Showing posts with label Eat Clean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eat Clean. Show all posts

Baked Veggies and Goat Cheese

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My first clean meal! Exciting right? Actually, this is a meal I have made many times and in many different ways, but this was the first time I made it Clean. It is quite delicious and very simple. You could use all sorts of vegetables, I used what I had on hand.

According to the research I have done, clean eating is all about balance. Combine a carb and a protein with some vegetables and you are set!

Vegetable: Broccoli, bell pepper, leek, carrot
Carb: Potato
Protein: Cheese


Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Serves: 3 people

Ingredients:
  • 4 small red potatoes chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped broccoli
  • 1/2 cup chopped carrots
  • 1/4 cup bell peppers
  • 2 small leeks
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons died basil
  • Pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
  • 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Combine potatoes, broccoli, carrots, bell peppers and leeks in a square baking dish.
  3. Add olive oil and stir to coat the veggies.
  4. Add dried basil and pepper.
  5. Mix everything together well.
  6. Bake in preheated oven for 55-60 minutes, until veggies are tender
  7. Enjoy!


Here is something new I will be doing with my recipes, providing nutritional facts using www.caloriecount.com.




Clean Eating - The Beginning

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Well it has happened. I have fallen for a "diet" and I could not be more excited about it!

Looking back at my eating habits over the last several months, I have seen a major decline in the healthy-ish meals and habits I once consumed and maintained. This is largely do to the general increase in "stuff" that I do on a daily/weekly basis. Is that a valid excuse? It doesn't matter, I am using it anyway. The important thing, is that I recognize I am no longer where I want to be health wise and that I need to get back on track quickly.

I have done a bit of research into diets and found most results to be quite discouraging for a vegetarian like myself. I started with the popular ones:
  • Paleo - I am a vegetarian and allergic to most nuts, making this diet very difficult
  • Weight Watchers - I do not want to pay to have a phone app and count points
  • Ketogenic (Atkins, South Beach) - Again the not eating meat thing makes this one difficult
  • Juicing Diet - I like to eat solid food, end of story.
  • Clean Eating - ding, ding, ding! This one makes sense!
Clean eating will work for me because I already know and follow many of the "diet" guidelines. I wrote "diet" because eating clean, as I understand it, is really more of a life change. Here are the guidelines for the "diet" that I am familiar with or currently practice.
  1. I do not eat much processed food
  2. I try not to consume toxins and added chemicals
  3. I eat whole grains -- if the word whole is not there, something has been taken out of it
  4. I never miss a meal -- I enjoy food too much to skip a meal
  5. I try to eat small portions -- but I really enjoy sweets and bread and cheese and vegetables and, well, food
  6. I know I should drink at least 8 cups of water a day -- doing it is more difficult
  7. I know I should eat 5-6 meals a day -- again doing this is challenging
******

This brings me to the point of this post. As I was researching diet options, I realized that most are not geared toward vegetarians or vegans. The clean eating "diet" is really no exception. I read the reviews for the Eat Clean Vegetarian Cookbook, and was surprised to find out that Tosca Reno, does not have a background in nutrition and does not understand vegetarianism or veganism. So here I am, attempting to show other vegetarians how to eat clean. I also do not have the nutrition background, but I understand being a vegetarian, as I have been one since I was 11 years old (that is 16 years). I am going to dive right into this life changing "diet" and I am going to document the progress with recipes, meal plans and my workout routines. I am not a pro, but I will be doing a ton of research, learning as I go, and posting everything for you all to enjoy and hopefully use.

You should know that I will be relying on the following books, blogs and websites to become the healthy person I want to be:
I noticed that having a place to post the wonderful food that I am making encourages me to make more of it! So enjoy and stumble through this lifestyle with me.