Grocery shopping trip #1

Went grocery shopping with PEPPERPLATE list in hand. Morgan came with me.  A few things about the trip:

1.  I have to keep reminding Morgan, as my sister does me, that we are not depriving ourselves of the junk foods we use to eat. Instead we are finding healthier and cleaner alternatives. For the most part, Morgan seemed quite on board with our new venture. 

2.  After I paid for my weeks worth of groceries, I almost fainted.  The total was $300!  But then I realized Morgan got a sandwich from the deli and I got sushi and salad...both which totaled $20. Since this was my first clean trip, I had to get stock for the pantry that wasn't on my list and was on sale like:

Lentils

Spelt

Cacao

Flax 

Olive oil

Spices

Gelatin

Stevia

These staples cost another $35. And I bought a dessert for a party tonight which was $13. So, in all actuality, I really spent @$232. Not bad considering I usually spend about $200 per week in groceries. I am sure with time I will get better with my clean shopping and learn where to buy certain things. 

Here is my fridge after unpacking groceries. Most all items in the fridge are clean (not the laughing cow cheese which is a staple for belle. Will have to learn how to make an alternative.)

Well, happy new year!  One more day of dirty oil in my engine. Looking forward to a clean new year!

Charlene

Today's smoothie

A delish smoothie. Made with my new Ninja!  Love it. This smoothie is made from coconut milk, protein powder, banana, spinach, and chia seeds. Love my sister, anunprocessedlife.com, for her continued support and love.

Charlene

How to make a smoothie 101

Clean Eating Menu for Week 1

Using Pepperplate, my favorite app for meal planning and recipe organization, I came up with my first week's dinner menu.  Some of these recipes I have tried and some are new to me.  I will let ya know how they are after we have tried them.  You will also see from the plan that I have added some snacks to make over the weekend for the week.  This is completely new to me.  I have started with some crackers, pumpkin oat balls, and fruit snacks.  We are snack eating family so I have to conquer this part of our life from the beginning otherwise I will feel stressed.

All of the recipes in my meal plan can be found on my Pinterest board, Clean Eating.

You will notice that I did not add breakfast or lunch to the menu.  I think it will be overwhelming to plan every aspect of our eating.  I usually do not struggle with lunches.  Morgan is pretty routine and her sandwiches and fruit or salads.  Belle is easy.  She loves hard boiled eggs, hummus, veggies, cheese, yogurt, and the like.  Belle's lunches are Bento in style.  I will incorporate some of my bento ideas into this blog, as well.  I can take left overs, but I also like the same kinds of things like Belle.  Greg usually doesn't take lunch but hopefully I can get him to take lunch.  He does enjoy hummus wraps and turkey wraps when I have made them for him in the past.  Breakfasts are usually quick.  Smoothies, bars, cereal, yogurt.....Just need to make sure that I add these to my shopping list :)

Below is my shopping list taken right the Pepperplate app.  I love that I can plan my menu for the week, then add each recipe to the shopping list, remove the things I already have in my pantry and add things that are not in the recipes.  While I am shopping, I simply check the box noting that the item is in my cart and it is removed from the list.  I love this app!

My shopping lists will be a work in progress, as I am learning what to buy to keep in my pantry and things for smoothies.  See, I just realized I forgot Quinoa milk and Almond milk...

Charlene

Thinking about making my list and checking it twice

Laying in bed thinking about how I have tried blogging before but it didn't work.  I didn't blog from the beginning of a journey that is life changing, except for the blog about my girls. But now that I do Project Life, there is no need to blog about them, too. So, how can I make this blog successful?  Well, when thoughts come to me about our journey I can blog from my phone (just as I am now)..  Gotta love technology :)

So what is this list, you ask?  Well, I have been thinking a lot tonight about grocery shopping. It feels a bit intimidating. I  am sure the first trip or two will be a bit challenging but once I get into a groove, it should go smoothly.  This made me think of the app I use that helps me tremendously. I have been using it for about two years now, thanks to my sister, Jocelyn (www.anunprocessedlife.com). The app is PEPPERPLATE.  It is an awesome app that is designed to help you organize your favorite recipes, make menu plans, and generate a shopping list based on your menu plans.  I love this app and use it all the time.  You should check it out.  It is also web based. www.pepperplate.com

Charlene

And so it begins

Ok....so, here we go.  My sister ,Jocelyn, at www.anunprocessedlife.com, is my inspiration.  She changed to a clean eating life a year ago and has not turned back since.  She had medical issues before clean eating and was on medications.  Since changing her eating habits, eliminating processed foods, and other foods, she has reduced the numbers of medications she takes, has decreased episodes of migraines, and feels great.  A few months back, I tried to go clean.  I always say that it is so different for her, as she lives a single lifestyle, while I have a family of 4 (including a 5 year old and a 16 year old).  I went, what I call, 1/2 clean.  I cooked clean meals, I read ingredients of packages, I drank lots of water......I saw a huge difference in a short period of time.  I noticed more energy, loss of weight, and clearer thinking!  Then I stopped :(  Not sure why.  Perhaps I wasn't fully prepared for all that clean eating entails.  This time will be different.. This blog will help hold me accountable.  So here I go..............feel free to join me on this journey.

So where do I start?  I looked online for clean eating ideas for families.  I found some great resources, which I will soon be adding to the resources tab.  But for now, here is how I plan to start. I found this great schedule to clean eating on a great blog, http://funeralformyfat.tumblr.com/EatingClean.  It really helps the beginner have a plan.

So thinking of snacks...SNACKS???  How am I going to clean eat with snacks with two children at home and a hubby who likes to snack...oh yeh, and me, too.  So I went Pinterest digging.  I found some really cool ideas from making your own cheese crackers to making your own granola bars.  Not hard recipes, either!
I think the snacks of our life are what intimidate me in this world of clean eating.  Main meals won't be hard for me because I like to cook and already have a plethora or great recipes (which I will share later).

Ok.....so now for my plan...my clean eating plan.  We have 1 more day of 2013.  Lot's going on.  Starting on January 1, 2014, we will begin our journey. My plan for January 1, 2014:

1.  Go through the pantry and get rid of all processed items.  Donated unopened/unexpired items to a food bank.
2.  Make our menu for week 1 (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks)
3.  Prepare our shopping list
4.  Go Grocery shopping (are grocery stores open on new years day??  I hope so)

Everyone is on board with me.  I am very excited.  Excited to be healthy, excited to teach my kids to be healthy, excited to lose weight, excited to think clearer, and excited to feel great!

Charlene