Clean chicken nuggets?!?! WHA-WHAT?

That's right folks! They are clean, they are healthy, they are low calorie, AND they are SCRUMPTIOUS!! I found them on pinterest (no surprise there) and thanks to eatcleandiet.com, my girlies still get their yummy nuggets and ketchup! I tweaked the recipe ever so slightly, and let me tell you, it was hard to stop at just one! yum! We found a 'clean' ketchup at sprouts, but I bet they'd be delicious with homemade ranch as well. I made a huge batch and stuck them in the freezer to give the kids a quick lunch on those busy days! From the freezer, you can either microwave for about 20 seconds per 4 nuggets or 10 minutes at 350 in your oven!

P.S. they are only 100 calories per 4 nuggets! Eat your heart out Chick-fil-a!!

Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients:
4 organic, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup oat bran
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup coarsely ground almonds
2 tbsp coarsely ground flaxseed
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp organic creole seasoning
1/2 cup water
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
1 tsp fresh garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 400. Combine egg white, water and garlic in a bowl and set aside. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl. Stir well and set aside. Cut chicken into approximately 1 1/2 inch cubes. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Dip chicken in egg mixture, and then into dry mixture. Make sure the nuggets are well coated and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 min. Enjoy!

First Dinner!

I am so excited about this! Our very first Clean dinner was a smashing success! Chicken Pita Pockets with homemade ranch dressing! One word...Yumtastic! It was so easy! The kids were not huge fans of the pita. It kept falling apart, and food CANNOT FALL APART!! We avoided a meltdown by telling our 2 year old daughter, Lorelei, that she could just pick out the insides...big hit!

Chicken Pita Pockets with Homemade Ranch Dressing

Ingredients:
2 organic, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
4 pitas (whole wheat, organic. If there is anything in the label that you can't pronounce, move on)
organic spinach
organic cherry tomatoes
dash of sea salt

put chicken breast in an airtight storage container. sprinkle salt, add olive oil, balsamic vinaigrette, and rosemary. close lid and shake until both pieces are evenly coated. Put in the fridge to marinate for 30 min. or more. (I usually do this when I have a bit of down time during the day that way it's all ready to throw in the pan at dinner time!). Grill chicken breast in a pan or cast iron skillet over medium heat for 10 -12 min. per side. Transfer to cutting board and cut each breast in half and then slice to bite size pieces. set aside
Cut each pita in half and fill with spinach and cherry tomatoes (I like mine cut in quarters). Fill with chicken and add ranch to taste.

Ranch Dressing:
5 tbsp buttermilk
3 tbsp plain greek yogurt
minced garlic
2 stalks green onion
1 sprig of fresh dill (go easy on this herb. it's a strong flavor!)
fresh parsley to taste!

Put all the herbs into food processor and blend until the herbs are finely chopped. Mix with buttermilk and yogurt until well blended and smooth! Easy peesy!

Enjoy!

'Clean' Eating?

One of my favorite pastimes is Pinterest. I love to pin yummy recipes that I might one day have the energy to cook. (this usually never happens) Oh energy! How I miss you! As a mother of 2 toddling daughters, my energy level is extremely low. I'm so tired of being tired! So I stumbled across a recipe for 'clean' Nutella. Is there something wrong with plain 'ol regular Nutella? Is it 'dirty'? So I researched 'clean' eating and came across an amazing blog. www.TheGraciousPantry.com . This blog outlines just about everything you need to know about 'clean' eating. There is even a list of stores where she finds all things clean!

So what is clean eating? Eating clean means saying no to all things processed! When you look at the label on packaged food and see a grocery list of ingredients, mostly with weird scientific names that you can't pronounce, that food is processed. It has chemicals and artificial flavors, refined sugar or High Fructose Corn Syrup (gasp!) and most likely added salt. If you stay along the outside perimeter of the grocery store, you will find all things 'clean'. Fruits and veggies, dairy, meats, and whole grains. The more I read about this kind of lifestyle change, the more angry I got that all my food is loaded with crap! The more I wanted to throw it all out and start over! I wanted to be healthy. 2 kids later and my hot bod is no longer. I craved energy and six pack abs! I found the change that I had no idea I was looking for. There it was....not a diet, not a quick fix, but a whole healthy lifestyle.

So I talked my super supportive, incredibly handsome husband into making the change with me. (not an easy feat due to his ENORMOUS sweet tooth). So we did it. I won't lie, it was a bit expensive to start. We replaced EVERYTHING! Goodbye brand new package of sugar, hello agave nectar and honey. Threw out the all-purpose flour and replaced it with whole wheat flour. I even had to get rid of a couple lbs of prepackaged ground beef. I learned that the USDA is not required to tell you what is in that meat. They usually add all kinds of nasty fats (parts that a butcher would just throw out) and clean it with ammonia so that it can be ready for human consumption! UMM....NO THANK YOU! So now we pick a juicy cut of beef and ask the butcher to grind it right in front of us. They usually don't have a problem with this. If they do, it's time to find a new one!

Although we've just begun, I have tons of energy! We actually started our 'clean' lifestyle in the midst of a a terrible head cold. Even with my clogged sinuses, I have more energy than when I was eating (please don't judge me) spoonfuls of nutella for my afternoon snack. I want the world to join us! Why are we mindlessly eating these terrible foods? Why are we accepting this kind of crap? Don't we deserve better for ourselves? Don't our kids deserve better? So I decided to blog about our journey. I want you to know how easy it is, how delicious it is, and how fun it is! I will track my weight loss, give you great recipes that are both easy and delicious and just keep you posted on how this change is affecting our lovely little life!