Taco Salad - Minus the Chop Meat

Taco Salad

Marinated kale & mixed greens tossed with apple cider vinaigrette. Topped with sunflower taco meat, shredded cabbage, fresh pico de gallo, avocado & cashew sour cream drizzle.

I love this restaurant!  I could eat here every day.  I think tomorrow I am going to try the Country Salad!  Stay tuned five faithful followers!

http://www.seedtosproutnj.com/eats-treats/

Simple Recipes for Clean Eating - Five Bean Salad

Here are a few quick recipes for some tasty clean food ideas:

Five Bean Salad

I use organic beans, but you are welcome to use non organic, I'm not judging anyone by their food choices.  If possible, read the label & avoid beans with added sugar & ingredients you can't pronounce.  You can also use different beans, whatever you like - it's just a recipe, change it up if you want!

1 can of each of the following:

Garbanzo (Chick Peas)
Kidney
Black
Pinto
Pink

1/4 cup of olive oil
1/3 cup of red wine vinegar

1 tbs of sea salt
1 minced clove of garlic or 1 tbs of garlic powder
1 tbs of onion powder
black pepper to taste

1 scallion or small onion.

Open & drain liquids from each can.  Mix five types of beans in a large bowl.  Set aside.

Pour the olive oil & red wine vinegar over the bean mix.  You can mix the oil & vinegar together, but I usually do one at a time.  Mix well into bean mixture.

Mix dry ingredients together (you can adjust the amounts of dry ingredients to your liking) & then sprinkle over bean mixture.  Mix well.

Mince the clove of garlic & dice the scallion/onion & mix into mixture.

You can eat immediately or chill in the refrigerator until you would like to serve.   Enjoy!

Avocado a Day - More about Clean Eating

My latest thing since starting this clean eating diet is eating avocados every day.  Who knew I liked them so much?  I certainly didn't.   I would eat them if I had to, or if someone made guacamole, but I never would purposely sit down to eat an avocado.  Until I started this Clean Eating program.  

Eating avocados has changed my life.  OK, I will give you a second to stop laughing.  But seriously, they have curbed all my sugar cravings.  Eating one with lunch or as lunch as a sandwich, has stopped all sugar cravings.  & this is a girl who used to snack on mini candy bars during the day.  Or Hershey kisses by the handful.

Last night we went out for sushi.  Now sushi is not allowed on the Clean Eating program, but after the initial cleanse that I did, I am sticking to it 85% of the time.  Some times it is just impossible to go out & be able to eat Clean.  Other times, you just want a glass of wine.  & wine is not a Clean item.  So......there are some exceptions & modifications.

Here's a quick & easy salad.  Sliced avocado over greens w/ carrots & some crabmeat.  It was delicious & topped with a ginger dressing.  Stay tuned this week for a few Clean Recipes.  They're super tasty!

Limoncello Raw Cheesecake Bars - Gluten Free!

Yes, you read that right & they are delicious!  I have to find the recipe for this tasty treat.  Tonight, or this weekend some time (realistically) I'm going to try to make gluten free cinnamon raisin bread.  I will keep everyone posted on my progress.  & don't worry, if it's gross, you will all be the first to know!

Limoncello Raw Cheescake Bar

Yes, there are deserts while eating clean!

Made by From Seed to Sprout 

Avon, NJ

Tomorrow we are trying out a new breakfast joint - Local Urban Kitchen in Point Pleasant.  A review of course will follow!

Happy Clean Eating!

 http://localurbankitchen.com/

From Seed to Sprout - Clean Eating

Day 2 of Clean Eating Post

OK so after eating clean for about a month now, I have to share more info & recipes with my five followers.  Today we tried this really great place in Avon-by-the-Sea, NJ.  It's called From Seed to Sprout & I've enclosed the link below.  This may be my new favorite lunch destination.  I want to give them a shout out & hope that they are very successful because there aren't too many great places like this around.  I hope they stay in business for a very long time!

Today for lunch I had the sesame rice bowl.  Could I have made it myself?  Sure, but there's something about going out & being able to grab lunch that's healthy & having someone else make it for me.

Sesame Rice Bowl

Marinated Kale
Warm Brown Rice
Sea Veggies
Homemade Kimchi
Shredded Carrots
Gomasio
Sesame Miso Dressing

I'll post some more tomorrow about my new adventures in Clean Eating.  Don't worry though, I did have some frozen yogurt (with fruit) last night.  It was fat & sugar free.  Enjoy!

http://www.seedtosproutnj.com/

Clean Eating

I recently gave up bread, sugar, caffeine & alcohol.  WAIT, WHAT?!?!?!?!?!  Relax, it was only for 3 weeks, but definitely changed a lot of things that I thought I knew about food.  In that 3 weeks I lost 12 lbs., without even trying & it was easy.

I never thought I could do it, but I tried this program out (offered by my local yoga studio) & as crazy as this sounds, giving up all of the above was very easy.  OK, it was not easy to give up Starbucks or wine, but it was just for 3 weeks.  & I usually give up Starbucks for lent, so I knew I could make it.

The best part?  The food is good!  & easy to prepare.  I even went out & bought a juicer & each morning we have juice before work.  Crazy, yes I know.  This from the girl that just love, love loved anything sweet, sticky or bad for her!

It hasn't always been easy, but it's been interesting.  I did have a minor setback when we left NJ & headed off to the Midwest for Memorial Day (yikes all food is processed!!!) but made it back with mild success.

The reason I posted this on my so called Triathlon blog is that I'm thinking of changing the them of my blog to more healthy living posts, rather than workout posts.  I think it's time!  So hope you enjoy some of my recipes & info going forward.  It is definitely going to be a work in progress!

I'll try & post some of the smoothie & juice pics we have been making lately.  Don't worry, they're still super sweet, but from fruit, not sugar & things that you can't even pronounce!  Here's one of my snacks - cherries, blueberries & a medjool date.  Yep, a date!  You can't believe how sweet this is after going without sugar for the past two months!

Ambergris Caye, Belize

Here are some long overdue pictures from our trip to Belize.  If you have the opportunity to go there, take it!  We had a great time & couldn't have asked for better weather.  Five days was not long enough & we hope to go back soon!  Enjoy!