Soup-de-doup

Soup during the winter is one of my favorite things. I was going to say it is one of life’s greatest pleasures, but I think that’s taking it a bit far. It still makes my favorites list at this time of the year though.

I’m surprised I haven’t made any other clean soups yet, but this certainly won’t be my last!

I made another recipe from The Gracious Pantry today, and tried her “skinny soup.” It’s really good and it made a TON. Like, I think this could feed 8 adults with leftovers ton. Maybe that’s not that much for some people, but I normally only cook for two, so to me it’s a lot! I’m thinking about freezing some because I don’t think we’ll be able to finish it before it goes bad. Anyone know how soup with quinoa freezes?

Try it though, I think you’ll like it!

What I mate: The Gracious Pantry’s Quinoa Vegetable Soup (a/k/a/ “skinny soup”). *Excuse the fugly bowl in the pic- I’m at work and don’t have cute dishes here.

Hummus!

First of all, maybe I’m not cut out to be a blogger. I haven’t done too well with publishing an update every day, but I’ll try to be better!

On Sunday I spent most of the morning relaxing. While I was being lazy, I looked up a few recipes and made a grocery list. I love crossing things off my list 🙂 One of the blogs I’ve been checking out a lot lately is The Gracious Pantry. She’s got lots of clean recipes and several that I’ve been wanting to try.

In trying to get out of my ‘not planning ahead’ rut I’ve found myself in lately, I threw myself into a cleaning frenzy on Sunday night. I made a few different recipes that I’ll be/have been eating throughout this week, and will talk about one by one on here.

First up, was The Gracious Pantry’s hummus. It is GOOD and it seems to get better with time as the flavors meld together. After doing all the cooking, I wanted something easy to throw together, so I just went with a simple veggie and hummus plate on Sunday night. Yum!

What I ate: The Gracious Pantry’s hummus (click link for recipe) with celery and carrots.

2.10.13

Mexican Skillet

I haven’t been grocery shopping this week and was thinking about what I’d make for breakfast while I was on my morning run. The pickings seemed pretty slim.

I was pretty happy with what I put together with just some odds and ends! Plus, I used up a package of eggs, a can of beans, some cilantro, a package lf tortillas, and pico de gallo- yay for no waste!

What I ate: Scrambled eggs with black beans, pico de gallo, cilantro and low fat feta cheese with corn tortillas. The pic shows the combined plate for the hubs and I, that’s not all for me! 🙂

Caprese

All day I thought I had a clean meal planned- I made caprese salad tonight and ate it with happiness- until I realized it might not have been clean after all. Crap! Though I bought the cleanest cheese I could find, it wasn’t exactly low fat (or at least not labeled that way). Soooo… I tried to eat a clean meal but I’m not sure I succeeded.

What I ate: Fresh mozzarella with tomatoes, salt, pepper, oil and vinegar

Green Juice + Clean Eating

As I’m sure you all know, the flu has been spreading like wildfire lately. After running around a lot this weekend and eating some fried junk at a Super Bowl party on Sunday, I felt like CRAP yesterday. I felt like I was getting run down to the point of being vulnerable to the flu and I do.not.have.time.for.that. Thankyouverymuch!

After talking to a friend who juices at home and whose kids “never get sick,” I thought it might be a good idea to put my juicer to work for some nutritious flu prevention.

I followed this recipe from gogreenstaylean.com (who’s commented on here before- thanks!) and made a ton of green juice to get me through the day. I have to say, it’s not too bad. The apple and cilantro work pretty well together. I feel much better today than I did yesterday, so that’s a nice benefit. I have been a bit hungry here and there, but it’s usually before I’m due to drink my next “dose” of juice.

To keep it clean and balanced, I added some Jay Robb protein powder to my afternoon juice and that helped fill me up (though it didn’t really change the taste). I could see myself doing a juice cleanse day every once in a while. Who knows, maybe this was the tipping point between being down for the count with the flu or feeling pretty good!?

What I ate: This green juice with Jay Robb Vanilla Protein Powder

Clean Chocolate Covered Strawberry Banana Sundae

Today I hit the jackpot.  I’ve been craving sugary snacks lately and today I think I found the ultimate clean craving killer.  Freaking good stuff!

It basically tastes like a chocolate fudge sundae topped with strawberries and banana, except not as cold.  I may try to freeze the yogurt mixture next time, but it’s too cold for ice cream around here right now. 

Getting to the best part…

What I ate: Nonfat plain Greek yogurt (2/3 cup) with 2 tablespoons Cacao powder and about 10 drops of liquid Stevia, topped with 1/2 sliced banana and 5-6 chopped strawberries.  In the picture, the yogurt/Cacao/Stevia isn’t mixed yet- sorry!  

Stir-fry-ish

So I’m not sure if it’s just a phase because there are so many delicious looking recipes I want to try or if I’m just becoming someone who actually cooks on a regular basis, but for several days in a row I’ve done more than just combining a few packaged ingredients. I’m not going to be the next Ina Garten  anytime soon, but it’s definitely an improvement. Low standards…whaaat?

Anyways, last night I created my own stir-fry-ish creation AND re-discovered the genius that is planned leftovers. This is sort of major, people. Planned leftovers will probably become my new go-to.

Best dinner (last night) and lunch (today) I’ve made in a while. Yum!

However,  be warned – it’s not a very pretty meal. 🙂
 
What I ate: Shelled edamame (protein), broccoli, carrots, celery, and onion over quinoa (more protein), topped with a mixture of low sodiom soy sauce, peanut butter and sriracha. I’ve seen both the low sodium soy and sriracha used in other clean recipes from  legitimate sources, so while they may have minuscule amounts of “unclean” ingredients, I’m still okay with including them in this clean meal.

Very Pinterest-ing

Lately there have been a lot of clean or nearly clean foods turning up in my Pinterest feed.  I decided I should actually make some of the recipes I’ve been pinning, rather than just wasting my time pinning them for “sometime in the future.”  Obviously, I don’t think I’ll ever make even half of the stuff I’ve pinned- or I’d spend the rest of my life in the kitchen- but at least I’m making an effort! 🙂

Today I tried a recipe that someone pinned from the Glamour website.  Apparently it’s celebrity fitness guru Harley Pasternak’s creation, and he seems to know his stuff, if you can judge from his client’s nice bods!

Honestly, I had high hopes for this smoothie, but it was just “meh” in my opinion.  It was lacking in flavor a bit, but it did make a lot and was filling.  Maybe I was expecting too much, who knows.  Give it a shot if you want, maybe you’ll love it!

What I ate: Harley Pasternak’s Breakfast Smoothie

Mediterranean Quinoa

Continuing on my trend of exploring alternate (non-meat) protein sources, I made quinoa. I’ve had it before, and liked it, but mostly in the context of a boxed mix. Tasty, but not very clean.

Sidenote- the more I actually read the ingredients panel before I buy something, the more concerned I am about our food supply.

I try not to be a grocery store judger, but the woman in the check-out line behind me last night was not buying a single item of fresh food. Not a fruit, vegetable, or even a bagged salad in sight. Maybe she shops around and buys her produce somewhere else, but still. The standard American diet is pretty sad!

Anyways! Sorry for the tangent there. My quinoa concoction was pretty tasty, and even the hubs was asking for some (after he ate his own favorite soup). I think he’s realizing how good this stuff really can be, which is nice for both of us because I plan to stick with these dietary changes & make more meals like this one.

What I ate: Quinoa with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, onion, garlic powder, lemon juice, olive oil, lemon pepper, parsley, salt, pepper, and some low fat feta cheese.

1.29.13

Mixing it Up

Finally breaking out of my rut and eating something totally new!

I hit up the salad bar for some beans and veggies and then came home and doctored them up with spices, lemon and olive oil. Oh yeah, and some crumbled fat free feta cheese. I LOVE this salad and will definitely be making it again soon. Yum!

I’ve seen limited amounts of cheese used in clean recipes from (seemingly) legitimate sources, and specifically low fat feta, so I’m still calling this clean.

What I ate: Garbanzo beans (a/k/a chickpeas), artichoke hearts, celery, onion, lemon juice, olive oil, lemon pepper, parsley, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.