Clean Eating

We are not die-hard about it, in fact, we pretty much forget about any said guidelines every Friday night (movie & treats…c'mon!) but this is the basic diet that we follow in our day to day:

• No refined sweeteners (like refined sugar (marked on ingredients lists just as “sugar”), any form of corn syrup, cane juice, or Splenda)
• No refined grains (unless it says “100% whole” in front of it, chances are it’s a marketing ploy to make you think your eating something healthy when really its just the same ol refined)
• Nothing from a package or box or can that has more than 8ish ingredients (I get veerrrrry wary at 10). And the ingredients must be real things, not unpronounceable chemicals.
• A fruit or vegetable with every meal.
• Fish two or more times a week
• Red meat no more than once a week

And recently I have added to my personal plan, not the kids or Mike’s

• 5 smaller meals instead of 3 regular.

Finding a way to follow this diet has been a difficult and frustrating journey. Its been a matter of finding recipes that work for us (meaning meals that take less than 20 minutes to prepare) to get us all eating our healthy, complete, clean dinner together at the table BEFORE 9pm.
I’m VERY happy with where we are now. Dinner is served at 5:30. Our plates are always full of vegetables, no processed foods, and are usually pretty tasty [just don’t ask Mike…;)]
I’m working on a very long post about our journey to clean eating, I’d love for others who are stuck in the processed food rut to see that it really isn’t that hard to feed your family food that will provide energy, liveliness, and pull you out your rut! And that really, it IS possible to get your toddler to eat that. Been there. I’d love to have a place on this blog that can be a resource for practical family snacks and meals that can classify as “clean” eating or “real foods”. Recipes and ideas that I use everyday (as a person that doesn’t manage time very well) and can’t spend a lot of time in the kitchen!
Well, there are a lot of things I’d love to do, so we’ll see if any of that ever happens! For now, I just want to share my current favorite snack for that 4oclock slump I get in before dinnertime. Its so addicting and yummy! Its not like a healthy super food or anything, but it’s a healthy crunchy alternative to some of the food crutches of this country….like potato chips! 

Just remember….it is not prudent to eat the whole bag at once and then lick the rest of the hummus out with your fingers…just sayin…

             

*tip: measure out the suggested serving size before starting to eat, and then PUT THE REST AWAY. And eat slowly.

1 serving of these chips and hummus is about 200 calories. So make sure to account for that in your other meals. It works though, because these are filling calories :-)

p.s.---I’m not claiming to be a true thru and thru clean eater….We don’t eat all organic. We indulge in treats more often then we should. I will buy products with chemicals in them here and there for whatever random reason (though I really do try not to!)…If you are looking for a better and more hardcore example of clean eating, I would recommend http://www.100daysofrealfood.com …it’s a fantastic blog that has really inspired me and kick started me into the clean eating world. There are wonderful meal plans and a wealth of knowledge when learning all of the secrets to eating clean!