Let's talk about love....

It is freezing here today! I say this with the full knowledge that 49 degrees is not freezing and that some people are really enduring freezing temps. I am cold, though. We are wimpy out here when it comes to the cold! I did actually venture out this morning at 0730 for a hike! I went yesterday at sunrise as well. I LOVE hiking. If I could only do one workout for the rest of my life it would be hiking. I love the changing scenery, I love that I can always do some trail running if I feel up to it. I love the interval aspect of hikes with the up and down elevations. I just love hiking, and I REALLY love hiking at sunrise! So beautiful!

I am also now in love with popcorn. I received a popcorn maker for Christmas and I cannot get enough of it! It's so nice not to have to read labels to see what is in the little microwavable bag. My fave way to eat is is drizzled with a little olive oil and sprinkled with a little salt. YUM! I need to find ways to spice it up. I know that lime and chili popcorn is yummy! I have also had it with braggs amino acids, and I tried it with nutritional yeast as well. I will continue to research new ways to eat these little puffs of goodness.

Now onto my third love. I am in love with a salad creation that I concocted last week. I had some chicken strips from trader joe's (the frozen kind which makes them SO EASY) and I had some lettuce. I thought..."well I'll make a chicken salad." As I opened the fridge I noticed that I had an abundance of salsa...YUM! Why stop at salsa...why not throw in some cottage cheese too! I also have some roasted corn in the fridge from trader joe's so I threw that in there too. The end result was absolute deliciousness. To. Die. For. Deliciousness. I know that I say a lot of things are to die for but this was really really really good!

Speaking of salad I feel that I need to give a shout out to Picazzo's restaurant out here. I had a delicious organic salad today while out to lunch with my mom. That place is fabulous. They use organic ingredients, they offer lots of wonderful healthy options for crusts and toppings, and their salads are just sooooooo good. I had a spinach salad with sliced chicken breast. Dressing on the side (I prefer just a light drizzle rather than a downpour). Very very good! I will definitely be taking Dustin there in the near future. Or better yet...I snagged a take out menu. :)

Goodbye Christmas...hello potatoes!

Christmas is OVER! I feel like being in the hospital kinda cramped my style as far as the holidays were concerned. I had a great Christmas though so I really can't complain! It just always goes by so quickly. One thing that is good about Christmas being over is that now there are far less temptations! :) Dustin did buy me a box of dark chocolates that are to die for...so I have been having one piece a day just to satisfy the sweet tooth! 80% clean has always been my goal so I think sneaking a dark chocolate here and there does nothing but keep me sane and happy! Dustin has packed on a few holiday pounds, also the food police (being myself) was in the hospital and didn't keep the boy in check ha! So we are starting fresh and I am throwing him on the eat clean wagon!

Dustin brought me a bag of little red potatoes that were leftover from dinner at his mom's house. So now I need to find a delish eat clean potato dish. I am feeling soup. I am feeling the crock pot. So we will see what I can come up with.

Eat Clean Christmas Treats!

My all time favorite treat to make at Christmastime is Buckeyes! Delicious balls of peanut butter and powdered sugar dipped in chocolate. To. Die. For. I was lying in bed the other night thinking about Christmas treats and how I could make them clean. Buckeyes popped out in my mind as being ridiculously EASY to make clean. I decided I would just substitute the mounds of powdered sugar with protein powder. I turned to my good friend google and actually found quite a few recipes that were close to what I was looking for. One in particular called for oat bran or oats to be mixed in and that sounded really good to me! None of the recipes proposed that I dip the delish pb poppers in chocolate, but that part is easy peasy. I am going to use dark chocolate. What I have found is that even if the fam or friends don't like dark chocolate, they will still like this! The sweetness from the pb balls sweetens up the dark chocolate. I am so excited to try this!

Eat clean buckeyes

Ingredients

• 1 cup protein powder
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 1/2 cup flax meal or wheat germ ( I used wheat germ)
  

Directions

In mixing bowl, combine all ingredients thoroughly. Roll 1 tablespoon of dough each into a walnut size balls and place on cookie sheet covered in wax paper.

You can roll the balls in extra protein powder, cocoa powder, or powdered sugar to make less sticky on the outside.

Place cookie sheet in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Alright...now here comes the chocolate! Melt 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate or semi sweet chocolate chips in a double boiler. Take the pb balls with a toothpick and dip into the chocolate. Place back on the wax paper and put tray back in the fridge when finished and let them harden for an hour or so.



And for my next treat...brownies. I have made some eat clean brownies before...they were good. I thought they were good, but they were VERY clean and not very sweet. I am excited to make these brownies. VERY excited!

Sweet potato and cinnamon brownies

Ingredients

Servings: 16

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup cooked sweet potato
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 6 egg whites
• olive oil flavored cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare brownies: combine flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. set aside. In a food processor combine cooked sweet potato, agave, oil, and vanilla. Puree until combined and smooth. Gradually mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients, until just combined. don?t over-mix. In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites until fluffy. Then, using a rubber spatula, gently fold egg whites into batter. Lightly spray 9X9X2" baking pan. Bake for 16-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool to room temperature (30 Minutes). Remove brownies from pan, cut into 16 squares, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

This recipe has cream cheese frosting for the brownies, but I left that off. I want simple and not too messy. Frosting and I never play well...it's always messy, never the right consistency and I always end up eating half of it before it get used.

New clean snack item!

I am a snacker. Everyone who knows me knows that I carry snacks everywhere I go. I am always on the lookout for a little somethin somethin to switch things up a bit from my usual snacks. Last night I stumbled upon this delicious little item. It was expensive (like 4 bucks for 4 mini bags) and it has inspired me to buy myself some popcorn kernels and make my own delish creations! I used to be big into popcorn and then I guess just kinda forgot about it! Well I have been reminded by how gooooooooood this popcorn combo was! I will definitely be trying to recreate this on my own. They also have other flavors like salt and lime (YUM!). I bought the salt and pepper and the plain (normal sized bags) to test out.

Happy Healthy Shopping

I ran across this this article this morning. I can't believe Trader Joe's is #4! It is definitely #1 in my heart! I am also surprised that Kroger/Fry's isn't on the list. Out here Fry's Marketplace has a HUGE health food section that I frequent often!

America's 10 Healthiest Grocery Stores

Cottage cheese enchiladas!

Dustin LOVES himself some enchiladas. I made chicken enchiladas last month and they were gooooooooood. The only complaint I got was that they could have had more sauce. So I have decided to try my hand at spinach and cheese enchiladas. Of course there is no recipe online that fits the "clean" definition so I have done some tweaking and combined a few recipes. I'm using my chicken enchilada recipe for the sauce and for the "base" recipe for the enchiladas. I am making these tonight for dinner so I will update on how they turn out and what Dustin the enchilada lover thinks of them!

P.S. You guys know that cottage cheese is my "go to" secret ingredient. It has never let me down yet so I am kinda excited to see how these turn out!

Spinach and cottage cheese enchiladas

Ingredients:

5 medium whole-wheat tortillas (5-6″ each)
few handfuls of shredded cheese to top enchiladas ( I am using natural mozzarella)

Filling:

1/2 cup natural mozzarella cheese
2 cups low fat cottage cheese
4 oz green chiles, chopped and drained
1 tsp ground cumin (didn't measure just a couple shakes)
1 tsp chili powder ( couple shakes)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp sea salt

About 2 cups of frozen spinach (thawed, drained, and patted dry with paper towel)

Sauce:

15 oz all-natural diced tomatoes with chiles (optional but Dustin like his really saucy)
15 oz all-natural tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*.
Combine all filling mixture ingredients (up until the spinach ) in a large bowl and set aside.
Combine sauce ingredients in the nonstick pan; set over medium heat and cook until warm, about 10 minutes.
Spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Divide filling mixture evenly among tortillas, and top with spinach. Fold sides over and place seam-side down in the casserole dish. Top enchiladas evenly with remaining sauce, and sprinkle with cheese (I sprinkle Dustin's half with cheese and leave mine as is). Bake in center of oven for 20 minutes. I like to top the enchiladas with a tbsp or two of olives before baking. If it looks like it lacks some sauciness add some salsa! It spices it up a bit and adds a little more juice to the sauce.

* UPDATE* These. Were. To. Die. For. Dustin RAVED about them! I loved them too! Sooo good. Filling but not too filling and spicy but not too spicy. They really turned out great! Next time I am going to leave out the 1/2 cup of Mozerella cheese I added to the filling. Just to cut down on the cheese (more for me than Dustin who doesn't think there is such a thing as too much cheese).

Blueberry Bran Muffins

I wanted something warm and delicious as a snack for tonight. I went over all the desert/cookie recipes on the Eat Clean friendly websites and I just didn't want something too sweet, too chocolatey or too...well...desert-ish. These muffins are definitely what the doctor ordered! They smell divine!

Ingredients

• 1 cup wheat bran
• 1/2 cup fiber one (or other bran cereal)
  
• 1 cup almond milk
  
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
  
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
• oatmeal to sprinkle on top before baking

I got this from the Eat Clean Diet website and I made some changes. First of all I am never one to mix ingredients seperately, dry and wet and then add together later (the original recipe suggested this). I add them all in together and mix ( I did add the blueberries last). They always turn out alright so I figure it must work out somehow. Bake for 20 mins on 400! YUM!

Back on the bandwagon!

I'm back home and sooooooooo READY to get back on the eat clean wagon! Today for lunch I made a delicious sandwich. Dustin bought some honey whole wheat bread from Fresh and Easy. Nothing too crazy added to it, and it is soooooo good. I had a slice of that with 1/2 of an avocado mashed with some salt and pepper. I cooked up an egg white and added a big slice of tomato! YUM! For dinner tonight I am whipping up some pizza. I used the whole wheat flax recipe and I am going to top it with pesto from trader joe's, sliced tomato, sliced peppers, mushrooms, and some natural low fat mozzarella cheese.

As some of you may know...I am a huge fan of The Gracious Pantry blog! Tiffany is AWESOME! So I steal a lot of my recipes from her! She is whipping up some serious holiday goodies and this week I am determined to make her eat clean egg nog! I will keep you posted on how it goes!

Also I am going to admit that I am not being 100% clean. I know I know shocking ha! I ordered myself some peanut butter from Peanut Butter Co. I got 5 jars for 30 bucks! Dark chocolate dreams, white chocolate wonderful, mighty maple, the bees knees, and cinnamon raisin. These jars of absolute awesomness are well worth a little splurge! So I have been having a tbsp or two a day and enjoying every wonderful bite. These peanut butters are totally my item of the week. They also have a coupon on their website for 5 bucks off 30 dollars!

Food Inc, and the Hospital

Odd title...I know...but hear me out on this one! The first weekend of November Dustin and I watched the Documentary Food Inc. If you haven't seen it you need to watch it! It rocked my world. I was angry and felt cheated and also a little freaked out! E. Coli is the subject of previously mentioned movie. NOT TWO DAYS LATER I got sick. Food poisioning. E. Coli. Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome. I am still in the hospital (hence my lack of posting delicious eat clean holiday recipes...sigh). My kidneys temporarily shut down so I have to be on a special renal diet that pretty much forbids me to eat all things I love! I have been trying to keep as clean as possible but lets be honest, it's not my MAIN focus here. But I just had to post about how crazy it is that I just watched that documentary and then the SAME thing that made me so mad and scared happened to me! Everyone needs to watch that movie! Now that I am feeling better I will definitely post more. I will have lots of time to look up recipes and fine tune them to my eat clean needs.

Eat clean enchiladas

Yes. That is correct. Enchiladas that are CLEAN! It is common knowledge that my taste buds have morphed into alien taste buds that ENJOY the taste of healthy food. So eating clean is actually extremely easy to me. I don't understand how people can wrinkle their nose when I mention how I made turnip fries and bean burgers for dinner! Dustin is such a good little fiance! He is always up to try anything I make. As his reward...I made some Enchiladas! If there is one thing that this boy likes...its Cheese. Lots of cheese! So for these sorts of dishes I have just been lightening up the amount of cheese I use. It doesn't change the taste too much, I just use more sauce or add more spice so that it really doesn't matter that it swims in greasy cheese or not. This recipe was great! "The best enchiladas he has had aside from his own." ha! So that is quite a compliment! I got the recipe from Loves To Eat (another fellow blogger who took it from Clean Eating Mag). I made some changes to the recipe. So I will give you MY recipe, but tweak it if you like or dislike something!

Ingredients:
5 medium whole-wheat tortillas (5-6″ each)
few handfuls of shredded extra sharp low-fat cheddar cheese

Chicken mixture:
3 cups shredded or chopped cooked chicken breast (leftover engagement chicken)
4 oz green chiles, chopped
1 tsp ground cumin (didn't measure just a couple shakes)
1 tsp chili powder ( couple shakes)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp sea salt

* I added a small handful of spinach per enchilada

Sauce:
15 oz all-natural tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*.
Combine all chicken mixture ingredients in a large nonstick pan over med-high heat and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes. Remove mixture from pan and set aside.
Combine sauce ingredients in the nonstick pan; set over medium heat and cook until warm, about 10 minutes.
Spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Divide chicken mixture *(and spinach) evenly among tortillas. Fold sides over and place seam-side down in the casserole dish. Top enchiladas evenly with remaining sauce, and sprinkle with cheese. Bake in center of oven for 20 minutes. Dustin topped his with light sour cream, I used a nice glob of greek yogurt.

Need new recipes! STAT!

I do not feel like I have been very eat clean. Ugh! I NEVER eat greasy mexican food. Well Thursday night that is exactly what I did. I thought I was getting a reg corn tortilla with chicken and pico de gallo (I even ordered veggies on the side). Unforts the corn tortilla was fried, the chicken was pureed, cheese everwhere, veggies bathed in butter. Sigh. I was so hungry that I ate most of it and in turn I felt AWFUL! I am still paying for it today. So back on track we go. I am tired of eating out, tired of junky food, I want some good high quality meals. Tomorrow for dinner I am going to whip up an eat clean fritatta with some spinach that I need to get rid of! The recipe uses quinoa which should be super fun and yummy! I will report back on how it tastes!

Tofu update and date night menu

Fun fact. I never buy firm tofu. I know that it is better for stir-frying but I just never buy it. Well upon Dustin's request I purchased firm tofu, win for Dustin! I whipped some up last night and it is definitely better for stir-frying...totally delsih!

Tofu stir fry (EASY)

1/5 package of firm tofu (for one serving) sliced into chunks
2 tsp sesame seed oil
ground ginger
curry spice
low sodium soy sauce
garlic to taste
1/2 cup rice
1 cup frozen mixed veggies

This really doesn't need a recipe ha! But I heated the oil on medium, don't let it get too hot (been there done that). Add the tofu chunks, sprinkle with ground ginger, curry spice, soy sauce and add a little garlic to taste. Let this cook for a few mins and mix tofu around to coat with spices and to give the tofu some crispiness. Add in 1/2 cup rice, veggies (I usually nuke them first or just let them sit out for a few mins to defrost). I like to add another tsp of sesame seed oil right before I serve to give it some extra flavor.

Alright...now onto my date night menu. I want to make engagement chicken as a joke (considering we are already engaged!). I have been infatuated with this recipe for years. It's humerous to me that people really do take this seriously and it really does "work". I just think it looks good and I have been adding in chicken once or twice a week into my diet. The recipe is taken from Glamour magazine. I am going to make quinoa/spinach/tomato salad. Add in some delicious wine and I have a wonderful date night dinner for my future hubby! :)


Engagement Chicken

1 whole chicken (approx. 3 lb.)
2 medium lemons
Fresh lemon juice (1/2 cup)
Kosher or sea salt
Ground black pepper
Place rack in upper third of oven and preheat to 400 degrees. Wash chicken inside and out with cold water, remove the giblets, then let the chicken drain, cavity down, in a colander until it reaches room temp (about 15 minutes). Pat dry with paper towels. Pour lemon juice all over the chicken (inside and outside). Season with salt and pepper. Prick the whole lemons three times with a fork and place deep inside the cavity. (Tip: If lemons are hard, roll on countertop with your palm to get juices flowing.) Place the bird breast-side down on a rack in a roasting pan, lower heat to 350 degrees and bake uncovered for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and turn it breast-side up (use wooden spoons!); return it to oven for 35 minutes more. Test for doneness—a meat thermometer inserted in the thigh should read 180 degrees, or juices should run clear when chicken is pricked with a fork. Continue baking if necessary. Let chicken cool for a few minutes before carving. Serve with juices.

Quinoa/spinach/tomato salad (from gluten free goddess)

Extra virgin olive oil

• 1 clove garlic, minced
• About 1/2 to 2/3 cup cooked quinoa per person
• 1 generous cup washed organic baby spinach leaves per person
• A handful of organic grape tomatoes per person, halved
• 1 scallion per person, washed, sliced
• Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
• Sprinkle of nutmeg
• Sprinkle of fresh or dried herbs- parsley, thyme, basil, or mint
• Squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Gently heat a large pan . Pour in some extra virgin olive oil. Add the garlic; stir and warm the oil for a minute. Add the cooked quinoa and heat through. Add the baby spinach leaves, tomatoes and scallions. Season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Sprinkle with nutmeg and herbs. Stir to mix. Sprinkle with lemon juice and stir. When the spinach begins to wilt remove from heat.

I'm back and back on track

Hawaii was wonderful! Beautiful weather, hiking, swimming, sun bathing! The wedding was lovely and...I GOT ENGAGED! So all in all it was a dream vacay! I must admit eating clean was not a priority. I feel like I needed to take a vacation from eating clean for the week. I did actually do pretty well, choosing healthier options whenever they were available. It felt nice to not be so strict though. I ate salads without the dressing on the SIDE, sushi to the max, veggie burgers on regular buns, fish tacos swimming in avocado and fresh pico de gallo, dessert, and drinks...fruity fruity drinks. One thing I did notice is that I was tired. So very tired! I felt sluggish and really hit an energy wall every morning around snack time. So I mean it was fun...but I am happy to be back to my clean eatin ways!

So as far as back on track goes... I need some motivation. I need some easy yummy recipes to spice up my lunches and dinners. I think I am going to experiment with tofu for tonight's stir fry! I also need to use up egg whites and eggs. So I think a frittata is in my near future!

Sunday Funday Football

My dad invited Dustin and I over for some bbq chicken and some football action yesterday. I volunteered to whip up an eat clean pasta salad to add to the mix! Pat (dad's wife) referred to the salad as clean out the fridge salad and that is pretty much exactly what it was! My dad marinated chicken breast in raspberry chipotle dressing. I am not sure of the cleanliness of this dressing but I imagine it can't be that bad as a marinade, most of it falls off anyway. Pat whipped up some potatoes and I rounded out the meal with a small glass of chardonay. YUM! I will post the pasta salad below!

Clean out the fridge pasta salad
(Base Pasta)
1 box whole wheat penne pasta
2 cans tuna (drained)
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
generous sprinkling of fresh parm cheese

(Optional added goodies)
Really you can add anything and everything you would like to this pasta. This is just what I had hand in the fridge.
About 2 cups broccoli florets
A cup of sliced peppers
3/4 can of chopped olive I had leftover

Prepare the pasta per the instructions on the box. Drain pasta and add in tuna, peppers, broccoli, and chopped olive. Add in balsamic vinegar and drizzle with olive oil to taste. I added about 3 tbsp of olive oil to moisten everything up. Salt and pepper to taste and final step is to sprinkle with fresh parm cheese. YUM!

I also made some not so yummy cookies! I was planning on taking them to Sunday Funday Football but I nixed that idea after Dustin and I decided that they were more like biscuits. I did think it was odd that no sugar was added in the recipe so I added some agave...not enough ha. I also added raisins instead of chocolate chips.

Clean Cookie Recipe from Liftingrevolution.com

• 1/4 cup all natural peanut butter
  
• 1/2 cup canola oil (I used 1/4 cup oil)
  
• 1 egg white (1/2 cup of egg whites)
  
• 3/4 tsp. vanilla
• 3 T. water
• 2 cups old fashioned oatmeal Quaker oatmeal (large flakes)
• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tbsp mini dark chocolate chips (handful of raisins instead)
  

Mix all the wet ingredients in first… the first 5 ingredients above. Then incorporate the rest of the stuff in and mix until just blended (don’t mess up the oats). Oh yea, make sure you had the oven preheated at 350 degrees. Drop teaspoon mounds on a cookie sheet and bake for around 11-14 minutes.

October Challenege Update and helpful tips

Well the craziness of October has begun and this weekend I feel like I held my own! I know that I wasn't eatin' clean all the time, but the choices I made were healthy and I had fun! So one weekend down and much more fun stuff ahead! I feel like my choice of fresh salads with dressing on the side and some delicious sushi was a good choice for all the eating out I did this weekend. I had a few drinks but nothing crazy! I stuck with my 3 drinks tops rule and that was spread over about 6 hours so really I did well. Now the only thing I need to work on is getting enough SLEEP!

With my new job starting and my upcoming vacay I have been thinking a lot about eating clean on the night shift and eating clean on the road. I know that there are other people who have talked about this on the world wide web so I decided to do some research and find some helpful tips that might come in handy. First I will talk about shift work and see what helpful healthy tips there are out there.

On the subject of eating clean on the night shift...this is what Tosca has to say about it.

A: The great thing about The Eat-Clean Diet is that it can be easily adapted to any lifestyle. Plan to eat five or six meals a day at two- to three-hour intervals. This goes for every day, whether you are working or not, and whatever time you wake up and go to bed.

For example, if you are having your first meal of the day at 3pm, then your next meals would follow at approximately 6pm, 9pm, 12am, and 3am. Just try not to eat within about four hours of your bedtime, whenever that is.

Eat breakfast soon after you wake to start your day feeling energized and get your metabolism humming!

October Challenge...bein clean party and vacation style

I am still going to work on my restaurant copycat recipes, but in the meantime I have a much more pressing challenge at hand. That challenge is the WHOLE MONTH OF OCTOBER! Today is October first and starting today my whole month is completely packed and topsy turvey! Tonight I have happy hour for my farewell from the OR. Tomorrow I have a birthday party and a bachelorette party, Sunday I have brunch and eating out for dinner, Monday I start my new job and I work Monday-Wednesday NIGHTS! Then the next week I leave for Hawaii for a week. I have becky's reception the weekend after that and then it's halloween! Eeeeeek! So truly the holiday season is starting off with a BANG! :) So what I wanted to focus on is sticking to my eat clean ways as much as possible throughout this crazy time! I have already addressed sushi happy hours. One glass of red one and a sushi roll is not breakin the bank, but a bachelorette party might be a little overload. I am sticking to red wine for sure, no more than 3-4 drinks for the whole night, I am going to order something clean-ish from the menu and I am making some eat clean snacks to bring so I can avoid the chips and cupcakes.

Restaurant copycat!

I love eating healthy and eating clean, but I would be lying if I didn't say that there are some dishes from restaurants that I REALLY miss! I think the theme for the next few weeks is going to be recreating these dishes with an eat clean twist! My first recipe I want to make is Ma Po Tofu from PF Changs! Mmmm My mouth waters just thinkin about it! I have been researching recipes and finding substitutions for some of the "unclean" items. This is going to be fun! Dustin will be my test subject! :) Now I just need to come up with a list of other recipes I would love to revamp! I'll have to ask Dustin some of his restaurant faves as well.

And another eat clean item of the week...

I mentioned Trader Joe's roasted corn. This stuff ROCKS! I have been buying it for a few years now and I add it to pretty much anything that has a southwest flair. It goes great in salsa, mixed with beans and rice, add to burritos and tacos , soups, and omelets or just have it as a side.

Mmmmm Mojito!

The theme for Sunday was Mojitos! I not only made the mojito marinade for my mahi mahi but Dustin also whipped me up a delicious Mojito using fresh mint, lime, agave and some rum. Very very good! I really meant to take pictures of my mojito fish, but sadly I once again forgot! I marinaded the fish for 30-40 mins and then threw em on the george foreman for about 6-8 mins. I made Dustin a big baked potato and I whipped both of us up some roasted corn from Trader Joe's! This corn is so good! It's in the frozen section! Definitely worth buying and it went really well with the fish! The meal was a big success! Dustin loved it! I loved it! I have a few pieces leftover which makes me excited for dinner tonight! :) I will post the recipe below and I will add in the changes I made in parenthesis.

Mojito Marinade (taken from eatingwell.com)

• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint (just removed the stems and threw whole leaves in blender)
  
• 1/4 cup rum
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated lime zest
• 1/2 cup lime juice (juiced three limes)
  
• 3 tablespoons honey (2 tbsp agave nectar)
  
• 2 tablespoons canola oil ( 1 tbsp oil)
  
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt

• Place mint, rum, lime zest, lime juice, honey, oil and salt in a food processor. Pulse until the shallots are finely chopped. Pour the marinade into a shallow baking dish or 1-gallon sealable plastic bag for marinating 1 to 2 pounds (4 to 8 servings) of your chosen protein.

I used Mahi Mahi so I only marinated for 30 mins. The recipe on the site has a list of marination times and grilling instructions for other protein!

I also made a yummy snack that I have been meaning to try...Peanut Butter Banana Pops! I took some old bananas that were getting to the overripe stage, sliced them almost completely in half lengthwise, and filled them with peanut butter (I aimed for about a tablespoon). Next wrap em in plastic wrap and put them in the freezer for at least a few hours. I LOVED these banana pops! I loved them so much that last night I made three more using peanut butter, soynut butter, and almond butter haha! YUM!

Eat clean item of the week...

I was perusing around Trader Joe's today and came across this absolutely delicious find. I know it might not be 100% clean but it's pretty darn close (meaning the ingredients are easy to pronounce!). I bought the two flavors that were available and made myself a spinach salad topped with a pouch of the tuna and some rice. SOO GOOD! Quite spicy, but just a really flavorful and easy thing when you don't feel like cooking but want something with a little pizazz!

Yummy Sangria and Weekend Recipe!

Alrighty...well it's been a week since I created some delicious cottage cheese concoctions...now I need some fresh new ideas! But first I have a super yummy recipe to share. Last week was my friend's bridal shower and I was in charge of the booze. I love making refreshing sangria so I offered to bring some peach sangria to the party. I won't lie and say that this is clean ha. But in the grand scheme of fruity cocktails I imagine it is not as bad as others. For this recipe Dustin and I hit up Trader Joe's for their 3 dollar bottles of wine! Such a good deal! We hit up costco for a big bag or organic peaches and picked up a few more ingredients at various stores...the finishing product was sooooooo good! It was such a hit at the shower! Here is the recipe. It makes a lotttttttt of Sangria! It almost filled a 2 gallon container!

3 bottles pinot grigio
1 bottle peach shnapps
2 2 liter bottes of fresca
a few handfuls of peach slices

Mix all ingredients together and chill in the fridge. Adding ice will water it down but add ice if ya like! If I were to make this for myself I would leave out most of the fresca ha. It was delicious without it, but definitely a great party punch that was very refreshing with fresca!

Alright, now on to the eatin' clean recipe for the weekend. I have some Mahi Mahi that I would like to use and in searching the web for some healthy recipes...this is what I have decided on. Drumroll please...mojito mahi mahi! This just sounds so good! I found the recipe on Eatingwell.com and I am going to cut it in half because the recipe makes a lot of marinade. I will whip it up on Sunday and I will post the recipe and what I think of it! It sounds like it would be really great with corn tortillas and some fresh shredded lettuce and pico de gallo.

Made some top 10 eat clean hits with this secret ingredient....

I am pleased to say that I whipped up some high scoring eat clean yummies yesterday and it's all thanks to my secret ingredient...COTTAGE CHEESE! I made Dustin some cottage cheese pancakes for breakfast! He awarded them the "best pancakes he has eaten" reward! I also FINALLY made the eat clean alfredo! This was sooooooooooooo good! The only problem I had with it was that I think I heated it too much and it got watery. Next time I will know not to make the sauce too early...it did end up thickening up more as it cooled. Dustin had seconds of the alfredo! I made whole wheat linguine, added some jumbo shrimp and broccoli and covered it all in the delicious sauce! It honestly had that "unhealthy" creamy, buttery taste. It was goooood! I will link both of the recipes below!

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

Dry:
1 c Whole-wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar (maple sugar flakes)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt

Wet:
8 egg whites
1 c fat-free cottage cheese
1 c fat-free plain yogurt
Cooking Spray

Directions

1. Combine first five ingredients in a medium bowl. Make a well in the center.

2. Combine eggs, cottage cheese and yogurt in a small bowl. Pour into well. Stir until just moistened.

3. Heat a nonstick pan or griddle or prepare a skillet with cooking spray. Heat should be medium high. Use 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Cook until lightly browned on both sides. Keep warm in oven until all batter has been used up.

4. Serve with fruit.


Clean Alfredo Sauce

Clean Eating Alfredo Sauce
(Makes approximately 4 cups)

Recipe updated 8/26/10

Ingredients
4 cups cottage cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (The “powdery” kind, but fresh. The Kraft version is not clean.)
1 tbsp. garlic powder (1-2 tsp. if you have to talk to people the next day)
1/4 cup soy milk + some reserve (or any milk you’d like to use)

Directions

Step 1 – Add all ingredients to a pot and turn on the heat. As the mixture begins to warm, blend in the pot with a hand blender. If you don’t have one, warm the ingredients and transfer to a blender.

Step 2 – Blend till smooth, and the continue to warm until it’s nice and hot.

Step 3 – Pour about a half a cup over your pasta and serve.

Fall is in the air!

Yes! You heard me correctly! Fall is certainly in the air this morning! It is a crisp 72 degrees outside this morning! Last night I went hiking at around 630 and it was lovely outside! A little breeze and cooler temps! Fall is one of my fave times of year! I have been hiking more lately and I can't wait to get out there often and explore more trails!
On an eat clean diet note...I must say I haven't really made anything the past week! Ugh! I have eaten sushi a few times (one time was brown rice! :)). I have been a little more sporadic which I don't like! Eating lunch really late or eating frozen yogurt at 10 at night or drinking too much delcious organic wine haha. So back on track we go!

Tonight I am definitely going to whip up some eat clean shrimp and broccoli with the clean alfredo sauce that I have meaning to make! I also want to make something new and interesting for lunch! I have a block of tofu I need to use up! I haven't made any of my tofu/nutritional yeast scramble in a while...so maybe I will make some of that for lunch today! I am getting a little tired of the tuna thing...but I do have some tuna leftover so maybe I will come up with a tuna idea and save the tofu for tomorrow.

9 month anniversay vino!

Yesterday was our nine month anniversary. Laugh all you want but I celebrate months until we get to years! :) We went to Z Tejas last night after Dustin got off work so I could sample more of their sustainable or organic wine. I was not disappointed! This time I tried two different wines...Bontera Savignon Blanc, and Parducci Sustainable red wine. Both were really good, but I prefer reds...so Parducci wins!
Yesterday for Dinner I invited my mom and brother over for some homemade pizza. I whipped up some grilled eggplant pizza and it was a BIG HIT! Even with my brother who has a serious aversion to all things healthy. I made the whole wheat flax crust I always make, I made my own pesto with olive oil, garlic, and a handful of basil leaves, sliced some roma tomatoes, grilled eggplant slices on the george foreman and threw it all together! I covered most of the pizza with natural mozzarella cheese and some fresh grated parm. On my brother's portion I added a little more cheese because I know he likes pizza cheesy! So now I have pizza leftovers to eat for dinner tonight! And Dustin now has leftover pizza and leftover eggplant lasagna to finish off haha!

Goals. Recipes.

The title says it all folks! Let's touch on goals. I have been feeling pretty good about my veggie goal! I have definitely been incorporating more greeny goodness into my meals. So I am going to continue on with this goal and I need to buckle down and work on my goal to gain some weight. Dustin has decided to join me on the eat clean wagon. I think he is trying this loosely which is just fine with me! I am just happy to hear he wants to eat healthier! YAY! He has a goal of losing 15 pounds by our trip to Hawaii in October. I think that 6 weeks is definitely sufficient time to at least make a big dent in that goal! So I will continue to check in with some stats regarding our progress!

Now Recipes. I FINALLY made the banana cashew balls I have been talking about forever. Um....not a huge fan. I have no idea why! I love bananas. I love cashews. I love dates. I did not love them together haha. They were just too "banana-y" for me. Dustin loved them though so we will give them a "B" in the grade book. I also made eggplant lasagna for the first time. It was good...but I dunno how I feel about it. I think I needed to cook it longer to make the eggplant more tender. It had a great taste but it was a little runny and the eggplant was a little tough. I still do really want to try clean alfredo sauce. So this weekend I will whip up some shrimp and whole wheat fettuccine with clean Alfredo sauce. I also want to make pizza. I have invited my brother and mom over for lunch or dinner tomorrow so I will try to whip up a yummy pizza for them. I am leaning towards a margarita pizza with fresh mozzarella, olives, tomatoes and I have some basil so I should really make some homemade pesto!

Eating clean on the go...

What to eat what to eat? I have never been a fast food advocate...I really don't like to eat out if possible. Yesterday was a weird day! Dustin and I were all over the place and so my eating schedule was all sorts of thrown off, I missed the gym, I ate lunch late, ate dinner late...ugh! Anyway...I was just thinking about my fave eat clean places to eat on the go. Sushi of course is my go to eating out meal. I know that white rice is usually frowned upon but I let that slide...I think that sushi has such yummy fresh stuff in it that a little whit rice won't hurt anything! So after much indecision about what to make for dinner at 830 last night we decided sushi was a good choice. Dustin really wanted to eat lunch at Sweet Tomatoes yesterday. There is one like a mile from my apartment and I hadn't gone in years! I was starving! It was almost three and I hadn't had lunch yet! UGH! It's ridiculously easy to eat clean at STs if you stick to the basics....salad. I topped my fresh veggies with olive oil and vinegar. Now usually I am not a huge fan of salads. I mean it's fine but I won't lie...I was still hungry afterwards. I wanted a whole wheat roll or something but there was nothing that looked even remotely clean in that department. I did have a bite of chocolate froyo but ya know what? So not good! Def not worth it! For a snack I had some dates...then off on the road again to pick up my mom from work. I was sad I didn't make the gym. I was feeling grumpy and I totally think it's due to not hittin the gym very much the past week.


So starting off fresh today. I have been doing well with the veggies! So that is good. I am going to make some lasagna tonight for dinner and Dustin and I are definitely hitting the gym hard this morning. I still need to make the banana cashew balls so I might attempt that this morning. So my goals today are to have a nice workout, attempt my cashew balls, and find a delicious veggie packed lasagna recipe to make for dinner tonight.

Dedicating September to Veggies

I have been a healthy eater for YEARS. I have gone the packaged diet food route (in my defense I was young and stupid haha) but truly for the past few years I have been focusing mainly on fresh healthy food. I have always had one problem...one serious problem...I don't eat that many veggies. I know I need to! I know how good for me they are..but I just don't do it! Lately I have been doing better with snacking on carrots and eating lots of edamame and mixed frozen veggies, throwing peppers in my pasta and stirfry etc...but I need to eat more! I am thinkin that I need to invest in some delicious hummus (heck maybe i'll even make my own! :)) and maybe I will be more inclined to snack on some veggies with something yummy to dip them in. It's not that I don't like veggies...fruit is just easier. I can grab a banana, apple, peach and just throw it in my bag. So my goal for the month of September is to concentrate on veggies. Celery, pepper slices, cucumber slices...alright..I am dedicated! I am also going to try to make some veggie packed entrees. I think I will follow in Jessica Seinfeld's footsteps and start sneaking in some veggie puree to my recipes!

Thank Goodness for Thursday!

I am sooooooooo happy it's Thursday! Monday I had an easy day at work and actually got sent home at 3! So that was nice! Yesterday made up for it. I have never run so much in my life haha! My whole body still aches this morning! This week I have been munchin on my leftover pasta from this weekend. I have added a piece of fruit or some carrots and called it a meal! I am trying to branch out more with my meals. So I need to create some things this weekend for snacks haha. Maybe some protein bars or something along those lines. I need to make pizza sometime because I want to use up some of my ingredients. Other than that I want to concentrate on some good snack recipes/ideas! I am definitely going to try my hand at banana-cashew balls from fatfreevegan! These just look amazing!

Already MONDAY?!?!?

I need these weekends to slooooow down please! I did end up having a very nice low key weekend. Last night I made a pasta dish for Dustin and I. I got the recipe from fitness magazine and tweaked it a little to make more (I wanted leftovers for my lunches this week!) I have posted the recipe below. It was really good! Dustin was a big fan! I had some turkey meatballs from trader joes so I threw in four of those for him. And speaking of Trader joes...I found myself some DELICIOUS organic red wine. Six bucks a bottle! I tried a glass last night with my pasta and it was sooooo good, slightly strong, perfectly sweet...just very yummy! I am really liking the organic ecofriendly wines I am trying out. I will have to be more conscious about my wine choices from now on, especially because now I know they don't have to be super expensive!

No Cream No Cry Penne Alla Vodka

I found this delish recipe in Fitness Magazine! I will copy and paste the recipe and then I will write a little tid bit on what I changed!

Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 8 ounces whole wheat penne
• 2 cups low-fat marinara sauce
• Pinch crushed red pepper
• 1 7-ounce container 2 percent Greek yogurt
• 1 cup chopped fresh basil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 6 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions, about 9 minutes; drain.
2. While pasta is cooking, bring marinara sauce and crushed red pepper to simmer in a large nonstick saute pan over medium heat. Cook sauce, stirring it occasionally with a heat-resistant rubber spatula, until it is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove saute pan from heat.
3. Stir about 1/2 cup marinara sauce into yogurt until smooth (this prevents yogurt from curdling). Then whisk yogurt mixture back into saute pan with remaining sauce.
4. In a large bowl, toss sauce with drained penne and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle cheese on top.

Nutrition facts per serving: 320 calories, 18g protein, 55g carbohydrate, 4.8g fat (2g saturated), 6g fiber

I wanted some leftovers for lunches so I used a whole box of Penne which was 13.5 oz. I used 2 cups of no sugar added tomato sauce, a cup of greek yogurt, I added some sliced peppers and some dried italian spices, salt/pepper and red pepper flakes. It was really really good! I didn't have any parsley, but I did have fresh basil I could have used but forgot! Grr!

Shout out to Z Tejas for their wine selection!

Last night after Dustin got off work we decided to go out for a drink. This girls definitely enjoys her wine (as is evident from past posts) so I thought I would have a glass or two. I wanted to go to Z Tejas because Dustin had never been there and I had been telling tales of the strongest margaritas in town! He had two, and he definitely agreed they were strong! Alright...now onto the wine selection. They have a whole section on their wine list for natural wines made from sustainable or organic grapes. I thought that was awesome! I got two glasses (Dustin insisted on the second...OY! Definitely felt that one!) of Trinity Oaks Pinot Noir. This wine was made from sustainably grown grapes and for every bottle sold a tree is planted! I checked out the website and they have a counter on the page to show how many trees have been planted! I love this! Anyway, Kudos to Z Tejas! Dustin and I decided we are definitely going back because there is a whole page of natural wines for me to try!

Eat clean fave!

And my favorite eat clean item of the week is not that exciting haha! But It's cheap! It's easy to find! It's DELICIOUS! I am loving Basha's brand natural peanut butter! I don't know what it is about it, but it is soooooooo good! It's creamy, melty, roasty, and just an all around good buy! This week it was on sale for $1.59! I should have bought two!

The weekend went by FAST!

Boooo! Usually my weekends don't fly by too fast, but this weekend just sped on by me! I did make a few things this weekend! I made some eat clean oatmeal cookies, which well...taste very clean haha! They are good, but definitely healthy tasting, so for me they were perfect and Dustin said they were alright, but I wouldn't bring them to a party lol! The recipe called for chocolate chips but I opted for raisins instead. I also made mine with bran instead of flax, just because I felt like adding some bran ha. I made Dustin some semi eat clean cornbread from Dr. Weil's website(made with white flour not wheat). And last night I made curried sweet potato and shrimp over brown rice! This dish was a big hit, the recipe was on the Kitchen Table on Eatclean.com! I was definitely a fan and Dustin liked it too! Over all I had a really nice weekend, I went to the gym Friday and Saturday, realized I despise the stairmaster and also did some yoga with weigths.

Ugh. IBS! And recipe for the weekend!

My IBS has been out of control the past few days! I think it has to be hormonal because things have been going really well lately. Sigh. I tried the fiber smart and I felt AWFUL the day after. So either I need to really slow it down and start at super low dose or I will just stick with my fibercon and try increasing that. The last option sounds the best. Now I am hoping that I can take back that fiber to sprouts. It was expensive!

Alright enough about that!I need some recipes!!!! I have been trying to stay away from anything cheese for the past few days (including my beloved cottage cheese). So I want something that isn't full of trigger foods! While I'm at work today I will do some searching! I want to stop by the grocery store after work, Bashas has peaches for 59 cents a pound! That is just a DEAL! :)

In other news Dustin and I had the most wonderful daytrip to Prescott/Sedona on Tuesday! I made us some healthy snacks, and packed LOTS of water. My snack on the trip was carrots and peanut butter, I bought some ginger lemon water which is delish (I want to see if there is a recipe for that!) I ate quite a few ginger chews (they calm the tummy). We ate lunch at wildflower. I LOVE their sweet potato sandwich. I need to learn how to make my own fig spread too ha! We went hiking for a few hours and it was just an absolute blast! I love that guy! We have such great andventures. We ate peaches halfway through the hike :). Then we were off to get some sushi! It was a really wonderful day!