4 Ingredient Salad

Hello Clean Eaters!

Let me start off by saying that I LOOOOOVE a good salad! When I say a good salad, I mean one that is full of different flavors and textures, throw in some nuts with my crisp lettuce and you have a winner! I used to love going to a certain deli because they made the BEST salad (I mean it had feta cheese, walnuts, sunflower seeds, apples, grapes) and wanted to recreate it. I have always wanted to make a great salad at home but have always thought that I needed a lot of money to do so. In fact, to make these four different salads below, I only used four different ingredients!

The basic 3 ingredients in all these salads are baby spinach, grape tomatoes, and Romano cheese. Below are ingredient and price breakdowns for all four salads.

Spinach - $1.99 bunch
Grape Tomatoes - .99c
Grated Romano Cheese - $2.70 package
Unsalted Sunflower Seeds - .64c from the bulk section
Haas Avocado - .58c each
Total - $6.90 (before taxes) / $1.73 each

For the price of less than 1 deli salad, I have made 4 different salads for the week. The same philosophy can be attributed to meal planning across the board! You save money and gain nutritional points when you make your own meals at home instead of eating out- and these salads are just one example!

-Eating Clean in College

Granola Energy Bites

Hello Clean Eaters! I have been so busy theses past few weeks between work, finally going on a vacation, and LIFE in general that I barely have time to breathe. I know it's not healthy...that is definitely something I will address in a later blog.For today, I am going to post a delicious recipe that I finally got to make! It is not an original as it was inspired by soooo many amazing bloggers before me! I took bits and pieces from my favorite and adjusted it to what I had in my kitchen! :)

Just a warning, these are simple to make and DEEELLICIOUS! Once I popped one in my mouth, I literally could not stop eating! Make at your own risk!

Ingredients
The simpler, the better!

• 1 cup quick oats
• 1 tablespoon powdered peanut butter
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup ground extract (I tried to ground them in my blender but it didn't turn out too well)
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries

Prep

To make these delicious bites, all you do is blend and stir all the ingredients together! This is what I did

1. Combine the powdered peanut butter, oats, and ground flax seeds together. Stir well!
2. Mix in vanilla and honey.
3. Spoon in peanut butter
4. Sprinkle in the dried cranberries and give one last good stir!
5. Once the ingredients are thoroughly mixed, roll into into balls and chill into the fridge for 30 minutes! They can be stored and kept fresh in an airtight container for 3 days!

This last part is messy (I'm not fancy shamncy enough to have parchment paper so I had to use my hands and Tupperware). I tried rolling the energy bites into balls using tablespoons. I just ended up using my hands and had more fun eating the stuck on granola than I did rolling them!

Weekly Meal Prep Tips!

Hello readers! This is my first post of the new year so I had to make it a good one! I know that losing weight or getting healthy is a popular New Years Resolution and I hope that you all have remained dedicated. As for myself, I know that I have not been eating too healthy. I recently graduated from college and like many other poor, unfortunate souls, I have not had the best luck in finding a job. Well, what do you do when your future is threatened and it looks like you'll have to a homeless hottie or a stripper? Well you give up luxuries that you cannot afford anymore. It is basic survival. Humans live to protect themselves and my physiological need for shelter and security were being threatened. Sadly, I was at a crossroads where I knew I needed to eat but didn't know if I could have risked losing the money. It was a sad place to be and can only imagine what other students or unemployed undergrads are going through. Thankfully, my family came to visit me and I was able to get a ton of groceries (plus my mother cooked some delicious foods so I have leftovers). It was literally the best thing to ever happen to me since all I had in my fridge was a jar of salsa and three frozen tilapia fillets. The struggle was mad real for ya girl but back to the topic at hand...

1. When it comes to meal prepping, I like to start out by dividing my animal proteins. That means that my beef, pork, chicken, salmon all get divided into two day portions. I buy a bulk bag of chicken breast but I have found that fresh beef, salmon, and pork is cheaper and freezes and thaws out perfectly! If I buy ground beef (which goes perfectly with corn tortillas) I cook and season the meat before freezing it. Then, whenever I want to cook it, I just heat it up on the stove top and voila!
2. Buy fresh and frozen produce. I like to eat the fresh foods first and then dip into the frozen stockpile. While it is tempting to devour the edamame immediately, I know that I have to finish my fresh green beans first.
3. Cook your vegetables and carbohydrates. My grainy sides usually consist of brown rice and more brown rice. I always cook  more vegetables than grains since I love having a colorful plate. 
4. Portion out your plate! I am not sure what dietary restrictions or plan you are on but the key step in meal prepping in putting all that delicious and healthy food into Tupperware! Storing it makes it super convenient to grab and eat on the go and it might prevent you from overeating. 
5. Don't forget to prep your snacks too! Things as simple as portioning out nuts in a sandwich bag or making smoothies/juices ahead of time makes it easier (and cheaper) to get through the next day. If you don't know what kind of snacks to prep, below are some of my favorites

• Mango's and berries
• Bananas and crunchy peanut butter
• Almonds
• LARA bars
• Kale juice (recipe below)

Homemade kale juice

Kale Juice Recipe

-1.5 C green tea

-1/2 bunch of kale

-1 extra large green apple

-2 kiwis

-1 banana

-1 cucumber

-splash of fresh lemon juice to taste

Fun, Fun, Fruit!

Hello readers! Yesterday, we had on office potluck and of course I signed up to bring the only healthy dish! My wallet this past week was particularly slim but since I love my staff so much, I did not want to show up completely empty handed so I made a fruit tray. Making a fruit tray turned out to be more fun than I thought, all you need is a couple different colored fruits and you are set! Let me show you how I did mines:

1. Find a ton of delicious fruits! Luckily, many of the fruits I found were on sale
2. Clean and cut the fruit
3. Place a small bowl (I used a $1 guacamole dish) in the middle of the tray (which I found at Party City for $1)
4. Get any yogurt to place in the middle. I like to use regular, unsweetened yogurt and fold in strawberries in the middle for taste. You can also add honey for a sweeter taste since plain yogurt is an acquired taste
5. Arrange your fruit anyway you see fit! I did mines with bright kiwi in the center as an eye grabber and berries on the corners for a color contrast. The color contrast really made the yellow/orange from the mango, pineapples, and tangerines stand out!

Here is how much everything costs:
-Raspberries $1.25

• Antioxidant support, anti-inflammatory phytonurtients, Vitamin C, Manganese (defends the body against free radicals), Fiber

-Blackberries $1.50

• Known to have anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties; their dark color also gives them a high antioxidant factor; high in Vitamin C, and Fiber

-Kiwis 3/$1

• These tiny fruit are packed with Vitamin C and Vitamin K (a fat soluble vitamin that acts primarily in blood clotting)

-Tangerines 3/$1

• These cute little citrus fruits are high in Vitamin C and have a long shelf life; like most fruits, it has a natural antioxidant that is best for giving your body a natural defense system

-Mango .68c each

• Not only is mango one of my absolute favorite fruit, but it easily one of the best tasting things on the planet! Mangoes are packed with Vitamin C, Vitamin A, and Fiber (which helps aid in digestion and elimination)

-Pineapple $1.98

• This tropical wonder is made for more than just pina coladas! Just like the other fruits above, pineapples are a great source of Vitamin C but also contain Manganese and Vitamin B1 for energy production and antioxidant support.

Total - $10.09 
Why did I name this article fun, fun, fruit? Well because fruit is a colorful and delicious way to get many key vitamins. Why would you settle for fake fruit flavored snacks and drinks when you can have the real thing for a cheap price? Processed foods, particularity those aimed at tasting like fruit, are laced with artificial sugars and ingredients that are created to mimic the taste of the real thing. Don't be fooled by the labels of many popular fruit snacks, while they claim to be gluten free, fat free, and have no preservatives don't forget the other funky ingredients who are secretly eating. This list includes:
-Corn Syrup
-Artificial Flavors
-Sodium Citrate
-Carnauba Wax
-Red 40
-Yellow 40
-Blue 1
It is almost as if you are consuming gummy bears...with marginal amounts of health benefits.
In all, fresh fruits is the best snacking choice out there!
-Eating Clean in College

Quick and Easy Breakfast

Hello Clean Eaters! I hope that these first couple of weeks have started out great for everyone. Now, we've heard it 1000x times, "BREAKFAST IS THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY" yet most of us are still not eating in the mornings! No matter what your excuse is, you need to make sure that you are eating breakfast. Some of the perks of eating breakfast includes:
-Better performance and concentration throughout the day
-Better weight management
-Lowered cholesterol
-Curbed hunger throughout the day

For those of you who don't have time to prepare a smorgasbord every morning, then the quick combinations I have listed below are sure to get you going:

• Berries and nuts: no matter what the combination is, berries and nuts provide a sweet kick and an ample amount of protein to keep you full. My favorite is blueberries and almonds but since blueberries tend to be more expensive, then strawberries also work. 
• Almonds - $2.50
• Peanut Butter $3-$5
• Blueberries - $2.98
• Strawberries - $2.64
• Bananas and almost anything: Seriously! Not only are bananas cheap but they contain potassium, fiber, and Vitamin b-6. Plus, like many other fruit, bananas are known to help lower cholesterol and ward off high blood pressure. My favorite pairing is bananas and nuts, bananas and yogurt, or bananas and quick oatmeal.
• Bananas - .48c a lb
• Oatmeal - old fashioned oats can be cooked in the microwave for 1-3 minutes (depending on the brand). You can put your oats in the microwave while you brush your teeth and they'll be ready when you are. My favorite toppings are dried fruit, honey, raw sugar, and peanut butter...but not all at once
• Oatmeal - $2-3 (nonflavored, old fashioned or steel cut)
• Honey - $3
• Cinnamon - $3
• Dried fruit - $2-4
• Cereal - a breakfast classic

The prices listed above may seem steep but most of them last a while in your pantry. Feel free to try out any of these combinations for yourself in the morning because now, you have no excuse to not eat breakfast!

-Eating Clean in College