Weekly Clean Eats Cheat Sheet :-)!

It's time to clean it up y'all. And I'm not talking about your bathroom or a barbell at the gym, I'm talking about your diet. Through trial and error and feeding myself all kinds of different foods this is the weekly eating template that I've discovered works best for ME. My biggest problem has always been lack of planning when it comes to food. 10 hour work day and no prepared food? Okay I'll just hit the chicfila drive thru and grab something fast. And then feel like crap afterwards. Crap.

So this is what works for ME. It keeps me  honest and fueled with clean, healthy food. I lift heavy weights and do some kind of metabolic conditioning 3-5 days a week (aka, I do crossfit) so I need food that keeps me fueled for heavy workouts and feeds tired muscles post sweat sesh.

I encourage you to find what works for you! It may not be this exact plan, but concentrate on whole real foods- read ingredient lists on EVERYTHING. It's insane the crazy ingredients they put into our food these days. If there's an ingredient listed that you don't recognize, pull out your phone and google it. We live in a time with far too much technology for ignorance to be an excuse. 

You may have noticed this is for Monday- Friday. On Saturday and Sunday I eat tuna dip and drink wine, and last weekend I had a bacon cheeseburger that was heavenly. That keeps me sane. You could totally do this 7 days a week if you wanted to though. I don't eat a ton of fruit. It's high in sugar. I try to stay low in sugar. That's a personal decision for everyone. Again, I strongly encourage you to educate yourself on what you are putting into your body and how it affects you.

Some notes: I use Bob's Red Mill gluten-free oats, microwaved with 1/2 c unsweetened almond milk and 1/2 mashed banana and a sprinkle of cinnamon. 

I "hard boil" a bunch of eggs on Sunday and eat them throughout the week. This is the easiest way to prep them: http://unbearablygood.blogspot.com/2012/05/easiest-hard-boiled-eggs-in-oven.html

For my balsamic dressing I just mix together 3 parts evoo to 1 part balsamic vinegar, a squirt of Dijon mustard and some salt & pepper. I put this on my salads and my veggies. This is another great, clean option: http://unbearablygood.blogspot.com/2012/10/easy-mustard-vinaigrette.html
I give options for different types of protein at different meals. Eat what you like. That's clean of course & reasonable. Applegate farms turkey slices are excellent, and pretty much everything else they make if you can find them. Chicken breasts, thighs, tenderloins all great. You can do cuts of fish, shrimp, eggs, Aidell's makes great clean chicken sausages & meatballs. Bunless burgers are a great change-up, my husband eats lots of steak (I'm just not particularly a steak fan) you could do that too. Change it up, don't get bored that will keep you going!

I get the big frozen bags of broccoli that you can steam in the microwave. Easy & fast. You can sub cauliflower or any veggie that you love. When buying frozen veggies ALWAYS READ THE LABELS. They sneak very unnecessary ingredients into some of those veggies. The label should read: broccoli. Nada else. 
For my servings of chicken we grill up a bunch on Sunday/Monday and use it throughout the week. This is my fave marinade: http://unbearablygood.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-very-best-everything-marinade.html

Post workout & in my protein pancakes I use this paleo protein and unsweetened almond milk:

We find the protein at GNC. I like the triple chocolate post workout and the almond vanilla in protein pancakes (recipe below the table). Again, when you're buying protein powder READ THE LABELS :-)

For my sweet potatoes: I clean them and dice them into wedges, coat them all liberally with olive oil, season with salt & pepper and roast in a 375 degree oven for 30-45 min or until crispy. For a serving I eat about 3/4 cup of the wedges. You could just bake or microwave a bunch of sweet potatoes and eat those as well. I like to have as much pre-prepared for grab & go meals as possible.

The meal #6 of cottage cheese/ Greek yogurt & jam is the night time treat meal. Also cottage cheese & Greek yogurt contain casein which helps rebuild your muscles while you're sleeping.

****always drink lots of water! I have a cup of coffee in the morning and usually a cup or 2 of hot, unsweetened tea throughout the day. Beyond that, I just drink water. Lots of it. Hydration is key!

Also I try to avoid alcohol during the week. It's just not conducive to a healthy, clean eating lifestyle. Save it for the weekend friends!

Meal	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
1	½ C GF oatmeal, 2 eggs (however you like them!) ½ banana or your choice ½ fruit -OR- Protein Pancakes	2 Egg omelet with 2 Cups your choice veggies. I like peppers, spinach, broccoli. Top with 4 Tbs Salsa or 2 Tbs shredded cheese	½ C GF oatmeal, 2 eggs (however you like them!) ½ banana or your choice ½ fruit -OR- Protein Pancakes	2 Egg omelet with 2 Cups your choice veggies. I like peppers, spinach, broccoli. Top with 4 Tbs Salsa or 2 Tbs shredded cheese	½ C GF oatmeal, 2 eggs (however you like them!) ½ banana or your choice ½ fruit -OR- Protein Pancakes
2	1 hardboiled egg (or 1 clean sausage or 3 slices turkey- a small serving of protein!) & a small handful of unsalted almonds (or choice of nut)	1 Banana or choice of 1 serving of fruit & small handful of unsalted almonds or choice of nut!	1 hardboiled egg (or 1 clean sausage or 3 slices turkey- a small serving of protein!) & a small handful of unsalted almonds (or choice of nut)	1 Banana or choice of 1 serving of fruit & small handful of unsalted almonds or choice of nut!	1 hardboiled egg (or 1 clean sausage or 3 slices turkey- a small serving of protein!) & a small handful of unsalted almonds (or choice of nut)
3	Salad with 6 oz chicken (or choice of protein: turkey, tuna, etc), 2 cups lettuce (I like Spring Mix), small diced tomato, 1 diced hardboiled egg, ½ avocado, & balsamic vinaigrette	6 oz chicken (or choice of protein) 1 cup cooked broccoli (or cauliflower), & 1 small sweet potato (I like to top my chicken & broccoli with balsamic vinaigrette!)	Salad with 6 oz chicken (or choice of protein: turkey, tuna, etc), 2 cups lettuce (I like Spring Mix), small diced tomato, 1 diced hardboiled egg, ½ avocado, & balsamic vinaigrette	6 oz chicken (or choice of protein) 1 cup cooked broccoli (or cauliflower), & 1 small sweet potato (I like to top my chicken & broccoli with balsamic vinaigrette!)	Salad with 6 oz chicken (or choice of protein: turkey, tuna, etc), 2 cups lettuce (I like Spring Mix), small diced tomato, 1 diced hardboiled egg, ½ avocado, & balsamic vinaigrette
4	1 scoop protein powder, 8 oz unsweetened almond milk **workout days only, post workout shake. If not a workout day sub 1 hardboiled egg (or small serving protein) & string cheese	1 scoop protein powder, 8 oz unsweetened almond milk **workout days only, post workout shake. If not a workout day sub 1 hardboiled egg (or small serving protein) & string cheese	1 scoop protein powder, 8 oz unsweetened almond milk **workout days only, post workout shake. If not a workout day sub 1 hardboiled egg (or small serving protein) & string cheese	1 scoop protein powder, 8 oz unsweetened almond milk **workout days only, post workout shake. If not a workout day sub 1 hardboiled egg (or small serving protein) & string cheese	1 scoop protein powder, 8 oz unsweetened almond milk **workout days only, post workout shake. If not a workout day sub 1 hardboiled egg (or small serving protein) & string cheese
5	6 oz chicken (or fish or choice protein) 1 Cup cooked broccoli 1 Small Sweet Potato	6 oz. Fish (or choice protein) 2 Cups choice of cooked veggies	6 oz chicken (or fish or choice protein) 1 Cup cooked broccoli 1 Small Sweet Potato	6 oz. Fish (or choice protein) 2 Cups choice of cooked veggies	6 oz chicken (or fish or choice protein) 1 Cup cooked broccoli 1 Small Sweet Potato
6	½ Cup cottage cheese or unflavored., unsweetened Greek Yogurt with 1 Tbs All Fruit Jam ( I like Polaner) mixed in	½ Cup cottage cheese or unflavored., unsweetened Greek Yogurt with 1 Tbs All Fruit Jam ( I like Polaner) mixed in	½ Cup cottage cheese or unflavored., unsweetened Greek Yogurt with 1 Tbs All Fruit Jam ( I like Polaner) mixed in	½ Cup cottage cheese or unflavored., unsweetened Greek Yogurt with 1 Tbs All Fruit Jam ( I like Polaner) mixed in	½ Cup cottage cheese or unflavored., unsweetened Greek Yogurt with 1 Tbs All Fruit Jam ( I like Polaner) mixed in

Protein Pancakes Recipe:

These are a quick morning fix that are high in protein, low in carbs and will fuel you all morning long. Also, they're freaking delicious. You can eat them plain on the run, top with a smidge of almond butter or real butter or a small amount of 100% pure maple syrup. 

Ingredients: 

1/2 banana (the riper, the sweeter your pancakes will be)

1 Egg

1 Scoop Protein Powder (I Like Vanilla- Almond "Paleo Protein)

2 Tbs unsweetened almond milk

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 Tbs Ground Flax Seed (or meal)

Mash your banana in a bowl, whisk in your egg, protein powder, milk, Cinnamon, & flax seed until well mixed. Heat a skillet on medium- high heat and melt some real butter in the pan, cook in small batches, 1-2 minutes on each side. Enjoy!

SO that's all I've got for now. I'm sure I missed some stuff. Ask away! Let's do this y'all. Let's clean up our diets and do work in the gym :-)

Sunday Supper- Spaghetti Squash!

Happy Sunday friends! Did y'all have a good weekend? I did, but I feel like it was far too short! How can the 5 week days feel so incredibly long and the 2 weekend days just fly right by?!

Have you ever had spaghetti squash before? When I began to really start educating myself on what I eat and how the food I put into my body affects me, I quickly understood that standard noodles just weren't doing anything for me. Well, anything good anyway. I grew up a pasta girl, and I really like pasta! Spaghetti noodles with a hearty meat sauce & a good sprinkle of Parmesan cheese is one of my favorite meals. So when I decided to cut processed grains from my diet (or at least try to avoid them most of the time) I really hoped to find a good replacement for my beloved pasta dish. Spaghetti squash came up quite a bit on recipe blogs, in recipe books, and in any general Pinterest search. I was extremely skeptical, squash instead of noodles? Eh, I don't know about that. But it works. It really does. The great thing about spaghetti squash is that the taste is extremely mild, like a plain noodle would be, so when topped with a hearty meat sauce you almost forget that you're eating super healthy squash & not pasta! :-) And my husband LOVES this dish. He asks for it all the time, our grocery store does not always carry spaghetti squash in store and he's always super sad when I tell him no spaghetti squash that week.

Bonus, aside from the task of chopping the squash up this recipe is EXTREMELY EASY. We love that. Make sure you use a sharp knife and you'll need a little arm power- these gourds can be a bit tough to cut through but the work is worth it! 

Ingredients:

1 large or 2 small spaghetti squashes

Olive oil 

Salt & pepper to taste

Your favorite spaghetti sauce, I used organic ground beef & bottled Glen Muir tomato sauce

Step 1: preheat oven to 375 degrees. I generally use 1 large spaghetti squash but I couldn't find a good one today, so I went with these 2 smaller guys.

Step 2: cut off the tops and bottoms of the squashes:

Step 3: cut the squash in half longways like so:

Step 4: scoop out the seeds & pulp & throw those bad boys away:

Step 5: line a baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy cleanup. Liberally coat both sides of the squash with olive oil. I just use my hands to make sure the oil gets in every nook & cranny.

Step 6: season rind side of squash liberally with salt & pepper.

Step 7: roast rind side DOWN for 30-40 minutes.

Step 8: while your squash is roasting go ahead and make your fave sauce. All I do is brown a lb of ground beef and then add a jar of spaghetti sauce:

Step 9: when your squash halves are done roasting it's time to scrape out your "noodles"! Place a squash half in an oven mitted hand, using a fork just scrape out the insides into a bowl.

 The squash will come out very easily and look a little like this:

Top with your favorite meat sauce or butter & cheese or whatever you think sounds good!

Enjoy!

Spinach & Beef Stuffed Sweet Potatoes!

Good afternoon friends :) How's everybody's Monday going? Good I hope :) We have been super crazy busy over here, I've been meaning to post this recipe for about a week now but life just got the best of me! It's GOOD crazy busy though! My husband found out last week that he passed his promotion test and I am now a proud wife of a Staff Sergeant in the United States Air Force!

My hubby (on the right) accepting his promotion! Whoo!

How cute is he?! Proud wifey over here! Plus I've been super busy painting pretty little things for my shop, you can keep up with those things over at Brittany's Beachy Chic Creations!

So I've decided to set myself a little blogging schedule to keep me on track here and with my other projects as well! Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays will bring new blog posts. Mondays will be "New Meal Mondays" - a new recipe, Wednesdays will be "What I'm Working on Wednesday" and I'll share the details of my latest DIY projects, and Friday will just be whatever I feel like sharing. I've even set little reminders on my phone, it's gonna ring at noon Mon, Wed, & Fri and tell me to get my butt blogging. Done & Done. 

Alright so I swear this blog post is actually about a stuffed sweet potato. 

If you know anything about my husband and I at all you know that we are OBSESSED with sweet potatoes. We probably eat them with dinner at least 4 times a week. Excessive? Maybe. But they taste great, they're super good for you, and they're so simple to cook! The brilliance of this whole meal is that it comes together lickety split and the flavors just taste good together. And it's REALLY SUPER GOOD FOR YOU! I love this meal post workout because I can just throw the sweet potatoes in the oven to bake while I'm in the shower and then cook up the beef and spinach when I get out and throw them together quickly. Done. Delicious. :)

Ingredients:
2 Large Sweet Potatoes 
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil (divided)
1 LB. Lean Ground Beef
2 tsp. Seasoned Salt
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Onion Powder
1/2 tsp. Ground Black Pepper
3 Cups Baby Spinach
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
Salt & Pepper to taste

Step 1: Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake your sweet potatoes about 45 minutes or until they're cooked through, this will depend on the size your potatoes! You can also microwave first to speed up the process:) 

Step 2: In a large skillet heat 1 Tbsp olive oil, add ground beef and cook through. Add seasoned salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper and mix well. Drain beef and set aside.

Step 3: In same skillet heat 1 more Tbsp olive oil and add spinach. Season with garlic powder, salt, & pepper and cook until wilted.

Step 4: Set up a little mixing station with your spinach, beef, and potatoes.

Step 5: Cut open sweet potato and flatten with a fork to make lot of space for stuffing. 

Step 6: Top sweet potato with half of the spinach mixture.

Step 7: Top with ground beef mixture.

Step 8: Use your fork to mix the sweet potato, spinach, and beef all together so you get a little bit of everything in every bite!

ENJOY :)

3 Ingredient Amazingly Easy Chicken

Good afternoon friends! Sorry I've been so M.I.A lately, I've been busy like a bee! Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Busy is good though so I'm not gonna complain. I've showed y'all a few of my fun furniture projects in the past, and I was finally encouraged to turn those projects into a little business! I started "Brittany's Beachy Chic Creations" and you can check them out here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brittanys-Beachy-Chic-Creations/131417927037113. I've had so much fun doing this and it's really exciting when people love something that's so personal to you. AND I even have a new chicken recipe for ya today. WHOOP WHOOP! This chicken is awesome. And it might be the easiest thing you've ever made. Like, ever. Here's what's involved: 

And a little salt & pepper. Yep, that's it. No marinating, no real prep just a little sauce and bake those chickens up. This is perfect for after a workout when I get home and I'm exhausted and starving, I don't want to exert any real effort but I want to stuff my face with clean protein. Wham bam thank you ma'am. Don't believe the deliciousness I'm promising? I got the recipe here: http://rachelschultz.com/2012/07/11/worlds-best-chicken/ and she calls it the "WORLD'S BEST CHICKEN". I don't know if I think it's totally the "world's best", but it's DEFINITELY the best thing that's ever happened in so little time. 

Oh and one more note, I've tried this recipe with 3 different versions of mustard. The BEST one is with Gulden's Spicy Brown Mustard. I don't know why but when I used yellow mustard and sweet- hot mustard the chicken just wasn't that good. So make sure it's Gulden's or something exactly like it... 

Ingredients:
1 Package Chicken Breasts (I use the "sliced thin" kind because they cook faster) 
1/2 Cup Spicy Brown Mustard
1/4 Cup 100% Maple Syrup
1 Tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar
Salt & Pepper

Step 1: Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a pan with aluminum foil. In a small bowl whisk together mustard, syrup, and vinegar. 

Step 2: Salt & pepper you chicken breasts liberally.

Step 3: Place your chicken in a ziploc bag and pour your sauce over to coat completely. I let my chicken hang out in the sauce while I'm prepping the side dish, but you can skip and go ahead and bake them if you want- I just like to let them soak up all the flavor they can.

Step 4: Place your chicken in an even row on a baking sheet and pour any excess sauce over top. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (this will depend on the thickness of your chicken!)

Enjoy!

Paleo Cinnamon Roll Pancakes!

Today, we're talking pancakes. I LOVE pancakes. They're quick, easy, and delicious. I love these pancakes because they taste like a cinnamon roll, minus the sugar crash and guilty feeling afterward. Also they make your whole house smell like cinammon-y heaven. Score.

I added some chopped walnuts to this batch because I like nutty pancakes, but you can totally skip those and achieve the same cinnamon roll goodness. Make sure to top with 100% maple syrup (none of that fake high fructose stuff!) and some protein on the side. Perfect Saturday morning breakfast for the whole family! 

Ingredients:
4 Eggs
1 Cup Almond Milk
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 Tbsp Honey
1/2 Cup Coconut Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 Cup Chopped Walnuts (optional)
2 Tbsp. Butter or Coconut Oil

Step 1: Whisk your eggs together for a couple of minutes until bright yellow and frothy. We wanna incorporate air to keep the pancakes light & fluffy!

Step 2: Add almond milk, vanilla, honey, coconut flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt to your eggs and whisk together until combined.

Step 3: If you're adding nuts fold them into your batter now.

Step 4: Warm a non-stick skillet or griddle on medium-high heat and melt butter or coconut oil on the skillet.

I used fresh grass-fed butter for super cinnamon roll-y taste!

Step 5: Ladle batter by about 1/4 cup onto skillet to form pancakes. Let cook 1-2 minutes until browned around the edges and bubbling, then flip and cook through.

Stack high, pour on some maple syrup & enjoy! Yum!

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken!

Good afternoon friends! How is everyone's February going? We just had about 4 days of rain, storms, and cold weather- then today it's sunny, beautiful, and about 70 degrees. Gotta love Florida weather. I'm just so grateful for the sunshine today! The constant rain was making me so lazy! It's just hard to feel productive when the view outside is so dreary. Slow cooker meals are my fave for a rainy day, because they do all the work for you! So you can grab your snuggie and your puppy (or kitty) and catch up on your DVR. Or you know do something productive if you're more motivated than I. 

I saw a recipe on Pinterest a couple of weeks ago for a crockpot salsa chicken, and it sounded so yummy! The only issue I had with it was that it included cream of chicken soup and some other kinda sketch ingredients. So I said to myself, let's clean this up a bit and make a meal out of it. Turns out Chicken + Organic salsa + Rotel + slow cooker= DELICIOUSNESS. You don't need anything else. If you want to make it even CLEANER, in place of the salsa and rotel just chop some tomatoes, peppers, and onions. That's essentially what's in there anyways. Make sure to add some seasoning too, of course. 

Ingredients:
About 2-3 Chicken Breasts
1 Jar Your Fave Salsa
1 Can Rotel (Tomatoes & Chiles)
1 Tbsp. Taco Seasoning (mine is here)

Step 1: Place your chicken in the crock of your slow cooker in an even layer.

Step 2: Pour the salsa and rotel over the chicken and top with the taco seasoning.

Step 3: Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.

Step 4: Pull your chicken breasts out and shred with 2 forks, OR if you have a stand mixer toss your chicken in the bowl and use the paddle attachment on 1 or 2 for 30 seconds to get the perfect shred with zero work. (TOLD YOU I WAS LAZY!)

Perfectly shredded chicken, every time!

Step 5: Put your shredded chicken back into the salsa sauce and stir to coat completely. Put slow cooker on "warm" and let the chicken soak up the sauce while you set up your taco bar. Or salad bar. Or however you wanna eat this chicken...

Our Taco Bar! Avocado, shredded cheese, sour cream, & Lettuce

ENJOY! We used low-carb tortillas to make to make tacos, but this chicken is great over a salad or wrapped up in lettuce for a carb-less taco! Yum!