Cinnamon Apple Crisp ...

Almost fall and we'll soon be getting bunch

and bunches of really great apples.

here's a cute recipe

It is from Lisa @ 100 days of Real Food

google her, she has awesome recipes and great lunch ideas

You can prepare this in 1/2 pint mason jars or you

can just put in a pie plate. I wanted to make these in the jars

it's cute right?

here's what you do....

For the filling

- 2 large apples. I used 1 gala and 1 granny smith

-1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

- 1 tablespoon butter, melted

- 1 tablespoon honey

Crumble Topping

- 3/4 cup rolled oats

- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

- 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

- 3 tablespoon butter, melted

- 2 tablespoon honey

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

preheat oven to 375 degrees

quarter your apples, then slice again and then cut the slices in half

(long ways and crossways)

Toss the apples in a bowl with the cinnamon, butter and honey

here's a good tip from Lisa, measure your butter first then

when you measure your honey, it will slide right out of your measuring spoon

Evenly divide the mixture into the 8 - 1/2 pint jars. Place the jars

on a large baking sheet.

In the same mixing bowl that you mixed the apples, combine all

of your crumble topping ingredients.

Evenly divide the mixture over top 

of the apples.

Cover the jar with one large piece of foil and bake for 25 minutes

Remove the foil, turn oven to broil and cook or 2 to 3 minutes

until the topping turns a light golden brown

Service with vanilla ice cream

This evening Johnny and I each had one right out of the fridge 

and it was delicious.......good hot or cold.

the only thing I will do different next time is I will increase

the amount of apples and really pack them in the jar tight

they cook down a lot

later.....

Chicken recipe ....

Made this the other night

really, really good and easy!!

Baked Chicken with Spinach & Artichokes

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 to 6 chicken pieces (I used chicken breast)

salt and ground pepper, to taste

1 14oz can artichoke , quartered, rinsed and drained

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1 large carrot, sliced into rounds

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 bag (6 to 8 oz) baby spinach

1/2 cup vegetable broth ( I used chicken broth )

*Preheat oven to 425

*heat butter and olive oil in a large nonstick skillet that is safe 

for stovetop and oven

*Season chicken with salt and pepper

*Add to skillet and brown on both sides, about 5 minutes each side

*Remove from skillet and set aside, leaving oil in skillet

*Add artichokes, onions, carrots and garlic to the skillet. Cook for 5 minutes, or until vegetables are slightly tender, stirring occasionally

*Add spinach, continue to stir and cook for one minute

*Remove from heat, add broth and chicken

*Place in oven and bake for 18 minutes or until 

chicken is thoroughly cooked

*Remove from oven, let stand 5 minutes.

*Plate and ladle liquid and veggies over chicken pieces.

ENJOY!!

later.....

This weeks menu .....

One of the tricks to clean eating is being prepared

and if I do not have our weeks menu planned out, it makes

breakfast, lunch and dinner difficult

Most weeks I'm good with it.....and I have so many sheets

of paper with all of my menus

But now I'm going to start posting each weekend our

upcoming menu....labeled "menu"  :)

so it will be so much easier to refer to and get ideas

Usually either Friday or Saturday, or both, are our eating out nights

but since we are currently doing a Whole30, we are

avoiding going out.

so here's our upcoming menu!
(this menu is clean and Whole30 compliant)

Saturday - Spinach Frittata w/bacon, watermelon salad

Sunday - Grilled chicken, roasted potatoes, wilted Kale w/bacon

Monday - Roasted sausage w/zucchini and squash & greek salad

Tuesday - Tuna salad and lemon zest asparagus

Wed - Taco Salads

Thursday - Balsamic Pork Tenderloin, cauliflower, roasted brussel sprouts

Friday - hot dogs with onions & green peppers and string bean salad

For breakfast we usually have boiled eggs, bacon and fruit

our lunches for the week will be dinner leftovers

that's it for the week.....

later.....

Soup .....

I love eating soup in the winter time

and here's one that is easy, easy easy......and so good!!

here it is simmering on the stovetop

recipe below

We did not eat it with tortilla chips nor avocados

we did sprinkle fresh chopped cilantro on top....yum

later.....

Chorizo Stuffed Peppers ....

Here's what I cooked today

 

I changed a few things in the recipe so I put notes by that

 

• 1 onion
• 2 carrots
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 4 poblano peppers (I can never find these so I used green peppers)
• 1/2 head cauliflower
• 2 lbs  chorizo sausage (casing removed)
• 6 ounces tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (I did not use this as it contains sugar and you know how I feel about sugar!)
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed
• 1 tablespoon dry oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried tarragon
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

Cut the tops off of the peppers and remove seeds

 

In food processor place carrots, celery, cauliflower, garlic, and jalapeno. Pulse until finely chopped

 

in a large bowl, combine veggies from food processor with chorizo, tomato paste, oregano, tarragon, Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper

 

pour a cup of tomato sauce into the bottom of the crock pot

stuff your peppers with mixture and place upright in the crock pot. I used the remainder of the tomato sauce that was in the can and drizzled over the top of the peppers

 

cover and cook on low 8 to 10 hours.

 

 

delicious........another keeper!!

 

later....

Unstuffed Cabbage Roll recipe ...

Another really, really good recipe

and I can't believe it but I failed to take pictures as I made this

a friend of mine gave me this recipe but it originally

came from someone named Diana Rattray

I don't know you Diana but I LOVE your recipe so thanks!!

Johnny loves when I make this. It's the kind of recipe

that is great for leftovers so we both enjoy taking this to

work for our lunch

UNSTUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS

1 1/2 to 2 lbs lean ground beef

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 small cabbage, chopped

 2 - 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes

1 - 8 oz can tomato sauce (also good if you use spaghetti sauce)

1 - 8 oz can of water

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon sea salt

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground beef and onion and cook, stirring, until ground beef is  no longer pink and onon is tender. Add the garlic and continue cooking for 1 minute.

Add the chopped cabbage, tomatoes, tomato sauce, pepper and salt. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until cabbage is tender.

Johnny and I actually think this is even better the next day!

later.......

Taco seasoning recipe ...

here's the taco seasoning recipe

I wish I knew who to give credit to for this but I was given

this recipe by a friend who also doesn't know where it came from

I make this and store in a mason jar along with my other spices

and let me just tell you......once you use this, you'll never buy

the packaged taco seasoning again!

this is just so yummy!!

Loco Taco Seasoning

1/4 cup Chili Powder

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp onion powder

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Use 2 tablespoons of this mix for every 1 lb of ground meat

for some Loco-Good Tacos!

Ole!



A year later ....

July 9th marked my one year of clean eating

and I can honestly say it was one of my best decisions ever

Physically, I have never felt better. Clean eating has shown me that you

truly are what you eat. Eat crap, feel like crap!

I no longer have the achy arthritis pain in my fingers and knee.

yes, it's still there, I can feel it some but nothing like what it used to be.

My sinus' have never felt so clear and I rarely ever have headaches.

I sleep great and have tons of energy and pretty much just feel good every day.

 

When I started this I really thought I would not stick with it.

I thought I would miss things like cheese, crackers,

ice cream, cake, cake and cake......haha.

Cake is my weakness!

But I don't because I do allow myself to have things like that

every once in awhile. I stray from my clean eating slightly

when on vacation or during holidays. And sometimes just

because I want something. I have committed myself to eat

clean 90% of the time. I eat no grains except occasional

corn on the cob or popcorn. The only sugar I have is a Starbucks Frap or

a piece of birthday cake sometimes.  And of course my wine....but I limit wine to just weekends but some weekends

I don't even have any. And I eat no dairy. Hard to believe

but I just don't miss this stuff.....also don't miss candy.

 

My daily eating now consist of good, grass fed beef, free range, no

antibiotics added chicken, seafood, nitrate free, sugar free bacon...mmm, love bacon and lots of eggs. We also eat whatever

vegetables and fruits are in season, though I do buy some frozen

fruit for smoothies. And I load up on good fats like avocados, olive oil, olives,

cashews and almonds. I really don't try to re-create many recipes

because I enjoy the simplicity of my eating now. 

 

I know I will never go back to eating the way I used to eat and

I'm perfectly fine with that. I just really enjoy feeling so great more than

I enjoyed that food I used to eat!!

 

later.....

 



A little Sunday cooking ....

Today I didn't really have any plans

thought about raking up the massive amount of pine tags that

are falling in the backyard

but first, I needed to go get some groceries for the week

So I made my menu plan and from that, made my grocery list

 

When I got there, right as I got inside I heard a familiar voice

yell "mom".........haha! It was Jacquelyn, Bucky and Declan

and right away Declan threw his arms out for me to pick him up

then gave me the biggest hug....love that boy!!

 

 

Get home and it's just too hot to be raking in the yard so I decided to

go ahead and cut up my veggies and fruit for the week.

which then lead to other cooking.......and holy moly, you just won't believe

what all I did!!! It's so much I'm going to bullet point the list!!

• I cut up green, yellow and orange peppers for snacking
• Cut up cucumbers for snacking
• Boiled a dozen eggs for our breakfast this week
• Roasted squash, zucchini, onions and smoked sausage
• Made 4 containers of homemade taco seasoning.....one for me and then one for each of the kids. They love it!
• Roasted broccoli and cauliflower
• Baked chicken
• Baked pork chops
• Cut up a pineapple
• Made mint pesto (for the chicken)
• Made a large pot of unstuffed cabbage rolls
• Made a cucumber salad
• Cut up 2 watermelons
• sliced up some Hanover tomatoes!!
• Made a jug of lime, lemon water for the fridge

 

So basically I have no cooking or chopping to do this week

I have enough cooked for dinner and lunches

 

right before going in the oven.....yumm, one of our favorites

 

 

Once you have this homemade taco seasoning, you'll never buy the

packaged again.....so good!!

I cut up the chicken that I cooked and put in to individual containers

so that we can just grab these for lunch

the reddish color on the chicken is paprika....mmmmm

 



 

Cold watermelon ... one of my favorite things about summer!!

 

I bought a new BBQ rub at Trader Joes and tried it out on

these pork chops. Very good.....and that is what we had for dinner tonight

 

I just bought this new jug on Saturday at Home Goods. I have a large

one but needed a smaller one that would fit on the fridge shelf...this one is perfect. I love just cold water with squeezed lemons and limes

it's very refreshing

 

here's the mint pesto.....can't wait to have tomorrow

with my chicken

this makes me so happy! It means I can grab my breakfast and lunch quick in

the morning. And after Jazzercise there is no guessing on dinner, everything

is already ready. Sure makes the week easier

 

No onions left for my cucumber salad.......ughh!!

Used them in other dishes and forgot to buy more at the store

 

I don't do this every week.......I wish I did but sometimes there

is just more fun things to do on Sundays!

I'll be putting the recipes up on some other post

 

later.......



Lunch time .....

Since I started eating clean, I stopped buying lunch at work so much

mostly because I don't know what things are cooked in. But also

because I think my food taste so much better. There are times that I don't

have food prepared in advance so I just usually get a big salad from the

salad bar and add eggs for my protein. We are starting to see our cafeteria

at work do more clean eating dishes.....soups and veggie salads. So it's

really nice to go in there and see things that I can eat.

 

So now I get up just 15 minutes earlier so that I can pack my lunch.

 I do a lot of cooking for lunch in the evening after I

get home from Jazzercise. I also will put things in the crock pot and cook

while we sleep. Like tonight, I put a pork tenderloin

in the crock pot before I went to Jazzercise. When I got home, I roasted some string beans. I'll shred the pork up before I go to bed

and then I'll have good stuff for lunch tomorrow!

As I've always said, eating clean does take some planning.

Below are my breakfast

and lunch for the past 3 days.....

 

I cook my bacon in the microwave, 2 slices, 1 minute 50 seconds

It turns out perfect! I eat only sugar free, nitrate free bacon.

Once you eat this bacon, you'll never eat another kind....I find

it at Trader Joe's. I buy 2 boiled eggs at work. I know I should just boil a bunch of eggs at home but it's only a dollar for 2 eggs!

And I have some  cut up kiwi and a banana.

Then lunch is bean soup that I made from dried beans. I rarely ever

eat grains but I had not had any bean soup in so long that I just had

a taste for it. Also to go with it, a small salad, my own dressing

and for dessert a Larabar.

afternoon snack was 3 tiny tangerines.

 

Tuesday's breakfast was, 2 slices of bacon, 2 boiled eggs,

cut up grapefruit and grapes.

lunch was shredded taco chicken, baggies of black olives and tomatoes

that I added to it after I heated the chicken, salad with my own dressing

and of course to satisfy my sweet tooth, a Larabar

the 3 tangerines are my afternoon snack

 

Today, my  breakfast was bacon, 2 boiled eggs, grapefruit and kiwi

Lunch was a hamburger with mustard, no bun and

roasted asparagus and of course, a Larabar.

tangerines for snack......haha, seems I eat the same thing a lot!! 

 

And I pack it all in my Lands End tote bag....which I love!!

 

 

My breakfast and lunch fill me up so much and taste so good

and the bonus.......I save money by not buying lunch at work!!

 

later.......

 



Snacks ...

With clean eating, I rarely find that I want a snack

I guess because I don't have to worry about counting calories or fat, don't

worry about the quantity I eat because I just eat

until I'm full, I just don't need snacks

 

unless of course it's going to be a long time between meals

I eat lunch at work at 11:30 but don't usually get any supper

until 7:30 so I eat an afternoon snack at work

and may eat something like a banana before going to exercise class

 

One of the snacks that I have found that I LOVE is Larabars

not to be confused with uber larabars............which contains lots of

ingredients. That is what I try to stay away from.

 

some of my favorites are.........

 

peanut butter cookie - contains dates, peanuts and sea salt!

Banana bread - contains almonds, dates, bananas

Cashew cookie - contains cashews and dates

Coconut cream pie - contains dates, coconut, almonds, cashews

and extra virgin olive oil

 

the dates are in all of them as a sweetener

and let me just say, these are really good, I love them

 

 

later......



Clean eating .....

I thought I would give an update on my clean eating

I'm still doing it.....and still loving it

I have found it to be very easy

and I think it's because I don't try to overthink or re-create things

I just try to eat food in its most natural state

and I avoid all sugar. I do see other people doing it and making it difficult but it shouldn't be. It's just easy......

I always said I would do this 90% of the time

vacation and holidays would be my 10% that I wouldn't eat clean

so during Christmas, I enjoyed other foods and some sweet treats

I only gained 2 lbs but that very quickly came off

what was the eye opener was how it made me feel

sluggish and not so great

and made me crave sugar

So it was very easy to go back to my clean eating

on January 2nd!!

believe me, clean eating....it's a good thing. I can't say enough about it and I really try hard not to sound preachy to people......I just love it so much and how it makes me feel.

I had eaten half of my dinner before deciding to take a picture
we had chicken BBQ, roasted string beans and roasted cauliflower
yum!!!!

 

later......

Thursday's dinner ....

PIZZA!!

 

I have not had pizza in what feels like forever.

I know I have not had it since I started eating clean July 10th.

 

So I was very excited for dinner tonight

The recipe is called Bacon Chicken pizza

the chicken, bacon and tomato sauce were all cooked

on Sunday. The pizza crust should have been cooked

Sunday night but I cheated on that one. I have been unable to find

coconut flour and arrowroot starch at a good price so I wasn't

prepared to make the crust. I just had the store brand crust for

tonight's dinner.

 

Like I said, the tomato sauce was cooked on Sunday and let

me say, it is wonderful. All recipes are from the

"Make Ahead Paleo" cookbook.

 

Red Sauce

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley (I used the flat left parsley)
• 1 28 oz can tomato sauce
• 2 - 6 oz cans tomato paste
• 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp basil
• pinch of rosemary
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• freshly ground pepper to taste

`In a large pot over medium heat, heat the olive oil.

Add the onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes

Stir in the garlic and parsely

Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, tomatoes, oregano, basil, rosemary, sea salt and pepper. Stir well to combine.

Reduce the heat to low and simmer the sauce, covered, for 30 minutes.

 

On our pizza's we put the other half of the chicken I cooked on Sunday, chopped bacon, onions, black olives and mushrooms. And believe it or not, no cheese!!

I thought for sure Johnny would want cheese on his but no, he opted out

and loved it. So much so that he is taking the leftovers to work

for his lunch tomorrow.

 

 

Another fast and successful dinner!!

 

tomorrow night should be the rest of the pulled pork but Jake

is coming in to town and him and Johnny are doing their "usual" and

going out for Mexican. So it's a good thing I decided to freeze the rest of the

pork. We'll have that another night.

 

I've sure enjoyed making dinner this week and having so many things

already cooked. Made it so much easier. I'll be doing this again but will want to find some other recipes to try.

 

later.....

 





Wednesday's dinner ....

Another yummy dinner from the cookbook

"Make Ahead Paleo"

 

Steak Cobb Salad with Mango Dressing

 

The steak was cooked on Sunday and I sliced it up thin and

put in an airtight container. The bacon and the hard boiled eggs were also

cooked on Sunday. I left the eggs whole until time to put on the salad but I did

chop up the bacon on Sunday.

So all I had to cut up tonight was the avocados and tomatoes.

Came home from Jazzercise at 7:00 and by 7:20 dinner was ready!

I'm loving this....

 

I used the other half of the mango salsa from last night to make the dressing.

 

here's the recipe.....

 

• half of the mango salsa
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup water

add all to the food processor and puree. If you prefer a thinner dressing, add more water and process again.

 

The salad......

I filled both of our plates with a layer of lettuce

then I added everything in lines......

first steak, then eggs, bacon, tomatoes and last, avocados

 

 

I loved this and was very full afterward. I was worried whether Johnny would like it but he also loved it. And he's usually not a fan of cold steak but

with the mango dressing, he really enjoyed it.

 

Tomorrow night is PIZZA!!!

 

later.....



Tuesday's dinner ....

For Tuesday's dinner in the week in a day cooking,

we had Shredded Pork Tacos with Mango Salsa

 

and let me just say......yummmm!!

Johnny and I both loved this one. At first he said no, he didn't want

any mango salsa, it would be too sweet. I'm like Johnny please, just taste it

so he did and he loved it

 

I got home from Jazzercise at 7:00 and by 7:15 dinner was ready.

You just can't believe how much I love this!! Cooking for a couple of

hours on Sunday was so worth it!

 

The pork tenderloin I had cooked on Sunday in the crock pot.

once cooled, I had shredded it. It is for 2 recipes this week so half

I put in an air tight container in the fridge

 and the other half I put in a freezer bag in

the freezer since we won't be having that until Friday.

 

The Mango Salsa I also made on Sunday. We used half tonight and will

use the other half tomorrow night....as I will make it into a dressing.

 

The taco seasoning I also made on Sunday.

so here's the recipes.........and again, they are from the

"Make Ahead Paleo" cookbook.

 

Taco seasoning.

In a jar with a tight fitting lid, combine:

• 2 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 2 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoon sea salt
• pinch of cayenne

I have made this taco seasoning before and trust me, so much better than that envelope of seasoning with heaven knows what all they use!! I use one of my mason jars to store this in the spice cabinet.

 

 

Mango Salsa

In a medium size bowl, combine all the ingredients, stir gently. Store the salsa in an airtight container in the fridge until needed.

 

• 2 med ripe mangoes, peeled, seeds removed and diced. I used the frozen organic mangos that I buy at Costco. The only ingredient is mangos so yay!
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1 jalapeno, cored, seeded and diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (I used the flat leaf parsley)
• 2 teaspoon lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• pinch of fresh ground black pepper

 

Here are the instructions for the night you have this for dinner

 

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 3 tablespoons of coconut oil.

Add the shredded pork, and stir to coat the pork with the oil.

Add 1 tablespoon of taco seasoning and 1/4 cup of water, stir

to combine. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered until

the pork is heated through.

Serve the shredded pork in lettuce cups with Mango Salsa spooned on top.

 

We loved this recipe so I'll definitely will be making this a lot.

 

tomorrow night is Steak Cobb Salad with Mango Dressing.

 

later.........