4.09.2012

Advocare 24-Day Challenge: Day #1

First 10 Days:

No alcohol.

No milk.

No cheese.

No potatoes.

No refined sugars.

No pasta.

I might just die ... But probably not.

In an effort to get my family's eating habits on track and stop consuming processed crap, we decided to take a huge step in our dietary adventures: go natural! Buy Fresh. Make Fresh. Eat Fresh. This is my new mantra. Have we bit off more than we can chew? That remains to be seen. But if I can get my 2.5-year old to start eating real food and vegetables instead of just surviving on fruit and crackers, I'll consider the entire food-plan a success! PLUS the Boy and I are looking to shed some extra pounds which is one reason we are doing the Advocare 24-Day Challenge. Because we need to eat healthy to get the best benefits from this program, I decided this would be the best time to launch our new "fresh" menu.

Notes on the food:

1: Clean out your Fridge and Pantry!! I threw out 2 black trash bags of CRAP that we hadn't ate or was expired. This included cake mixes we never made, dip packages, sauces in my fridge that were old and mostly unused, old pasta, crackers, etc. Really: it was eye opening. What did I keep? A couple of mixes I might someday need in a pinch for brownies, spaghetti, pickles, A1 (I'm sorry, but sometimes you need the tang) and the list goes on. I kept condiments that are general and used most often.

2: Buy Local! I shopped one of my local health food stores and picked up organic nuts for snacking and salads, bean soup variety mixes, quinoa, rice, oats, chicken stock starter with no whey or MSG, etc. Next, I somehow made it to the Saturday Farmer's Market with both kids and walked out with fresh veggies and ground turkey to use in meals this week. I didn't have enough arms for the fruit ... so I'll be going back on Thursday during lunch to pick up more supplies. I actually felt bad that I had to run to Meijer to pick up strawberries for my salad today. BUT I will have to get my fish from the grocery store because I'm not pay $18 per pound at the Market ... and I'm not catching my own and fileting it ... unless you want to filet it for me!

3. Just Be Aware of what you are buying. Just because it says "hummus" at the store doesn't mean that it's JUST a basic hummus. There are preservatives, hydrogenated oils, refined sugars and more in most packaged items you buy at the store. Shop smart!

Menu Day #1

Breakfast: Fridge Oatmeal
Lunch: Salad with Lime Garlic Chicken and Strawberry Vinaigrette
Dinner: Spicy Bean Soup

Also, we are supposed to be snacking between meals, but right now I'm not feeling like snacking. Snacks are fruits, veggies, hummus, eggs usually. Today I have an apple and carrots and cucumbers on me ... just in case.

Update Mid-Morning: I'm eating my damn apple. I'm starving and going to run in 30 minutes :)


Fridge Oatmeal



The recipe and idea I based this off is Overnight, No-Cook Refrigerator Oatmeal from The Yummy Life.

I bought the Freezer Storage 8 oz. Ball Jars to use. LOVE the fact Ball makes jars in plastic now so they are light and the lids won't rust, of course! The grains I used are from my local Health Food store so they are organic and sold in bulk. Everything is mostly an estimate. The only time I really use "measuring" is when I need precise liquids.

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<1/8 c. Steel Oats
1/4 c. Rolled Oats
A Squirt of Agave (natural sweetener)
Fruit
Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

Throw in the grains. They should fill an 8 oz. cup about half way or so. Chop up a fruit (I used 1-2 strawberries) and add to the top. Squirt in agave (we aren't supposed to have sugars ... but plain ole oatmeal with no butter or sugar is pretty PLAIN). Fill the cup to almost full with the Almond Milk. Put the lid on; shake; put in the fridge for at least 10-12 hours. Grab from the fridge on your way out the door.

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Notes: It's not TOO bad. I can't wait to get to the Burn Phase so I can add some yogurt to it! I plan on trying the banana and cocoa version, too. It works for now.


Salad with Lime Garlic Chicken and Strawberry Vinaigrette






Salad was easy: organic spinach and greens from the Market pulled apart into bite size pieces. Added some green pepper, onion and chopped almonds. There's your base! Oh, and since the kids are at daycare during the day, all lunch recipes are made for 2 people specifically.

Lime Garlic chicken is how we prep our chicken a lot of the time. When I'm using lime, I generally like to use tequila, too, but I didn't have any in the house (in a effort to NOT drink for these first 10 days). We use this chicken in salads and quesadillas mostly. Note: I'm a HUGE Tastefully Simple fan and adore their condiments and spices. Fresh, good, little to no chemicals and preservatives = good stuff.

The dressing is based off of a recipe one of my FB friends sent me. Her's had twice as much oil and sugar included. I added a couple of things, too.

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Blanched Garlic Lime Chicken

2-4 oz. Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breasts (more if you are making for several meals)
2 cloves of garlic chopped
1/2 real lime (squeeze over the meat while it's defrosting to marinade)

These are optional:
1 tbsp. Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic
1 tbsp. Tastefully Simple Simply Salsa
1 tbsp. Tastefully Simple Onion Onion

Place the chicken (thawed or not) in a big pan. Throw in the spices, garlic, half a lime. Fill the pan with water as high as you can where it won't boil over (or at least covering the chicken). Put a lid on top, turn the heat up and let that meat cook. I literally cook all the water out. This leaves the chicken moist with lots of flavor and you know it's fully cooked. Try to skim off the fat that cooks out of the chicken as it boils down. When it boils about half way, turn the chicken over and take a fork to poke some holes in it. Cut into a couple of smaller chucks too if you are worried about it cooking all the way.

After it boils down, take out the lime half (scrap out the soft insides into the pan). Break the chicken apart using 2 forks (essentially "shredding"). Toss the shredded chicken around the pan to incorporate any left over garlic, onions etc. that are left in the pan from boiling. Want more flavor? Squeeze in the other half of the lime for extra moisture and LOTS more flavor.
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Strawberry Vinaigrette

1/2 c. chopped Strawberries
1/4 c. Red Wine Vinegar
1/4 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Cracked Black Pepper
About 5 Fresh Mint Leaves
Squirt of Agave (to combat the sour of the strawberries and vinegar)

Throw in the processor (or blender) and let that sucker incorporate. Made about 4 oz. Perfect for 2 oz. servings for our salads.
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I'm REALLY looking forward to my lunch break when I can go run my Week 2 Day 1 of C25K and then come back to the office to eat this masterpiece!

After eating: chicken is GREAT. Go easier on the red wine vinegar though. Just a touch too much!


Spicy Bean Soup

Based off of Weight Watchers Spicy Black Bean Soup.

A couple things I did different: I used a bean soup base from the health food store, added some black beans, and used my healthy chicken stock base instead of regular chicken stock. I'm also crockpotting this sucker all day ... so I hope it survives!

One thing I forgot but luckily remembered last night: dehydrated beans need to be reconstituted!! Luckily I was reminded of this last night as I went to make chickpeas for hummus and realized I forgot to soak them first. Then I looked at my bean soup mix and had that "Ohhhhh" moment and I'm glad I did. I prepped this soup last night, put it in the fridge and added more water to it this morning when I started it in the crockpot.

Also, season to taste. I may end up adding more stock starter or maybe a bay leaf or who knows what when I get home depending on how it smells/tastes. We are also using some leftover chicken to garnish

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2 medium onions chopped
4 cloves garlic chopped/minced
3 c. Bean Soup Beans (dehydrated)
1 c. Black Beans (dehydrated)
1 tbsp. Chicken Stock starter
1 lb. bag of frozen corn (chose fresh over frozen over canned)
1-10 oz. can tomatoes with green chilis
1 tsp. red pepper
1 tbsp. red pepper flakes
1 tbsp. Garlic Garlic
1 tbsp. Onion Onion
Cracked Black Pepper

35 oz. water

Chop, pour everything into the crockpot. Add more spices to taste. Will be VERY full. Let sit overnight in fridge so the beans hydrate. Add more water as needed when you start the crockpot to cook. Cook 10 hours on low. Stir if you are home every few hours.
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Notes: Crockpot FAIL. The beans absorbed ALL the water so we added more later and even then it was more of a bean mush instead of soup. SUPER FILLING though. Taste wasn't horrible but it needed some cheese ... and sour cream ... and lots of sodium and salsa LOL


Here are some helpful links if you are interested:

My 24-Day Challenge Recipe Idea Board:
http://pinterest.com/fozbend11/24-day-challenge-recipes/

Want to take the challenge? http://www.sparkyourdiet.com

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