Help! Newly wed who is clueless on 'eating clean'..

This site is pretty awesome.

http://onceamonthmom.com/

I think it involves eating while taking a shower...

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.com

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.

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!!

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Best advice a Doctor once told my Mom - shop the perimeter of the store ONLY. Think about it, EVERY store has the basic food groups around the perimeter - meat, dairy, grains, fruits & veggies! Don't worry about shopping organic for the time being; you have to start somewhere & can work into organic as finances permit.

Skinnytaste.com has some great recipes with no crazy ingredients that you'll only use once!

I would recommend investing in a good, all-purpose cookbook, like Joy of Cooking. It has great menu planning advice and you can plan your shopping trips ahead of time so you know what to have on hand for what you want to cook. There is a plethora of cookbooks out there with low-cal cooking tips and menus. They may be of help, too.

I had used a Groupon a few months ago for www.emeals.com But, the normal price is about $50 for a year's worth of dinner recipes. What you get is 7 dinner recipes each week plus a shopping list of what you need for each meal. Some of the plans have where you can get a list for a particular grocery store. I use Publix and the Low Fat plan. So, it gives me 7 dinner recipes and grocery list for what is on sale at Publix that week. They also have a Clean Eating plan which I chose at first but I found the groceries to be more expensive each week which is sad that eating healthier has to cost more. Clean Eating was basically everything fresh. Fresh produce and meats. Pretty much staying away from boxed ready made products. I love emeals because I never have to worry about what to cook for dinner. And I always have what I need from week to week because we do the shopping once a week to get everything we need for the next week. On the low fat plan our grocery bill at Publix has run from around $50 to $90 because sometimes I will cross a meal or 2 off if I don't plan to cook on a certain night. They have Clean Eating, Low Fat, Low Carb, Portion Control and regular plans. I strongly recommend it if you can afford the initial yearly subscription.
Have fun with it!
Monique

Do you have an aldi near by? If so aldi is your BEST friend. Lots of good fresh produce, very cheap! X

I am basically clueless. I feel overwhelmed at the grocery store because I am new to cooking and now I am trying to think of ways to shop healthier for Hubby and I and its. not. computing. hah... Like our version of cooking would be hamburger helper, or a lean cuisine you stick in the microwave. I just need simple practicles that will get me started in the right direction. Maybe grocery list examples, or a website that has recipes that arent super complicated or expensive. Another big concern is budget/money. When you go all out and buy everything organic, the grocery bill can get really high.. so I want to learn how to cook healthy, but be smart about it for a reasonable price! I am willing to take a day like sunday and prepare meals before hand for the week and put my crock pot to use! I just dont know what to cook! Somebody please show me the light!! I'm tired of feeling frustrated.. I didnt know there was a whole new world out there when it comes to eating right!

Stick to the outside aisles at the grocery. Going up and down the aisles will only give you heavily processed foods. There's exceptions, but let's face it. They're not stocking high-sodium/high-carb/high-everything else next to the produce. Learn how to use your crisper (bottom shelves of your fridge) and get ready to go to the produce section at least 2x/week.

If you want to find more info on what is meant by clean, search for paleo diets/caveman diets, etc. I pick and choose from them and craft what works for me.

Congrats on your newly wed status, too! All the best to you and your husband as you start on a healthy life together! I'm pulling for you!!!

I have to throw my vote in for skinnytaste.com and skinnyms.com. Especially Skinnyms if you want to use your crock pot. There are a TON of slow cooker recipes on that site!

I dont buy all organic, but as others have posted, I try to adhere to the dirty dozen/clean fifteen list. I also wash everything before I use it. I got tired of paying for the expensive veggie washes at the supermarket, so I make my own - white vinegar and water in a spray bottle. I swear your fruits and veggies will NOT come out tasting like vinegar, heh. Totally cheap. Spray, rinse, and go. I think it's a good idea to wash everything, even if you're not going to eat the peel, because your knife is just going to drag whatever's on the outside to the inside when you cut/slice. Just my two cents.

I also cook my own beans instead of buying canned. Even the "low sodium" canned beans are still pretty ridiculous with regard to the salty stuff. I just soak a pound or two of dried beans overnight, rinse, cover with water in a big pot. Bring to a boil, simmer until they are *just* done and tender (about 45 minutes to an hour depending on how fast they're simmering), drain and rinse. When they're cool, I pack them into quart freezer bags two cups at a time and freeze flat. They don't take a lot of space in the freezer that way, and one bag is roughly one can of beans. It's a little more labor intensive than opening a can but a whole lot cheaper.

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Jamie Oliver's "Food Revolution" book. Worth every penny. Find it at the library if funds are tight. There also may be a lot of great info on his food revolution website.

Jamie's website: www.jamieoliver.com (you do need a nickname and password to post anything)