To say I’m enamored with quinoa is probably an understatement.  This delicious, gluten-free grain is a staple of our clean eating lifestyle.  Barely a week goes by when I don’t make up a batch and turn it into a healthy side dish or main dish — quinoa southwestern stew,  quinoa breakfast porridge and quinoa w/pesto are a few of my favorites.  It’s almost always part of my weekly meal plan.

Quinoa is super easy to make, quick cooking and takes on the flavor of almost anything you add.  Plus it’s low-fat, low-cal and high in protein, to boot! Not bad for an ancient grain from South America.  It honestly is a treat to make and eat and beautifully supports clean eating. And since I try to avoid wheat, it’s the perfect grain for me.

Check out my latest video that I’ve put together chock full of information about quinoa and a super simple recipe you will love.

Do you get inspired about what you can make with quinoa? Here’s the recipe so you can get into action right away!

Quinoa Tabouli

Makes 4-6 servings

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
1/4 cup lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1. Combine quinoa and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil, then let simmer, covered over medium heat for 15 minutes until most of water has been absorbed and quinoa is tender.
2. Remove lid, stir once, and continue to simmer until all water is evaporated and then let coo.
3. Stir in parsley, tomatoes, lemon juice, zest and olive oil.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

What’s your favorite way to enjoy quinoa? How does it support your clean eating lifestyle?

Filed under: Gluten-free, Grains, Healthy Meals, clean eating | No Comments

The only way I know to stay on track with clean eating and make wise food choices, is to consistently prepare my own food.  I’m a planner at heart and meal planning is a simple yet powerful practice that makes all the difference in whether Bruce and I eat cleanly during the week.

I pretty much have our meal planning routine down to a science. I usually plan things out on Saturday mornings, hit the store in the afternoon and get busy in the kitchen starting either Saturday night or sometime on Sunday. This past weekend, I didn’t make it the store until Sunday, but after the Jets game (darn, they lost to Miami again), I put on my favorite music (Pat Metheny Group…love jazz) and commenced to cooking up a plethora of delicious and healthy dishes.

Here’s a look at what I made this week:

• Slow Cooker Meal: Turkey Soup with Sweet Potatoes & Kale — I made this recipe up as I went along.  I bought a boneless turkey breast and added in organic chicken broth, sweet potatoes, kale, brown rice, onions and a variety of spices. The flavor is fantastic and it’s warming this time of year. Plus I love that there are greens in it.
• Bean and Sausage Gratin: I love this recipe that I found years ago on realsimple.com.  I used antibiotic-free chicken sausage, fresh fennel and sage.  It’s super easy and so tasty.  I made it gluten-free by using g-f bread crumbs.  Instead of Swiss chard, I substituted fresh spinach.
• Jamaican style oatmeal: This is one of my favs thanks to Clean Eating magazine.  I’ve blogged about how good this is. I adapted their recipe a bit and made it my own.
• Garden egg scramble: This is another winner of a recipe from Clean Eating magazine.  I love that it only uses egg whites and it’s delicious with sun dried tomatoes — they are so flavorful.  I added portabella mushrooms and asparagus too. We’re mixing up our breakfasts with the egg scramble and oatmeal.
• Sauteed baby bok choy: I saw it at the health food store on Sunday, it was so beautiful and fresh. I sauteed it lightly in toasted sesame oil. So quick, so delicious.
• Sauteed collard greens: I love eating greens and I love how easy they are to make.  I sauteed two bunches of collards along with onions, walnuts and raisins. Yummy!
• Later in the week, I’ll make some brown rice pasta with pesto.

So think about it, lots of greens — spinach, kale, collard greens and bok choy — along with root vegetables, low-fat protein, and whole grains.   We usually have a salad with lunch and dinner for added greens. If this menu doesn’t scream clean eating, I don’t know what does.  Nothing overly processed, all natural ingredients and whole foods — the way I love to eat. 

Plus we’re focused on a water challenge. I’m chronically dehydrated so I’m focusing on drinking lots of water everyday.  To make it fun, Bruce and I challenge  each other to meet goals — for example, 24 oz by 11 am.  Just helps me stay on track.

When all is said and done, we have more energy and we feel more satisfied eating clean foods. Less snacking going on too.  It’s a great start to the week and the combination of clean eating and meal planning can’t be beat.  Take it from the me, the Clean Eating Coach, if I can do this, so can you!

What about you, what’s your plan to ensure a week of clean eating meals that helps you feel your best?  What have you already made that’s clean, easy and delicious?

Filed under: Greens, Healthy Meals, Meal Planning, Water, clean eating | 1 Comment

One of the cleanest, healthiest breakfast foods we can eat is oatmeal. Oats are whole grains, in their natural state, bursting with fiber and complex carbohydrates to keep up energized and feeling our best. Oats are low in calories and fat yet have the power to fill us up and keep us going all morning long.  Clean eating made simple.

Today is National Oatmeal Day, the perfect time to reflect on simple ways to build more oatmeal into your diet in creative and interesting ways that go beyond adding water to instant oatmeal — boring!

Why not embrace National Oatmeal Day and commit to eating oats more often? Oats are heart healthy and can help lower your cholesterol. Just recently, I wrote a post about a delicious variation on oatmeal that is super flavorful with fresh pineapple, coconut and almonds. Yum!

Here are a few ideas to get you into action:

• sweeten with agave nectar or pure maple syrup, two clean eating sweeteners
• add dried unsweetened fruit like cranberries (but only fruit juice sweetened) or raisins
• toast nuts and blend in for a rich flavor
• add your favorite spices likes cinnamon, nutmeg or ginger
• add a dollop of canned pumpkin for a yummy seasonal spin

What’s your favorite way to enjoy oatmeal and what do you do to jazz it up and keep it interesting? How does eating oatmeal support your health and a clean eating lifestyle?

Filed under: Breakfast, Cholesterol, Grains, Healthy Meals, Oatmeal, clean eating | 1 Comment

I was on Twitter the other day reading some comments about clean eating and I was struck by this one in particular: “Wow. Clean eating is NOT cheap eating. Hope this is worth it!!” 

While clean eating may not be cheap, it can actually be moderately priced, and a lot less expensive than the Standard American Diet so many people in this country readily consume full of too much sugar, salt and preservatives.  Not to mention that a bit of investment in healthier foods goes a long way to protecting your health in the future. I talked about just this topic on my friend ChaChanna Simpson’s radio show a few weeks ago as we made sense of healthy and moderately priced eating for twenty-somethings.

The key is to marry consistent meal planning, week after week, with more clean foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains.  Trust me when I tell you that clean eating doesn’t have to break the bank.  In fact, to prove my point, let me share how inexpensive it was to make one of my favorite dishes — quinoa southwestern stew.

Quinoa is a grain from South America that’s high in protein, quick cooking and gluten-free. I married this with the other ingredients in the recipe and ended up with a dish that made eight servings.

Here’s a rough breakdown of the main ingredients and their cost:

Onions – 1.00
Quinoa – 1.50
Organic chicken broth – 1.50 for quart (thanks to BJ’s Warehouse)
Can of organic black beans – 1.79 (and no added sodium)
Can of organic tomatoes – 1.50 (also from BJ’s)
Frozen, Organic butternut squash – 3.69
Frozen corn – 1.00
Organic ground turkey – 9.00
Fresh cilantro – .75

The total was just under $22.00.  And you can see I used high quality turkey so that added about an extra 5.00 over what I’d find in my big box grocery store but it’s worth it for the added quality.

Here’s the key to clean eating being reasonably priced — the total cost per serving was a whopping $2.71!  I don’t know about you, but I don’t know anywhere you can go and find a healthy dish with high quality ingredients, not loaded with sodium and/or sugar, for this price.  To me, this speaks volumes to the power of meal planning, fresh ingredients and some foresight to create clean eating meals that don’t break the bank.

My husband and I have been taking this for lunch this week and the combination of the hearty stew along with a salad of fresh greens means that we’re spending roughly $3.50 each per day. That is a bargain! Where we live,  you can’t buy a decent lunch for less than $7-$8 so we are actually saving money, not to mention supporting better health.

What are you thoughts on the cost of clean eating? Is it too expensive or do you simply need to become a better meal planner and find creative ways to cook at home that can help you save and improve your health?

Filed under: Gluten-free, Healthy Meals, High Quality Food, Meal Planning, Quinoa, Whole Food Nutrition, clean eating | 2 Comments

One of the staples of our clean eating lifestyle is using fresh herbs in lots of dishes we make.  Herbs add flavor without the fat, make food more interesting and are super easy to use.  One of  things I love is that you can easily grow your own. Each spring I like to buy seedlings and plant them outside in pots, in my urban garden. This year I’ve been growing parsley, basil, thyme and cilantro. I love the ease of being able to go outside and snip a tablespoon or two for a recipe.

Another benefit of fresh herbs is that you can save a lot of money when you grow your own.  A basic tenet of the clean eating lifestyle is to be kind to the environment. What’s better than growing your own and not having to incur the cost of packaging and transportation to get them to you — this is locally grown food at its best!  It’s a simple way to stretch your dollars, be eco-friendly and give you time to commune with nature.

There are times, however, when I may need more than just a tablespoon or two of my favorite herbs.  My approach is to maximize use of the herbs by creating a series of recipes where I can use them all up and not waste them. If you’re like me, I just bet you’ve had moments in the past where, despite your best efforts, you managed to let your leftover herbs go bad.

Avoiding waste is really simple — you’ve got to have a solid meal plan that builds them into a variety of dishes.  I always begin with the end in mind and start my meal planning with some good old brainstorming about how I’ll use the herbs.  One of my favorites, cilantro, is so easy to use in a variety of recipes.  In fact, you can see what I mean by checking out this video on how I’ve made three different recipes from one bunch of cilantro.

You can check out the mango salsa recipe that I mentioned in the video. It’s so good! And even though summer is over, I’ll still sometimes buy a mango and whip some up.  I’m also a big fan of  juicing herbs along with other fruits and vegetables and sprinkling them on my salad, when leftover.

What do you do to use up your fresh herbs and ensure they don’t go bad? What are some favorite ways you use herbs as part of a clean eating lifestyle?

Filed under: Healthy Meals, Herbs, Locally Grown Food, Meal Planning, clean eating | 1 Comment

When it comes to clean eating, I can’t help but love root vegetables once fall rolls around and the weather starts to cool.  They are full of flavor and nutrients and so easy to make. 

Just the other day I was asking my friends on Twitter about their favorite fall vegetables.  I’m a big fan of sweet potatoes, I like to put them in just about anything. But I have to say that pumpkin and butternut squash make a close second and third and I got lots of comments along those lines.

So I thought it would be fun to share 10 reasons why clean eating root veggies are so fantastic:

1. They have copious amounts of antioxidants, especially Vitamin A aka beta carotene.

2. Root veggies are easy to prepare in a myriad of ways.

3. They help kick sugar cravings to the curb. Roast them and you’ll bring out their natural sweetness.

4. They’re healthy comfort food.  Pumpkin pancakes anyone? You can make luscious dishes that are the essence of comfort food yet oh so healthy.

5. They make a great addition to soups and stews. Just the other day I whipped up some yummy soup with sweet potatoes, collard greens, tomatoes, kasha and cannellini beans. Talk about delicious!

6. They are low maintenance cooking! Put some sweet potatoes and butternut squash in to bake and you can do a whole bunch of other things while they’re cooking.

7. When you eat root veggies in the fall, they’re in season. You’re eating the way nature intended you to.

8. They are full of fiber which helps to fill us up, and healthy complex carbohydrates that provide lasting energy.

9. They are low in calories and fat, supporting a clean eating lifestyle.

10. Being that they are grown in the ground, they provide amazing grounding energy. If you’re feeling like you can’t focus and your mind is wandering, eat some root veggies and see what happens. You’ll likely to feel a lot more present.

What’s your take on root veggies? What other awesome benefits do you get from eating them and what’s your favorite?

Intrigued about how you can easily prepare root vegetables and make some scrumptious recipes your family will thank you for? Join me, The Clean Eating Coach, tonight, October 21 for “Fabulous Fall Seasonal Eating & Meal Planning” and I’ll give you the full scoop on simple and clean ways to make them! Go to http://budurl.com/falleating to get all the details.

Filed under: Antioxidants, Fiber, Healthy Meals, Whole Food Nutrition, clean eating | No Comments

There’s something about when the weather cools off and I fell a chill in the air, that I’m immediately drawn to more warming foods that stick to your bones — whole grains, beans,  and root vegetables in particular, like these roasted parsnips in the photo.  Clean eating is at its best when you can plan more seasonal menus, preferably with locally grown food, that takes advantage of what’s currently being harvested.

Clean eating inspiration for fall starts with a quick spin around your local farmers’ market where you can see plentiful amounts of beautiful winter squash – butternut, acorn and pumpkin. Not to mention potatoes and sweet potatoes and lots of greens. For me, it’s the perfect opportunity to turn my sights and creative energy to making healthy fall creations.

The key here to is eat what’s in season, focus on clean eating that shuns processed foods full of sugar, salt and fat and to have some fun with it.  A little meal planning on a Saturday morning can yield a week’s worth of healthy, seasonal clean eating meals that won’t have to keep you in the kitchen for hours. Just today, I’ve cooked up a healthy soup with collard greens, beans and sweet potatoes, fresh tuna burgers and some delicious Jamaican style oatmeal.  All clean meals full of nutrients and flavor.

How are you doing with creating clean eating, seasonal meal plans that maximize nutrition and flavor? If you’re stumped for how to keep it simple, you have to join me, The Clean Eating Coach, for my upcoming teleclass on Wednesday, October 21, Fabulous Fall Seasonal Eating & Meal Planning. I’ll be sharing all my secrets and strategies for creating healthy, fall meals and why eating seasonally is so important. And I’ll be sharing a host of simple, quick and healthy recipes that won’t have you in the kitchen for hours or break the bank. 

Come on over and join in the fun! You can check out all the details here including a short video to learn more.  The cost is only $19 and you’ll leave with motivation and inspiration to get into action.  Learn more here: http://budurl.com/falleating.

Filed under: Farmers' market, Food preparation, Healthy Meals, Locally Grown Food, Meal Planning, Teleclasses, clean eating | No Comments

A telltale sign that colder weather is approaching is my desire to move to warmer, albeit still clean, foods.  In the summer, I’m a big fan of a raw smoothie for breakfast — chock full of fruit, veggies like kale, and my favorite superfoods (I’m partial to cacao, blue-green algae and maca).  My smoothie is the essence of clean eating and the perfect way to get the day started on a healthy note.

But now that the weather has dramatically cooled (yesterday we had light snow!), I’m all about warming up.  One of my favorite morning treats is oatmeal. In the summer, I make a yummy raw oatmeal that I absolutely love that’s served at room temperature, but this time of year, it’s got to be hot.

Recently, I was flipping through the most recent issue of Clean Eating magazine when I came across a recipe for Jamaican style oatmeal that sounded yummy.  As you can probably imagine, the Jamaican part of it is that is has  tropical flavors — coconut, pineapple and banana.  When I saw it, I just knew it would be good, with a few adjustments.  I personally can’t stand bananas (except in my smoothies), so I took that out and added a touch of cinnamon instead.  It made for an absolutely delicious oatmeal, so much more interesting than just adding some berries on top, and the addition of nuts made it even more robust.

Best part of all is that I felt satisfied all morning long.  I’m a big fan of a bigger breakfast that keeps you feeling nourished and focused, in addition to setting your blood sugar level for the day.  This clean eating breakfast is just that — robust, tasty and so good for us.  Plus, oats are heart healthy, can lower cholesterol and can even aid in weight loss.  This is whole food nutrition at its best!

Jamaican Style Whole Oatmeal

Ingredients:

1 cup steel cut oats
1/4 cup almond milk (or use skim, rice or soy)
2 tbsp agave nectar
1/2 cup fresh pineapple
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
2 tbsp. almonds, toasted and sliced

Directions:

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in medium saucepan.  Add oats, reduce heat and cook for 20 minutes.  When oats are done, add milk and agave nectar, followed by the pineapple and cinnamon. Top with coconut and almonds.

What do you do to make oatmeal interesting and appealing? Do tell – please share your comments below.

And be sure to join me on Wednesday, October 21 at 8 pm ET for more clean eating and meal planning ideas on my next teleseminar, “Fabulous Fall Seasonal Eating and Meal Planning.” You can check out all the details and sign up here: http://budurl.com/falleating

Filed under: Agave Nectar, Breakfast, Cholesterol, Healthy Meals, Recipes, Whole Food Nutrition, Whole Grains, clean eating | 2 Comments