Clean Eating Made Easy
Have you joined us in the April Clean Eating challenge? I’m already having so much fun and making great changes–DELICIOUS changes to my meals and attitudes about healthy food. Healthy food can taste SO good.
I want to help you make it easy but sharing this new app I discovered called Mealime.
It is simple to use and really convenient. You set up a meal profile based on dietary needs, foods you don’t like, how many people you are feeding, and how many meals you want. I started with 4 meals. It generates 4 meals for you and you can easily swipe and switch a meal you don’t like.
The app provides a complete grocery list for your meals then breaks down cookware needed, ingredients needed, and instructions for each meal.
The pictures are great, the prep was simple, and the meals have been tasty. I really don’t like to try new things and I tried 4, yes 4 new meals just this week. I even made 2 dressings from scratch AND made my own tortilla chips. How’s that for clean eating?!!
The best part? The app is free! I’m so excited for you to try it out. Let me know what you think!
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The hero of courage and honor
Hero… A hero is a “person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities”. A hero. There is such an overwhelming sense of inspiration and awe that goes along with that word. We all know one personally, we all want to be one, or we all can think of one. But there is that person. We have people in our lives that stick out, make a difference, and leave their footprints in our lives. From the time we were born until now, there is always that hero adventuring through our books, running through our cartoons, and leaving a lasting memory. And hopefully those heros have the noble qualities that compel their brave deeds to make a difference for the better. And we leave forever changed.
pic from playbuzz.com, http://cdn2.thr.com, http://www.newtrier.k12.il.us…
Read MoreHomemade Applesauce-Clean Eating Style
A great dessert or snack or breakfast treat. When you have a daughter that lives near Apple Hill and she calls to say a 40 pound box of apples is $14 you jump at the opportunity to share a box. Even though it took me a few weeks to pick up my apples, and they did not look as fresh as they had, I knew I was going to make applesauce so the appearance of the apples was not a deterrent. I set aside a morning to have fun in the kitchen making the applesauce and it went so fast, I was done in under 2 hours.
Ingredients
20 apples (about 8 pounds of apples-I used golden delicious and granny smith)
2 whole cinnamon sticks
1 lemon peel grated off
4 tablespoons lemon juice (2 lemons juiced)
⅓ cup honey (original recipe calls for ¼ cup brown sugar and ¼ cup white sugar)
1 cup water
¼ teaspoon salt
If you have a vintage cone shaped food mill you can make your applesauce without peeling your apples. To purchase one click here. Otherwise, peel, core and chop the apples. Place into a big pot with all the ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until the apples are soft. If you have a food mill put 2 cups of apples at a time into collander and press applesauce through the strainer with the pestle. Place applesauce into 1 quart Ball jars and seal according to canning directions or place in refrigerator and use up within 2 weeks. My recipe made 3 quarts.
I love homemade applesauce with plain yogurt as a wonderful snack or dessert. YUMMY!
What is one of your favorite healthy desserts?
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Clean Eating Mediterranean Style
A perfect start to our Clean Eating challenge is a recipe for Tabooleh. It is delicious and extremely nutritious and it’s my husband’s favorite Mediterranean side salad. Last night we paired it with a big Greek salad and a small portion of garlic sautéed Greek seasoned chicken for a fabulous dinner salad. Since we set our intentions this weekend to join the Clean Eating challenge together, we were both excited to have our first meal. As the base to our Tabooleh, I made a big greek salad with romaine lettuce and heirloom cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and a tiny bit of feta cheese. I used a light homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing. We piled the Tabooleh on top of the salad, spread the sautéed chicken around the edge and enjoyed some steamed cauliflower, hummus and carrots to dip on the side. A very satisfying meal.
Tabooleh Ingredients
2 cups bulgur wheat (medium grind #2)
3 cups boiling water
1 1/2 cups chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped green onions (about 4-5)
1/4 cup chopped mint (fresh is best, but if only dry is available use 2 Tablespoons)
2-3 large tomatoes chopped into small 1/4 inch pieces
1 large cucumber chopped
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
1-2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 head romaine lettuce
Pour the boiling water over the bulgur wheat and let it sit until the wheat kernels are soft and cooled completely. Add all chopped vegetables except romaine lettuce and stir. Mix the oil, lemon juice and spices and pour over wheat vegetable mixture and stir until thoroughly combined. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Greek sautéed Chicken
1 large chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces (serves 2)
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic smashed
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon fine …
Eat Clean for April
Happy first day of April, and first day of our eat clean challenge. I am so excited to focus on nourishing foods for myself and my family and to start some life-long healthy habits. Our family has always been into health, but with the growing issues of toxins in our food and environment, gaining health savvy has never been more important.
Making changes of any kind are only going to stick if you have your mindset ready and willing to accept change. What do I mean? You can just say you are going to do something and hope it sticks. No! You need to write down your goals, looks at them every day, and assess and evaluate your progress.
Here’s my challenge for you: Every morning when you wake up set an intention for the day. What is ONE (only one) thing you can do to move you toward your health goal. Is is something you are going to do, something you are going to not do, something you will think or say to yourself? Write it down. Commit to that one thing for the day. Keep a journal of your daily “thing” for the whole month of April and keep track of how you do. Share your progress with us on social media and be sure to tag us in your post!
Here’s to the next month of the rest of our lives!!
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Your Story Needs to be Written
I read a devotional this week about writing your story a little bit every day. We can get so bombarded with to do lists, laundry, cleaning, cooking, that we don’t put down our lists and really take the time for people. “Marriage isn’t about a well-executed to do list, and Aaron would much rather eat takeout and hunt around for a clean basket of laundry if that means I put down the list and really listen to him.” (Niequist, “Savor”, p. 97) I find myself doing this all the time. I have my agenda and my to do lists and I don’t look at the world around me. How many times has my husband come home and I am knee deep in cooking or chores or an email and I don’t take one minute to give him a huge and say hi. In that moment I missed an opportunity.
I keep thinking I have to have it all together, it all has to look good and clean and perfect. But life is messy. There are ups and downs, there are messed up meals, and there are dirty rooms. But the best part, life goes on. Shauna says, “I am learning that being connected in a deep way is so much more than being well-organized, efficient, buttoned-up, and tidy. I default to tidy when what my husband wants and needs more than anything is laughing, listening, and playing, being with instead of being efficient” (Niequist, p. 97). Does this resonate with you? Do you want to accomplish things rather than just sitting and being? Don’t get so caught up in achieving that you miss the moments of love, life, and laughter that are just waiting for you. Chores and errands can wait, but your story can’t. It will keep on living …
Read MoreAn Egg-cellent Egg Hunt
If you are going to include an egg hunt in your Easter celebration and you have a wide age span of egg hunters…here is a fantastic, organized and creative way to do your egg hunt. (This is a family tradition in my SIL’s family) They hosted an Easter celebration yesterday and I was able to witness this ingenious idea first hand.
Supplies Needed
1 Easter egg basket per person
1 paper bag per person lunch-sack sized paper bag-(Spring/Easter designed bags make it more fun)
16 plastic eggs per person (different colors for each child necessary-you can split the egg colors for example half yellow/half green and half green/half purple and half purple/half yellow)
fun treats for kids…small boxes of raisins, M & Ms, gummy worms, jelly beans, fruit snacks and any other of your favorite Easter candy treats.
Fill the plastic eggs with treats. Put one paper bag and one egg into each basket (a different color in every basket) Have the kids go into a part of the yard or house where they can not see, as the egg hiders do their job. Have the egg hunters line up from youngest to oldest. Hand out the baskets and explain to the children that they ONLY HUNT for the egg color in their basket. Reassure the kids that everyone will be finding the same number of eggs so they should pass up all eggs that are not their color and let the other kids find their own colored eggs. The kids at our party seemed to really understand this concept and once they had found their own 15 eggs they began to help the younger children find their last ones. After all the eggs had been found. The parents helped empty the contents of the eggs into the paper …
Read MoreBaked Oatmeal Carrot Muffins
Bekah and I made these muffins last week and they were a perfect treat for breakfast or for a snack. We liked the extra nutrition provided by the grated carrots. (I made a batch with grated zucchini as well-you have to let the grated zucchini weep for about 15 minutes on paper towels to absorb the extra moisture.) The carrots were a fun addition to this delicious and nutritious gluten free, vegetarian muffin. You feel like you are eating a bowl of oatmeal with yummy toppings packed into a muffin. A wonderful accompaniment to serve for an Easter breakfast/brunch.
Ingredients
2 ripe bananas
1 ½ cups old fashioned oats
2 Tablespoons chia seed
2 Tablespoons hemp seed
¾ cups milk (I used almond milk)
⅓ cup almond butter
⅛ cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
¾ cup grated carrots
½ cup raisins
¼ cup chopped pecans
In a large bowl, mash the bananas. Add the oats, chia seeds, hemp seeds and milk and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir in the almond butter, honey and vanilla. Beat the egg and add to the mixture along with the salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Fold in the carrots, raisins and pecans.
Lightly grease 12 muffins tins or use cute muffin papers. Fill muffin cups almost to the top. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.
- 2 ripe bananas
- 1 ½ cups old fashioned oats
- 2 Tablespoons chia seed
- 2 Tablespoons hemp seed
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Spring Clean Eating
With the change of season to Spring comes talk of “spring cleaning.” While your house, like mine, probably needs some cleaning, I’m going to instead use this change of season to make a renewed focus in healthy living with CLEAN EATING.
Why Clean Eating?
Clean eating incorporates natural ingredients, promotes cooking from scratch, and loading up on fruits and veggies. I also like that it isn’t a “diet.” Rather than eliminate entire food groups, it focuses on making foods taste good without additives and tons of sugar.
What Is Clean Eating?
Simply put, clean eating is the practice of avoiding processed foods and building your meals around whole foods. Food is a powerful tool to fuel our bodies, protect our bodies, and even heal our bodies when we use it properly!
This article from Eat Clean for Dummies has a great explanation of what clean eating is along with easy spices to add to your recipes.
How Do I Start?
My advice? Just start. Set a goal. Choose a few meals or a few items you eat regularly and revamp them to make them clean. You will be amazed at how great you feel, even just mentally, right away by making the switch. Making small changes you can stick with will give you the confidence to make more changes until eating clean becomes second nature!
The Gracious Pantry has 5 tips for getting started, as well as lots of recipes to help you along the way.
- Define what clean eating is to you and define when/how you will enjoy occasional treats.
- Clean out your fridge and pantry and stock with clean foods
- If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Plan your shopping list and prepare foods ahead of time.
- Pack your food for when you are on the
Spiritual Health: Peace and Purpose
What does it mean to be healthy? What kinds of things do you do to be healthy? We pour so much time and effort into healthy living, healthy eating, healthy habits, and healthy thinking. It takes intentional effort. It takes planned out thought. It takes discipline. It takes saying yes to certain things and no to others. In the moment you may be what you think might be sacrificing, but you are trying to make certain choices, change, and change your lifestyle because of the lasting benefit. A good time to focus on this spiritual health, is Easter…
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