The only way I know to stay on track with clean eating and make wise food choices, is to consistently prepare my own food.  I’m a planner at heart and meal planning is a simple yet powerful practice that makes all the difference in whether Bruce and I eat cleanly during the week.

I pretty much have our meal planning routine down to a science. I usually plan things out on Saturday mornings, hit the store in the afternoon and get busy in the kitchen starting either Saturday night or sometime on Sunday. This past weekend, I didn’t make it the store until Sunday, but after the Jets game (darn, they lost to Miami again), I put on my favorite music (Pat Metheny Group…love jazz) and commenced to cooking up a plethora of delicious and healthy dishes.

Here’s a look at what I made this week:

• Slow Cooker Meal: Turkey Soup with Sweet Potatoes & Kale — I made this recipe up as I went along.  I bought a boneless turkey breast and added in organic chicken broth, sweet potatoes, kale, brown rice, onions and a variety of spices. The flavor is fantastic and it’s warming this time of year. Plus I love that there are greens in it.
• Bean and Sausage Gratin: I love this recipe that I found years ago on realsimple.com.  I used antibiotic-free chicken sausage, fresh fennel and sage.  It’s super easy and so tasty.  I made it gluten-free by using g-f bread crumbs.  Instead of Swiss chard, I substituted fresh spinach.
• Jamaican style oatmeal: This is one of my favs thanks to Clean Eating magazine.  I’ve blogged about how good this is. I adapted their recipe a bit and made it my own.
• Garden egg scramble: This is another winner of a recipe from Clean Eating magazine.  I love that it only uses egg whites and it’s delicious with sun dried tomatoes — they are so flavorful.  I added portabella mushrooms and asparagus too. We’re mixing up our breakfasts with the egg scramble and oatmeal.
• Sauteed baby bok choy: I saw it at the health food store on Sunday, it was so beautiful and fresh. I sauteed it lightly in toasted sesame oil. So quick, so delicious.
• Sauteed collard greens: I love eating greens and I love how easy they are to make.  I sauteed two bunches of collards along with onions, walnuts and raisins. Yummy!
• Later in the week, I’ll make some brown rice pasta with pesto.

So think about it, lots of greens — spinach, kale, collard greens and bok choy — along with root vegetables, low-fat protein, and whole grains.   We usually have a salad with lunch and dinner for added greens. If this menu doesn’t scream clean eating, I don’t know what does.  Nothing overly processed, all natural ingredients and whole foods — the way I love to eat. 

Plus we’re focused on a water challenge. I’m chronically dehydrated so I’m focusing on drinking lots of water everyday.  To make it fun, Bruce and I challenge  each other to meet goals — for example, 24 oz by 11 am.  Just helps me stay on track.

When all is said and done, we have more energy and we feel more satisfied eating clean foods. Less snacking going on too.  It’s a great start to the week and the combination of clean eating and meal planning can’t be beat.  Take it from the me, the Clean Eating Coach, if I can do this, so can you!

What about you, what’s your plan to ensure a week of clean eating meals that helps you feel your best?  What have you already made that’s clean, easy and delicious?

Filed under: Greens, Healthy Meals, Meal Planning, Water, clean eating