Alright...it is decided. There are actually lots of delish recipes I want to try but this is the one I am going to make this weekend...crock pot baked sweet potato! Dustin Has bison burgers so I will make him one of those and for myself...I am going to try and make either canned tuna patties or lentil burgers (that would be nice since I would use up some of the lentils!). I also want to try my hand at making homemade mayo. Eek!

Thank Goodness it's my Friday...and Goals

It has definitely been a looooooooooong week at work! I feel really good about keepin up with my eat clean goals this week so far! Alright...and now on to goals. I have a few goals that I want to focus on. One of my goals is obviously to keep on the eat clean track and to try new recipes with ingredients I already have around the apartment! Another goal I have is to keep myself on 100 bucks/week budget for spending. That includes groceries and anything else that I want to buy! For grocery shopping I am going to write a list and stick with it. I also do not want to buy more clothes until Christmas time. I don't need any. For real. So for now...those three goals are my focus. As a little sub goal for my budgeting...I want to use coupons! I have been kinda looking online to find coupons that I can use. I just want to be a smart shopper! :)

I have been doin some research online, lookin for my recipe of the weekend! I still do have a ton of lentils I need to use up. Rice, quinoa, soba noodles, sweet potatos....so I need to find something delish to throw together. Crock pot would be preferable! :)

Not so clean week!

This has been kind of a hectic week! I realize that as far as the choices I made I didn't do so badly, but I did not need the frozen yogurt yesterday lol and I ate out a lot last week! Subway, sushi, applebees. I made healthy choices but I still don't like A)spending the money and B) straying away from what I know is clean. I usually cut myself some slack and have a cheat day but I would rather not eat out unless it's a special occasion. So I am definitely going to make a conscious effort to save money by not eating out and that will help the eat clean dealio as well. Dustin wants my help in getting his diet back on track. He has been all over the place with school, so now that it is almost over I think he wants to focus on working out and eating right again. I really need to get my butt in gear and start making us some delicious food! :)

My new eat clean item of the week!

And now introducing my new eat clean item of the week! I actually bought this stuff on a whim because it looked like it was right up my fiber lovin' ally...now that I have discovered aspartame hiding in my favorite fiber one I am glad I bought this stuff!

Healthy Happy Hour and a not so welcome surprise!

I love happy hour! I think it might be one of my fave ways to unwind after a long day at work! I get off work early today (at three as opposed to the dreaded seven!) and the girls and I are going to head out to Kona Grill for happy hour! I love happy hour, but I love healthy happy hour even more! I am forever in search of happy hour that wont completely divert me from my eat clean path! Kona grill is actually pretty good! They have a yummy menu of light healthy stuff...I am planning on getting the ahi tuna sashimi...mmmm! A glass of red wine or possibly two should make for a wonderful friday afternoon! They actually have cocktails made with splenda simple syrup, so for people trying to watch calories that is a nice option, but I really try to stay away from fake sugars.


Now onto my not so welcome surprise! Fiber one has aspartame in it! WHY????? I just noticed this yesterday! I have been eating this cereal forever! I love it! I did always think it was surprisingly good, but now I am so sad to see that it contains aspartame. Ugh. I am really getting annoyed with these ingredients getting stuck into perfectly healthy food. Sigh.

Crock pot tamale pie = FAIL!

Yes you read that correctly...I was none too pleased with how my tamale pie turned out. It was still alright, but the end product turned out to be A LOT of cornbread topping and very little filling on the bottom. The cornbread was super super dense and the filling was just kinda "meh". But I think that if I add more filling and maybe cut back the bread topping a little it will fix the problem. It really was alright...I have leftovers but mostly the cornbread ( literally the container weighs like five pounds from the dense bread) so I think I will just whip up a little more beans and spices for Dustin to eat for lunch or something. I have pineapple comin out the ying yang and I think I need to make something yummy with it because it's not gonna last long! I was thinkin either the pineapple stir fry I made a few days ago or maybe pineapple pizza? Both sound pretty good. I just need to see how many ingredients I will have to run out and buy for the pizza...yeah I don't wanna do too much of that today!

Also yesterday Dusty and I went to Orange tree frozen yogurt in Gilbert. It was good but the service was a little disappointing and it melted sooooo fast. I don't know if it was like not fully frozen or something but it's like within three minutes out of the store mine was 1/2 melted! I love tart frozen yogurt though! It is so yummy!
Crock Pot Tamale Pie (From crockpot 365)

Cornbread topping:

--3/4 cup cornmeal

--1 1/4 cup flour (I used Pamela's baking mix)

--1 cup milk

--1/4 cup sugar

--1 egg

--1 t baking powder (only if not using Pamela's or similar gluten free baking mix that already has baking powder added)

The Filling.

I chose to make this vegetarian because I put this on at 6am and had no interest whatsoever in browning meat that early in the morning. I was lucky my slippers were on the right feet. You, however, can add 1lb of your favorite browned meat if you'd like.

--1 can drained and rinsed black beans

--1 can fire roasted tomatoes
--1 can drained corn

--1 T chili powder

--1 t cumin

--1/2 t paprika

--1/4 cup diced onion (I had some leftover in the fridge from a previous dish)

--1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

The Directions.

Spray your crockpot with cooking spray. Dump in the filling ingredients--cheese, too!-- and stir well to distribute the spices. You will not be able to stir this again, so please check to see that the spices aren't in a clump anywhere.

In a separate bowl, mix together the cornbread topping. When finished, pour evenly over the filling, spreading with a spatula if needed.

Cover and cook on low for 4-7 hours or on high for 2-4. I was shocked at how quickly this cooked. I set it on low and expected it to take about 8, but it was all brown and golden and perfectly crispy at the 6hr mark. So we ate it for lunch!

Question of the day....

What can I use to make a delicious vegetarian sandwich? I have done tofu and nutritional yeast and it was alright, I have done cottage cheese with spices and spinach and it was tolerable ha, egg beaters, tuna...but what else? I really am not into the soy alternatives for cold cuts. I know there HAS to be some kind of tofu recipe that is both easy and delicious. I just need to find something. I have looked into lots of tofu sandwich recipes, but some of them are not so simple ha! I am not one who wants to really "cook" when it comes to lunch. I like 10 min preparation tops! So the search continues.

July 17th yums!

I made something delish last night! Dustin and I picked up a few pineapples at the store the other day and I wanted to make something with them before they went bad (or at least one of them). So I decided to cook up some brown rice and make a little stir fry. I threw some pepper slices, broccoli florets, and garlic/canola oil into a skillet. I added some red pepper flakes and soy sauce and just let it simmer for a bit. I then added some thawed shrimp, pineapple chunks and green onion. I left it on medium heat for about 5 mins and topped the brown rice with it! I added a little more oil to Dustin's because I was afraid it would be a little dry and on mine I put a little extra braggs. I also topped mine with some chia seed!

Cooked Brown rice
About 20 thawed shrimp (I used smaller shrimp for this)
1 small pineapple cut into 1/2in chunks
1 cup peper slices
2 cup broccoli florets
1 green onion chopped
galric
red pepper flakes
soy sauce
olive oil

Heat some oil in a pan. Add in peppers, broccoli, green onion and garlic to taste. Sautee for a few mins until veggies are tender. Add in shrimp, and pineapple, add in soy sauce and let everything simmer on medium/low. Sprinkle red pepper flakes as disired and mix well. Add in cooked brown rice and stir ingredients together. Serve!


I was hungry yesterday! I didn't overeat but I was definitely a little munchy (thank you PMS) I was really wanting a treat. I almost bought the supplies to make my eat clean brownies but didn't end up doin it. Today is national ice cream day so I am considering making homemade frozen yogurt. :)

Headbangin good time!

I definitely had a blast at the concert yesterday! I stayed pretty true to eating clean, or at least did the best I could with my options! :)

Meal 1- fitness bread with 1 tbsp peanut butter and 1 tbsp chia, 1/2 banana with cinnamon, coffee with agave and almond milk

Meal 2- peach and big handful of almonds

Meal 3- finished Dustin's greek yogurt (less than half I believe). Ezekiel pita with 1/2 cup egg beaters, spinach and prob 2 tbsp shaved parm. An apple, tea with tsp agave

Meal 4- 2 tbsp peanut butter, handful of baby carrots

Meal 5- 6" veggie sub on whole wheat from subway

Meal 6- small glass of wine, mojo granola bar

Korn Concert today!

I am going to an outdoor concert today! Eek! I haven't been to a concert in YEARS! So I am excited...aside from the fact that it's the hottest day of the year. As in...117 degrees. EEEEEK! I am not sure if you can bring snacks in to the concert. I can't imagine that you couldnt! So I am going to make a pb and banana sandwich, and take in a granola bar or two. LOTS OF WATER! Yesterday's meals were good! Standard work day meals and snacks. I had wheatabix and peanut butter and berries for breakfast, apple and yogurt with protein powder for a snack, leftover crockpot lasagna and a banana and a few cherries for lunch, carrots and 2 tbsp peanut butter for snack, sushi and glass of wine for dinner! YUMMO!

And this weekend's recipe will be..

...drum roll please....tamale pie! I must admit that I LOVE the crockpot365 blog! I am excited to make this delish looking creation!

Wednesday July 14th

Meal 1- fitness bread with 1 tbsp natural peanut butter mixed with 1 tbsp chia seed, 1/2 banana, coffee with agave and almond milk

Meal 2- little over 1/2 cup of cottage cheese with a little bit of agave ( I take a tsp with me to work in a container to make tea, so I used a little bit of it). Banana with a little peanut butter ( I take 2 tbsp to work so I just used a little from my afternoon snack)

Meal 3- Tofu stirfry with tofu chunks, 1/2 cup brown rice, mixed veggies, a little canola oil and low sodium tamari sauce

Meal 4- handful of baby carrots and 2 tbsp (minus what I picked at earlier) of natural peanut butter

Meal 5- Leftover from Tuesday! probably about 1/2 baked potato with more lentil sloppy joe mix and a mixture of a tbsp yogurt, tbsp chia and tsp canola oil for a topping.

Meal - I had three cups of tea today with a little agave (prob about a tbsp total)

July 13th clean eats!

Alrighty...as promised I am going to post my meals! The crockpot was out, so I decided to take advantage of it! I made lentil "sloppy joe's" to put over baked potatoes. It turned out really good! I didn't have onions so I threw in some frozen peppers, 1/2 sweet potato sliced up, shredded carrots and garlic. Instead of sugar I used agave nectar and I used spicy mustard.

Meal 1- 2 wheatabix, 1 tbsp peanut butter and chia seeds, sliced strawberries, cup of almond milk, coffee with agave and almond milk

Meal 2= 1/2 cup nonfat cottage cheese with cinnamon and a few sunflower seeds, apple

Meal 3- fitness bread, 1/2 cup egg beaters with nutritional yeast and brags, a little EVOO, peach, spiced plum tea with 1 tsp agave and a little almond milk

Workout- 60 min barbell strength

Meal 4- Lentil sloppy joe mix on a baked potato, I added some EVOO on the potato and nonfat yogurt mixed with chia for a topping

Meal 5- bran muffin and handful of fiber one, 2 tsp canola oil

Can I press the restart button please!!!

I must admit I have fallen off the eat clean wagon the last week or so. Ugh. No good! So I am pressing the restart button! I have just noticed that I pop in a candy if it's there and I ate cake yesterday (but hey it was Dusty's birthday). So now I start again. This means posting meals. So tomorrow morning I will post about today's yummies! Yesterday for Dustin's birthday I made crockpot lasagna. It was interesting. I followed the direction to a T and it was a little soupy and the noodles were very soft. It was good though! Now that the crockpot is out I will have to do more eat clean experimenting! Maybe today I will make some crock pot lentils!

I have had a busy busy weekend! I have succesfully moved into my new apartment and boy oh boy is my kitchen AWESOME! I am going to create some extremely delicious eat clean meals in this place! :) I am excited! In honor of 4th of july I am thinkin I need to make myself some salmon and sweet potato, kinda barbeque-ish. My desire to workout has been pretty much nill the past few days! I think it's a mixture of the heat and just the pure exhaustion of moving. If I don't drag my butt to the gym later I will at least do some biggest loser yoga! Just something to get me movin!