I'm out of fruit... Nooooo... But I weigh...

I'm in the midst of a dilemma. I'm out of apples, grapes, and strawberries. And I'm on my 3rd banana for today.

Do you have a favorite fruit that you can't get enough of? That's apples and grapes for me. I love strawberries, but the rate at which the grow mold disturbs me. (Not that I ever waste perfectly good strawberries by forgetting them in the fridge and letting them grow mold for weeks..... o.O)

I'm still eating clean! However... I went to Baton Rouge Saturday for a Pampered Chef show with my dear friends Laura and Meredith, and although I did pretty well on Saturday, I had some sushi (that was most definitely cooked- I don't do raw fish) on Saturday night. And on the drive home on Sunday I treated myself to some Burger King.
It's not a big deal to me though, because I've been trying to eat clean 100% of the time, and most people only do it 80/20 or 70/30. I just can't be an 80/20er. I'll end up being a 20/80er if I tried. :D

The scale is reading 174.5! ('m excited about that. I weighed between 168 and 173 when I went to the beach about 5 years ago, before I met my husband, got married, and had kiddos. So my initial goal weight is 173. Although Phil says I'm "bikini-worthy". Let's give him the stretch marks and excess skin that two carrying two adorable children blesses you with, and see how "bikini-worthy" he feels. Not very? Yeah. That's what I thought. :D

Anyway, that's all I've got for right now. I'll share a recipe for clean eating enchilada casserole tonight- I've been cooking a lot of chicken breasts and veggies lately and haven't been feeling experimental. I need to go scrounge up some more good recipes.

Got Questions? Post them in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!!

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!