While I have been working really hard to stick with my clean eating, I do allow myself to do a bit of dairy again! Here are some things I have been loving to munch on lately and some healthy meal options!
For breakfast, I am still loving my old fashioned or steel cut oats! I like to do this with a splash of cinnamon and sometimes I will toss in some blueberries! As always, my egg whites on the side!
I have also really been doing monkey shakes in the mornings. 1 banana, a spoon full of natural nut butter, 1cup of organic almond or soy milk and a few ice cubes in a blender! I can take this and go! Keeps me full until my mid morning snack.
What have I been doing for a mid morning snack? If its not a handful of strawberries with string cheese, its an apple or my favorite right now, cottage cheese and blue berries! yummmmmm!!!
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| This is something I tried for the first time recently and love! CC and fruit! |
Lunch....what to do for lunch... Actually, there are so many more options than I thought there would be!
I've been doing my leafy green salads with a little cottage cheese, nuts and dressing with every meal at lunch.
With my salad on Monday, I had some left over grilled salmon over some whole grain rice!
Another day I had a salad with tuna on a slice of whole wheat bread! Very good!!!
Today's lunch was really good! I had some left over chicken, onions, mushrooms and peppers from last nights dinner. I ate this over some rice with a salad!
My midday snacks are usually a few carrots with hummus or a handful of nuts!
Dinners....It has been fun cooking up new and different meals lately. I sat down on Monday evening and planned out dinner for the next three weeks and then hit the grocery store! This week I have been able to be home by 5 to cook dinner, but next week on, I will be taking advantage of my crack pot, A LOT! I've never been much of a crock pot user, so....hopefully everything turns out well.
One night last week I tried a new recipe that didn't turn out so great... It was couscous, tuna and zucchini.
It was.....not so great! Andrew could tell that I have really been trying to make new things for us and always have a great meal prepared for him when he gets home from work...He tried his best to convenes me that it was ok and he ate it! Poor guy, even I didn't eat it. He loves me....
So far, his favorite meals have been green beans, potatoes and chicken bake and last nights meal, chicken fajitas! I have to agree, the fajitas were really good!
It was really easy to make and did not take long! I chopped up some chicken, cooked it in the skillet while chopping up some onions, peppers and mushrooms! After the chicken was cooked, I tossed in the rest of the veggies, taco seasoning and 2/3 cup of water. Covered and simmered until veggies were cooked!
I made a small burrito using whole grain tortillas, a pinch of cheese and sour cream with steamed whole grain rice on the side. I figured there would be some left overs for tonight dinner, but I was wrong, Andrew ate is all up and I put some in our lunches for today!
Tonight, Andrew had to work late and I didn't feel like making a big meal. I knew he would be making a stop by Taco Bell (YUCK!!) for dinner on the way home too. Don't ask me why, but he has been wanting some Taco Bell and I have been feeding him every day at lunch and every night for dinner- so today he had an excuse to eat it. I wasn't cooking dinner!
I have been craving some PIZZA so I made the next best thing a cleaner version! Whole grain English muffins, no sugar added pizza sauce, a small chuck of cheese and lots of mushrooms!! It was really yummy!
Eating clean majority of the time has really been easy! I am loving cooking up some new meals and for the most part, Andrew is enjoying it too! I cringe every time he asks me to pack his lunch with processed packaged junk food. haha I try to always toss in some raw veggies an fruit on the side with his crap food. He might not know it but, for the most part between me cooking every meal and trying to fill his lunch with healthy foods, hes eating clean majority of the time too! But shhhh, don't tell him! ;)
One thing I did find to be a problem with being back to my busy work schedule is I do not like the water in other county's!! Also, I don't have a way of refilling my water bottles with fresh cold water during the day. So I went to the store and found large BPA free water bottles. They were really cheap too, like a few bucks! So I grabbed two of the 74.4oz bottles.
I fill them both up the night before work while packing mine and Andrews lunches. Stick one in the freezer and one in the fridge. Drink the cold one the first half of the day and the frozen one the second half of the day. With freezing it, it will stay cold without a fridge and is ready to drink by the time I am done with my first 74.4 ounces! :)
I still have to run to the potty every 20 to 30 minutes, but luckily I am able to do so with my job. However, on the days that I will be working from my car and traveling to clients homes all day...that will be a tough one! I will be doing a lot more dancing...the potty dance!
One a side note, can I just say how AWESOME it has been to have people- friends and strangers, emailing and messaging to telling me how excited they are to start eating clean and how my blog has inspired them to get healthy!?! I like putting all of these things out there for the world to see because like all of the people who have contacted me, I had to start somewhere too. I found a blog that showed me how easy it can be! How to jump right in! Before reading about it from everyday, normal people, I felt very overwhelmed at the thought of changing my lifestyle when it comes to my diet. It seemed like a lot to learn and maybe even too much to take on by myself. But I did it and It seems so easy and simple!
It is fun to challenge myself to drink enough water and to eat the best that I can everyday!
Karah
