30-ish Minute Meals - Epic Cobb Salad

If you think salads are boring, you're doing them wrong.

Okay, seriously. I know many of you may be instantly put off by this meal 'cause it's a salad. And when you first change your lifestyle a.k.a. diet, it probably seems that the only thing you can eat is salad.

And after a week of salad you are so over it.

That's where I come in. I'm here to change the way you see salads FOREVAH! Or, you know, just give you lots of ideas to make them more interesting and delicious.

What I love most about this recipe, is that there are a million different ways you can make it...which not only guarantees a non-boring meal, but everyone in your family can have something a little different to suit their tastes without a bunch of extra work and time in the kitchen!

Another benefit of salads? Most of the ingredients are RAW. Why is that important? Because raw foods are sooooo good for you. Heating food over 118 degrees Fahrenheit destroys many of its nutrients and causes chemical changes that create acidic toxins, including the carcinogens, mutagens and free-radicals associated with diseases like diabetes, arthritis, heart disease and cancer.

Cooking also also destroys the live enzymes that aid in digestion and health. 

There's much more I could say about this, but it gets kinda science-y, so I'll save it for another post. But...people who eat a primarily raw food diet, report more energy, better sleep, less brain fog, and regularity (bowel movements).

And I'm sure it goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway...make sure you're eating ORGANIC (as much as you possibly can).


Okay, are you ready to build your epic cobb salad?

Yay Bacon!

Pick your protein
Chicken
Eggs
Bacon
Fish
Steak
Other??




Pick your greens (to ensure maximum non-boringness is achieved, choose at least two different types of greens)
Baby spinach
Baby kale
Arugula
Romain lettuce
Endive
Chicory
Iceberg lettuce
Loose-leaf lettuce

Pick your toppings
Avocado (yessssssss. in my opinion, all foods all the time should contain avocado)
Tomato
Cucumber
Carrots
Sliced Cabbage
Beets
Radishes
Peppers - red, green, yellow
Onion
Scallion
Parsley
Cilantro
Olives
Artichokes

Go Wild - add some fruit
Mango
Strawberries
Blueberries
Pineapple
Raspberries

Add some flair 
Raw sunflower seeds
Raw walnuts
Raw almonds
Raw pine nuts
Raisins

Don't forget the flair! Flair can take a salad from good to amazing.

Dressings
Here's where people often go horribly wrong. We think we're doing a good think by eating salad. But if we dress it up with something that comes out of a bottle, we're adding sugar, wheat, and a whole bunch of preservatives and other crap.

Oil and vinegar is always a great choice.

If you're not ready to go that plain, here are a couple options you can make yourself - and they take just minutes!

Honey Mustard - This is a dressing I whipped up one afternoon when I was running low on salad ingredients and I felt like I needed a little extra flavor. I never really measure anything so I will do my best to convey the quantities. Only make what you will use immediately. When this refrigerates, it gets really thick, which can be helped by heating it, but I never think it quite mixes well again.

Olive oil - this is your base so you will have more of this than anything else. Maybe a few tablespoons.
Yellow mustard - medium-sized squirt
Honey - medium-sized squirt
Sea salt and pepper to taste.

One glove crushed garlic (optional. if you're really pressed for time, skip this)

Combine all ingredients and mix together vigorously with a whisk. Taste it and add a little more honey or mustard as needed.

Or you could try Elana's Pantry's version of Honey Mustard.

Or...

Creamy Avocado Dressing from Elana's Pantry.

Elana's Pantry actually has several dressing recipes. Try them all and see which ones are your favorite!

30-ish Minute Meals - Steak and Veggies

Today's 30-ish Minute Meal is...

Steak, Sweet Potato Cubes, and Steamed Broccoli and Snap Peas

**NOTE: Ingredients listed below are for two people. Make quantity adjustments based on the size of your family.

Ingredients
Grass fed* steak - cut of your choice. We used ribeyes
One head or package of broccoli
One package of sugar snap peas
Seasoned salt (Make sure to check your label! Seasoned salt can contain MSG. Lawry's claims theirs doesn't. To be extra sure you aren't getting any MSG, you can make your own! I found a recipe here...haven't tried it yet.)
Dried Rosemary
Garlic Salt (or Sea Salt)
Black Pepper

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Fill large pot 1/4 way with hot water, bring water to boil.
Place broccoli and snap peas in large colander.
Set colander in pot, and cover with lid to steam veggies.

**Keep a close eye on them. This does not take too long and you want them to be cooked, but still crisp.

While veggies are steaming, peal sweet potato, and cut into SMALL cubes.
Line baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Place cubes on baking sheet and lightly cover with olive oil. Use your hands to kinda toss them around to make sure they are all coated.
Sprinkle with seasoned salt and dried rosemary.
Place in oven on rack second from the top. Cook for about twelve minutes.

**Don't forget to check on your veggies!

**There are many ways to cut sweet potatoes, but I have found cutting them into small cubes cooks them the best without them getting "soggy" which often seems to happen when trying to make sweet potato fries. And these actually will get a bit crunchy! If you like them that way, just cook for a little longer.

Season your steak with garlic salt (or sea salt) and pepper (or seasonings of your choice - just make sure you check the labels on any pre-mixed seasoning sets for any unwanted ingredients!)

After 12 minutes, transfer sweet potatoes to bottom rack of stove.
Turn on broiler, and place steaks on top rack.
Cook to desired done-ness. (I think ours took about 10 minutes???)

When steak is done, move sweet potatoes to top rack and broil.
Make sure you keep on eye on them. They go from done to burned pretty fast!
Cook for a few more minutes, depending on how crunchy you like them.

Once they are done, plate everything and enjoy!

*Why grass fed beef? 
Cattle eat grass. Enter human interference and many cattle now eat grain. Why? Because it's cheaper and easier and most food companies are all about making as much money as possible with little regard to its impact on us - the consumers, and often sufferers, of this food.

When cattle eat grain their fat contains a higher amount of omega-6 fatty acids. When they eat grass, as they were created to do, their fat contains a higher amount of omega-3 fatty acid.  This improves the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio.

Science shows that diets higher in omega-3 fatty acids improve health, particularly by reducing inflammation.

Why is this important? Because inflammation is the root cause of many illnesses!

What we should strive for is an omega-6, omega-3 ratio of 1:1.

What we usually get in our food is a 15:1 or higher ratio.

Yikes!

When you have a proper ratio of fatty acids, as you can get from grass fed beef, you have a decreased risk of dementia, heart disease, cancer and stroke.

If that isn't enough to convince grass fed is better, consider this...

To further cut costs, feed given to animals in factory farms not only contains grains but may also contain “by-product feedstuff” such as municipal garbage, stale pastry, chicken feathers, and candy. 

How does that saying go...

You are what you eat.

Don't be municipal garbage and chicken feathers!

30-ish Minute Meals - Burrito Bowls

One of the questions I get asked most frequently is, "What do you eat?"

This is in reference to the literal food that I am eating (because we all know that when we first make those changes it seems like there is nothing we can eat), and that age-old question, "What's for dinner?"

Those of you who have made changes to your diet may have noticed that it takes a little (or a lot) longer to prepare dinner. Not only does it take more time to make meals, it seems that many of them require a million ingredients. Even those of us who find joy in cooking, don't always have an hour or longer to prepare dinner.

But I am here to help!

Over the last two weeks, I have challenged myself with finding five meals that take approximately 30 minutes to make, which hopefully, for many of you, is doable most nights of the week. Some may take 22 minutes, some may take 32 (none should take more than 35), so I've labeled them 30-ish Minute Meals.

Meal #1 - Burrito Bowls

This is one of my all-time favorites, not only because it's easy, but because it's super yummy. And, each member of your family can build their own "bowl" with their favorite ingredients without creating a lot of extra work for you (the chef).

Below is what I like in my bowl, but you can add or subtract as many ingredients as you like!

Ingredients:
Black beans (in BPA free can if you can find it)
Sweet onion
Chicken
Avocado
Tomato
Cilantro
Garlic Salt
Onion Powder
Black Pepper

1. Coat pan with light layer of extra virgin olive oil. Add black beans (you can drain them if you'd like.) and chopped onion (add as much or as little as you like. I like A LOT of onion). Cook over medium heat.

It's up to you how long to you want to cook them. How crunchy do you like your onions? Usually, I like mine without any crunch, but in this dish, I prefer a little crunch.

2. While beans and onions are cooking, cut chicken into small pieces. In separate pan, cook chicken in oil of your choice -EVOO, coconut oil, avocado oil. Season with garlic salt, onion powder, and pepper (or any seasonings of your choice!)

Hint: You don't have to cut the chicken into small pieces prior to cooking them, but if you're working with large pieces, like big ol' chicken breasts, cutting them helps the chicken cook faster - and these meals are all about saving time!

3. While everything is cooking, cut up avocado and tomato.

4. Once everything is cooked, throw it all in a bowl!. Beans and onions first, then chicken, avocado and tomato and top with cilantro. Season with extra salt and pepper if needed.

That's it! You're done! Enjoy your dinner!

As I mentioned, you can include anything you want.

You could add lettuce, non-GMO corn, cheese and sour cream (if you're not dairy free) use a different type of bean, or mash up the avocado and make some guacamole.

The husband likes to add a little Greek yogurt and fresh chopped jalapenos.

Let me know what you come up with and come back tomorrow of another 30-ish Minute Meal!

P.S. Any time I post a meal or recipe (either my own or from one of my favorite sites) I will add it to the RECIPES tab so you can easily come back and find them at a later date.

Snack Attack

Are you trying to eat clean but find it difficult when the mid- morning, or mid-afternoon, or midnight munchies attack?

Don't let snack time ruin your clean eating goals!

Below are two of my favorite snacks. One is for those who can/choose to have dairy. The other one is for ALL THE PEOPLES! (unless, of course, you have a particular sensitivity)

Blueberry Honey Greek Yogurt
The name pretty much says it all:

2 heaping tablespoons Greek yogurt
slightly less than one tablespoon ground golden flax seed
big squirt orange blossom honey
6-8 blueberries

Mix first 4 ingredients, then add blueberries, give a quick mix again, and ENJOY!

Not sure about that ground golden flax? Don't skip it! It gives a good texture to your snack and there are many health benefits to flax. Here are just a few:

• High in fiber
• Good source of Omega-3 fat (the good fat)
• High source of lignans, which may protect against estrogen-dependent cancers like breast cancer
• Decreases insulin resistance and may protect against diabetes

Trail Mix A-Go-Go
You can combine anything you like. The best part about it is that you can put it in a small (or medium) container and take it with you. This is great for long work days or shopping trips where you may find yourself hungry but without easy access to healthy snack options.

Here's what I like to make:
Raw walnuts
Raw sliced almonds
Raw pumpkin seeds
Raw sunflower seeds
raisins
60% or darker cacao chips

In order to ensure you get all the health benefits of this yummy snack, make sure your nuts and seeds are RAW. Why? Because roasting them destroys many of their nutritional benefits.

Those benefits include:

• Omega-3 fat
• Great source of protein. Those looking to build muscle mass can eat a handful of raw nuts for an additional protein boost, and those looking to lose weight can also benefit because protein can help regulate hunger throughout the day.
• Good source of fiber and we all know how important fiber is to keeping our stool soft and regular! Not having enough fiber in your diet can lead to bloating, lethargy, and constipation.

I have found that one of the most important keys to maintaining a clean "diet" is making sure I have healthy snacks readily available, especially when I'm on the go. There's no better way to sabotage yourself than becoming absolutely starving and having no option but making a trip through the drive-thru or giving a vending machine a shakedown.

DON'T DO IT! :)

Now you tell me, what are you favorite clean-eats snacks?