Eating Challenge Group

Day 11 Cravings. Are you still having trouble with cravings? What do you crave? What have you been doing about them? I'm traveling this week for work and the hotel I stay at has warm baked cookies at the front desk every evening. So whenever I stay here I start to crave them. Three nights and I've managed to avoid taking any! Instead I grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl they also provide. The first night I pouted a little bit. But once I ate the apple I wasn't hungry anymore and I got over it. The other two nights were easier and I didn't pout.

Day 10 Clean Eating Challenge Group

Day 10 Portion Control. Now that you know you should combine your protein with a complex carb let's make sure your portions are in check. There are so many ways to measure your portions, weigh them, measure them, eyeball them compared to your hand, eyeball them compared to other random objects. Personally I like weighing and measuring. Eyeballing is hard. You know the saying "his eyes were bigger than his stomach" well if you're hungry you're probably not going to eyeball your measurements very well. The 21 Day Fix Diet plan comes with measuring cups for each food category that you're allowed to eat so it takes the guess work out of it. That's how I got back on track with my health and fitness a few months ago! But if you don't have the fix containers you can measure your food but it will take some research to figure out how much of each you will need. Let me know if you would like some help with that, I'm happy to help! I like this portion control chart because it tells you the measurement and also has an eyeball option. I recommend using the eyeball method for when you're eating out.

Day 9 Clean Eating Challenge Group

Day 9 Combining Carbs and Protein. You've worked on increasing your vegetables. Now lets make sure your getting enough protein. You should try and eat a complex carb and protein at each meal/snack. Carbs give you energy. Complex Carbs have a balanced energy unlike the Simple Carbs that will give you a spike of energy followed by a crash. Protein is going to help make you feel full. Don't be afraid of the muscular arm on the protein photo ladies we don't have the testosterone required to build muscles like that! But if you're working out you will build lean muscles. And did you know that the more lean muscle you have the more food you can eat? This is what motivates me everyday because I love eating!

Day 8 Clean Eating Challenge Group

Day 8. You've made it a week! What changes have you made? What changes have you made and didn't like? What do you still want to change? You have probably found it's easier to eat clean when you prepare your own food. It's true! Only you have control what goes in your food. When you eat out it's hard to know everything in the food you'll be eating. If you can, plan ahead, check out the resturaunt website to see their menu so you can decide ahead of time what you'll be eating.

Day 7 Clean Eating Challenge Group

Day 7 Happy Mother's Day! Here's an easy tip, shop the perimeter. Think about your grocery store and the layout walk the perimeter in your mind, what sections are there? Probably produce, bakery, meats and dairy. Everything you need (except the donuts and cakes, skip those). I do still go into the middle rows for 1-3 items per trip. It's truely amazing how fast you can get your shopping done when you shop the perimeter, maybe because there are less labels in those departments!

Pizza Sauce

We have pizza every Saturday in our house. About a year ago I didn't have any pizza sauce so decided to make my own. I just started throwing stuff into a pan until it smelled like pizza! Here is the recipe:

Pizza Sauce
26 oz crushed tomatoes
1/2 Tbsp dried oregano
1/2 Tbsp dried basil
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp tomato paste

Combine all ingredients in a pan and heat over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning to your desired taste.

Day 6 Clean Eating Challenge Group

Day 6 Let's talk labels! The easiest way to eat clean is to choose foods from nature, fruits, veggies, nuts, grains, dairy, and meats. But you will find times that you will need to purchase pre made items. This is when you will want to look at the labels. Before I ever started "eating clean" I saw a tv show called "How It's Made" and it was showing how spaghetti was made. I was shocked to learn that the only thing required to make spaghetti was wheat. That's it, one ingredient! That was about 4 or 5 years ago and that's when I started reading labels and questioning what was in the food and why! Here are some examples of clean and not clean spaghetti and sour cream. Now it's not required that the food only have one ingredient but you want to make sure that the ingredients that are in it are 1. necessary 2. real food!

Day 5 Clean Eating Challenge Group

Day 5! How's everyone feeling? Do you feel like you're starting to understand clean eating? Don't be afraid to ask questions if you're not sure of something :) Today we're talking oils. Oil has a place in your clean eating lifestyle and is even healthy for you! Here are your healthy oil choices and when you would use them. I also use nut oils salad dressings. Try to stick with these oils and you will be eating clean!

Easy & Healthy Shrimp

Here's an easy and health shrimp recipe. I don't eat shrimp myself but I know alot of people like it and this is a recipe my mother in law shared so I thought I would pass it on! Check that your chicken broth doesn't have unnessary ingredients (all you need is chicken and veggies!) better yet, make you're own following this recipe.
Easy & Healthy Shrimp
 Ingredients
4 tsp olive oil
1 1/4 pounds med raw shrimp, peeled and deveined (tails left on)
6-8 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup + 1 T minced parsley
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
4 lemon wedges
Preparation
In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil. Saute the shrimp until just pink, about 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook stirring constantly, about 30 seconds. With a slotted spoon transfer the shrimp to a platter and keep them warm.
In the skillet, combine the broth, wine, lemon juice, 1/4 cup of the parsley, the salt and pepper; and bring it to a boil. Boil uncovered, until the sauce is reduced by half.
Spoon the sauce over the shrimp. Serve garnished with the lemon wedges and sprinkled with the remaining tablespoon of parsley. Enjoy!

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Cauliflower pizza crust recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked, riced cauliflower
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp italian seasonings
1/2 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp salt
pizza sauce & toppings of your choice

Directions:

To rice the cauliflower, cut florets into chunks and pulse in a food processor until you see rice-like bits. You could also use a cheese grater to produce the tiny pieces. Do not over process, you don't want mush.
Microwave the riced cauliflower in a bowl for 5-8 minutes depending on your microwave. No need to add water.
One large head of cauliflower will yield about 3 cups of riced cauliflower. Use it to make more pizzas immediately, or store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup riced, cooked cauliflower, 1 egg and your cheese. Next, add Italian seasonings, crushed garlic and salt. Making sure everything is well mixed, place your "dough" on the cookie sheet and pat out a 9" round. Be sure not to press it too thin as it's easy to create holes.
Bake your dough at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven. Add sauce, cheese, and your favorite pre-cooked toppings to your pizza. Place pizza under broiler just until cheese is melted, be sure to keep an eye on it!
Enjoy!

Homemade Healthier Chicken Broth

The only ingredients needed in broth is chicken and vegetables. "Natural chicken flavor" should be avoided! Not even sure what that is but it's not necessary! Even better make your own!

Take a rotisserie chicken with as much as the meat removed as you can, put it in your crock pot with onions, carrots, and celery, fill it with water and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Remove everything, strain it, you have chicken broth! I freeze mine in muffin pans and then throw them in a ziploc bag in the freezer so I can pull out what I need.

Day 4 Clean Eating Challenge Group

Eating clean will likely require some changes in what you're eating. Some of these you may already do or maybe you have one that you do that's not listed. Share it below! If you have a food that you would love to "clean up" post it below and we'll find a good alternative. My favorite swap is using applesauce instead of oil in baked goods, they'll never know!

Greek Sytle Chicken Breasts

I got this recipe from Cooking Light Magazine and made it tonight. It was delicious!

Greek Style Chicken Breasts

Serves 4 (serving size: 1 chicken breast half, about 1/3 cup tomato mixture, and about 1 tablespoon feta)

Ingredients

Cooking spray
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Click to see savingsClick to see saving1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
Click to see savings1 3/4 cups vertically sliced onion
Click to see savings1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 ounce chopped pitted kalamata olives (about 14)
1 medium tomato, halved and sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 ounce feta cheese, crumbled (about 1/4 cup)

e saClick to see savingsPreparation

1. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken to pan; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion and garlic; sauté 4 minutes. Add olives and tomato; cook 3 minutes or until tomato begins to break down, stirring occasionally. Remove pan from heat; stir in parsley, oregano, and juice. Top chicken with tomato and olive mixture; sprinkle feta evenly over chicken.

Day 3 Clean Eating Challenge Group

Day 3 Let's talk sugar. Sugar makes everything sweeter. But too much and the wrong kind can be a bad thing. Your best option is to get sugar from it's natural source, fruits and vegetables. Sugar creates a roller coaster effect on your body. When you consume it you may feel more energized but what goes up must come down! So you consume more sugar and repeat the cycle. Today keep track of your sugar intake and think about where you could improve and post below at the end of the day.

The Best Southwest Seasoning (replaces taco seasoning!)

This is the best southewest seasoning I've come across! I finally have a homemade replacement for taco seasoning. It also works well for fajitas (both meat and veggies). I've also used it on chicken and my son that doesn't like chicken loves chicken when I put this seasoning on it!

I got this recipe from the 21 Day Fix meal plan. I left out one ingredient from their recipe because I didn't have it.

Smoky Southwest Seasoning
1 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp sea salt

I make a quadruple batch of this seasoning so I have some ready.

Day 2 Clean Eating Challenge Group

Day 2 - Veggies! We all know that veggies are good for us and here are some reasons why. Today aim to have at least 4 servings of vegetables. One serving is 1/2 cup of most vegetables or 1 cup of leafy greens. Post here once you've had your 4 servings!

Day 1 Clean Eating Challenge Group

Day 1 of my Clean Eating Challenge Group!

Today we start with the simple rules of clean eating. We're not going to focus on how many meals you should be eating or how often because it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle. Here is clean eating simplified:

Clean Lemon Drop

It's May 1 and it's 80 degrees in Seattle!! This day was just screaming Lemon Drop to me! So made a "clean" one. Alcohol isn't technically clean but I consider it a treat and only have it on occasion. I figured I would make it clean while I was at it!

As you can see from the picture on the bottom right not all of the sugar actually dissolved into the liquid so next time I will use less. Lemon Drops are my favorite but I think this could easily be used as a Margarita recipe also :) With Cinco de Mayo coming up I may be giving it a try!

Chicken Taco Salad

Dinner tonight was supposed to be Turkey Taco Salad. But I didn't have any ground turkey and it was 70 degrees and the last thing I wanted to do was to cook inside! So I opted to grill some chicken with my favorite southwest seasoning that I found from the 21 Day Fix food guide. My oldest son does not like chicken but when I use this seasoning he loves it and actually requests more!

 



Southwest Seasoning

1 Tbsp chili powder

2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp sea salt

 

I make up one batch of this and it lasts 2-3 dinners when I sprinkle it on the chicken (usually 4 chicken breasts per dinner). I cook up extra chicken with this seasoning and have it in the fridge for quick snacks and meal prep.

 

Chicken Taco Salad - serves one

4oz chicken breast cooked with Southwest Seasoning, chopped

2 cups lettuce, chopped

3 black olives, chopped

1/4 cup tomatoes, chopped

1/4 cup green onions, chopped

2 Tbsp shredded cheddar

1/4 cup fresh guacamole

 

Layer ingredients in bowl and enjoy!

 

 



"Tame Stress" Salad

I've had this salad recipes for years. I got it from a magazine but can't remember which one. There was an article with 4 salads "Tame Stress", "Fight Fat", "Boost Your Energy", and "Lift Your Mood". I'm having all but the "Boost Your Energy" this week so I will post the recipes. The "Boost Your Energy" salad requires figs so that one will come later once figs are in season!

Tame Stress - serves one

 

1 cup baby spinach

1 cup mixed field greens

4-5 medium strawberries, quartered

2 Tbsp sliced fennel

1/4 cup sliced green onion tops

4 oz chicken (original recipes calls for 1/2 cup canned salmon, but I don't like fish so I used chicken)

1 1/2 Tbsp walnuts, chopped

 

Dressing:

1 tsp honey

1 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp olive oil

1/8 tsp black pepper

 

I layered my salad in a mason jar to take to work with me. Dressing first, then then layer the remaining ingredients fennel, onion tops, walnuts, strawberries, chicken, then last the lettuce. Take the salad out of the refrigerator and let warm up for about 15 minutes to get the dressing to come out easier.

 

Here's the salad layered and ready to go!

 

Cobb Salad Recipe

Lunch today was a Cobb Salad. I found the recipe from The Best of Cleaning Eating cookbook. Their recipe calls for fish but I'm not a huge fan of fish so I substituted chicken. This is one of my favorite salads! I made the full dressing recipe because I can use it on other salads during the week but I only made one serving of the salad since it was just me for lunch today.

 

 

Cobb Salad (makes 4 servings)

Dressing:

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tsp raw honey

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Juice of 1 lemon

black pepper to taste

Salad:
4 hard boiled eggs (whites only, discard yolks)
1lb chicken (or white fish), cooked
1 large head green leaf or romaine lettuce, cleaned and torn into pieces
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
2 oz Black olives, chopped
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 oz low fat feta cheese, crumbed

1. Combine dressing ingredients and whisk.
2. Divide lettuce evenly among 4 plates. Divide the remaining salad toppings evenly on all four salads.
3. Drizzle with salad dressing. Enjoy!

Pantry makeover

My journey to a pantry for healthier living

The pantry...it's where food goes to disappear only to be discovered years later. Not anymore! The pantry in my kitchen was just a standard builder grade pantry with deep shelves, terrible spacing, and not enough shelves. For years (at least 14 because my mom remembers having a conversation with me when I was pregnant with my youngest!) I have wanted to cut the shelves in half, change the spacing and have more of them. But my husband resisted...until now!

Here is my pantry before. 47" wide with 4 16" deep shelves. 

 

And here it is after! 4 full depth pull out drawers and 3 shelves (2 are 10" deep and the top one is 5" deep)

 

 

 

When it came time to put everything back into the pantry that came out I did have to find a new home for some of the non food items that were in there (paper towels and recipe book and recipe box) but all the food items went back into the pantry in addition to some fruits and veggies that were not previously in there.

 

The 4 drawers hold tons of stuff! I labeled the lids of everything with black contact paper and white marker.

The top drawer has baskets that can hold those odd bagged items: rice nooodles, rice wraps, tortillas, tea, bread, english muffins, etc.

 

The second drawer has baskets to hold fruits and veggies that do not require refrigeration.

 

 

The third drawer down is common baking ingredients and snack items that my family will want easy access to.

 

 

 

And the bottom drawer is less common baking goods, rice and beans.

 

I love my new pantry and no longer lose items or buy something that I already had and didn't know!