Clean Eating Day....oh, who am I kidding?

Fell off the wagon. Well, the blogging wagon. I actually made it on my clean eating to around day 30. Then spring break happened. Nine days, nine states, 1 husband, 0 divorces. Since we have been back, I have started a new job. (yay). I love it! Anywho, I figured I might as well keep going on the blog and keep you guys updated on my food choices (I want to get back to clean eating), my workout regimen (umm...well, I'm trying), and all the cool promotional stuff I am doing for my new students. This week I am throwing a Superhero themed Brainstorm meeting. I am serving "hero" sandwiches, "hulk" Punch, and "pop"corn. We are also doing a scavenger hunt with "riddles". I am breaking the scholars into 4 groups (the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Justice League, and X-Men) and the students will all draw Popsicle sticks with Superhero's written on them and have to find their group. I think its loads of fun, my students think I am ridiculous. Whatever brings them together.

I'm also trying to make a new batch of Ginger Ale (the last one was AWESOME), and some sauerkraut (this batch is giving me some trouble). The next fermented food I want to try and make is kimchi, and maybe some fermented vegetables like carrots and onions. I'll keep you updated....or at least I'll try.

Clean Eating Day 12-16

Eek! I keep forgetting to do this! This week was a little crazy at work. Mainly because I quit! hah! I put in my resignation on Day 14 and will be officially finished teaching Middle School on March 31st! I am so very excited about my new position as the Assistant Director of EAST at UALR!!!! Anyway, while it is getting easier to eat clean, I have found that I am having some cravings. Mainly for potato chips and chocolate! I think that I am going to bake some very thinly sliced sweet potato and maybe get some organic dark chocolate. Its funny because I am finding very good substitutes for most things that I want. I'm not really craving anything that I cannot find a healthy alternative for. Maybe cream cheese. I need to figure that one out. Moving on, here is the daily breakdown.

Day 12: Sunday. Brunch with the Long Hair. God, its been too long since this day, so I am having trouble remembering what we had for dinner.
Breakfast: greek yogurt with granola that I got at the farmers market
Lunch: Cant remember. at all.
Dinner: Salad with strawberry and cucumber.
Wine: Bota Box Cabernet

Day 13: Monday. Back to work. Ugh.
Breakfast: Greek yogurt with granola
Lunch: Salad from the day before with chicken
Dinner: Cedar Planked Salmon, brown rice, roasted veggies (sweet potato, onion, Brussel sprouts)
Wine: Bota Box Cabernet

Day 14: Tuesday. Resignation day.
Breakfast: Greek yogurt with granola (its so good, and not getting old)
Lunch: Leftovers from Monday dinner
Dinner: a WONDERFUL salad that my best friend made at her house for new girl night! Field greens, candied pecans, strawberries, grapes, molasses vinaigrette (made from scratch). Doesn't it look great?
Wine: Bota Box Cabernet

Day 15 Wednesday. Snow and sleet came today. In a hurry. I almost didn't make it home from work, and the roads got bad quickly. Luckily, I had plenty of fresh veggies on hand for dinner! Unfortunately, I ran out of dog food and had to run to Walgreens. Now, Walgreens is just down the street, but people FREAK OUT about sleet and snow in Little Rock, so every car in the world was out and it took forever. I made a stir fry with cauliflower rice and my husband was trying to guess what I used (quinoa was one guess). He was very surprised to find out I used cauliflower! Here is how ya do it. I chopped up the cauliflower and ran it through my food processor. Threw it in a bowl and microwaved it for 3 minutes. Then, I used some paper towels to get all the moisture out of it. Some websites say to put the cauliflower is a dish towel and ring it out and that works too, I just didn't have a clean one. I marinated the chicken (the recipe is here), its for Lemon Basil Chicken and it was AWESOME). So, I sauteed some onions in coconut oil, added some red pepper and some peas, and then finally the riced cauliflower. I then added a couple of tablespoons of Braggs Liquid Aminos. 

Breakfast: Yep. yogurt with granola

Lunch: Brown rice and veggies from Monday. I don't like reheated salmon. Gross.

Dinner: Cauliflower Stir Fry with Sautéed chicken.

Wine: Bota Box Cabernet

Day 16. Thursday. SNOW DAY. We made the trek up to Pizza d, because, well, snow day. We made bloody mary's from scratch. I had some tomato juice that James' grandmother gave me from her garden, juiced a cucumber and a couple of stalks of celery, and added some liquid amino, some salt pepper, lime juice, and Dijon mustard. Not too shabby. We ate lunch at the Oyster Bar, and rounded out the evening with stir fry leftovers. 

Breakfast: Bloody Marys. Don't judge me, its a snow day.

Lunch: Red Beans and Rice from the Oyster Bar

Dinner: Stir Fry Leftovers

Wine: Compagno Merlot (again, I'm snowed in and that is all that I could get within walking distance)

Clean Eating Day 11

Saturday! I got up super early and went to Milo for coffee and then to the Hillcrest Farmers Market. Its was 26 degrees this morning. I did not last long. I got some granola, breakfast sausage from Freckled Face Farms, some cheese from Kent Walker Artisan Cheese (Gouda and habanero cheddar), some kale (finally broke out the juicer), and some info on joining a CSA this summer. I'm working later tonight so today's blog is just breakfast.

Breakfast: Juice (kale, ginger, mango, cucumber, lime)
Brunch: Sausage (see above), eggs, cheese (see above), and 8 Grain toast. We made breakfast sandwiches. Glorious.
Lunch: not gonna lie, its probably going to be a pimento cheese sandwich. I just cannot get enough of this stuff.
Dinner: Working at the Bistro tonight, so I'll probably just grab whatever they give me (as long as its a whole food).
Wine: I'm gonna bet its Bota Box Cabernet, because that is what I have at home.

Clean Eating Day 9-10

Geez. I am not going to be able to keep this up daily. Who has the time? I actually do. I just keep forgetting. So, I forgot to mention on Day 8 that I started a ginger bug. I am SO excited about this and hope it works. I absolutely love ginger ale and ginger beer, but all the chemicals in it keep me away (I don't drink soda's). Basically, you start with some grated ginger (2-3 tablespoons, it works out to about 1 to 2 inches) and some raw organic sugar (same amount as ginger). Then add 2 cups of filtered water (apparently chlorine messes with the bug). Stir with a non metal spoon, cover with cheesecloth (I used a cut up pillowcase and a mason jar), and wait. Feed the bug every day with 1 tablespoon on sugar and 1 tablespoon of grated ginger. I am only on day 3 as I write this, so we will see if I got it right. If its not fizzy in 7 days you have to dump it and start over. Day 9 and 10 I went back to work after all the school days, and my students were just as excited about it as I was (insert sarcasm here). I took some greek yogurt and frozen berries for breakfast, Salad from the night before for lunch, and a handful of nuts for an afternoon snack. 

I also neglected to mention that I made a great quinoa recipe on day 8. I got it here. It was great!

Here is the breakdown from Day 9:

Breakfast: greek yogurt with frozen raspberries and blackberries

Lunch: Salad with roasted chicken, strawberries, cucumber, and feta with balsamic vinegar

Dinner: Pimento cheese sandwich from boulevard (I worked at the restaurant and ate a tablespoon of pimento cheese on one slice of 8 grain bread). I justify these foods in my clean eating diet because I know that the cheese and the bread is made from whole ingredients and is made 2 miles from my house.

Wine: Bota Box Cab (duh) and a pint of IPA from our local brewery, Lost 40.

Day 10. Its FRIDAY! The Long Hair and I went to one of our favorites, South on Main, for Social Hour, which is their take on Happy Hour.  I had a Mule (its made with brown sugar, I think) if not, whoops, but it is Friday, right. Aren't you allowed to cheat a little on Fridays? I also had a glass of Cabernet. The hubs had an Old Fashioned (truly wonderful, David Burnette makes such great drinks). We had some boiled peanuts and then came home. Just a really nice, relaxing evening. Also, House of Cards Season 3 came out, so we plan on marathoning that REAL soon. Here's the breakdown.

Breakfast: greek yogurt with frozen raspberries and blackberries

Lunch: Leftover quinoa with roasted chicken

Dinner: Pimento Cheese sandwich

Wine: Domaine Laroque '13 Cab Franc, Loire, France 

Clean Eating Days 4-8

Well, I am not as good a blogger during the weekend/snow days! I can sum up the weekend here on one post, though! I am happy to report that I have stayed true to my challenge. Lets look at this day by day!

Day 4: Saturday. Ugh. You just know you are going to go to lunch. My best friend and I went to a local pizza place. I was starving. Mimosas were only $7 (for the entire BOTTLE). What was I to do? Make good choices. I had a primavera salad (lettuce, broccoli, bell peppers, asparagus, etc.) with feta cheese and oil and vinegar. I also added chicken. Not too bad! Then the mimosas came. I don't feel too bad about the champagne because, well, wine. But i didn't know what to do about the juice. Turns out our lovely server brought us OJ, Grapefruit, Pineapple, and Cranberry juice! AND the grapefruit and pineapple had NO ADDED SUGAR. Decision made. After a bit of shopping next to the pizza place (Box Turtle, yes, ma'am), we went to meet my husband at Pizza D for a beer. My friend got TONS of fried food, but I didn't even taste it. MAJOR accomplishment. For dinner that night I sauteed some chicken breast with mushrooms, spinach, garlic, and onion. Fabulous. To summarize:

Breakfast: coffee
Lunch: Primavera salad with oil and vineger
Dinner: Chicken, Mushroom, and Spinach
Wine: Champagne, baby.

Day 5: Sunday. Date day. Every sunday, my husband and I go to our favorite bar for brunch. We get a bottle of mimosas and do the Sunday crossword. We have been doing this since the first week we started dating. Not stopping now. SO I cooked breakfast at home. I then used VERY little oj for my champagne. I still feel good about it. After brunch, the hubs and I went to a friends house to help them move and then came home. I cooked up some brown rice to go with last nights dinner, and there ya go. All done with Dinner! A few friends came over later that night and we had some Cabernet, but that was about it!

Breakfast: fruit with greek yogurt
Lunch/Dinner: Brown Rice with the Chicken from last night
Wine: Champagne/ Cabernet (Bota Box)

Day 6: Monday. SNOW DAY! The hubs and I spent the morning with some fruit and greek yogurt. Then we walked to our neighborhood bar (where the snow days are ALWAYS fun.) It is Thursday as I am writing this, and wouldn't you know it? I can't remember what we ate this day. Hang on...

Breakfast: fruit with greek yogurt
Lunch: Ham and Bean soup? I think that's what we did
Dinner: I fell asleep early. I think maybe I didn't eat dinner. Whoops.
Wine: Bota Box Cabernet

Day 7: Tuesday. Another Snow Day. The roads were pretty good in the afternoon on Tuesday, so for breakfast I made Scrambled Eggs with Mushrooms, Goat Cheese, and Onions. Served it all up on an Ezekiel tortilla. Very filling. Tons of protein. Lunch with Lyds at the Oyster Bar, went to work with the Long Hair (the husband), and then grocery shopping. We stopped at Boulevard for Balsamic Chicken Salad, Pimento Cheese, and 8 Grain Bread. On to Kroger for some produce and quinoa. Long day, super glad we went to the store, because I did NOT leave my house on Day 8.

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs on Ezekiel tortilla
Lunch: Shrimp Gumbo from Oyster Bar
Dinner: Pimento Cheese on 8 Grain from Boulevard
Wine: Bota Box Cabernet

Day 8: Wednesday. ANOTHER SNOW DAY. This time the snow was coming down all day. I did not leave the house. I did not get out of my pajamas. I got completely caught up on Scandal. It was wonderful. I ate ALL DAY. I probably had 6 small meals (which is what they tell you to do when doing the Whole Foods thing). I took my leftover Strawberry and Cucumber and marinated them in some balsamic vinegar. Roasted some chicken breasts. Made a salad. GLORIOUS.

Breakfast: Pimento Cheese on 8 Grain
Lunch: Nuts, Balsamic Chicken Salad
Dinner: Roasted chicken with spring mix, strawberry and cucumber, and feta cheese.
Wine: Bota Box Cabernet

Clean Eating, Day 3

Ok, so today I have only had breakfast, but I have a second, so I thought I would post something. I made a smoothie day that really wasn't so great. Lesson learned.

Breakfast: Greek yogurt, all-natural peanut butter, frozen coffee cubes. eh.

Also, found a great article about why diet soda is sooooooo terrible for you. Enjoy!

STOP IT WITH SODA

Clean Eating Day 2

Good Lord, grocery day was exhausting. I was so hungry on Day 1 so I started at Target to get a vegetable pasta thingy. I wanted a snack once I got there, but I couldn't find anything unprocessed! Anywho, on to the GRAND OPENING OF THE NEW WHOLE FOODS! It was a great store, but PACKED. I got a great deal on some free range organic chicken breasts though (decision made on whether or not to cut out meat). So, I thought I would share what I ate on Day 1 and Day 2.

Day 1:
Breakfast: handful of nuts
Lunch: Spicy Thai Basil Soup from Whole Foods
Dinner: Stir-fry Broccoli, red pepper, onion, carrot, and snap peas with Vegan Organic Coconut Oil and Braggs Liquid Aminos.
Wine: Bota Box Pinot Noir

Day 2: (this is getting waaaaay easier by the way):
Breakfast: Smoothie with Strawberries, Raspberries, blackberries, and Greek Yogurt (plain). I also added in a little Raspberry Lemonade that I had made up (True Lemon is what I used. They are FANTASTIC, and I'm pretty sure they aren't processed).
Lunch: Ham and Bean soup (I made a HUGE batch of this back in December and froze some...it still turned out GREAT)
Snack: carrots and snap peas, I had some mixed nuts as well in the late afternoon
Dinner: Stir-Fry from the day before with Organic Quinoa
Wine: Bota Box Pinot Noir (duh, I didn't drink it all last night!)

I am working  a 3rd job at a local restaurant/bakery so I have decided to get my bread there instead of worrying about Spent grains and Ezekiel bread. I get a discount and I know who makes it so I'm gonna do that. They make AMAZING bread too (try Boulevard Bread Co. if you are ever in the Little Rock, AR area).