Lemme know how clean this is so far

Breakfast: a shake made of blueberries, half a banana, 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk, 3 TBS nonfat plain Greek yogurt, and ice cubes
(and a cup of coffee with evaporated milk and 1 tsp brown sugar... I know this is a cheat, but I can't give up my coffee! haha!)


Lunch: 1 serving of roasted cauliflower, carrots, and zuccini (they were leftovers), and 1 serving of a salad I made with: sliced black cherry tomatoes, chopped red onions, organic romaine lettuce, chopped carrots, canned light albacore tuna, and 1 TBS of homemade honey-lemon juice dressing

pretty good so far I think-
breakfast- 2 slices whole wheat toast, one whole egg, cup of black tea (because I accidently grabbed black instead of green, maybe I needed the caffeine!)
10 am- organic low fat flavored yogurt - not squeaky clean but an improvement for me
lunch- got take out, a rarity! Had a yummy salad with mixed greens, grilled chicken, feta, dried cranberries, mandarin oranges, avocado, cucumber, and the teeniest bit of their home made dressing. I did eat the pita bread, and a couple of my friends sweet potato fries. I had a ton of chicken, feta, and cranberries left over, I'll probably top another salad with them for lunch or dinner tomorrow.

I think the pronounce ingredient thing is just meant to be a helpful guideline. If a product has bananas in it, they only have to put "banana" on the label; they don't have to break it down into its component parts. It stands to reason that any chemical compounds in the food is required to be on the label because it's added as a chemical compound, not as a natural part of food. If it has those ingredients added, it's not "clean". It may not be "unhealthy", but added ingredients = processing, which isn't "clean".

They taste JUST like regular cherry tomatoes they just have a brownish-greenish tint to them I'm in a local food co-op and the latest delivery made included these little black cherry tomatoes; I love em!

For the rest of my day I had:

Snacks: 3 TBS almond butter (yummmmm!), 1 medium organic Gala apple

Dinner: 4.8 oz panfried (in coconut oil) Yellowfin Tuna Steak, and 2 cups sauteed sweet peppers, onion, and garlic (cooked in coconut oil) - it was all pretty tasty!!

Finished up the week better than the beginning…

Yesterday’s menu:
Breakfast: Bob’s Red Mill Oatmeal with fresh blueberries and a fresh mixed berry smoothie
Lunch: Clean-out-the-fridge Wrap – sliced steak, scrambled egg, mixed greens, stir fried peppers and onion in a GF tortilla
Dinner: Brown rice, chicken breast, mixed greens salad, and watermelon for dessert.
Snacks: Various fresh fruit and veggies.

Some of the items were in the “somewhat processed” category but everything was either organic or minimally processed so I think I going to give myself a “B” for the day.

I would say this week its been about 50/50 for the clean eating. But as I've mentioned, I just can't afford to throw away my pantry, and I am still making my calorie goals for weight loss, so I feel good about the changes I have incorporated moving towards the goal of more clean eating.

I was happy with my progress Monday _ Friday last week but the weekend is always a problem area.

Saturday I had three kinds of alcohol and potato chip although the food was good home cooking! Sunday morning I just failed ... went for a coffee and had cafe con leche with sugar and a magadalena (small processed food cake)..... Sunday evening frozen pizza and wine (but no Ice cream, so that´s good.....)

Back on the wagon this morning!

I had a tiny weight loss this week. Not entirely unexpected for my body and how it reacts to suddenly eating a calorie deficit. My weekend was about 70% clean (let's not talk about bacon =0).

This morning I had a tomato and goat cheese galette from my local grocer deli (a local equivalent to whole foods, its a clean, organic product), topped with some of my blender salsa and a cupful of lovely Marion berries. Has anyone eaten them? I don't know how far they get shipped. They are a variant of blackberry developed in the 1950's in Marion county here in Oregon. I know they make up 50%+ of our berry acreage in my state, and aren't grown commercially outside the pacific northwest much, if any. At any rate, they were perfectly ripe, sweet and juicy, a real treat

I have leftover tri tip for lunch along with some brilliantly colored and ripe heirloom tomatoes. I picked these up yesterday at New Seasons as well. I have 8 heirloom tomato plants in my raised beds, but the sun has been fickle this summer and they took forever to produce fruits, and everything is still quite green and unready.

Dinner is baked chicken thighs, which my family loves. Even my 5yo who barely touches meat will eagerly devour an entire thigh and ask for more. These are just regular old thighs, not free range or organic, but I still have 20+ pounds of these in the freezer to eat up. They had family packs for sale at the other store I frequent (Fred Meyer, originally all locally owned, but now affiliated with Kroger) for only 99 cents a pound. I think we bought about 40 pounds at the time. Anyway, we'll have BBQ lentils and steamed broccoli along with the thighs. The lentils are not necessarily a favorite of the kids, but since they both love the chicken and broccoli, I feel OK putting in a I-might-not-eat-that food as well.

Tangy Barbecue Lentils

1 T. olive oil
1 C. chopped onion
1 T. minced garlic
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. powdered mustard
2 C. lower-sodium chicken or vegetable broth (water works, but isn't as flavorful)
3/4 C. tomato sauce
3 T. balsamic vinegar
1 T. Dijon mustard (I use Annie's Naturals Organic Dijon, very simple ingredient list)
2 T. honey
1 1/2 C. dry lentils, rinsed
1/2 tsp. salt (I omit this because we are a low sodium household, and don't do any added salt to food)
Pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté about 3 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder and powdered mustard. Sauté about 1 minute or until fragrant. Add broth, tomato sauce, vinegar, mustard, honey and lentils. Stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer about 30 minutes or until lentils are tender but intact. If lentils are not tender, add 1/4 C. water and simmer for 5 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper.