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Clean Eating – Healthy Shopping Trip and Guidelines to help you stay on track

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Hi! It’s been almost a week since my last post, but life has been busy.

And with Christmas around the corner it’s about to get even busier!

Especially since I haven’t done any holiday shopping yet… Oops!

Today is all about healthy shopping!

My wonderful husband and I decided that soon we would like to add a little bundle of joy to our family, but before we start trying I want to get my body ready for a baby!

So I’ve decided to start eating healthy, cut-off junk food, caffeine and desserts and stay very hydrated.

When I think about getting pregnant I get really excited yet very nervous about all the things that could possibly go wrong. So I feel like being healthy before pregnancy definitely helps out during too! I also think about the kind of pregnant woman I want to be… Do I want to indulge in everything that looks appealing and gain a lot of unnecessary weight that would be hard to lose? Or do I want to stay active and feed my body and my baby healthy nourishing foods that will give me more energy and won’t make me be as big as a house? Definitely the second!

So my quest for clean eating starts now! :)

Normally I’m horrible at following diets and I always feel extremely deprived so a diet is definitely not what this is! I’m not trying to lose weight but hey if it happens that would be an added bonus, but it’s really not what this is all about! So with some research I’ve established some healthy guidelines that I want to follow and stay on track! The only problem is getting Chris on board because he looves junk food! But have no fear I will persevere and have my way ;)  In this shopping trip everything I bought was actually healthy! No butter, chocolate covered pretzels or cream cheese! So here’s what I bought and what I plan to make with it!

food2

  • Vegetables: 2 lbs baby carrots, baby spinach, broccoli, cherry tomatoes(technically a fruit), celery, cabbage, mushrooms and some basil
  • Fruits: strawberries, bananas, tangerines, mixed frozen fruit
  • Snacks: dried cherries, raisins, honey roasted nuts, variety of yogurt, activia, peanut butter and honey
  • Dairy: Fat free milk, Reduced fat Colby jack, part skim ricotta.
  • Juice: Prune juice – yucky but keeps you very regular!
  • Grains – brown jasmine rice
  • Protein: Chicken breasts, 93% ground beef and 4 cans of tuna
  • Cans: Canned tomato products, marinara sauce, diced green chiles and fat-free ranch.

Whole trip cost about $80 and will last us at least 1 week. Eating healthy is definitely a little more expensive but definitely worth it!

Things I’m planning on making with these items (and things I already had in my pantry):

  • Peanut butter, banana and honey oatmeal – yum!
  • Quinoa chicken marinara
  • Healthy mushrooms, spinach and turkey lasagna
  • Banana S’more Boats
  • Kalyn’s Cabbage – a dish with cabbage, brown rice and beef – looks yum
  • Cheesy chicken and rice bake
  • Yogurt drops
  • Yogurt and fruit parfaits
  • Lots of snacks
  • Baked fruit loaded pancakes
  • Skinny tuna melts

 

So here’s what I think of clean eating! I’ll be following these guidelines before, during and hopefully after pregnancy :)

  • Eat 3 healthy meals and 2 snacks in between - Are you one of these people who tend to skip a meal? Running late in the morning so you skip breakfast? That sure sounds familiar to me! But I think we all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day! So no meal skipping!!!
  • Snacks: I hardly ever snack. I just either forget or I just figure what’s the point it’s almost lunch? But snacks help take the edge off hunger, gives you a boost of energy and whenever your body goes hours without food it stores the next meal of fat which you obviously don’t want so snacks prevent that! Some healthy snacks that I’ll be eating are raisins, dried cherries, nuts, yogurt, variety of fruits, yogurt drops(coming soon), and vegetables with low-fat ranch!
  • Drink water not soda! Seriously! At least 8 glasses of water a day, I know it sounds difficult, but keep a water bottle by you at all times to have constant easy access. That’s once again very hard for me because I don’t really like water. Weird, right!? But I can manage!
  • Eat your fruits and vegetables! I probably sound like your mom right now, but really you need lots of vegetables! And try to eat them raw! The more you steam vegetables the more nutrients they lose! Raw broccoli with some low-fat dressing is actually not that bad, and that’s the vegetable hater talking!
  • Eat fish! Fish is good for you, very high in Omega3 but if you’re pregnant or want to be pregnant try to avoid fish that are high in mercury! Great choices are light tuna, tilapia and wild salmon. Try to get at least 2 6oz servings a week.
  • Cut down on sugars: As you all know I love desserts! I must have something sweet after every meal! And occasionally a small piece of cake is ok, but not every day! If you are craving something sweet, try to satisfy your craving with a fruit, some fat-free frozen yogurt and dried fruit!
  • Cut down on red meat! If you’re craving beef, use lean red meat! Some great protein choices are chicken breasts, tofu and quinoa :)
  • Get plenty of rest! Sleep as much as you can because once you get pregnant you’ll be sleeping a lot less :)
  • Carbs: Carbs are great they keep you full for hours, but do switch over to whole grain! Some of my favorites are honey whole wheat bread and oatmeal :)
  • Slow down on the coffee: I’m actually cutting it off all together. I find myself going to Starbucks 3-4 times a weeks which is expensive and full of empty calories. I don’t really get a burst of energy from it so the only reason I drink it is because it’s warm, inviting and it tastes yummy. But it’s better to stop now rather than while pregnant!
  • No alcohol!

I hope you find these guidelines helpful! I feel very motivated and hope to stay on track as my journey through clean eating continues :)

Love,

Elly

 

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Yummy Chicken Soup

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Soo although lately it’s been really nice and warm in Vegas (well except today of course), I was craving something warm and cozy served with lots of bread of crusty French bread so I decided to make this yummy soup :) And it was great! This soup is packed with veggies and since I am like a child and really don’t like any vegetables (that aren’t sautéed in lots of butter and topped with bacon) I hid all the good-for-you stuff by pureing the soup so even the pickiest eater will enjoy this! And the leftovers are awesome! The soup overnight in the fridge becomes even thicker and somehow even better tasting then it already is :) Just delicious! Funny thing is when I decided to make it, I didn’t realize I didn’t have a big enough soup pod to make it in! So I had to make it in two badges and once I shred the chicken and pureed it I was able to fit it in 1 pod! But seriously you need to try it, it’s soo good!

Yummy Chicken Soup

Makes a big pot of soup!

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of butternut squash,  cubed
  • 2 cups of potatoes, cubed
  • 1 cup of celery, chopped
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 cup of chopped carrots
  • 4 chicken legs (salt and pepper on both sides)
  • 2 tbsp of canola oil
  • 1 chicken bullion cube
  • ¼ cup of tomato sauce
  • 1 cup of short cut pasta
  • 6 cups of water
  • salt, pepper, garlic powder (i used 1 tsp) , paprika (1 tsp), oregano (1/2 tsp), basil (1/2 tsp), red chilli pepper(3/4 tsp) to taste

Directions: In a big soup pod, over medium high heat, heat up the canola oil. Once hot, brown your chicken legs(skin side down first), for 2-3 mins on each side until golden. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Add in the squash, potatoes, carrots, celery and onion and cook for 5 mins or until your vegetables have softened, decreased in volume and developed some color. Add the tomato sauce, water and bullion cube and stir to combine. Add in the chicken legs and cook on low for 2 hours. After that, remove the chicken legs to a plate and let cool completely. In a blender or food processor, blend all your vegetable until nice and smooth (you might have to do this in badges and keep in mind hot liquids double in size when pureed) leave some chunks if you like! Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred it with your fingers or a fork. Add your pureed vegetables and chicken back to the soup pod, turn the heat up to medium high and bring to boil. Add in the pasta and cook for 10 mins. Serve with some crusty bread or biscuits :)