7 Days of Clean

We've made it through our first 7 days of clean eating.  We had a few hiccups along the way, such as the wedding I went to on Saturday and then family dinner on Sunday, but overall it's been great so far!  I feel mentally and physically stronger, less bloated, and simply better about myself.  I'm not weighing myself until the end of our challenge, but I can tell I've lost a couple pounds. I've decided to extend our 10 day challenge because of the slight cheats we had over the weekend.  Andy and I both have enjoyed the experience and want to make it more of a lifestyle.  Sure we will eat bread and pasta and sweets every once in a while, but those cheats are going to be few and far between.  Possibly just on date night and family dinner nights when we can't control the menu as much.

The best part of this challenge has been experimenting with so many new delicious recipes!!! Who knew clean eating could be so freakin yummy?!  Here are a few of the recipes (old and new) that I've tried during our clean eating challenge:

*** Disclaimer - I pretty much never measure things unless it seems important, so please bear with me while I attempt to replicate my recipes***

1.  Kale chips:  these have become a staple for our snack cravings

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Wash and pat dry kale leaves

Tear of chip sized pieces of kale from stem

Spray with cooking spray or toss lightly in olive oil

Sprinkle with salt and pepper (or other seasonings such as garlic powder)

Bake 10-12 minutes, and VOILA! 

2.  Flourless Pancakes topped with Greek yogurt and strawberries

Ingredients:

2 Cups of dry steel cut or rolled oats

1 ripe banana

Dash of salt

Dash of cinnamon

1 Tablespoon of Honey

1 1/4 cups of vanilla (I used plain) Coconut milk or Almond milk

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

1 egg

**it also called for baking powder, but I did not add any**

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except the egg in blender.  Blend until smooth. 

Add the egg and pulse until blended

Heat a skillet and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

Pour about 1/4 cup sized amounts onto hot skillet and brown on both sides.

Top with all natural maple syrup or greek yogurt and fruit! 

3.  Baked sweet potato fries!

Slice sweet potato lengthwise into 1/4 inch wide strips

Toss lightly in olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder

Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes

** I also put them under the broiler for about a minute as well to crisp them up a bit**

4.  Chicken and veggie stir fry served with steamed brown rice, topped with homemade soy sauce!!!

Seriously the home made soy sauce was amazing, and I couldn't tell the difference! I am so happy to have found a soy sauce alternative that is clean, and soy free! 

Stir Fry

Ingredients:

2 cups chopped broccoli florets

1 cup halved baby carrots

1 chopped onion

1 cup snow peas

1 bunch of green onions

2 raw chicken breasts diced

2 tsp of garlic

Directions:

Heat skillet on medium high

Spray with nonstick cooking oil

Add broccoli first, cook until slightly dark green

Next add carrots, cook until not quite soft

Then add the onion and snow peas

Cook until onion is almost soft

Lastly add the chicken, green onions, and garlic

Cook until chicken is thoroughly cooked through

Top with Homemade Soy Sauce, which is seriously amazing! It sounds weird, but it's not!

Homemade Soy Sauce Recipe:

Ingredients:

4 tsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp unsulphured molasses (I didn't have any so I used honey)

1/4 tsp ground ginger (I don't like ginger, so I didn't add any)

Pinch of pepper

Pinch of garlic powder

1 1/2 cups of beef broth or chicken broth (I used my homemade chicken stock)

Salt to taste (I added some because my stock had no salt)

Directions:

Stir together all ingredients and cook in a sauce pan over medium heat

Bring to a boil and boil gently for about 10-15 minutes.

Add salt to taste.

Can be stored in refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Lastly, tonight I made a recipe that one of my high school friends posted on her blog recently.  It was Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai.  It was amazing!! The only difference I made was I used my homemade soy sauce instead of store bought, and I used PB2 instead of peanut butter!  Check it out here!

Feel free to suggest any other recipes that you have found to be good clean eating options.  Breakfasts and snacks are the biggest challenge right now.  Thanks in advance!