Serious Play

Eat Clean :: Cucumber and Quinoa Salad

 

 So, I had the best salad this weekend.

 

For some time now, I have been eating according to the Eat Clean philosophy. Basically, this means, no sugar, low fat, and no refined or processed foods. It also encourages you to eat 1/3 lean protein and 2/3 complex carb for each meal.

I have not always stuck to the Eat Clean rules for every meal, but the philosophy has stayed with me in my choices for meals for my family.

So, when my daughter found this recipe and wanted to make it for supper the other night, I could not refuse. It was quick, simple and delicious. We ate it as a complete meal and it was more than satisfying.

 

The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients (2-3 servings)

3/4 cup water
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp orange juice, divided
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa (see note below if you'd rather use whole grain couscous)
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped into 1/2" chunks
2 cups chopped English cucumber
2 tbsp finely minced parsley
2 tbsp finely chopped mint
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Rinse quinoa under running water in a fine mesh strainer.
Transfer it to a small saucepan with the water and 1/4 cup orange juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and allow it to cook, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes. By this time, all liquid should be absorbed.
While the quinoa cooks, toast the pine nuts in a small pan. Heat the pan over medium heat, then add the pine nuts and dry-fry them until they develop small golden marks on the sides. Shake the pan often to avoid burning.
Set the quinoa aside, or in the fridge, to cool while you prepare the rest of the salad. Chop the cucumber and yellow pepper, and mince the parsley and mint.
Combine the quinoa, pepper, cucumber and herbs in a large bowl and toss.
Whisk together the olive oil, white balsamic, and remaining 1 tbsp orange juice. Drizzle it over the salad and toss again to coat. Season to taste with black pepper and sea salt if desired.
Sprinkle with toasted pine nuts and garnish with parsley. Allow the salad to sit for at least 15 minutes to let flavours develop, then serve.

I do not usually post about the foods we eat, but this was one that I thought worthy of sharing.

Let me know if you decide to try it...

 

 

 

Juice Cleanse Update

So, I have been juicing for a week.

 

I have tried and tasted many vegetable and fruit combinations over the past week. There are definitely those that are favourites and those that won't be tried again.

Tonight's combo (shown above) ended up being a bunch of odds and ends since every recipe that I looked into, I seemed to be missing one of the ingredients. This is what happens when one has two growing teenage girls who are also into eating healthy and looking good. I guess it is a good thing that my girls are eating the fruits and veggies, but it kinda messes up my juicing recipe plans!

Originally, my friend and I were going to try drinking just juices for 10 days as a cleanse. Right away on Day 1 I realized that I could not sustain myself on just juice. I did fine on my smoothie up until lunch. I had my juice for lunch at noon and by 1pm I was hungry again. By 2pm I was feeling light headed and a bit nauseous. I figured that I was lacking protein, so I had a handful of almonds that I always keep on hand. By 3:30pm my brain was very foggy and I hadn't been very productive at work at all for most of the afternoon. I couldn't focus on anything and I kept jumping from one task to another.

I had a dentist appointment that day at 4:30pm and I felt rotten, so I had my daughter drive me. I just didn't feel like I would be alert or aware enough. It was kinda scary. I stopped before going into my appointment and bought another juice (still 100% juice and no sugar or anything added). This helped a lot as my body just needed more calories I think. That night, my husband had prepared supper and I must admit that I ate some chicken. I just had to kick this yucky feeling.

Now, I am not knocking the juices. And I didn't quit juicing because of Day 1. But I did learn to listen to my body more closely. I continued to drink juices throughout the week, but also supplimented with other whole foods, mostly protein. I am not a big person and my body just wasn't used to operating on so few calories. I was starving myself that first day and that was not my intent at all.

 

 

I simply wanted to ramp up the goodness of veggies and fruits in my diet and flush the toxins that I know crept in over the holidays. By juicing and eating a good balance of protein and fibre (which is tossed when juicing), I have been feeling great. Day 2 and on has been a much better experience.

And when I run out of veggies, or just time to do the juicing myself, I have not been feeling guilty for picking some up all ready to consume...

 

Throughout this week, I have learned many new things. Some about juicing, some about my own body and some about getting and maintaining a healthy eating regimen. And, as with anything, there are pros and cons to juicing. Here is my personal synopsis...

The good things about juicing:

• my body is much more alive with energy
• I feel lighter and healthier
• my mind seems a lot more clear
• I am very productive and efficient
• my cells are injected with pure goodness
• I feel happy and good about myself
• I am not craving sugary food
• I don't want to 'break' the good thing I have going by eating something unhealthy
• I am trying some pretty interesting combinations that turn out to be tasty
• it is catching on in my house

The not so good things about juicing:

• the grocery bill has gone up
• I seem to always be running to get more fruits and veggies (it is amazing how many apples it takes to make a glass of juice)
• there is a lot of pulp left over and I feel bad pitching it out
• it takes quite a bit of time to prep the veggies/fruit and then juice them
• it takes even more time to clean the juicer
• I seem to need more than just juice

 

As we head into Week 2 of our cleanse, my friend and I have been discussing some adaptations to our plan. We will continue to juice, but have a new plan for adding some whole foods along with it. 

Here's to a healthy start to a new year...

 

 

 

My Breakfast

So, Anthropologie came to my fair city just before Christmas. Knowing that I had been waiting for it to open in order to buy some breakfast bowls, Ashley got there before I did and purchased me a set for Christmas! Now, I enjoy my healthy oatmeal every morning in a beautiful Anthropologie bowl. And to top it off, my mom purchased me the delicate tea cup for Christmas, also from Anthropologie. How happy am I?

Here is a look at my typical breakfast every morning...

I boil water for both my oats and tea at the same time.

I put a lid on my oats and let them 'cook', while I pull out all the fixings to go with it...bee pollen, flax, hemp, protein powder and sunflower seeds. Lately I have also been adding walnuts and pumpkin seeds.

Next, I add some Kefir and a few dashes of Apple Pie Spice (from the recipe book).

Finally, I add some fruit. Typically I have bananas. Sometimes it is cranberries, blueberries, unsweetened applesauce...whatever I have on hand.

Eating these oats every day (or some home-made granola) has given me a better start to my day.

Are you ready to try it? If it helps, find yourself a beautiful bowl like I now have!

Granola

So, I hope you are not getting tired of hearing about all of my previous intentions being met. Because here is another one. I have wanted to make home-made granola for almost a year now. Don't ask me why I hadn't...other things just seemed more worthy of my time, I guess.

Since learning about the Eat-Clean diet, the one thing that I have been able to incorporate and maintain successfully, is breakfast. In her books, Tosca Reno talks about the importance of a good breakfast. That is one practice that I used to skip regularly, using the excuses that I didn't have time in the morning and that I "couldn't eat that early". Once I read what Tosca had to say, I changed up my mind. I can honestly say that not only do I now eat breakfast every day, but I eat a healthy breakfast.

I learned from Tosca that eating breakfast:

• breaks the 'fast' from not eating all night and provides your brain with the nutrients it needs to start your day
• helps you both lose and maintain a healthy body weight
• prevents you from bingeing throughout the day since you started the day right
• should provide one quarter of your nutritional requirements for the day

She strongly suggests oatmeal for breakfast since it is loaded with soluble and insoluble plant fibers, which provide bulk and give you that 'full' feeling longer. Oats also moderate blood sugar levels, and avoiding highs and lows is one of the principles of the Eat-Clean diet. Oats, paired with lean protein, such as egg whites, gives you a well-rounded start to your day.

Now, my girls will not eat hot cooked oats for breakfast. So, I wanted a healthy alternative and turned to granola in order to still start their day with oats. All of the store-bought granolas that I looked at were typically high in sugar and had several additives. After finding a recipe in my Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook, I finally decided to give it a try. My girls loved it and ate the entire batch in a week!

...another OLW check mark for me!

Maui Black Bean Soup

Snowy patterns on my kitchen window on a blustery day

So, we had a terribly, blustery, wintery weekend. The kind where you stay indoors for a full 48 hours without even being tempted to crack a window just to breathe fresh air. I watched the snow blow and swirl all around my house from a wind so fierce it caused my Christmas wreath, which has overstayed it's welcome, to smack against the window on my front door.

This called for one of my favorite comfort foods...a thick hearty bowl of soup. 

I pulled out my Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook and decided to try the Maui Black Bean Soup. This soup is full of clean ingredients that leave me feeling satisfied and good about what I have put inside my body. There is a great mix of vegetables and the beans add protein. Floating on the top is a little pile (I was going to say dash, but let's face it, it's a pile) of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

I did cheat and have a piece of bread and cheese, but it tasted so good. The Eat-Clean diet frowns on bread that contains white flour and since this was store-bought ciabatta bread it is a no-no in terms of being clean. I have cut out all refined white foods (flour, rice, sugar) in the last year, but I must admit that every once in a while I do still have a piece of ciabatta or focaccia with soup. This happened to be my once in a while.

Why no white flour, you ask? Well, white flour is a simple carbohydrate, which essentially breaks down easily and causes blood-sugar levels to go out of control. The Eat-Clean Principles, as stated in Tosca Reno's book, seek to keep those blood-sugar levels balanced. As Tosca talks about in her books, simple carbohydrates do the following:

• remove B vitamins from the body, which increase metabolism and therefore burn your food without it turning to fat
• break down the skeleton by upsetting the delicate calcium-phosphorus balance in bones and teeth
• cause enormous spikes in blood sugar levels, that our insulin must then try to adjust to, and when it cannot, the result is fat, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer

When I read this, I decided it was not worth it to eat these simple carbs. I'm done. Sugar, white flour, white rice...gone from my home. Cooking the Eat-Clean way has allowed me to replace those options with more healthy ones and that makes me feel great!

...but I am human, and sometimes I have ciabatta bread. How do the Italians seem to still be so healthy?

David's Tea

So, I love tea. I don't remember when my love for tea started, but over the past few years my interest and taste for tea has grown exponentially. Last week I discovered a new store in the mall that sells nothing but tea. Rows and rows of tea, black teas, red teas, green teas, yerba mate teas, medicinal teas, fruity teas, chocolate teas (if you can believe it) and the list goes on. It was called simply David's Tea.

On this day, Sean and I tested many, many teas. Several of them wanted to come home with us, but we limited our selections to just three. Since we drink a lot of peppermint tea, we were pulled towards the spearmint tea, which is similar, but a bit sweeter. I also chose one called Lavender Zen, which is a green tea with lavender...great for winding down in the evening. Lastly, we bought Chocolate Mint, what more need I say about that one?

I think it was the tin that sealed the deal for me! I am such a sucker for practicality. If you bought 100g of tea, you qualified for a free tin. The bonus there is that I can take the tin back to the store to get my refills of whatever I feel like...no packaging waste at all! Brilliant!

And, who can argue with such a simple design? Even the store itself was designed in a Swedish minimalist fashion, which I love. So I am busy drinking up my teas so that I can go back to taste-test more teas!
 

Mexican Tostadas

So, tonight we made Mexican Tostadas from Tosca Reno's Eat Clean recipe book. Three of us were chopping and prepping and cooking...and it was so much fun! I do feel spoiled to have my new kitchen. It just works so well when we all want to cook together. No one is bumping into one another, or stepping on each others' toes!

We placed all of the prepared ingredients on the island for everyone to assemble themselves.

There is a cooked black bean layer, then shredded lettuce...

Pico de gallo goes on next, yogurt cheese, shredded Monterey Jack Jalapeno cheese and avocado on top.

This is what they ended up looking like...and I cannot even describe the taste! Fabulous! Not only do I have the memory of the new recipe we tried, but also the memory of us all pitching in and working together to prepare it!

Do you typically prepare the meals in your home, or do you have other family members pitch in? Even if you have younger children, they love to shred cheese, or wash tomatoes. I would love to hear about your meal prep traditions!