Designer Dreaming

A really fresh and fun shoot of Sarah-Jane Clarke (from Sass & Bide) in her natural habitat, brought to us by the wonderfully talented natalie at Tales of Endearment…

http://talesofendearment.com/a-softening-force/

Clean Eating For Bimbo’s – Day 7

Breakfast – Leftover Baked Fruit Muesli

(See Day 6 for Recipe)

Snack – Home made muesli bar with a cup of green tea

(See Day 1 for recipe)

Lunch – San Choy Bow 

San Choy Bow is one of my favourite Chinese dishes to order when we are out for dinner. It is such a treat to be able to eat them for lunch. I used THIS RECIPE  as a base but used minced pork.

Snack –  Carrot Sticks & Tahini Balls

Recipe HERE. Not as clean eating as i have been but if your feeling a bit restricted this is a great way to branch out.

Dinner – Home Made Chicken Soup

Soup is the perfect go-to meal when you are clean eating, easy to make, tastes great and is a lighter meal for eating at night, which is  great if your slimming down.

1 cup cooked Quinoa, 4 cups pre-made HOME MADE CHICKEN STOCK, 1 chicken breast, 1 leek stem; white and light green parts only, washed well and chopped coarsely, 1 stalk celery leaves included, chopped coarsely, 3/4 cup bean sprouts, 1 clove garlic finely chopped,  salt and pepper for seasoning.

Place stock or in soup pot. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, add chicken  bring to a boil again. Reduce heat and let simmer while you prepare vegetables. Add chopped leeks and celery and cook 10 minutes. Added pepper and garlic here. Remove cooked chicken from pot and let cool while soup simmers. Cut chicken into thin strips and return to pot with bean spouts and quinoa. Cook 3 minutes more. Add sea salt and stir. Serve immediately and freeze the rest for later.

Dessert  – Strawberry smoothie

This is a great recipe that fills you up for ages and taste delicious. 1/2 cup Greek yogurt, 2 cups strawberries, 1 banana, 1 mango, 1 T honey, 1 cup crushed ice, sprinkle of Chia seeds.

Clean Eating For Bimbo’s – Day 6

Breakfast – Baked Fruit Oatmeal

I halved THIS recipe, replaced the butter with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and the vanilla extract with raw sugar. Makes waking up worth it.

Snack -Home made muesli bar & Green Tea

(See Day 1 for muesli bar recipe)

Lunch – Leftover Kale and potato Soup

(See Day 5 for recipe)

Snack  – An apple & 1 hard boiled egg

Dinner – Medditeranian Chicken Breast 

Use the recipe HERE with a side of honey carrots!; the simplest, and my favourite, way to cook carrots.

Dessert – Sweet Yogurt

Once you are out of your home made treat (or are just over it and need something different),  try some of your Greek yogurt with honey, cinnamon and banana; one of my favourites. Keep cinnamon in mind as it is a great natural sweetener and has some SURPRISING HEALTH BENEFITS.

Clean Eating For Bimbo’s – Day 5

Breakfast –  Omlette

A hearty, easy and delicious brekky that fills you up for ages! 2 eggs, capsicum, tomato, ricotta cheese, basil, turkey (Use lean white meats and herbs as a great way to make meals even more tasty)

 Snack – Home Made Muesli Bar

(See Day 1 for recipe)

Lunch – Lunch – Spinach, Grape & Sunflower seed salad

 Combine spinach, red grapes: halved, sunflower seeds, and fresh chopped thyme in a large bowl. Drizzle a mixture of 1T vinegar, 1 teaspoons honey,  2  teaspoons of Extra Virgin Olive oil,  1/2 teaspoon seeded mustard &  a pinch of salt and pepper over the top.

Snack – 1 boiled egg & Green Tea

Dinner – Kale, potato & beef soup

See recipe HERE  (NB: I halved the recipe which made 2 servings, I made my own chicken stock (see Day 4 for recipe) added salt to taste and  i removed the beets as i loathe them).

Dessert – Banana Bread

(See Day 1 for recipe)

Clean Eating For Bimbo’s – Day 4

Breakfast – Home Made Meusli

Oat bran, Oats, Sunflower seeds, Almonds (If you havn’t heard about ‘Activating’ your almonds, read HERE), pumpkin seeds, wheatgerm, goji berries & sultanas (feel free to add as many nuts and dried fruits to the mix as you like, go nuts!!!) Then top with berries and raw milk/almond milk/ greek yogurt.

Snack – Home Made Muesli Bar

(See Day 1 for recipe)

Left over Broccoli Fritters

(See Day 3 for recipe)

Snack – carrot sticks with peanut butter & Green tea

Dinner – Stuffed Chicken Breast & Quinoa

For the chicken: I used THIS recipe but replaced the wine with extra HOME MADE CHICKEN STOCK and replaced the milk with HOME MADE ALMOND MILK.

Although i love quinoa i do find it a little bland, i like to make my a little bit zesty….

For the Quinoa: heat 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a deep pot. Add 1/4 cup chopped onion; stirring frequently for 5 minutes, until the onion is soft. Add 1 clove chopped garlic, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, a pinch of salt, 1/2 lime; juiced and zested and 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa. Cook for a minute or so until garlic and cumin is fragrant. Add 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil (if it isn’t already), then turn the heat to medium-low and let it simmer gently for 12-15 minutes or until all of the liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat, stir in 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro and let it sit, covered, for 5 minutes.

Dessert – Flourless Banana Bread

(See Day 1 for recipe)

Clean Eating For Bimbo’s – Day 3

Breakfast – Blueberry Pancakes 

Make these the night before and heat them up in the morning (or even for dessert!), they taste great!

Pop 1 cup ground FLAXSEED, 2 egg whites, 1 cup oatmeal, 1 banana, 1/2 cup greek yogurt & a handful of blueberries –  blend in the blender until smooth. Cook in pan with a dash of  oil (spray cans make it easier to use less oil).

The recipe i derived this from said to add vanilla essence but i replaced that with 1T of unprocessed raw sugar.

Eat with a drizzle of honey.

Snack – Home made muesli Bar

(See Day 1 for recipe)

Lunch – Apple & chicken Salad

1 Sliced apple, 1 cup of spinach leaves, sprinkling of crushed almonds, sprinkling of shaved Parmesan and 1 small breast (or 1 half breast) of grilled sliced chicken. Drizzle some Extra Virgin Olive Oil and a squeeze of lemon over the top.

Snack – Sliced Turkey & Green tea

Dinner –  Broccoli & Corn Fritters

I used THIS recipe but halved and added1/4 cup of corn (Just because i think all fritters should contain corn) and 1/4 cup of almond meal to thicken it up as i found the mixture was a little runny. For someone who hates broccoli this was the ideal way to introduce it to my diet. Makes about 4.

Dessert – Banana Bread 

(see Day 1 for recipe)

Clean Eating For Bimbo’s – Day 2

Breakfast  – Kale milk smoothie

As i was saying, KALE is an amazing source of antioxidants and very high in protein, although it is very strong in taste and a little bitter. This smoothie is full of sweet sweet pineapple to even it out.

Mix 1 cup almond milk (if you are feeling up to it you can make your own like i did HERE), 1 cup kale, 1/2 cup pineapple juice, 1/2 cup diced pineapple, 1 banana and blend. I added  1 T FLAXSEED which is a source of OMEGA 3 and  great for those who don’t eat a lot of fish. Makes 2 medium size glasses  or one very large.

Snack – Home Made Muesli Bar

(See Day 1 for recipe)

Lunch – Left over Carrot & Yogurt Soup

(See Day 1 for recipe)

Snack – 1 Hardboiled egg  & Green Tea

Dinner – Almond Crumbed Lamb   & Sweet Potato Chips

Sweet Potato: Cut half a large sweet potato into thin slices like chips, coat in a dash of Extra Virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon coriander, 1 teaspoon of parsley and lay flat in baking pan. Cook for 10-15 minutes turning to crisp both sides.

Lamb: Pretty easy this one; Put 1/2 cup of almonds in the food processor with 1 clove of garlic, shaved parmesan and freshly ground salt & pepper (If you made your own Almond milk like i did you can use the leftover dried out processed almonds as almond meal (See day 1) Dip 4 lamb chops in 1 egg white before crumbing in crushed almond mixture. When sweet potato is almost ready, cook lamb in an oiled pan for 5-10 mins until golden brown.

Best meal you ever ate.

Dessert – Banana Bread

(See Day 1 for recipe)

Clean Eating For Bimbo’s – Day 1

Breakfast –  Traditional Oats

 Let’s start with something super duper easy, just throw these all in together:

Oatmeal or Oat-bran (they both have their QUALITIES), strawberries, banana, honey, sultanas &  almond milk*. If you prefer you can use raw milk  (Raw milk is the least processed of the dairy based milks but it is sometimes hard to find) or greek yogurt. Sprinkle with CHIA SEEDS.

*I really went all out on the no processing by MAKING MY OWN ALMOND MILK first. It is a lengthy process but cuts out all the sugars, preservatives, chemicals and hardeners. As well as producing almond meal from the left over drained almonds. I then used the homemade almond meal to make a fantastic flour-less banana bread (see below).

Snack – Home Made Muesli Bar

I made this delicious snack in bulk at the start of the week, using the full recipe HERE (NB: I removed the desiccated coconut and replaced it with FLAXSEED, changed the butter to Extra Virgin Olive Oil and the brown sugar to raw sugar. I also added a handful of almonds)

Lunch – Fit Caesar Salad

Chop and mix together 1/2 Avoacdo, 1 cup of kale (KALE is a SUPERFOOD and i use it when ever I can), 1 hardboiled eggs, 2 slices deli ham & 1T crushed walnuts. Top with a mixture of greek yogurt, seeded mustard and lemon juice. Makes 1 serving.

Snack  – Carrot Sticks &  Green Tea

1 carrot cut into sticks dipped in 1T peanut butter* & 1 cup of  Green Tea (Green tea has a whole heap of great BENEFITS as well as plenty of caffeine which for me is very necessary!)

*I like to MAKE MY OWN PEANUT BUTTER by literally just processing unsalted peanuts. I also like to make them a little bit special by adding Chia seeds and sesame seeds after for extra goodness.

Dinner –  Carrot & Yogurt Soup

I merged a few recipes to perfect this carrot soup and ended with great results. One of my favourites, i hope you like it too.

 1 T olive oil, 1/2 brown onion, 2 carrots,  2 cup fat free/less sodium chicken broth (i made my own like THIS), small knob of ginger; grated, 1 teaspoon of  ground turmeric; grated, 1 kaffir lime leaf, 1/2 cup Greek yogurt, pinch of freshly ground salt and pepper to taste.

 Heat oil & onion in a medium pan; cook for 2 minutes or until almost tender, stirring occasionally. Add carrots; cook for  4 minutes. Add broth; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until tender. Add ginger, lime leaf & turmeric, Cook for 8 minutes or until carrots are very tender. Cover and let stand 5 minutes at room temperature.
Pour the carrot mixture in a blender, adding yogurt. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape, placing a tea towel over opening). Blend until smooth. Return pureed soup to pan, add salt & pepper & heat over medium heat for 2 minutes. Makes 2 servings.

Dessert – Homemade Banana Bread

Desserts are the toughest obstacle for me, as i LOVE chocolate, which is hard for me to find a SUBSTITUTE i’m satisfied with.

 I found some great dessert recipes at ‘Clean Eating Magazine‘ and i find the best thing to do is to spend the time to cook up a batch of something you really love and treat yourself to 1 piece per night.

I chose THIS flour-less banana bread as it is a great recipe and feels very naughty when toasted with some butter. Yum! (I made a few small changes to the recipe, i substituted Stevia for raw sugar, substituted the coconut oil for extra virgin olive oil and added 1 teaspoon of cinnamon)

7 Days of Clean Eating For Bimbo’s

Hello fellow heath-goers!!

I want to start by saying i am in no way an expert in clean eating, just someone that enjoys a healthy, active lifestyle and strives to treat her body well to live that life better .

My first interaction with clean eating came in October last year when my mother-in-law told me about the beneficial aspects of Chia seeds. I did some research of my own and  by January, without knowing it, i had started on my own clean eating diet. 1 lost 2.5 kilos in 10 days, unaided and using my very own eating plan. A few weeks later i saw reference to ‘clean eating’ on a friends personal training website and started researching more. The more i looked the less i found(!); ‘clean eating diet plans filled with highly processed, expensive and exotic items.

Just like everyone else i have been through diets-a-plenty, just recently having participated in the ‘I Quit Sugar’ diet. To my frustration i find them all to be difficult to carry on and only ‘short term solutions’. I don’t believe we should deprive our bodies of sugar (especially natural sugars) or fat, or carbs.

So i’ve decided to try and find a balance. We were born to live of the land so live off the land i shall. For the next week i will show you how you can easily replace normal meals with unprocessed foods, while monitoring weight, mood, energy levels and cost to show you all the benefits of living healthily.

The diet i have made up is my own, made up simply from my  own experiences and research on clean eating and healthy living. I’ll try and keep it as simple and informative as possible allowing you to take  it as far as you like or just stick to the basics.

I’ll be eating every 3 hours and I’ll of course also be cutting out alcohol, soft drinks etc as well as consuming 5mls of water per kilo of body weight each day. And the best part is, i will really be making each and every dish so you know a real person has cooked and enjoyed it.

So here’s to a great week, see you tomorrow for day 1!!

xx