Tuesday, October 25, 2016

BEST Paleo Bread EVER

I have been experimenting a lot with Pinterest recipes since I've started clean eating and to say it's been hit or miss is a bit of an understatement. Most of my attempts have turned out okay and just need some tweaking, but this bread.... dear lawd, this bread is really freakin' perfect. It's like real bread!

First of all, I'm not gonna lie, coconut flour tastes like sand. Add it to a liquid and it tastes like wet sand. Pretty much every recipe I've tried with coconut flour I've ended up throwing away. So when I saw that this was made with coconut flour, I was not hopeful. But I figured, what the hell?! And I'm so glad I did.

As I was preparing it, I will admit, I was doubtful. I wanted to take pictures of me making it, but it was a little bit of a shit show and my kitchen looked like a battle scene. It wasn't incredibly complicated per se, but it required three different bowls, and a boat load of utensils (or maybe that's just me). I made a mess and looking at the consistency of the batter, I was ready for another Pinterest failure. But alas, I was wrong! This bread is freakin' fantastic. So thank you to the genius who dreamt this up - I will certainly be making it again.

The only thing is that most of the ingredients are super easy to find, which I always love. I am turned off when a recipe includes some crazy rare ingredient that no one has ever heard of and needs to be ordered online or something. The only one that may take a little bit of looking is "Arrowroot Starch/Flour." I found it pretty easily as my local larder and I think you can get it easily at the grocery store, but personally, I've never looked for it there. So I hope that's true. Or else I'd understand your reticence to try it.

Click here to be redirected to the recipe's site. I wanted to be sure to give credit where credit is due. So thank you "My Natural Family" for the great recipe!
If you try it, let me know how it turns out for you!

Sunday, October 9, 2016

Clean Eating - Grapefruit Avocado Salad

I don't know how I feel about Grapefruit. I've never been keen on it. If you were to watch me eat it, you'd think I was being forced at gun point. I make faces and swallow dramatically, and then think "Huh... that's not so bad," stick another bite into my mouth, and BAM crazy face again.

But it boasts such great health benefits that I decided that I was going to like it come hell or high water. Basically, I don't love eating it plain. This much I have discovered. But in recipes, I'm kind of a BIG fan. This is my latest creation and I, not only ate it in record time,  but was tempted to make myself another heaping bowl! It is crazy delicious. Is super refreshing. And is really healthy! Does it get any better than that?! 


Grapefruit Avocado Salad

(Portions are adjustable. Depends on how much you want to make and for how many people. These are the measurements I use for a single meal-sized serving.)

3/4 c. grapefruit slices (I cut them into 1" pieces) And I use Del Monte Grapefuit slices No Sugar Added (Don't use the juice)
1/2 avocado (cut into cubes)
1.5 tbs chopped fresh mint
1-2 tbs crumbled goat cheese
2 tbs pignoli nuts (or any kind of nuts really. Walnuts would be yummy!)
3 oz of protein - I use grilled chicken but I feel like grilled shrimp would be pretty great in this too!
1 tbs of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Squeeze of lemon
Pinch of salt (Can be omitted if you are watching your sodium intake)

Suuuuuper simple instructions. 
Just cut up all of the ingredients into bite-size pieces. Put into a bowl and dress lightly with the EVOO, squeeze of lemon juice, and pinch of salt. Mix well and then chow down! 

Let me know how you like it in the comments below! Bon Appétit!

Clean Eating - My New Weapon in my Battle

A month ago I went to the doctor and received some news that kind of rocked my world. Now in the grand scheme of things, it isn't the worst. Not anything life-threatening or devastating. But to me, it was pretty upsetting. After battling with my weight my entire life, and continuing to battle every single day, the doctor informed me that the medicine that they had put me on caused me to gain 15 pounds in only a three month period. I kind of had a meltdown. After losing 100 pounds about five years ago, I've slowly been creeping up and then plateauing and then up a few pounds, in spite of the fact that I work out most days a week and watch what I eat. Then add in this new medicine and I am not happy with where I find myself today.

So that day, after bawling my eyes out on my way home from the doctor, I decided I was going to try to eat clean. No more sugar. No soda. No bread. No pasta. No alcohol. Nothing processed. At all. And for the past month, I have been militant and borderline obsessive about sticking with it. No cheats at all. I go to the gym 4-5 times a week and have been incorporating strength training into my usual cardio routine. I'm taking my vitamins. I'm doing everything I am supposed to do.

I've been too afraid to get on the scale to see the progress so far. Because if it has gone up, in spite of this drastic change, I don't know what I'll do. But I've been keeping my measurements and they've stayed about the same.

I'm not going to allow myself to become discouraged. This stuff takes time and I am looking at my clean eating lifestyle as a challenge, almost like a game. How can I make awesome delicious choices from only these ingredients? How can I transform my (old) favorite things to eat into clean recipes? I think the challenge has made me want to stick with it. Plus, I am excited about how I don't really miss a lot of what I used to eat. The first few weeks were tough, but now, I don't crave sugar or soda. Not gonna lie, I miss bread though. I have an Oprah-style love for bread. But I just have to mentally tell myself that it's not worth it. It's not worth undoing all of the good that I've worked so hard to do.

The hardest part is going out or being social while on this kind of diet. Everyone wants to "meet up for a drink" or "grab dinner," both of which are very hard to do when you have no control over how things are prepared. It's all good, and it's the price I have to pay until I figure this all out. I am focused. And I need to get back on track. So if this is the way to do it, then I am going to do whatever it takes to get back where I want and need to be.