Help! Newly wed who is clueless on 'eating clean'..
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http://emeals.com/
You can check out this website and see if it is anything that interests you. They give you weekly meal plans and a shopping list for the grocery store of your choice. They do have an option to do a clean eating plan, meals for 2, or a family plan. I've been using it and I like having a plan for dinner each night.0 -
For dinner tonight I had skinless chicken breasts. In a bowl I mixed 2 large tablespoons of parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoon of arrowroot, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder and a large teaspoon of garam masala, then seasoned with freshly milled sea salt and pepper. Coat the chicken in the mixture, then I fried it in avocado oil. I made a dip with Greek yogurt and cucumber (I eat primal so added some single cream as well). The coating gets really crispy as you cook it, and is delicious. Really quick and easy. Serve with a salad, or veg, I had veg, the rest of my family had spicy fries.0
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Bump to look at later!0
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I actually find dinner to be the easiest because I can throw meat and veggies in the crockpot or make turkey burgers and sweet potatoes fries in a hurry.
My challenge is usually lunches. I precook lots of chicken for quick lunches. I grill/broil chicken breasts with different salt-free seasonings for quick sandwiches or salads. I also make a chicken that shreds for tacos or lettuce wraps. If I'm in a hurry, I just use a jar of salsa with a bag of frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts. If I have more time, I'll do homemade pico de gallo, fresh chicken breasts and a little bit of water. About 8 hours in the crock pot on low and it is so tender it falls apart.
For snacks, I have low-fat cheese, yogurt, nuts (almonds or pistachios are my favs), easy to carry fruit (like apples or pears), or peanut butter on rice cakes.
I pre cut lots of veggies. Broccoli, green peppers and onions are essential for me. I have some containers or ziplocs for snacking (like slices of pepper) and I have some precut for cooking (like diced onions). Makes prepping anything super easy. If I know I'm going to make a certain recipe (like a lentil soup), I'll pre cut all of the veggies and mark them. Then, my cooking-challenged husband can throw them all in a pot if he gets home first.
All of my Sunday prep takes me less than 2 hours and it is totally worth it.
Good luck!0 -
Figure out what you're going to need before you go to the grocery store. Look up some recipes for the week and stick to them. When I buy fruits and vegetables, I tend to go overboard without thinking about what I'm gonna use them for, and I end up wasting a lot of food or eating it in ways I don't really like to, just to get it out of the fridge before it goes bad.0
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I noticed someone already mentioned the Flat Belly Diet book, which is a very good book, but I would also suggest checking out The Eat-Clean Diet website ---> http://www.eatcleandiet.com/
They have several different types of books that talk about the subject of Eating Clean. I am currently reading The Eat-Clean Diet book for Men and getting a lot of good information that covers different types of eating for your body in regards to over weight, diseases, fitness, etc. Check them out.0 -
Wow thanks so much you guys. This is very helpful! I have MUCH to learn haha....0
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Make a plan. Sit yourself down with a blank calendar and your list. First ask yourself (or your husband) what you WANT to eat this week. Then fill in your calendar keeping in mind any days you'll be out, or will have leftovers. I use a couple of basic cookbooks like Betty Crocker's Cookbook, and The Best of Bridge cookbooks. They have simple recipes that use everyday ingredients. Nothing irks me more than a delicious sounding recipe that call for fennel and capers. Seriously, who keeps that stuff in their pantry??? Not me!
Here's a sample of what we are eathing this week:(me, husband, 7,6,4, and 2 year old)
Monday: Chicken quesadillas (chicken from last night's roast chicken, flour tortillas, ground cumin, and mexican cheese blend) with sour cream and salsa
Tuesday: Roasted red pepper and sausage soup. This is a new recipe I found online that I'm trying for the first time.
Wednesday: Tourtiere (Quebec meat pie)
Thursday: Pork chops on the BBQ, with rice, and a salad.
Friday: Homemade pizza (pepperoni, bacon, ham, cheese)
Other staples are spaghetti, tacos (El Paso kit), meatball stroganoff, chili.
If you're looking to eat 'clean', then you probably wouldn't eat any of the above, but it doesn't have to be ''clean' to be healthy does it???
So, the moral of the story: get yourself a basic cookbook and follow the instructions. You really can't go wrong with MEAT, Starch, Vegetable either!
Good luck!0 -
Google it. Seroiusly. There are millions of resources on the web for healthy eating.0
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I had to teach myself how to cook about 2 years ago and I used allrecipes.com
Now I know that there are not all healthy recipes on there but there are many that are and they also give you the calorie count on most of the recipes and you can also adjust the recipes to be made for just two people and things like that. I now make a menu for a week of all the food and recipes I am going to make and then make my shopping list, because there is no way I am going to get what I need by just showing up at the store and hoping to pick good choices. It has taken me about two whole years but I really got my routine down and it has become easier.0 -
I think it involves eating while taking a shower...0
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This is one of the only ways I can get my husband to eat chicken and not complain about it....
Crockpot cheesey chicken chili
1 can black beans
1 can corn, undrained
1 can Rotel, undrained (I use 2 cans and the kind with green chilis)
1 package Hidden Valley dry ranch dressing mix
1 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 8 oz package light cream cheese (I used 8 oz 1/3 less fat)
2 chicken breasts (I used 3 breasts)
Drain and rinse black beans. Place chicken at bottom of pot, then pour out whole can of corn (undrained), rotel, and black beans. Top with seasonings and ranch mix. Stir together. Place cream cheese on top. Cover with lid and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Stir cream cheese into chili. Use 2 forks to shred chicken. Stir together and serve. (We add some Franks Red Hot to give it some spice!)
http://www.plainchicken.com/2012/01/slow-cooker-cream-cheese-chicken-chili.html
For the specific ingredients I used, the breakdown is: 216 calories, 7 fat, 20 protein, 18 carbs, 646 sodium and 7 sugar PER 1 measuring cup.
This is now one of my new favorite comfort foods...0 -
What you want to start off with is some good recipes - The habit you're going to get out of is getting dinner ideas from the grocery store itself. Eating better is less convenient than microwaving a lean cuisine. Sure there are lots of 30-minute meal ideas (I can sautee a fish filet, steam vegetables and cook rice in under 15) but for the most part, you will have to accustom yourself to cooking. If you want food to be more convenient, make food that can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen. But the advantage you have with cooking your own meals is YOU get to control all the ingredients.
This site was a life saver to me when I was losing weight, and a lot of the recipes were so good I still make them:
www.eatingwell.com0 -
One resource I tend to recommend to new cooks is Men's Health's "A Man, A Can, A _______" series. They try to make the recipies as basically healthy as they can while also keeping things simple and forgiving, which makes it easier for new cooks. After a while, you'll be able to figure out what and how you like to cook.
As far as meal preparation goes, I tend to make all my meals on Sunday and put them in the refrigerator, but that's easier on me because I'm just cooking for myself. However, it may still be a good idea for any meals that you tend to rush through or for which you have little preparation time. (I like to be able to simply reach in the refrigerator and pull out my "at work" food, rather than adding prep time to the start of my day.)0 -
Start using coconut oil to cook everything.
Processed foods are not healthy or even really food. Focus on buying ingredients, not meals. Don't buy a pasta dish, but the veggies, sauce and pasta and make them yourself. It will be cheaper, healthier and taste better.
The best way to learn how to cook is to just experiment and have fun. When you're cooking dinner, if you have a lot more of your ingredients than you need, then mix them together in different ways.
Organic baby spinach can be used for salads, mixed in pasta, put on sandwiches, in smoothies, between a chicken breast and a slice of cheese, just to name a few.
If organic is too expensive or unavailable, refer to the "dirty dozen and clean fifteen" (google it) to see which fruits and veggies are less likely to contain harmful pesticides or be gmos.
Also, shopping at your farmer's markets will reduce your cost and improve the quality and flavor of your fruits, veggies and other foods. You'd be amazed at what you can find at a farmer's market, and you can feel good about supporting farmers and local merchants. You can also find meat here too which will be much more pure and free of antibiotics and cruel animal practices. It will take time to find all the farmer's markets in your area but with research and asking around, you'll soon learn they are everywhere.
Grow your own food. Nothing will taste better than the veggies you get from your own garden.
Think outside the box and find alternatives. If you love a recipe but it's too unhealthy, substitute some of the ingredients for a healthy alternative.
Pay attention to condiments. Read the ingredients and you will be shocked to see how much unnecessary dyes, chemicals and high fructose corn syrup is found in these sauces. They can add on pounds without you even knowing. You can replace your dependence on sauces by seasoning your food properly, so that your food has great flavor.0 -
A couple simple recipes - hope they help...
Pesto pasta with sweetcorn, pinenuts and fish
200g pasta (wholewheat is best!)
2 T pesto (either green or red is fine)
A handful of pinenuts
A can of fish you like - sardines? anchovies? tuna? mackerel? herrings?
1 can sweetcorn
Boil the pasta in some salty water until it's tender. Put the pinenuts in a frying pan without oil, for a few minutes until they get a bit brown and smell awesome. Drain the pasta and return to the saucepan, off the heat. Stir in the pinenuts, the pesto, the drained sweetcorn and a can of fish. Stir it well to combine.
Serve with parmesan cheese on the top if you have the calories left. It's good with chopped olives too if you like, and you can experiment with other types of nuts...
Bean and veggie chilli
1 onion, chopped
1 can tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 bell pepper (I like red or yellow), sliced
8 mushrooms, chopped
1 can sweetcorn
2 cans beans you like (black eyed peas? black beans? butter beans? kidney beans?). Rinse them well.
1 T Paprika
1 t Cayenne pepper
Fry the onion in 1 tablespoon of oil until they're a little bit see-through. Add the garlic. A couple minutes later, add to the tomatoes. Let it cook for 5-7 minutes, until the tomatoes are thickening up a bit. Add the bell pepper, mushrooms, sweetcorn, beans, paprika and cayenne pepper. Let it cook for 10-15 minutes.
Serve over quinoa, brown rice, couscous, mashed potato...
Good luck!0 -
I totally understand where you are coming from. The grocery store always used to intimidate me!! I have a family of 5 so low cost/healthy meals are important. Here is my blog that I'm still working on http://fitandtoneforlife.blogspot.com that I have listed a lot of quick recipes.. I need to work on adding more lunches and dinners, but it's a working progress :0) Of course you are going to need your staple food for ingredients and I always try to go through a good amount of recipes and pull out the ingredients that I am constantly using (ie spices is a big one) and then forming my meals around like ingredients if that makes sense? Between my husband and I, I have somehow gotten each of our weekly food budget down to $20. That includes our chicken, jennie-o turkey, veggies and fruits and shakeology. I was an avid coupon-er in the past so creating a budget has always been easy for me. I would love to offer you help if you need it!! And that goes for any one here. My meal plans for the week are always interesting and with my husband currently doing Body Beast, he is eating A LOT!!! My kids are a little more picker about their food, so I have set aside a budget with easy healthy fun meals for them. Also, a good tip that I have learned from all of this, prepare all your food ahead of time and freeze it!!! That way you can pull it out the night before and you wont waste it!! I couldn't tell you how many times I have let chicken go bad in the fridge because I kept thinking I would cook it the next day..
Also, I am trying to get a bunch of motivated, helpful people on here to get on a facebook group that I started called Fitness for friends and family.. Here is my facebook link, https://www.facebook.com/meagan.broadwater or you can search for the group :0)
Hopefully that helps a little. Message me any time if you need more detail on the food!!0 -
AND... because it's fall/autumn, I can't forget roast veggies. Almost any vegetable can be roasted and I haven't met a roasted veggie I don't like. Some combinations you could try...
- Parsnips, sweet potatoes, beetroot, carrots
- Eggplant/aubergine, zucchini/courgette, cherry tomatoes, red onions, bell peppers
For both, chop them into bite-sized chunks, leave the skins on except for the onions and beetroot, put them in a roasting tray, add 2T of olive oil, spice with salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne...
Roast for half an hour at around 180C/350F, stir once in between.
Add to a pasta sauce, serve over a grain or a baked potato...enjoy!0
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