Cleaning it Up

I think it's time to shake up the blog a bit. My posts have been pretty heavy lately. Life isn't so serious. I make time for fun and yummies, too. In fact laughter and clean healthy whole foods are great for healing processes. But you already knew that, right? 

Last Sunday I took inventory of my freezer and pantry then sat down with my Clean Eating, Oxygen and Eating Well magazines and came up with a plan. I need quick dishes that are rich in protein and veggies because life is wonderfully full but I still want to eat healthy. I like lots of nutritional bang from the time I put into the kitchen.

I made the following 3 recipes in about 2 hours. Seriously, just 2 little hours. You have 2 hours to devote to eating healthier, don't you? 

Burger Mix (from Oxygen's Collector's Issue Summer 2005) (I quad'ed the org recipe for the week)

 16oz extra lean ground beef (I use grass fed)

2 cups brown rice (already had it cooked and frozen so it was super easy)

1 c chopped onion

15 oz can of no salt added diced tomatoes

I added a little big of Greek seasoning and ketchip too. Yum! 

My mom wanted me to try replicate a Garbanzo bean Salad she had at catered event last week.

2 cans organic Garbanzo beans

1/4 c unsweetened dried cherries

1 big can of artichoke hearts

1/2 red onion, diced

1/2 bunch of parsley, chopped

1 clove of garlic 

4 oz goat cheese

1/3 c chopped walnuts

Then I whisked together organic oilive oil and organic apple cider vinegar to hold it together. Mom said I nailed it! Woot!! 

The last thing I 'cooked' today came from Eating Well's June 2010 issue:

Broccoli, Ham and Pasta Salad

6 ounces of dry whole wheat noodles

4 cups broccoli (I steamed a bag of frozen, because raw brocc doesn't work well at my house)

6 ounces nitrate free ham and turkey lunch meat (instead of diced ham)

large red pepper, diced

1/3 c red onion, finely diced

1/3 c raisins

Creamy Herb Dressing

1/2 c low fat mayo

1/3 c nonfat plain yogurt (I used Greek, and therefore could have easily halved or eliminated the mayo)

1/4 c lowfat sour cream

3 T rice vinegar (could sub white wine vin)

1 T Dijon mustard

1 T honey

1/2 T dried chives (or fresh)

1.5 tsp tarragon or dillweed

1/2 tsp onion and/or celery salt (I just used onion powder)

white pepper to taste

Mix it all up! 

I've got a little of the Burger Mix and Garbanzo Bean salad left to get me through the weekend. Which reminds me, I'll need to make a plan for next week soon. 

What's your clean eating plan for next week?

I finished Cathe Friedrich's STS (Shock Training System) yesterday. I'm so proud of myself! I made fantastic strength gains on a few different levels, but that's the next post. 

Don't miss it! 

A Yummy Plan

I did one of my favorite things last night. I surrounded myself with issues of Clean Eating  and Eating Well magazines along with one of my favorite cookbooks Trim & Terrific by Holly Clegg and put together an eating plan for next week. I also ended up throwing in a Vegetarian Times  recipe that my Mom found last week.  After 2 hours I had a plan and felt that ol' familiar feeling of control over my eats. I like it a lot! 


The part I love the most about Clean Eating magazine is the chart of 2 weeks worth of meals and snacks in every single issue complete with a shopping list and nutritional info for each day. Isn't that awesome? It's simply brilliant!! It helps for planning, of course, and it also helps on days when my mind has gone blank and all I can think to eat for lunch requires mayonnaise. You can check out a free 7 Days of Clean Meals chart on their website, click on the menus and recipes tab.


On a side note, I do not receive ANY income or benefits whatsoever from the products I talk about in this blog. I'm just sharing my humble opinion.


My lifetime food goal is to eat more vegetables. I'd like to average at least 5 servings of veggies each week for right now. So, I'm always looking for recipes that include veggies and, therefore, find myself making all kinds of salads. I like my salads to have it all- whole grains, protein, just the right amount of healthy fat and vegetables. It's just easier for me to make whole-meal salads than to figure out how to make 3 different foods work together. Sometimes salads start out as one thing, and then transform into something else. That's a different post, though. 


The salad I chose for this week is called Merrill's Tuna Rice Salad from Clean Eating's Nov/Dec 2010 issue. It's a simple chop and mix recipe:
2 6oz cans of tuna, in water, drained
1 stalk of celery, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, chopped (I'll probably only use 1/4 of a pepper thanks to chemo-induced heartburn)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T lemon juice
1/2 tsp celery seed
1 T low-sodium soy sauce
2 T 100% apple juice concentrate
1 tsp dried basil
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 8oz can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
2 large carrots, grated
2 cups cooked brown rice, cold
1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
2 T minced fresh parsley
Combine all the ingredients. Refrigerate several hours. Enjoy! Makes 7 one-cup servings. 


I'll also be making Butternut Squash Enchiladas and a Broccoli Soup recipe from Holly Clegg's original Trim & Terrific Cookbook. I've also got hard boiled eggs, non-hard-boiled eggs, oatmeal, raw carrots, apples, dried cranberries & blueberry mix, bananas (per my oncologist's orders), my favorite reduced fat lactose free yet somehow still delicious and rich tasting Cabot cheese, a couple cans of healthy low sodium soups, frozen green beans and spinach, natural peanut butter, frozen tilapia, walnuts, organic flaxseeds, nitrate free low sodium ham, and frozen organic chicken breasts to create a healthfully clean cancer cell killing week of eats. I'll be sharing how I put it all together next week. 


Do you have an eating strategy for next week? How many veggies servings do you average each week? How do you do it? Share with me!