Clean Eating
/
With school back in session for all of us, I am becoming a domestically disorganized mess. Once an expert grocery shopper and menu planner, I seem to have no time or energy to commit to a routine which makes for a lot of rotting produce, last minute burrito runs, and consequently too tight jeans. This will not do. I finally sat down and made a plan over the weekend and we now have a refrigerator full of groceries intended for meals, healthy dinner plans, and a schedule (practices, classes, late work nights). Part of my reinstated food-planning routine will involve clean eating. This sounds like a Whole Foods trend, and it kind of is, but I really love the concept which is basically eating whole, simple foods, using locally sourced produce, humanely raised lean meats, exercising a little portion control and drinking lots of water (something I am prone not to do). A really easy way to make this eating style easy is to make a lot of whole grains, lentils and beans ahead of time. I've talked about freezing quinoa and brown rice before. They can be used as the anchor for so many meals, including breakfast, and having them ready to put into a bowl makes last minute meals really easy. I also like to make things that involve only quick chopping and sauteing. For a little added protein, poach an egg and add it on top of almost anything, it takes 5 minutes. All of the meals listed below really only take 20-30 minutes to prepare if you have the grains pre-made. Here's our menu plan for this week, including my recipe for a tasty macro bowl- a healthy way to start the week that I dork up by calling "Macro Mondays".
Sunday Night (1 hour) Make 10 cups of cooked quinoa, 10 cups of cooked brown rice, simmer black lentils, pack it all up for the week.
Monday: Kabocha Squash Macro Bowls
Tuesday: Avocado, Mango, Fresh Corn and Black Beans with Brown Rice and Pico De Gallo
Wednesday: Baby Bok Choy, Mushrooms, and Tofu with Brown Rice
Thursday:
Quinoa Salad with Zucchini, Mint, and Pistachios
Friday: Homemade Pizza with fresh basil, tomatoes, and goat cheese.
For snacks try
,
apples and peanut butter, hummus and carrots
, and stick with water, coconut water and almond milk for drinks (except for half and half, that's got to go in the coffee).
For Lunch eat smaller bowls of leftovers with added fresh greens and eat fresh fruit.
Here' the recipe. I found the basis for this meal and an explanation of macrobiotic eating from one of my favorite blogs
. Check out her recipes, they are amazing.
Autumn Macro Bowl
serves 2
1 small Kabocha Squash
2 cup cooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups cooked black lentils, salted
1/2 cup sauerkraut (or other fermented veggies, raw)
8 cups baby kale
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
spicy nori, cut into 1" pieces
1 tbsp ponzu or low sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp maple syrup
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Cut squash in half, crosswise, and scoop out seeds. Cut into 6 wedges, place in a baking dish, fill the bottom with an inch of water. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and drizzle with maple syrup. Tent with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
While the squash is baking, prepare the kale and onions. Heat olive oil over medium flame in a saute pan. Add onions, stirring until translucent, add kale in batches, drizzling water and ponzu sauce on the leaves to allow to wilt.
Assemble the bowl:
1 cup quinoa
3/4 cup lentils
1 cup wilted kale
1/4 cup sauerkraut
1 sheet spicy nori
2 tbsp dressing
Drizzle with a simple dressing. I used a goddess style dressing from A House In The Hills in
recipe, where she also tells you how to make delicious lentils.
