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!

Birthday Countdown!

Hello all! I have been counting down for my 21st birthday for the past year but it is literally around the corner now! So to get ready, I have decided to make these next 60 days count. I will be training my body but instead of training it to handle more liquor, I will be making it look better! So 60 days from now, I will be the best version of me YET. Just wait on it...
Right now, I am in my last week of summer school and went grocery shopping yesterday to fill my frigde up one more time with healthy goodies.The list below will supplement the remaining food I have left in my fridge and pantry. Here is my haul:

 Dairy:

• 2% Milk
• Dozen Eggs
• Dannon All Natural Yogurt

Produce

• 1 pint of strawberries
• 1lb bananas
• 2 avocados
• 3 cucumbers 
• 1 head of romaine lettuce
• 2 mangos
• 2lbs of green beans

Frozen

• 1 bag of broccoli
• 1 bag of mango, papaya mix

Meat

• 1 salmon fillet
• 2 steak fillets- lean cut
• 2 lbs of chicken quarters

Pantry

• 1 bag of Oloves Lemon and Rosemary Olives
• 1 box of Peanut butter cookie Lara Bar
• 3 individual Lara Bars (1 peanut butter chocolate chip, 2 chocolate chip brownie) 

Let the food prep begin! Feel free to join with me on Twitter/Instagram using #eatclean21
-Eating Clean in College

Quick Fix Meals!

With all the hustle and bustle of today's world, it seems that it can be really hard to actually find time to sit down and cook a healthy home cooked meal. While it seems easier to order in, carry out, or just pop in a frozen dinner, we all know that there are many health consequences that come with convenience foods. Not only are they more expensive (compared to actually making your own pizza or stir fry) but most delivery or fast foods are full of saturated fats, extra calories, sugar, and salt. With all these factors added up, then you will not only gain weight, but put your body at risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, and obesity. Today's post is about easy it is to make a fast and delicious meal at home.

Sauteed green beans and black peppered crab

On the right, you see a dinner I made that took less than 10 minutes to make. First, you just boil the green beans until they are a medium well texture. While the beans are boiling, chop, season, and cook your crab in a separate skillet. Finally, when the green beans are at a medium well texture--depending on how crisp you like them--stir them in with the crab and voila! You have a quick seafood and veggie stir fry.

Crab- $1.70
Green Beans- $1.50 lb
For $3.20 you bought enough to make this delicious paleo crab stir fry for two! This is still cheaper than any side option that you'll find at any Asian restaurant.

For all you meat lovers out there, here is quick dish that you will love to eat! Just like the recipe above, all you have to do is sautee the vegetables but this time, you add in onions in the beginning then your zucchini. For steak, you can either grill it in the George Foreman and then cut it up into strips OR you can cut the steak into strips and cook it to your desired doneness. Either way, you will be sure to have a healthy and tasty quick meal that is cheaper than restaurant alternatives.

Steak- $3.24 for a pack of 4 thin strips
White onion- 1 onion for around $.30
Zucchini- $.68
So for one person, this meal cost less than $2.00 to make!

 

For this quick pizza that I made for lunch, all you have to do is add topping to frozen whole grain pizza crust. I purchase them at my local Indian store, but I am sure that traditional grocery stores sell them as well. Before I bake them in oven with my toppings, I like to drizzle a little bit of olive oil over the crust. Once that is done, then you pour your tomato sauce, cheese, veggies, meats, and bake for 5-10 minutes at 400. Feel free to play with this for different crust and cheese likings.
Whole Grain Crust- package of 4- $2.00
Shredded Cheese- $2.48
Spinach- $1.28 a bunch
Bell Peppers- SALE $.50 each
Tomato Sauce- $1.08
So for $7.34 I bought enough ingredients to make 4 pizzas, or $1.83 each
Here are some more quick and healthy meals

• Whole wheat spaghetti and sauce
• Grilled chicken on the George Foreman, 1 serving of Annie's Homegrown mac n cheese
• 5 Minute bean and cheese quesidillas
• Homemade vegetarian chili using canned black beans and vegetables
• Stir Fry and ready brown rice
• Taco Salad
• Loaded Sweet Potato with black beans 
• Broiled salmon and ready brown rice

-Eating Clean in College

Sunday Night Prep

There are many things that you can quickly make that will help you make your meals faster! The trick is to maximize on the one night a week where more people have nothing to do-Sunday night! For me, this is the time where I do all my grocery shopping so it makes sense to go ahead and chop, cook, or marinate the foods I purchased. If you spend a couple of hours Sunday night, you can get breakfast for the week taken care of, school lunches out of the way, or even a couple dinners or two. Not to mention snacks nuts and produce.

• Marinate all meats and seafood and place in freezer bags. Freeze those you plan on using later in the week or for another time. For the meats and seafood that you plan on eating within the next 3 days, then you can place those bags in the fridge. 
• I like to just "marinate" my fish with spices and herbs, nothing to aqueous 
• For chicken, olive oil or canola oil make good bases for spices and herb to blend into. Any combination of garlic, parsley, black pepper, Dijon mustard, Italian dressing, red pepper flakes always hits the spot.
• For meats (particularly beef since I don't eat pork) I find that it is best to marinate your fridge portion with an oil base and your frozen portion in a sauce (like BBQ, ketchup). Just like with chicken Dijon mustard, black pepper, and garlic are great ways to spice up your beef. For an extra fancy touch, stuff your red meat with the garlic, jalapenos, or split your beef cut in half and  apply a spread in the middle. 

 

• Fruits: I tend to leave them alone since they oxide immediately and don't store that well. If you do want to cut up 3 days portion (after that, I feel that they don't taste that well) then I recommend that you put add in a citrus fruit. For example, cut up and apple in edible portion and add in  1/2 a  sliced grapefruit. You can even do a peaches, apples, and oranges mix. Of course, if you just do citrus fruit, then you do not have to add in any additional fruits. I would stay away from bananas since they tend to get mushy. Lastly, all kinds of berries and grapes do well alone but you are more than welcome to mix them with other fruits. Of course, make sure to squeeze all air out of the bags.
• Vegetables: Unlike fruits, they can store fresh by themselves.Since zucchini is a staple in my kitchen I always purchase a lot. You can slice, dice, and chop them for easier cooking. This same rule goes for leafy vegetables like romaine lettuce and spinach. You can wash and divide the bunch into equal portion sandwich bags. 
• While you are doing all of this, boil brown rice! It takes about 30-45 to make depending on the package directions. 
• Nuts typically come in either 1/4 or 1/3 cup portions so you bust out your measuring cup and sandwich bags and fill them up until the nut package is empty!
• If you can, make a menu of what all you have and what foods you can prepare with it. Just like with the fruits and meat, I recommend that you make dinners for 3 days in advance. 

      

-Eating Clean in College