And nothing’s better than finding new clean eating resources that inspire me in the kitchen. This past week, I had the pleasure of attending Terry Walter’s talk on Clean Food at the New Haven Public Library. Terry, a fellow graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, is the author of the recently published Clean Food cookbook, a seasonal guide to eating close to the source.

She shared about the power of preparing and eating real food for her and her family and how any of us can take baby steps in the right direction using seasonal, locally grown food. I’m always of that mind with my clean eating clients — it’s never about changing up everything in your routine at once, but about simple choices we can make everyday to step in the right direction.

Terry has a warm personality and engaging style that shone through during her talk. Along the way, she prepared some yummy dishes — a quinoa salad with fresh mango, black beans and mint, and a delicious garden salad with a lemon vinaigrette dressing — that we all had the pleasure of enjoying.

Nothing was a better follow up to the evening than noshing over a healthy meal with my good friend Jannae as we compared notes about what we were going to make from the cookbook over the weekend. 

And just as I promised myself, I got busy on Saturday and whipped up her sweet potato, corn and kale chowder.  I used Trader Joe’s frozen, fire roasted corn and loved the rich flavor.  I also tried her banana, coconut and chocolate chip cookies.  They are so easy to make and I like that the only sweetener is a 1/4 cup of pure maple syrup.  These vegan cookies were a bit hit at the dinner party we attended on Saturday night.

I really like the way Terry has divided up the cookbook by seasons.  Given that spring is officially here, I naturally gravitated to that section and am giving special focus to recipes that contain greens, one of the best springtime detoxifiers around.

If your aren’t familiar with Clean Food, you have to check it out, it’s worth every penny of the price. And it’s the perfect resource for clean eaters like me that are looking for some fresh, new recipes to build into my repertoire — it reminds me how fun it is to experiment in the kitchen as I support my health.

Have you had a chance to try out Clean Food already? What do you think? What’s your favorite recipe that you just can’t get enough of?

The good news is that I’m doing well with my eating, focused on clean, unprocessed foods that I’ve been making on the weekends. I’ve been enthused to try some new recipes, do some entertaining (we even hosted a clean eating dinner party over the weekend with some yummy dishes) and stay pretty true to my clean eating roots (doesn’t mean I haven’t had a few detours, but all in moderation).

But this does beg the question of what one’s to do when faced with the winter doldrums about eating. Once you fall off the wagon, it can be easy to just not get back on, justify that you deserve to not exercise or eat well because you’re tired or sick of winter, and just plain not do what you know you should.

Question is, what will it take to motivate you to eat clean, get through the next few weeks of winter and feel energized for spring?  I’ve put together a few simple things you can do to kick the winter doldrums to the curb and get reinvigorated about clean eating without a whole lot of “I really don’t want to do it” drama.  Remember, clean eating is all about keeping it simple, so no fancy schemes needed here.

1. Try a new recipe or food that intrigues you.  I’m a big fan of experimenting with foods that I’ve never tried making. For example, there was a recent article in Clean Eating magazine about how to prepare fresh artichokes. That’s one of those foods that I’ve never tried making because it looked complicated.  Truth be told, it’s really not, I just needed a little information and inspiration to help me.
2. Eat less meat and lighten up. It’s so easy for Americans to OD on meat.  We eat far more protein than we need and it’s often of mediocre quality, at best.  Plan your weekly meals with at least 1-2 less servings of meat and instead focus on the variety of plant based proteins that exist. I’m a huge fan of beans — they’re inexpensive and eat to prepare.
3. Add more whole grains.I’m always amazed out how easy it is to eat clean and inexpensively when you build more whole grains into your diet.  I love quinoa and making a pot on Sunday can add a healthy side dish to our repertoire that we’ll eat for 3 or 4 days.  Check out one of the simple recipes on my blog for delicious quinoa dishes — quinoa tabouli, Southwestern quinoa stew or basil quinoa — yum!
4. Revel in a leisurely meal.  So many of my clients spend copious amounts of time running around from one task to the next barely making the time to eat, let alone to really enjoy and savor a meal.  One of the simplest ways to tune into your body, eat less and kick start weight loss is to make time for meals when you can be present to your food.  Can’t do it every meal? Commit to at least twice a week when you can sit down without distraction (yep, I mean NO TV!) and enjoy your food.
5. Visualize how you’ll look and feel a month from now.  I’m a big picture kind of a girl and I love visualizing the result I want to achieve. There’s no time like the present to create a vision for your energetic, fit and happy spring self. It just may motivate you to try one of the first four steps.

What’s your plan to make it through the rest of winter and what’s one proactive step above you can easily take to give you a late winter kick start and banish those doldrums?

While clean eating may not be cheap, it can actually be moderately priced, and a lot less expensive than the Standard American Diet so many people in this country readily consume full of too much sugar, salt and preservatives.  Not to mention that a bit of investment in healthier foods goes a long way to protecting your health in the future. I talked about just this topic on my friend ChaChanna Simpson’s radio show a few weeks ago as we made sense of healthy and moderately priced eating for twenty-somethings.

The key is to marry consistent meal planning, week after week, with more clean foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains.  Trust me when I tell you that clean eating doesn’t have to break the bank.  In fact, to prove my point, let me share how inexpensive it was to make one of my favorite dishes — quinoa southwestern stew.

Quinoa is a grain from South America that’s high in protein, quick cooking and gluten-free. I married this with the other ingredients in the recipe and ended up with a dish that made eight servings.

Here’s a rough breakdown of the main ingredients and their cost:

Onions – 1.00
Quinoa – 1.50
Organic chicken broth – 1.50 for quart (thanks to BJ’s Warehouse)
Can of organic black beans – 1.79 (and no added sodium)
Can of organic tomatoes – 1.50 (also from BJ’s)
Frozen, Organic butternut squash – 3.69
Frozen corn – 1.00
Organic ground turkey – 9.00
Fresh cilantro – .75

The total was just under $22.00.  And you can see I used high quality turkey so that added about an extra 5.00 over what I’d find in my big box grocery store but it’s worth it for the added quality.

Here’s the key to clean eating being reasonably priced — the total cost per serving was a whopping $2.71!  I don’t know about you, but I don’t know anywhere you can go and find a healthy dish with high quality ingredients, not loaded with sodium and/or sugar, for this price.  To me, this speaks volumes to the power of meal planning, fresh ingredients and some foresight to create clean eating meals that don’t break the bank.

My husband and I have been taking this for lunch this week and the combination of the hearty stew along with a salad of fresh greens means that we’re spending roughly $3.50 each per day. That is a bargain! Where we live,  you can’t buy a decent lunch for less than $7-$8 so we are actually saving money, not to mention supporting better health.

What are you thoughts on the cost of clean eating? Is it too expensive or do you simply need to become a better meal planner and find creative ways to cook at home that can help you save and improve your health?

In our house, my husband and I do a pretty good job of eating clean most of  the time. Honestly, it’s hard to do it perfectly every day, but that’s really not the point. We use the 80-20 rule although I’m always trying to inch toward the 90-10 rule — 90% of the time we eat clean.  In the end, it’s about adopting a clean eating lifestyle that you can maintain and that’s something that can evolve over time.

Here’s a super simple and tasty recipe that’s all about being clean, light and healthy.  Made with brown rice and black beans, it contains complex carbohydrates to keep you energized, is low in fat and is flavorful. By using locally grown produce in it (like cilantro I’m growing in the backyard, and tomatoes), it has even more flavor.  And if you find brown rice to be a little heavy, you can make it taste just as good by using quinoa instead.

Brown Rice and Black Bean Salad

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

½ tsp. salt
1 cup organic brown rice
2 cups water
1 cup chopped tomato
½ cup finely chopped green bell pepper
½ cup finely chopped onion
2 tbsp. Fresh lime juice
2 tbsp. White wine vinegar
2 tbsp. Olive oil
¼ cup finely chopped cilantro
15 oz. can black beans, rinsed well in a colander and well drained

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan bring water to boil with salt and. Add rice, cover and cook for 40-50 minutes or until all water is absorbed. Rinse rice is a sieve under cold water and drain it well. 
2. In a bowl, stir together the tomato, bell pepper, onion, vinegar, lime juice, olive oil and cilantro.  Add the beans, rice and salt and pepper to taste and stir salad until it is combined well.

What’s your favorite way to make a summer salad that’s light and clean and will keep you energized? What have you done lately to practice clean eating that prevents disease, helps you manage your weight and is loaded with all the right nutrients?

I’ve been having fun experimenting with quinoa in the last few months. Recently, I added it to one of my favorite Real Simple recipes, bean and sausage stew. It makes for a hardy one pot meal but with minimal effort and so much flavor.

I also like that quinoa works as a breakfast pooridge, part of a main dish or a healthy side dish. Check out this week’s video tip on adding pesto to quinoa — a great accompaniment to almost any meal.  I talked about this specific recipe a while back, so fast and easy. Now you can see just how easy it is in the video.

Do you have a favorite quinoa recipe? How do you like to prepare it? Another of my favorites is this delicious quinoa stew. Enjoy!

That’s what happened today and the recipe is so tasty that I’m excited to share it with you. Last week, I wrote about a new cookbook that I recently bought called Whole Grains for Busy People. Just flipping through briefly, I saw a host of recipes that I was eager to make and this week I planned our meals so I could build in the quinoa stew.

But since my husband Bruce doesn’t like spicy food, since I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand and since some of the ingredients are things I don’t readily buy, I whipped up my own version (and to rave reviews I might add).

This is the first time I’ve made a stew with quinoa and all I can say is yum yum.  Even though I use it all kinds of other ways, adding it in this way is simply delicious. I also love Trader Joe’s roasted corn and Muir Glen’s organic fire roasted tomatoes which both added to the rich flavor.

Best part? The recipe is quick, easy and super healthy. Know what else? You can get lots of meals from it. A little time in the kitchen yields great results.  Check it out and give it a try.  It’s adapted from Whole Grains for Busy People by Lorna Sass.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp cumin
1 quart chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup quinoa
1 package frozen cooked winter squash
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup Trader Joe’s fire roasted corn
1 can Muir Glen organic, fire-roasted tomatoes
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

In soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion and oregano and saute for 5-7 minutes until soft.

Add the broth and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and add the quinoa. Cook uncovered on medium high heat for 10 minutes.

Stir in the squash, cover and simmer until squash breaks up.

Add the beans, tomatoes, corn and cumin, reduce the heat to medium and cook for about another 5 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

Give it a try and come on back and tell us what you think.

Quinoa originates from South America and has gained popularity here in the US over the last several years.  Rich in protein yet low in calories, it has a fluffy texture and slightly nutty flavor and pairs well with a whole range of other flavors. It’s a great way to vary your routine and take a break from so much animal-based protein.  And because I’m super sensitive to wheat, it’s ideal for me.

Here’s the recipe for one of my favorite quinoa dishes that my friend Ameet turned me on to. If you like Middle Eastern tabouli made with bulgar wheat, you’ll love this. It has all the flavors but the quinoa makes it much lighter.  I usually make a batch on Sundays and my husband and I enjoy it during the week, sometimes even for breakfast, like today!

Quinoa Tabouli Recipe
Makes 4 servings

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
1/4 cup lemon juice
extra virgin olive oil

Combine quinoa and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil, then let simmer, covered over medium heat for 15 minutes until most of water has been absorbed and quinoa is tender. Remove lid, stir once, and continue to simmer until all water is evaporated. Cool. Stir in parsley, tomatoes, lemon juice and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Don’t forget the hummus!

What’s your favorite way to enjoy quinoa? Do tell and share your favorite recipe!