? for clean dieters

Sariberry
Sariberry Posts: 5
edited September 22 in Food and Nutrition
My husband and I are trying to change our life style. We recently started p90x and are trying to find healthier food options. We used to eat out every lunch and dinner all week, and skip breakfast. Now we mainly do pre-packaged meals like lean cuisine so that we know how many calories we are eating. But I really want to start doing the majority of our cooking.

For those of you that follow the clean diet. How hard are the recipes in the clean diet cook books? I'm definitely a novice in the kitchen and in the past I've been really inspired to do our cooking, so I go to the store, buy the latest cook book I hear about and once I get it home I realize that 90% of the book is either above my skill level or is full of foods we just don't eat. Either because they are way too fancy or because they are so unhealthy. So I get disheartened and we go right back to pre-packaged foods. Any cook book recommendations? I need things that are healthy, fast, easy, and tasty.
TIA

Replies

  • raelbee
    raelbee Posts: 219
    Start with an issue of Clean Eating magazine and see if it's up your alley. Minimal investment, lots of recipes :)
  • teasdino
    teasdino Posts: 228 Member
    lol! Rock on with the Clean Eating Magazine. I love that magazine!
    jac
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
    Cooking Light (online) has some of best healthy recipes I have seen - PLUS they are mostly very easy.

    I also like Rachael Ray's book - 30 minutes or less and easy to follow. You can make substitutions for almost everything if you're creative!
  • missyhse
    missyhse Posts: 189
    You don't have to follow the "clean eating" cookbooks and such if you don't want to. Start with using whole foods (versus canned, packaged, frozen), some organics, sustainable local foods if possible, and check labels for preservatives, artificial or modified ingredients etc. and incorporate them into recipes on your own. I totally get the convenience factor too, and what I do is make our own "frozen dinners" and put them in containers for lunches or quick heat and go dinners. It does take time but it is worth it in the long run! Good luck and let me know if you need any easy get started recipes :)
  • smuehlbauer
    smuehlbauer Posts: 1,041 Member
    Cooking Light (online) has some of best healthy recipes I have seen - PLUS they are mostly very easy.

    I also like Rachael Ray's book - 30 minutes or less and easy to follow. You can make substitutions for almost everything if you're creative!

    Note that nether of these are "clean" eating/cooking sites/books

    Clean Eaing Mag looks pretty good. I haven't made anything from the one that I have yet.
    I haven't 100% bought into the clean eating.
    Seems like a really big task on top of already eating healthy.
    I do use cookinglight.com and myrecipes.com for my repices. They have the nutritional information on the site for you. Wish I was close - I'd give ya cooking lessons!
    Good luck, start small! But start! That's the most important thing!
  • lutzsher
    lutzsher Posts: 1,153 Member
    My husband and I have eaten pretty clean for the last year, and worked up to it for the year prior. I don't follow anyone's diet, but make my own 2 week menu plan (I do 2 weeks because that is how often we get paid so I build my grocery list from it).
    Here is a few days of what is on my plan this week for example:

    breakfast: 2 slices weight watchers multigrain bread, 1 Tbsp natural peanutbutter, 1/2 large grapefruit
    lunch: 2 c homemade salad, 4 oz sliced chicken breasts, with dressing of olive oil / lemon juice / dill mixed
    dinner: 6 oz salmon grilled, steamed broccoli, 1/4 c brown rice or whole wheat couscous, 8 oz skim milk
    snacks: 1 sm apple, 1/2 c unsweetened apple sauce

    breakfast: muesli cereal, skim milk, 1 c strawberries
    lunch: 2 hard boiled eggs, 1/2 Tbsp light mayo, 2 slices weight watchers bread, 1 c. celery
    dinner: 5 oz chicken breast, 2 cups steamed veggies
    snacks: 1 c grapes, 1 orange

    We have not purchased any type of lunch meat for over 2 years. Instead I always make an extra portion of our protein for the next day's lunch. I often cook a pan full of chicken breasts to slice thinly for my husband's sandwich, or to thow into my salad. Since we eat a lot of chicken breasts I have a number of different ways to spice them so it doesn't seem like we are eating the same thing all the time.
    #1 - salt, lots of pepper, poultry seasoning
    #2 - salt, pepper, chili pwdr, garlic pwdr, paprika, cumin (our favorite)
    #3 - salt, pepper, 5 spice pwdr (in the chinese section), garlic pwdr, ground ginger
    #4 - marinade made from hoisin sauce, low sodium soya sauce, lemon juice, sesame oil, salt, pepper, fresh garlic and ginger, and some curry pwdr. We like this one on boneless skinless chicken thighs. Cut them in 1/2 thow in the marinade for at least 30 minutes (reserve some to baste later before putting the raw chicken in it). Bake for 20 minutes, then grill for a few minutes basting with the extra marinade. These are the BEST "boneless" mock wings you will ever eat!

    We cook very basic and it is amazing. We now have a herb garden for flavor instead of a lot of salt and fat like we used to cook. What a world of difference! The only thing I don't do is bake all of my own bread, only some of it.
  • Nina74
    Nina74 Posts: 470 Member
    check Whole Foods online: www.wholefoodsmarket.com

    They have a good variety of recipes. While not all are clean, they are adaptable and lots of different combos. Great resource too if you put in an item, such as "beets" and then you can search for recipes based on that item.
  • dion07
    dion07 Posts: 16 Member
    hi nina

    iv been reading through your threads & i could of written some of them myself, they relate to me a lot, i noticed when you said you eat healthy & you dont have anything that will set of your binge eatting, i find this a probem for me, if i have something bad i find it hard to stop with one. i work with food so it can be so hard at times.
    i usually have a big breakfast oats, eggs, lunch 400 cal, dinner same, today i had 4 wholemeal muffins, i know it sounds terrible but i couldnt help myself, i had them in the space of 5 hours. i excercise most days but find when i begin a mini binge i am absolutely discusted with myself. is there anything you think im missing, i find this so hard at times
    well done to your success.
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