Apple Ginger Ale Juice

Made another juice tonight for dinner. Using the same picture from yesterday since it looks exactly the same! This one has ginger in it which is good with all the beans we have been eating lately!! :) 

Apple Ginger Ale Juice

1/2 of a fresh beet ( antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification support)

3 small gala apples and 2 small granny smith apples (regulate your blood sugar and good fiber source)

3 stems of kale (cholesterol-lowering, risk-lowering benefits for cancer, support for the body's detoxification system, avoidance of chronic inflammation and oxidative stress)

1 tbsp size of fresh ginger (alleviating symptoms of gastrointestinal distress, very potent anti-inflammatory compounds, may also inhibit the growth of human colorectal cancer cells, kill ovarian cancer cells by inducing apoptosis, Immune Boosting Action)

1/2 of a lemon (Phytonutrients with Antioxidant and Antibiotic Effects, help fight cancers of the mouth, Protection against Rheumatoid Arthritis)

Red Pineapple Juice

I love to juice. It makes me feel good. When I juice I feel like I am drinking a salad bar and can feel myself get healthy right away!

My husband and I have been juicing for a while. We bought the Jack Lalane Juicer about 7 years ago. It's not something we do often, but I intend to try it at least once a week from here on out. 

The best part about juicing for me is that I get to put veggies in my juice that I would NEVER eat. Plus, you are eating these vegetables in raw form. 

Red Pineapple Juice (Makes 2 glasses) 

1/2 of a fresh beet ( antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification support)

2 cups of fresh pineapple (Anti-Inflammatory and Digestive Benefits, Antioxidant Protection and Immune Support, 

3 gala apples (regulate your blood sugar and good fiber source)

4-5 stems of kale (cholesterol-lowering, risk-lowering benefits for cancer, support for the body's detoxification system, avoidance of chronic inflammation and oxidative stress)

Add all to your juicer and Voila! All those benefits in a glass! And, it tastes amazing. Trust me, I wouldn't drink it if it wasn't good! 

Clean and Vegan Pesto

Tonight I made some yummy pesto. I made it without parmesan so it's vegan and on top of that it's clean! 

I added it to some whole wheat angel hair pasta with sautéed gourmet mushroom blend, kalamata olives, and sundried tomatoes. It was super yummy and quick and easy for a busy night!

Vegan/Clean Pesto

Handfull of fresh basil leaves...about 1/2 cup

1/4 cup of pine nuts

3 garlic cloves

3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender and blend until creamy. 

Vegan and Clean Brown Rice Breakfast Pudding

I found a recipe for a clean and vegan brown rice pudding on line. I need some variety in my breakfast and this hit the spot. 

My husband grew up eating white rice with milk, butter, and sugar.....GROSS!!!! That just sounds disgusting to me. When I saw this recipe, it sounded much healthier and I thought I would give it a try.

I used 100% maple syrup instead of honey and when I plated it, I added a drizzle of the syrup, more cinnamon, chopped pecans, chopped dates, and golden raisins to add some tart to it. 

My husband loved it and it made a ton so we have leftovers for the rest of the week.

Vegan and Clean Shepherds Pie

I think this is my best creation to date. First of all it's vegan, second of all it's 99% clean. The only thing that makes it not clean is the veggie crumbles I used and the vegan cheese. And for all I know, they are actually clean I just didn't know what some of the ingredients were on the list.

This shepherds pie has so much flavor and tastes like a homemade pot pie. I think I could eat it everyday. My husband agrees! Such a good husband he is!!

Vegan Shepherds Pie

Filling

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup of diced onions

4 minced cloves of garlic

8oz of baby bella mushrooms chopped

1.5 cups of vegetable stock

1 tsp of dried thyme

1/2 tsp of dried sage

salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp of whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 cup of unsweetened almond milk

12oz package of frozen mixed veggies (mine had green beans, corn, peas, and carrots)

1/2 cup of veggie crumbles*

Topping

1.5 pounds of red baby potatoes

2 tbsp of olive oil

1 cup of unsweetened almond milk

1/2 cup of vegan cheddar cheese*

salt and pepper to taste

In an extra large skillet on med-low add 2 tbsp of olive oil and diced onions. Cook until they are golden...about 10 minutes. Add minced garlic, mushrooms, sage, thyme and 1/2 cup of vegetable stock. Cook on medium for about 20 minutes stirring often. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of flour over mushrooms and stir until combined. Sprinkle the other tbsp and stir again. It should be getting very thick. Add 1/2 cup of vegetable stock and stir. Add the other cup of vegetable stock and the almond milk and stir. Add the frozen veggies and crumbles and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 10 minutes stirring often. Add the filling to a casserole dish and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350

Cut potatoes in quarters and boil until they are fork tender. Drain and add to a large bowl. With a potato masher, mash them until they are all mashed (not fluffy and creamy, just mashed). Add 2 tbsp of olive oil, 1/2 cup of vegan cheddar cheese, salt and pepper to taste, and almond milk. With a hand mixer, whisk until creamy. Don't over mix them and make them starchy. There will be chunks of potatoes.

Large spoonfuls at a time, add the potatoes to the filling and spread evenly. Cook on 350 for 40 minutes.

*If you are not concerned about this being vegan, but want it clean, just used cooked ground turkey meat in place of the veggie crumbles and low fat cheddar cheese.

Clean Chipotle-Avocado Vinaigrette

I had a salad recently at a restaurant called Grace 1720. It was a seafood cobb salad and it was one of the best salads I have ever had. The dressing it came with was an ancho-chili vinaigrette. It was the perfect blend of sweet and spicy.

This evening I decided to make a cobb salad. My husband grew up on them. He said it's one of the main memories he has of his grandmother, Viola. She used Ott's dressing on hers. I searched high and low for the ingredients list of Ott's Red Dressing and couldn't find it anywhere. I know it's similar to French dressing, but I wanted to try to recreate the real thing. Since I don't like French dressing (or Ott's for that matter) I decided to try to recreate the ancho-chili vinaigrette I had at Grace 1720 so we could both eat it.



This is what I came up with from ingredients I could find in my fridge and pantry.....

Clean Chipotle-Avocado Vinaigrette
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
2 tbls of raw honey
1/4 tsp of garlic salt
1 tsp of chipotle powder (this makes it a little on the spicy side. Reduce to 1/2 tsp if you don't like spicy, but I liked the spice with the salad. I couldn't have taken it on it's own though...I am a baby!)
1 package of 100 calorie packs of Wholly Guacamole

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until thoroughly mixed.

Clean Cilantro Lime Rice

One of my all time favorite foods is the Cilantro Lime Rice from Chipotle. I was so happy to find out that they now serve this wonderful side in brown rice. Chipotle is one of those restaurants that you can actually get a fairly clean meal at. 

I am trying to really limit how much we go out to eat this month since I have started my little challenge. I was really in the mood for Chipotle though so I decided to make it myself!!

Clean Cilantro Lime Rice

About 1.5 cups of cooked brown rice

2 tsp of lime juice

3 tbls of finely chopped cilantro (to get a fine chop, this is my favorite kitchen tool)

1 tsp of extra virgin organic coconut oil

salt to taste

Fold all of the ingredients above together and you're done! ENJOY!!

Clean No Bake Energy Bites

I have seen these a lot on Pinterest and wanted to try them. They look very tasty and the thought of energy wrapped up in a bite size ball sounded like a great idea! I got the recipe over at Gimme Some Oven. Really the only thing that kept this from being clean was the chocolate chips. I left out the coconut because I didn't have any. If you add it, make sure you add unsweetened, otherwise these will not be clean. I changed a few other things as well

Clean No Bake Energy Bites
1 cup of Multi-grain cereal
1/2 cup of CLEAN peanut butter (I use Earth Balance, only 5 ingredients and no refined sugar)
1/4 cup of flax seed
1/2 cup of raisins
1/3 cup of RAW honey (when honey and agave aren't raw, this means they have been processed and are just like eating table sugar)
1 tsp of vanilla (check the ingredient list, a lot of times there is added sugar)

Mix all of the ingredients together in bowl. Let it sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Remove and make balls about 1.5 tablespoons in size. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Clean Eating TV Dinner

To be honest with you I didn't really think a frozen TV dinner that was clean existed. I pretty much crossed those off my list, until.....I got last month's Clean Eating Magazine. They featured an Amy's Kitchen frozen meal in the magazine that was clean. Of course I had to try this. Sometimes you are in a hurry and don't have time to prepare a clean meal. This little meal is my saving grace. It's very flavorful and healthy. Just the right portion and of course it's CLEAN!!! Even my husband liked it and he hates tamales. I keep lots of these in the freezer all the time!

Slimming Summer Drink

I was watching The Chew the other day and Dr. Oz was on telling Summer Slimdown Secrets. One thing that caught my eye and ear was a grape fruit drink he was talking about. You drink a large glass of 100% grapefruit juice, 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar, and a little honey to sweeten it right before your meals. Well I absolutely hate vinegar and grapefruit juice and I don't want the added honey. So.....I do more like an 8oz glass with 1 tablespoon of vinegar. It's so gross, but I think after a week I will be so used to it I won't be able to tell it's so nasty!!!! This is what Dr. Oz has to say about it......

The drink changes how you absorb sugar, boosts your metabolism and reduces inflammation.

I need all of the above!!!

I used Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar and Simply Grapefruit since I know it's 100%! I ran out of grapefruit juice over the weekend so I only did this a couple of times. This morning I bought 2 bottles of it so I will let you know at the end of the week if I can tell a difference!

*Grapefruit Juice and other citrus juices can have an affect on some medications.

Clean Honey Vinaigrette

My husband and I walked to Phish Phood tonight for their awesome summer salad. I love any salad that is greens with any fruit, any stinky cheese, and any nuts! It's my favorite combo. Unfortunately the salad dressing is loaded with sugar and has bacon in it...not good for the no sugar and clean eating plan. So I decided I had to make my own sugar free dressing. It's so easy, I am not sure I will ever buy dressing again!

Clean Honey Vinaigrette 
2 1/2 tablespoons of honey
3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb

Clean Eating Granola

I LOVE granola! I Especially love it on greek yogurt with some strawberries for breakfast! YUMMMY!!! My friend Lori gave me this Alton Brown Recipe and I decided to try to make it clean. You can't even tell. It was almost clean to begin with!

Clean Eating Granola

3 cups of hot multi-grain cereal
1 cup of chopped pecans
1 cup of cashews
2 tablespoons of toasted flax seed
2 tablespoon of cinnamon
3/4 cup of shredded coconut (I omit this)
3 tablespoons of raw coconut crystals
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of organic maple syrup
1/4 cup of coconut oil
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of raisins

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Microwave the coconut oil for about 10 seconds to melt it.

I a large bowl combine the cereal, nuts, coconut (if using), flax seed and coconut crystals.

In another bowl, combine maple syrup, coconut oil, cinnamon and salt. Combine both bowls and mix. Pour onto 2 sheet pans and spread out. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

Let cool completely. Transfer to an airtight container. You can add the raisins at this time, but I add a little each time I use it so the moisture of the raisins doesn't affect the granola. ENJOY!!

Wholly Guacamole

Well I have officially found my favorite clean snack....wholly guacamole 100 calorie packs. Why are these little packs of goodness so amazing...I'll tell you.

1. Portion Control. I could eat a bucket of guac. So the fact that these are portioned out in little packs is awesome!
2. You can freeze them. You can freeze these little suckers for up to 3 months. I LOVE that!
3. They are all natural and clean!
4. You don't have to keep avocados on stock. I don't know about you, but my avocados always end up going bad. I forget they are there and it's too late.
5. Last but not least, they taste GREAT!

Clean Eating Breakfast

Eating clean for breakfast is one of the hardest things for me. This is because for breakfast I like, waffles, french toast, and pancakes all covered in syrup and butter! I have come up with an alternative to waffles that satisfies me just fine!

Van's Multigrain Frozen Waffles with Earth Balance Natural PB and golden raisins.

The waffles are made with whole wheat, brown rice, quinoa and other grains with a touch of honey. The peanut butter only has 5 ingredients and is sweetened with agave and is vegan.

This breakfast is filling and satisfying!

Spaghetti Squash

I took this picture with my phone and it's a horrible picture, but you get the idea!

Tonight I attempted spaghetti squash. We are on day 13 of the Daniel fast and I needed a change big time! I have always seen stuff about this type of squash, but never wanted to try it since I don't really like squash very much. I have to say I was quite impressed. I fully expected to just hold my nose and swallow it whole, but I would make this again for sure. In fact I might even trade all pasta we cook at home for this and save the real pasta for when we go out to eat at Mirko (Best pasta I have had in the states. Tastes exactly like Italy!). It was easy to make and saved us about 180 calories per cup and roughly 35 carbs per cup. You can't beat that!

The sauce I added to it was a simple tomato sauce. I can't have anything with sugar right now and most sauces call for sugar so what I did was swap the water I was planning on using for some 100% organic sweet apple juice. It did the trick!

Spaghetti Squash with Tomato Sauce

1 spaghetti squash

1 can of tomato paste

1 large can of crushed tomatoes

1 1/2 cups of Martinelli's Apple Juice

2 cups of baby spinach

2 cups of baby bella mushrooms

1/2 cup of kalamata olives pitted and cut in halves

2 garlic cloves crushed (I use my microplane and it works wonders)

2 table spoons of italian herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary)

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Add all the ingredients above except for the squash to a sauce pan and cook on med-low for about 30 minutes. Stir often. Once you have the sauce going, cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. (this takes a big knife and some muscles!). Remove the seeds just like removing them from a pumpkin. Lay the cut side up and microwave for 10 minutes. When it's done pull it out and let it cool until the sauce is done. Once you are able to touch it, take fork and pull down lengthwise. You will see the strands start to come out. Put that on your plate, add sauce, and there you go!