I'm still here!

I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. I'm STILL here though, and I'm still eating clean!

I confess, I ate one unclean meal. My husband took me to the Village for dinner, and I started with a clean salad, but then it progressed to the steak on a bed of mashed potatoes covered with mushroom cream sauce. And then it was followed with a mini dessert. Which I hardly could eat.
On the way home from dinner I just felt yucky. Not necessarily sick to my stomach, not necessarily like I ate too much, but just yucky. Like my body could already tell this food was different than what it has been eating for the past few weeks.

But, that was the only time! :)

Philip has quickly hopped off the clean-eating bandwagon, but has agreed to eat clean at home, and to not bring any tempting goodies into the house. He eats what he wants at lunch, and doesn't ask for McDonald's at 11pm anymore. :D

I've found some really good recipes (some are sweets... YUM...) that I've been making. I'll share them soon- they are delicious!

Haven't gotten a chance to weigh yet. :( I will soon though! And I will update y'all on it! :)

1 week in!

Well, I weighed in yesterday at....

176.5!

I lost 4 pounds last week (I'm kinda shocked!) and did not cheat once! So proud of myself for my commitment!

The more I eat clean, the more I find myself wanting to learn more about how to take better care of my body. It's pretty neat.

Before I started eating clean, I had fast food at LEAST 3 times a week (probably normally 5-6 times a week). I actually craved fast food. It wasn't until yesterday that I realized I haven't had fast food in a week! That's quite an accomplishment for this family.

I am eating allll the time. Never hungry. Cooking a lot more, which I enjoy more than I thought I would. I've also found I'm spending more time with my husband cooking and less time with my husband watching tv or playing on the computer.

My biggest challenges this first week were when we went out to eat- I got a salad- and when I had a cooking show. I am a Pampered Chef Independent Consultant, and my hostess wanted us to prepare Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup and fresh Salsa. That soup is GOOD. But not clean. So I passed on it. I tried the salsa (with no chips, lol) and it was good. Clean too!

All in all, I can say I actually ENJOYED my first week of eating clean. :)

Cheater!!

I'm going to tattle tell on my husband. But its more as a helpful tip for you guys.

Don't cheat when you are eating clean. I mean, if you have a bite or two of something "unclean", you will probably be fine. Do not do what my husband did yesterday.

So, a family member was in the hospital, and we went out of town to see him. After the visit, we took the family out to eat. They picked a seafood restaurant- I was pretty nervous about my first time dining out while eating clean. I ordered a skinny chicken salad, and tried to keep myself occupied with feeding the 3 month old so that I wouldn't eat one of those delicious smelling pile of onion rings that they ordered for an appetizer. I swear that glorious pile was a foot high. I was seriously debating eating one. Oh my goodness. But I didn't.

Philip, on the other hand, dug right in. Despite my warnings, he ate lots of onions rings, then ordered a catfish dinner with french fries. "I'm going to cheat, I might as well do it big!" he rationalized. 30 minutes after we left the restaurant, we had to stop and get some Extra Strength Tums- he was miserable. Then he uttered the words every woman loves to hear.

"You were right."

Yeah... I don't foresee any clean-eating cheating anytime soon in our future.

And if you're like me, and are craving a pastry (I'm noticing I'm a nighttime craver. And I love sweets...), try the cinnamon raisin Ezekiel Bread. It's good.

Chips and Guacamole! Ole!

So Phil and I were watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians (I'm sure he really appreciates me disclosing that...), and Kourtney said, "Let's go get some chips and guacamole!" And Phil said, "Oooooh. Chips and guacamole... that sounds good..." So I said, "Let's make some!"

And, once again, I turned to The Gracious Pantry for the recipe. I halved the recipe, and used lime juice in the chips and the guacamole. I cooked my chips for 12 minutes instead of 15. Next time, I'd generously sprinkle the garlic powder and salt mixture on the chips. I did it sparingly because I didn't want to go overboard, but it was good and would have been even better with more. Enjoy. :)

Clean Eating Chips And Guacamole’
(Makes 6 servings)

Guacamole’

Ingredients
4 ripe avocados
1 Tbsp. lemon or lime juice
2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions

Step 1 – Remove skins, and place avocados in a large mixing bowl, along with all other ingredients.
Step 2 – Mash all ingredients together until you reach your desired consistency.

Tortilla Chips

Ingredients
1 package corn tortillas (I use Traders Joe’s Corn Tortillas – the cleanest I’ve found so far)
1/2 salt
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
Lemon juice
1 tsp. olive oil

Directions
Step 1 – Take one bag of small corn tortillas and cut them into 4ths or 8ths.  (Please check the ingredients on the tortillas you buy. Not all tortillas are created equal!)

Step 2 – Cover a cookie sheet with a VERY light spray of olive oil.

Step 3 – Lay out your tortilla pieces so that none of them cover each other.

Step 4 – Spray your tortilla pieces with a VERY light spray of olive oil.

Step 5 – Sprinkle with lemon (or lime) juice, garlic and salt.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees F. until crispy (About 15-25 minutes, depending on your oven).

Enjoy!

Pancakes and Stir Fry!

Philip LOVES getting hotcakes from McDonald's on Saturday mornings. Well, he had the day off (Happy Independence Day!), and I thought he might like a hotcake alternative. Thus, I made these clean Whole Wheat Pancakes from the Gracious Pantry.

They tasted a little eggy. Like french toast, sorta. BUT they were good. Lily even ate some! We used a little bit of 100% pure Maple Syrup on them. You could also top them with strawberries, blueberries, cinnamon, bananas-- be creative! :)

Clean Eating Whole Wheat Pancakes
(The amount of pancakes made varies greatly based on their size)

Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups unsweetened soy milk
1 whole egg
3 egg whites
1/2 cup low-fat or non fat milk
1 tsp. vanilla (omit if you will be making extra for pancake soup)
1 tbsp. olive oil

Directions

Step 1 – Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Step 2 – Ladle the batter on to a non stick pan without any oil. Keep the heat at medium to medium high. Using high heat will burn the pancakes before they are cooked through.

Step 3 – Cook until they are cooked through and serve, topped with your favorite toppings. Cottage cheese is a great addition for protein

We didn't end up eating an actual lunch. Sometimes that happens when you have two kids. I'm working on it.

This evening, Phil insisted we go to the grocery store to get some milk. Keep in mind, we have a 2 year old, and a 3 month old. ((Clearly, he never goes grocery shopping with them.)) I tried to get him to wait until they went to bed, but he just really wanted some freaking milk.

10 minutes into our shopping trip, the baby was screaming and sucking on his hand furiously, as if I hadn't fed him all week, and the two year old no longer wanted to ride in the car on the buggy, or in the buggy. He now understands why I go to the grocery store between the hours of 8pm and 2 am. (THANK GOODNESS for grocery stores open late!!!)

It was SOOOOO tempting to stop at one of the bajillion fast food restaurants that we pass by on the way to the grocery store- but I was DETERMINED to stick to this clean diet! (So many excuses- it's too late to cook, its bedtime and it will wake the kids, I'm too tired... ) So by the time we got home and got the kids in bed, it was 8 o'clock- but I still cooked dinner! Yay me!

I just threw together some brown rice, frozen mixed veggies, cooked chicken breast, and some Pampered Chef Teriyaki Sauce with Honey. It was -delicious-. Phil gave it an 8.5 out of 10. (He never really goes above 8. So I was shocked.)

All this cooking is starting to grow on me- Phil and I are spending more time together in the kitchen. :)

Peanut Butter Cookies!

Remember those peanut butter cookies that I made when I was having a "something sweet" craving?

Here is the recipe I promised, which I got from The Gracious Pantry.

Clean Eating Peanut Butter Cookies
(Makes approximately 18 cookies)

Ingredients
1 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup honey
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup peanuts (optional)

Directions

Step 1 – Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.

Step 2 – Using two teaspoons, scoop and drop the cookies onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Step 3 – Bake at 350 F. for 12-14 minutes. You may need to experiment with the timing on these because the thicker they are, the longer they take. 12 minutes is about right if you make them no thicker than 1/2 inch. These cookies will bake up exactly as they are on the cookie sheet. No spreading.

Step 4 – Remove from oven and cool.

Eat and enjoy!

The Great Cabinet Cleanup

I forgot to tell y'all about my little surprise for Philip when he got home from work Monday. (He doesn't care for my surprises. Haha.)

I spent the day getting all of the processed unclean foods out of our cabinets and fridge. Let me tell you, I was SHOCKED at all of the things I ate everyday that just were NO good for me. The thing that was most alarming was that every single barbecue sauce I had had partially hydrogenated oil in it! And we eat a LOT of barbecue.

I even packed up all of my beloved Lean Cuisines, Smart Ones, and Healthy Choice meals (and desserts! Ahh!) and loaded them in the car.

I gave the food to my mom and sister, who kept asking, "Um... are you sure you don't want me to just hold onto this for you? What if you change your mind?"

The most difficult thing for me to part with that day was my dear Cream of Mushroom and Cream of Chicken soup. Let's all have a moment of silence for them.

Ok.

Phil didn't even notice at first when I proudly opened the pantry door to display my work. (can you tell who does all the cooking in this house?) I had to tell him. His response, in a word, was, "Noooooooooooo!"

Haha.

He isn't complaining now though. I've been cooking more, and he has lost 4 lbs.

2 days in...

I'm doing well so far! I weighed in yesterday (Monday is my weekly weigh in day), and I lost 2 lbs last week. So that will make my official clean-eating starting weight 180.5. (Are you shocked I'm giving away my actual weight?! I am. Haha. Before you judge my weight, keep in mind, I'm 6 feet tall.)
Philmo weighed, and after two days of (mostly) sticking to clean eating (Tortilla chips are his weakness), he has lost 1.5 lbs.

Before you get too excited for him, remember that processed foods are high in sodium, which cause us to retain water, so during the first week of clean eating, you will lose a lot of water weight. Since I'm being really honest, I'll go ahead and say that I thought I'd be running back and forth to the bathroom all the time these first couple of days. I mean, we're eating a lot of fruit and veggies. I was wrong.

I'm already starting to feel more energized, and less obsessed with food. This morning and yesterday morning, it wasn't as difficult to drag myself out of bed. (Keep in mind that this is quite an accomplishment, considering Baby still wakes up for 4 am feedings.)

Phil and I are big fans of the FourthMeal (Darn you, Taco Bell!), so it's been a bit of a challenge in the evenings to not run to the nearest fast food joint and pick up some delicious but oh-so-horrible for you burgers or tacos or chicken. (I hate when people mention bad foods on their blogs, because then I think, OMG THAT SOUNDS SO DELICIOUS RIGHT NOW...) Well, last night I had had enough of my cravings for a giant something with bread and sugar. So what do you do when you think you may cheat because you want something SOOO badly?

You google.

Yay for the internets! I found a recipe for clean peanut butter cookies from The Gracious Pantry (will share on next post). You should have SEEN Phil's face when I asked him if he wanted to make some peanut butter cookies. You would have thought I just told him that we just won the lottery. Seriously. The cookies were good. Not GREAT. But good enough to nip my crazy cravings in the bud.

So, in conclusion, I'm proud of myself for not cheating and for finding a way around my cravings. :D

Is it Monday yet? I'm ready to weigh in...