So – in the spirit of renewed posting – let me share the menu for the week!  Wait – first – a little confession.

I have not been doing well.  I think it’s been over 2 weeks now since I have honestly and truly followed the eat clean diet.  I have been back on the dew.  I feel yucky.  Yes, emotionally – but more than that – physically.  My sleeping habits are totally messed up – my eyes look tired, my belly is bloated – I’m cranky – tired – have no energy – tired – and generally not a happy person.  As I said on my Facebook status update recently – it’s time to fill my cupboards once again with foods that bring life instead of death!

So – in that spirit – here is what’s on the menu for next week:

Breakfast & Post-workout:

Green Smoothies!!  (I did continue drinking these even on my little hiatus – and I swear they are responsible for NOT gaining any weight back on my time off!)

Lunches:

Three Apple Chicken Salad

Spiced Beef Pockets

Sloppy Joes

Grilled Cheese Sandwich & fresh fruit

Dinners:

Grilled Steak, fresh green beans, watermelon

Grilled Pork chops, corn on the cob, fruit salad (might try lamb?)

Grilled Chicken, baked potatoes & steamed broccoli

Southwestern Steak & pinto beans

Spaghetti w/ Sicilian Spaghetti Sauce

Snacks:

Fresh fruit and more fresh fruit

Pink Strawberry Smoothies

Air popped popcorn

Creamy pineapple pops

For recipes, leave a comment and I’ll be happy to share.  As soon as I get back home from our little mini-vacation, I will try to get some of these recipes up on the recipe section of this blog.  I have more to share that can wait until another day.  Pics of my nice big GREEN garden coming soon.  First I need to pull out all those nasty little weeds that are slowly but surely taking over my nice healthy plants

On that note – have a healthy and green weekend!

On another note – made a really super-duper incredibly yummy dinner this evening – Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya!  Even the kids liked it!  WOO HOO!!  Sorry for the  blur in my pic – took it with my camera phone and sometimes this closer up stuff doesn’t turn out so wonderful!

You can locate the recipe by clicking the Recipes tab up top and then clicking on Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya.  Yummy yummy yummy!  It’s clean and green folks – I know it looks and tastes SOOO good that maybe you’d think it wasn’t.  But it is!

AND – this week is strawberry picking week!  Yee Haw!!  I’ve already gotten about 5 strawberries from my newly planted strawberry plants.  Very excited about that!  I’ll take some garden pics for ya sooner or later – lots of fresh veggies to be had this summer!  Next year, we’re going to expand the garden and add a whole bunch more strawberries.  The kids love them so much!

On that note – off to eat some banana coconut ice cream.  I should put that recipe up here as well.  Great for the sweet tooth, that’s for sure!  Have a great day!

However.  It’s been rather exciting since starting this clean eating thing because it’s like an experiment each time.  What can I come up with that my kids will eat,  I will love, and doesn’t break the bank??  It’s an adventure, that’s for sure!!  Usually I find things I love, semi-breaks the bank and the kids hate.  But hey – every 2 weeks, I am making progress!

Okay – so – as of right now – I have the next 9 days planned out.  Here it goes – are you ready??

Dinners only by the way.  Geesh – WHAT do you expect from me??  Kidding. 

So – in no particular order – here it is.

Chou Fan (Chinese dish)

Chicken & Sausage jambalaya

Chicken Fajitas w/ homemade whole wheat tortillas

Grilled Steak with baby arugula & Parmesan Salad (courtesy of the new cooking light magazine – love when the new issues come out!)

Spicy Beef & Bell Pepper Stir Fry (Cooking Light Mag)

Quick Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce w/ Spaghetti (ditto)

Hamburgers (kids) Turkey Burgers (me) & fruit salad (ha ha, the only thing I came up with I don’t need a recipe for!!)

Spicy Asian Marinated Flank Steak (Cooking Light)

Linguine w/ Spicy Shrimp (but I’m changing that out to Chicken because I’m the only one around here who knows what’s good for them and eats shrimp!) (Again – Cooking light Mag)

Well – what do you think??  Sounds yummy doesn’t it??  I’ll let you know how it goes and which recipes are worth trying and which ones you shouldn’t bother with!

Until then – admios amigos.

I’m going to have to buy this one.  Like now.  Mr. budget man won’t like it – but this is one that must be in my permanent collection and NOT sent back to the library.  I can only renew it twice before sharing it with someone else so I’m afraid I must purchase this one!

Anywho – here’s a picture.  Buy it, get it from the library – whatever – but I promise - you will LOVE it!

Didn’t create this recipe – but I made it – and I love it!  I apologize – I am not sure where I saw this the first time around.

Are you ready for this?  It’s so yummy – and so easy – I know you are going to love it!

Take 5 large bananas and slice them up.  Throw them in the freezer overnight (I actually sliced them up in the morning and used them at night).

Take 1 can of light coconut milk (NOT coconut water – I used Thai light coconut milk found in the foreign foods section of the grocery store) and put it in the blender with the frozen bananas.  Blend!

I sprinkled chopped walnuts on the ice cream for a little crunch.

It makes plenty for several servings and it’s sooo good!

Hope you enjoy!!

One of my favorite sandwiches is a tomato sandwich.  My family thinks I’m nuts – but it is true!  I am going to especially enjoy it when my amazing garden produces fresh tomatoes.

So – my old recipe was miracle whip, white bread and a tomato.  My new recipe?  Ezekiel bread, vegenaise (vegan substitute for mayo), red onion slices, low-fat sharp cheddar cheese slice, and tomatoes.  Total calorie count – 356.  Wa-la – a clean tomato sandwich!

On a separate note – a friend took some pics this weekend.  I know 21 pounds is a good thing – but it sure will be nice when you can see it in a picture.  I look at the picture and still see a chunky me.  I don’t know what it is I expected when the total pounds I need to lose is a whole lot more than 20 - but – some visible progress would sure be nice.

Anyway.  To be fair – I took a week off (I think I posted about that in my previous post).  I’m just hoping for some faster progress that can actually be seen.

SO – back to the sandwich – it was yummy – better than my previous version.  You should give it a try!

SO – how is the journey going?  Well – at last weigh in – down 21 pounds!  I have to admit though – this past week – fell totally off the band wagon.  One bad choice, another bad choice and next thing I knew, I was waaaay off my program.

I have to admit – I noticed a HUGE difference.  I am back to being tired at 2 in the afternoon, waking up tired.  No energy at all.  My skin and eyes have gone back to dull and lifeless.  There really IS a difference when you eat clean!  It’s not a lie from the organic world just to get your to spend more money on their food!  I promise!

SO – today – I got up bright and early on a Saturday morning – took my lazy dull self to the store and stocked my shelves with healthy foods!  I also got a GREAT and highly recommended book from the library this week called The Diet Rebels Cookbook:Eating Clean and Green by Jillayne Clements and Michelle Stewart.

My book reading led me to…..

GREEN SMOOTHIES!!

Yes, my friends – green smoothies!  What’s in a green smoothie you ask??  Well let me tell you!

This morning, my green smoothie consisted of spinach leaves, turnip leaves, blue agave nectar, banana, frozen blueberries and ice.  I have to tell you – it was okay!  It took me a bit to get over the whole drinking lettuce concept – but it wasn’t bad at all!

My research on green smoothies tells me its super great and incredibly awesome for your health.  It’s a fun way to get kids to eat their greens and not realize it   They say if you replace one meal a day with a green smoothie – you will be feeling terrific in no time flat!

So – that’s what I’m gonna try – a green smoothie for breakfast or maybe for a post workout snack – once or twice a day – and I’ll let ya know how it goes!

Don’t knock it ’till you try it!  Trust me – it’s not that bad!

Besides – green is a great color – the color of summer – why not give it a try??

I can’t believe it – but I don’t remember what day this is of eating clean   Let’s see – I began this journey on April 24.  That would make this day 18 if my math is correct (which is doubtful!).

WOW – really?  The past 2 days have been GOOD!  I found a new website called livestrong.com.  It’s a way of tracking food intake and exercise.  I know, I know – you shouldn’t have to count calories while eating clean.  For me – I have discovered these past few weeks – I have to.  I am just as capable of over-eating GOOD things as I am BAD things!

A few things I like about this website.  First – it tracks your food intake and I have yet to not be able to locate something in their food list.  Second – it tracks your exercise according to your weight.  In other words – at my weight, I will burn more calories at boxing than someone smaller would.  Third – it has a part where you enter all your info. and then it asks you what your normal activity level is.  Then it gives you an idea of how many calories you burn just by being you during the day.  Finally – it takes all that information and tells you how many calories you should be eating.  Yesterday I could eat more because I worked out for an hour.  Today, my calorie allotment decreased because I only worked out for 20 minutes.

Anyway – if you want to check out the site – go to www.livestrong.com.  I think you can even follow me although I haven’t tried this feature just yet.  I’m registered under my name – Tami Moreno.  There you can check out what I’m eating and what I’m burning off.  I promise to be honest!

So – that’s that – day 18 – on the second half of the month.  Can’t wait to see what that scale says at the 1 month mark!

Adios for now.

This is the start of week 3.   My first shopping trip was overwhelming.  This time – so much easier!  It amazes me how fast our little brains absorb new information.  I think now that I’m not in a sugar – induced fog – I am able to soak up even more!

This week, the menu changed a lot.  Why?  Well – my kids – hate the new food.  I honestly don’t know why.  I think it’s good.  My husband thinks it’s good.  Maybe, though, because all the junk is out of my system – the food tastes good.  My kids, on the other hand, are fed school lunches every day – so maybe for them, the sugar/processed stuff remains and the new food doesn’t taste as good.  Also – I think as far as teens go – the less they know – the better.  Had I not announced my eating clean thing – I don’t think they would not have thought twice about the food.

Instead of fighting it – I decided to try to find some of the foods we eat normally and make them clean.  I’m hoping that will help to ease the transition a bit!

On the menu for this week is:

Spaghetti w/pesto sauce for hubby & I and a tomato based sauce for the kiddos

Taco Salad – no chips for me.  I bought super lean hamburg – happened to be on sale (yeah!).  We’ll load it up with lettuce, tomatoes, onions and salsa.  Should be yummy!

Steak Tacos – Found a recipe online somewhere for eat-clean steak tacos.  We love us some tacos!

Chicken/Potato/Veggie Bake

Turkey Burgers & Fruit Salad

Anytime you want to leave a recipe as a comment – I’ll be more than happy to add it!  The more recipes I have – the more successful I feel I will be.

What’s on your menu this week?

This Mother’s Day – I am celebrating the beginning of my journey.  Next Mother’s Day – I hope I am celebrating a huge victory in the eating clean/healthy department!!

Enjoy your day