Clean doesn't mean perfect

There seem to be a misconceptions floating around that people who eat clean eat nothing but rabbit food, are afraid of desserts, and generally think themselves to be better than the rest of the population. Can I just say that, for me at least, NONE of those are true? Yes, when I decided to follow a clean-eating lifestyle, I chose to eliminate some things from my diet. The key word there is CHOSE. Nobody forced me to do it.

But you know what I like about that system? I can *choose* to add them back in if and when I want. Not eating white sugar, white flour, fried foods, and a lot of processed stuff on a regular basis makes me feel healthier, happier, and, well, cleaner. There is no clean-eating police that is going to haul me away if I decide to have a piece of birthday cake or a few glasses of wine in any given week (or day...).

Contrary to some feedback I've received in person, I don't have to stop eating at restaurants with friends or family. When I do eat out, I may or may not make a super-clean-eating choice for my meal. We don't eat out all that much, so I feel perfectly justified in splurging now and then.

What keeps me in check from going off the deep end and completely reverting to my old unhealthy habits is the fact that I feel better when I eat clean, as long as I'm doing it properly and eating healthy carbs + protein every few hours. My skin is clearer, my pants fit better, my mood in general is more even-keeled. The physical benefits are remarkable to me. I've lost 30 pounds. I'm wearing sizes I never even dreamed of putting on myself. It's easier to have a good run--whether it's 3 miles or 10 miles--when I've been providing my body with good, clean fuel instead of sugary processed snacks.

BUT but but but... I'm not perfect (and I don't expect any other clean eaters to be, either). Some days I eat cold cereal (that may or may not contain HFCS) when I'm too lazy or too hungry to wait for oatmeal, or just sick and tired of eating sprouted grain toast with peanut butter. I might have a turkey hot dog for lunch if I don't think I'll get a chance to make something cleaner because my son is having a demanding, clingy day. After dinner, I might reach for the Lindor truffles hiding in the candy jar instead of blending up a frozen banana and dark chocolate because my son is in bed and I don't want to make too much noise with the blender.

Usually after a few off-track meals or munchies, I realize I could have done better if I'd planned ahead and had easy-to-grab clean snacks in the fridge. It's days like that when I make a dozen Larabars or a boil a half-dozen eggs and grill some chicken breasts on the Foreman. And that's exactly what I'm going to do right now!

I made Larabars!

After being impressed with the Cashew Cookie Larabar I had the day I forgot to eat lunch, someone shared this link with me--a homemade version! The recipe sounded simple enough, and I only had to buy dates in order to make them in my own kitchen. The $3.49 I paid for the container of dates was a great investment, considering each bar I was buying was $1.29--so I'd spent $6.45 on these bars before I finally decided to man up and make them myself!

When I was preparing these, we were planning a road trip with The H for work (which has since fallen through) so I wanted several varieties for a quick, clean snack. The recipe as written makes two bars, which would last about 10 minutes in our house (did you know Larabars are also gluten-free? A winner for The H!), so I doubled each batch to get four bars, and made three different flavors. I figured if I was going to the trouble to pulverize a few nuts and some dried fruit, I might as well make it worth my while and get more than two measly bars out of it.

The original directions said to mix the fruit and nuts together by hand, like Play-Doh, but in the comments someone posted that she accomplished the same thing using a zip-top freezer bag. That was more my style (I hate having anything under my fingernails)! I discovered that it was really easy to get the mixture into the bag if I lined a large plastic cup with the bag first--no mess on the bag zipper, no sticky hands. And now, without further ado, here is my Larabar experience:

All my supplies ready and waiting:

I did not use the chocolate or apricots this time.

Finely ground nuts in the food processor:

I tried using my 1-cup mini-chopper, but the blade just spun everything around without chopping.

My uber-fancy bag-in-a-cup system:

Gold star if you can tell me where the cup is from!

Cherry pie flavor, all mushed up. Yummy...or not (yet!):

Weighing in order to get equal portions (this was 1/3 of the cherry pie batch):

Isn't it cute?

All wrapped up and ready for the fridge:

The flavors I made were cherry pie, blueberry bliss, and peanut butter cookie. I didn't use enough dates in the peanut one, so they are crumblier than I would have liked. (However, The H just said "I loved it! I would eat those all the time" so they can't have been too bad.) The fruity ones came out much stickier, more like an actual Larabar--at least, the ones I've had.

My advice, should you decide to attempt these yourself, would be to make sure your dates are fresh and sticky (get whole, pitted dates and not pre-chopped ones), don't skimp on how many you use (make the measurements a firmly-packed 1/3 cup, for example), and take your time forming the bars if you care how they look. By the time I made the peanut butter cookie flavor, I was afraid I was getting carpal tunnel syndrome from kneading the bags so much, so they are less than appetizing--which is why I only posted pictures of the first ones. :)

Sweet potato semi-fail

I have recently discovered that I love sweet potato fries, especially when they're well-done and crispy. Their sweet, caramelized flavor is SO GOOD. I haven't yet been able to replicate the flavor of my favorites from The Cheetah, but I did come sort of close to that toasted-marshmallow goodness last summer. Sweet potatoes called to me at the grocery store this week so I gave in and bought a few. Last night we had these "chips" (they didn't all get crispy) with our local grass-fed beef burgers (topped with sauteed mushrooms, local yellow onion, and local sharp white cheddar). I served some homeade-from-co-op-fruit apple/pear sauce as well. Let's call this my DDC meal for the week, though the mushrooms and sweet taters weren't local. (I'm not very good at this challenge. I know.)

The photos don't look all that appetizing, but they really were good. Well, the ones that didn't get so charred they were fed to the dog were good, anyway! After slicing the two large potatoes with my mandoline, I set them on a baking sheet but had too many to do a single layer. That might've been part of my problem. Aren't they a gorgeous color?

I drizzled them with olive oil, but as you can see here, I may have added too much because it kind of pooled on top when I went to flip them halfway through.

A sprinkling of sea salt and dried rosemary finished them off. After I flipped them, they went back into the oven but under the broiler this time, and came out like this.

You might be able to spot a few that went to the pooch. Once they were plated (bad lighting, oh well for dark Michigan winter nights) they looked like this:

The H, LG (little guy!), and I polished them off. Tasty.

So even though they aren't show-quality, what do you think about the addition of more photos? I've been trying to use more and not be so lazy about uploading them! I think they brighten up the ol' blog. Yes?

Co-op night!

Tonight is co-op pickup, and I am so excited. Just like always! First, The H and I are having dinner at our favorite local place, the Cheetah restaurant you may have seen me mention before. I'm already drooling at the thought of raw fries... I was thrilled to find that I had a very similar approximation of raw fries saved in my Google Reader, courtesy of Elly Says Opa. Can't wait to try them!

This month we ordered more meat than usual, since I never seemed to have enough in the freezer towards the end of the month. On our list this time:

Eggs (three dozen; two never seemed like enough, especially now that I'm making more gluten-free bread at home)
Hamburger patties, grass-fed
Chicken apple sausage
Stew meat
Fingerling potatoes
Yellow onions
Dried cherries
Dried blueberries
Multigrain bread
Spelt bread
Cheddar cheese
Jack cheese w/dill

I plan to attempt my own Larabars with the dried fruit and some dates/nuts that I bought at the grocery store this week. Some of this food will travel with us to the Chicago area when the little guy and I join The H on his next business trip. Clean eating on the road, part eight hundred million, coming soon! :)

Cleaning up the Krusteaz

Yesterday was difficult. The little guy was clingy and cantankerous, which is always hard on everyone. He was very hands-on, which didn't leave me much time for puttering in the kitchen. So when lunchtime rolled around I had no idea what I was going to make. In his grumpy mood, he refused everything I offered, even his usual favorites.

Then I remembered the box of buttermilk complete Krusteaz pancake mix in the pantry. He tucked away a large blueberry pancake at running group on Saturday, so I decided to whip up a small batch. The mix itself isn't the cleanest but I added unsweetened applesauce, a healthy handful of frozen blueberries, and some ground flax seed in addition to water to make it a bit heartier.

We got 7 pancakes out of it--we each ate one for lunch (I wasn't too optimistic about my chance of getting to eat later) with a chunk of sharp cheddar, and I put the other five in the fridge. He asked for one this morning for breakfast, so we must have a winner. If I had more time, I would've made them from scratch with oatmeal so The H could have some of the leftovers.

Meal Plan Monday

Meatless Monday -- Vegetarian fried rice

Tuesday -- Vegan split pea soup, modified for the slow cooker

Wednesday -- Date night at our favorite local place before co-op pickup!

Thursday -- Mushroom cheddar burgers with sweet potato fries (this is the one I'm most looking forward to, after date night!)

Friday -- OPEN (maybe a birthday party)

Saturday -- Corn chowder with apple grilled cheese sandwiches

Sunday -- (tentative) roasted chicken, fingerling potatoes, confetti kale (DDC meal)

Happy hundredth!

This post is my 100th since the start of my clean-eating blog and lifestyle. Happy day! To celebrate (not really; I was going to make it anyway), I made spaghetti and meatballs for the first time in my entire life, I think.

The inspiration for the meatballs came from this recipe, but of course I made my own changes. First, I made them the night before we wanted to use them. To the turkey mixture (I used 12oz, what I had left from making turkey nachos for dinner on Friday) I added about 1/2 cup finely minced onion, 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms, and 1/2 cup fresh minced parsley. I also used one egg white instead of a whole egg and oat flour in place of the bread crumbs. After sautéing to brown them on all sides (some fell apart a bit--might need to adjust my egg white/oat flour additions), I put them in the fridge until dinner today.

While the water for the spaghetti and rotini--both Trader Joe's brown rice pastas--came to a boil, I simmered the meatballs in a combination of marinara sauce, leftover crushed tomatoes, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper.

They turned out great! The H loved them and asked that I make them again. I thought they were very hearty--I had four, which was one too many. Rice pasta is so filling! The little guy got rotini because it's easier to pick up or poke by himself. He wouldn't eat any unless we called them "turkey balls" rather than meatballs. Whatever works!

Yep, I was right!

My carb-load from last night helped me power through my long run, over 7 miles, this morning. It was a very pleasant run (non-runners, there really IS such a thing!) with no aches or pains, mostly dry roads, and not too much wind. Meeting a friend just after mile 3 provided a nice boost, too. When we got back, our host was making oatmeal-blueberry pancakes and omelets. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had real maple syrup, which I enjoyed on my first pancake, but it was gone by the time I had my second (ok, ok, and my third--they were small!) so I used a little Mrs. Butterworth's. What a difference in taste! I'd forgotten how sweet the artificial stuff is. The H and I shared an omelet stuffed with cheese, sausage, and black bean salsa. And of course, I did my part to keep Folgers in business and put away a good 2-3 cups, lightened with low-fat milk. Dinner tonight will be ground turkey nachos topped with tomatoes, black beans, cheddar, peach salsa, and guacamole. I'm not sure what I'll eat in between now and then, but a green monster smoothie is a good possibility--I need to bump up my fruit/veggie intake.

Yikes

We ate at the mall food court tonight. I did not get my dinner from the salad bar place. I did have a cinnamon-sugar pretzel afterwards. I am sort of regretting my dinner choice (it wasn't very tasty) but I will not feel guilty because I know it was a very rare occurrence, and the extra carbs are going to help me through my long run tomorrow. I will be taking some TUMS before bed. :z

Revamped protein bars

I made protein bars again today, but this time I used chocolate protein powder and pecans instead of vanilla and almonds. I switched up the vanilla extract for almond extract, too. There was no need for a new picture, since they look basically the same only browner (oh, and I made 8 of them instead of 6), but I did feel it necessary to tell you that I think I like them this way better. I've only had the trimmings so far, but they are tastier to me than I remember the vanilla ones being.

The almond extract makes my tongue think there's cherries in there, even though I won't be able to experiment with adding actual dried cherries until after co-op pickup next week, and I really, really like the bites that have nuts in them, so in the future I might increase the amount I use. Also, I was pleased to note that my chocolate protein powder contains 2g of sugar, whereas the vanilla had 3g. I'm not basing my life around the nutrition facts, but it's nice to know. Naturally the changes you make will alter the info listed in the first post, so use it as a guideline only.

Let me know if you make these, and how you made the recipe your own! It's one with lots of possibilities.

Homemade protein bars

This recipe is from the Jan/Feb 2009 issue of Clean Eating Magazine, and I made it on a whim one day when I realized I had all the ingredients and thought, "Why not?" The H and I are always hunting for a quick portable snack before a run or in between meals, and these sounded perfect. The idea of making my own protein bars at home really intrigued me in terms of the clean aspect as well as the cost savings.

Nutty Maple-Cinnamon Bars

Serves 6

Prep time: 25min

1 cup rolled oats, divided

3 Tbsp unsalted almonds (I coarsely chopped these)

4 scoops vanilla protein powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp sea salt

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

4 Tbsp pure maple syrup

Olive oil cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350*

2. In a blender, process 1/2 cup oats into oat flour. In a large bowl, stir together oat flour, remaining 1/2 cup oats, almonds, protein powder, cinnamon, and salt. Combine applesauce, vanilla and maple syrup with dry ingredients; mix thoroughly.

3. Cut 6 squares of aluminum foil into 4x8in pieces (eyeball it). Lightly coat each piece with cooking spray. Spoon out equal portions of mixture onto each square, and roll into a bar shape. Fold ends over to prevent the filling from leaking. You can flatten them out a bit to avoid tube-shaped bars.

4. Bake foil-wrapped bars on a baking sheet in preheated oven for 16-18 minutes. Store leftovers in the fridge.

The H loved these. I think I had ONE before he gobbled the rest! When mine cooled, I trimmed the ends to look neater and also so they'd fit into my container in the fridge. These were great with a glass of milk. My next goal is to make them using chocolate protein powder, since that's what we have more of, and maybe playing with almond extract and some dried cherries.

NUTRITION INFORMATION:

per bar

Calories: 213

Sat. fat: 1g

Monounsat. fat: 2g

Polyunsat. fat: 1g

Total fat: 4g

Carbs: 29g

Fiber: 3g

Sugars: 14g

Protein: 15g

Sodium: 189mg

Cholesterol: 23mg

Sunday, Sunday...

Lunch today was a gorgeous frittata with homemade chicken apple sausage patties made from ground chicken, apple, and onion from last month's co-op pickup. The eggs, potatoes, and arugula in the frittata were local as well; I guess that will count as my DDC meal; too bad I wasn't prepared with the camera!

After grocery shopping we had leftovers for dinner and I did some prep for a few meals, which included roasting and peeling three huge red bell peppers, de-flowering a gigantic head of cauliflower (I seriously almost needed two hands to lift it), and making a batch of guacamole since the jalapenos I had were getting wrinkly. Guess that's what happens when you stash fresh produce in the pantry and forget about it. What I didn't use for the guac I chopped and put into the wells of an ice cube tray to freeze for later use.

My meal plan for this week may look a little sparse; that's because The H is heading out of town for work mid-week, and I tend to either make things he doesn't like or scavenge the leftovers (hooray for a freezer stash!) for dinner.

The peppers I roasted are for lunches or a light dinner after a run one night. I've had these roasted red pepper sandwiches on my "to make" list for ages now. Instead of the ciabatta bread, I bought a seedy whole-grain loaf to use. Other meals are as follows:

- BBQ chicken breasts, roasted parmesan broccoli, brown rice (I'll make extra for other uses)

- Roasted red pepper sandwiches

- Branny's baked cauliflower and vanilla-bean roasted squash

- Jenn's turkey bolognese with rice pasta spaghetti, gluten-free breadsticks (made from Bob's Red Mill pizza crust mix), spinach salad

- And I'm hoping to bum a meal off my sister one night if/when she watches the little guy for me!

In my freezer stash I have chicken stew, beef stew, minestrone soup, sloppy joe filling, black bean burgers, tofu burrito filling, edamame, and countless frozen fruits (for smoothies) and veggies (for ad-hoc soups). If my household is going to die of starvation, it won't be this week.

Newly improved Curry-Stuffed Acorn Squash

Tonight we made this recipe for the second time, and made a few changes on the way. This time I used a Cameo apple, since the Fujis were gone, a white onion since the red ones had either been used or had sprouted, and regular ground turkey instead of the spicy sausage because I had mislabeled the leftover container in the freezer. Luckily I realized this last part before serving, and thus had a chance to adjust the seasoning as needed--which mean adding crushed red pepper and cayenne. Knowing that my son wouldn't even touch this, I used a fairly heavy hand when spicing it up. The H noticed. Another change I made was to add 1/4 tsp curry powder to the quinoa while it cooked (stovetop this time, not rice cooker). We topped the whole shebang with freshly grated Parmesan cheese instead of cheddar.

Last time we had this, The H had asked for a sauce to drizzle on top, so I put my best "just wing it!" foot forward and came up with a pomegranate blueberry reduction. This involved simmering 100% pure pomegranate juice (3/4 cup) with frozen blueberries (1/4 cup), a whole cinnamon stick, a smashed clove of garlic, some squirts of honey, and a bit of freshly ground black pepper. Just before we were ready to eat, I whisked in a cornstarch-water slurry and let it bubble furiously until slightly thickened. Then into a gravy boat it went, and dinner was served.

The tart, fruity sauce helped balance the spicy-smoky flavor of the curried squash filling. We broke from tradition (having water to drink with dinner) and drank glasses of sparkling water mixed with more of the pomegranate juice to help tie everything together. Considering that The H had a second helping, and afterwards told me it was a great meal, I'd say all the changes were well worth it. I had originally intended to serve this with my beloved roasted broccoli, but time got away from me and we decided we wouldn't miss it. We didn't. :)

DDC#3: Twice-Baked Potatoes

Tonight I made twice-baked parsnip potatoes, and in the process learned three things: 1) I do not care for the smell of parsnips when they are boiling, 2) Yukon Gold Potatoes are not the best for baking/hollowing/re-stuffing, and 3) my son will eat parsnips but refuse to touch anything green. However, I am proud to report that the potatoes contained 100% local ingredients (if you kindly overlook the salt, pepper, and not-very-green dried chives I sprinkled on top in a sad attempt to give them some color)! Ideally I'd have paired them with locally-raised chicken breasts, but co-op pickup isn't until later this month and I didn't feel like thawing and roasting the whole bird I have in the freezer since it's just the three of us.

The potatoes, as I implied above, were Yukon Golds. And guess what? Their skins are a *little* too thin for hollowing out. I had to leave about 1/4 inch of flesh all the way around to keep them from falling completely apart. But they were the only potatoes I had, so I made do. To the scooped-out potato, I added two cooked parsnips, about 1/2 cup of Michigan-made milk, and about 1/3 cup cup cooked and crumbled local nitrite-free bacon (from the co-op). I used my Microplane grater to shred the last of our locally-produced (co-op!) mild white cheddar, which I then placed on top before putting the potatoes under the broiler to brown. The very fine cheese let me get away with using less than two ounces for all eight potato halves.

The H said these were great, baby ate at least half of one, and when my super-stuffy nose granted me a split second to experience the sense of taste again, I thought they were pretty good, too. The parsnips added a touch of sweetness that I would not have imagined, given their dusty-basement smell while they boiled. Next time I make something like this, I will use baking potatoes and a stronger-flavored cheese. The goal for this meal was local as opposed to super-clean.

Ready for the broiler:

Ready to eat:

Minestrone Soup with Quinoa

This recipe comes from the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Clean Eating Magazine, in a feature on comfort foods. It's been so cold here in MI (my hair and eyelashes actually froze on my run this weekend) that comfort food is just right. I like that it uses quinoa for several reasons--we had some leftover from last week, I'm always looking for new ways to use it, and it meant I wouldn't have to swap out whatever pasta shape called for with brown rice pasta to make it safe for The Wheat-Allergic H.

Minestrone Soup with Quinoa

Serves 8 - Makes 8 cups

Hands-on time 15min - Total time 35min

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 carrots, sliced into 1/2 inch dice

1 cup fennel, cut into 1/2 inch dice

1 cup red onion, diced

2 large cloves garlic, mined

2 bay leaves

2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped

1/4 tsp fennel seeds, crushed

1 1/2 cups cooked white kidney beans, drained

2 cups fresh tomatoes, peeled/seeded/diced

1/3 cup uncooked quinoa

Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

1 cup fresh spinach, sliced into thin ribbons

3 Tbsp fresh basil, sliced thinly

2 oz Parmigiano Reggiano, finely grated, optional

Instructions:

In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add carrots, fennel, onion, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and fennel seeds, and cook, stirring often, until vegetables soften, about 8 minutes. Add 6 cups water, beans, tomatoes, and quinoa. Increase to high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently until quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove bay leaves and season with salt and pepper. Stir in spinach and basil just before serving. Garnish each bowl with cheese, if desired.

My changes:

I omitted the fennel (both bulb and seeds), added 1 parsnip, an extra carrot and an extra onion, used a pint of grape tomatoes, leftover quinoa that had been cooked in veggie broth, used 1 tsp each dried thyme and basil, used red kidney beans and some leftover butter beans, and decreased the water to 5 cups since my quinoa didn't need to absorb any to cook. I also forgot I wanted to make this a "Meatless Monday" recipe and added two packets of reduced-sodium chicken broth concentrate before I remembered that. It was delicious, filling and fresh. The H said it was good, and had two servings. I'm experimenting with freezing one of the leftover portions since it made quite a bit and I don't want it to go bad in the fridge before one of us can get to it.

I ate my three!

I've recently been flipping through some back issues of Clean Eating Magazine (and something else, but I forget what it was) and read that if one can only eat three servings of fruit per day, they should include a berry, a citrus, and one other fruit of choice. And today, I did just that.

My morning snack was an apple and cheese, I had half of a grapefruit in the afternoon, and just now polished off a bowl of semi-thawed frozen blueberries and organic nonfat vanilla yogurt (YUM, btw). Additionally, I had some dried cherries and raisins in my granola, and a smattering of cranberries in a piece of bread I shared with my son. My vegetable intake probably set some personal records, too. Over the course of the day, I've had:

Edamame, beets, celery, carrots, parsnip, onions, spinach, two kinds of beans, and tomatoes. Gotta love soup for dinner! If you need to increase your veggie intake, there's nothing easier than a big bowl of soup. Dinner tonight was Quinoa Minestrone from CE Mag, which I will post--with pictures--as soon as the camera battery is charged.

What's on the menu?

Here's our plan for this week:

Sunday lunch: Leftovers (pork/sauerkraut for The H, veggie dog for baby, beet salad w/out chicken for me)

Sunday dinner: Italian (turkey) sausage marinara with rice pasta rotini and green beans

Monday: Quinoa minestrone from the newest issue of Clean Eating Magazine

Tuesday: CrockPot black bean soup

Wednesday: BBQ chicken, roasted broccoli, vanilla bean buttercup squash

Thursday: Twice-baked parsnip potatoes with bacon and cheddar (DDC meal)

Friday: Mini spinach frittatas with homemade chicken-apple sausage (DDC meal)

Saturday: Curry-stuffed acorn squash

Sunday: Turkey nachos

I'm also simmering 2lbs of dried black beans for a freezer stash (and for Tuesday's soup), I made a double batch of granola last night, and I plan to concoct some gluten-free blueberry muffins to use up some of the frozen co-op blueberries I got a few month ago. Anything interesting on your menu this week?

Ooops, I think I missed lunch

After my morning snack (roasted beet salad with feta, walnuts, celery, olive oil, white balsamic vinegar on top of quinoa) somewhere between 11am and noon, I went shopping with my sister and we had a blast. Very successful trip! Shoes, boots, organizing stuff, sweaters, and even some things for The H. But before we realized it, it was almost 4pm... and I hadn't had anything but a few almonds since 11:30 or so. Lucky for me, I discovered that TJMaxx sells Lara bars at the checkout. So I had my first one ever, cashew with dates, and chased it with a bottle of water. It wasn't a gourmet meal by any means, but it was tasty enough and held me over 'til an early dinner shortly after 5. I just might need to get a few and stash them in the car or my purse. I can't remember the last time I skipped a meal!