Clean Eating Update

It's kind of like clean eating but more limited. How's it going? We are now into week 3.75, and I'd like to say that I've only kind of failed a few times. I had half a bun with a chicken sandwich a while back, I ate some pizza (thin crust), I had some cookies this afternoon, I ate risotto and quiona, I had cheesecake... But, overall not bad. 

I love eggs, but I couldn't eat eggs every morning all month. 15 days in and I caved and pulled out the blender and the protein powder and created shakes. 

I have a pinterest board dedicated to my new food plan. 

So far, the reicpes that I have tried:

#1 #1 #1 --- Roast Beet Chips and Avocado Dip

This is Eric's FAVORITE HEALTHY CHIP RECIPE. 

And he's right. It's delicious. We make this ALL the time. 

The trick is to cut the beet chips thin, even, and let them get nice and crispy. If they are soft when you pull them out of the fridge, they need for heat! 

#2 #2 #2 Roasted Cawliflower and Aged Cheddar Soup.

I've made this THREE times. It's my go to soup. I add chicken or turkey stock to amp up the protein. 

It's delicious and gives me a chance to use my immersion blender.

"Asian Taco Night" - Bikini Rolls

need to chop vegetables really small, I found this really hard to do. Plus, finding rice paper took me forever. I didn't like the peanut dip that I made... nor the mustard soy sauce included in this recipe

it's hard to make food look pretty! 

Roasted Butternut with Rosemary and Balsamic

The link is now broken, but I HATED HATED HATED this. 

I'm not sure if I hate butternut squash or this recipe. 

Red Cabbage with Raisins

Cabbage is interesting. I'll eat it. 

But really, not my favorite ve Sauteed ggie on the plate. I do prefer this recipe over green cabbage recipes. 

Oven Roasted Cabbage

Meh, if I want roasted cabbage, I'd eat brussel sprouts. 

Roast Chickpeas

Love this idea but I haven't figured out how to master the roasting and flavouring. 

I bought some from Superstore, but they are TOO spicy. 

Must keep working on this, because I LOVE snacking, especially now that it's final essay crunch time.

Sweet Potato & PB Dog Treats

Not only will I be beginning my Christmas baking soon for us human types, but also for the dogs in my life. Including my two rotten beasts, and some other family ones. I picked up these super cute baby christmas cookie cutters as well as a bone cutter, and started the search on pinterest and the web. Today, I tried one from Rebecca Ray

I figure that with the buckets of cookies and squares, why not send some delicious home made dog treats home with everyone. 

Sweet Potato and Peanut Butter Dog Treats (adjusted)

2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

2 eggs

2/3 cup canned sweet potato -- serious, right next to corn and beans 

Liquid from the canned sweet potato, just enough to moisten

3 tablespoons peanut butter

Literally, this is easy.

Mix all ingredients until well blended.

Roll out till about 1/2 inch thick. 

Cut out cookies with cookie cutter and bake for about 30ish minutes, about 15-20 minutes for the baby ones. 

Cool and feed to your dogs! 

Daisy LOVES THEM. Caper, I think he's impartial. Daisy is a food pig. She eats anything.

PS. Why is Pinterest not yet a word accepted by spellchecks. 

In My Fridge

here's a sneak peak of whats in my fridge for tonights dinner! Martha Stewarts Hummingbird Cake!

The Secret to Better Waffles

The first Birthday that Eric and I spent together, I received a waffle maker. It was one of those lying in bed the sunday before my birthday debating what to have for breakfast moments, when he had me open his gift for me early. I really think the waffle maker was less a gift for me and more a gift for him. Don't get me wrong, I love waffles, but Eric, he loves waffles more than anything. Take example -- I only eat one, He eats 4, and then some.

My new favorite Salad

My rendetion!

My mom's broccoli salad is one of my absolute favorites. But then my Sorority Sister Marie made this salad for our AGM, and it has now replaced it. She found the recipe on pinterest, and with my dad coming over, I decided it would be the great side dish to the selection of wings I was making. And it was. It was delicous!

It's a take on the traditional broccoli salad, but with pasta! Bowtie noodles to boot!

The recipe can't be found here.

I didn't add nuts, but I should have, and I kinda skimped on the broccoli (it was all I had). Next time more broccoli and add the nuts!

The salad is made a head so the flavors soak and get all great! So I made it before lunch, and Marie had made it the night before, Just add the bacon/nuts last so they don't get soggy!

Pavolova

Perhaps I will share more than one of my recipes with you tonight. For the most part, they all turned out great.

The first, is a recipe for Pavlova.

If you don't know this about me, you now do - I LOVE PAVLOVA. It's sweet, fluffy, light and has sugar, whipped cream, and fresh fruit. These elements are the best part about dessert. If only it was chocolate --- which, would be a great idea! I'll have to try to make a chocolate pavlova.