A Day of Firsts

Yesterday was a day of firsts for me! (I know most of my writing is about Ellie....pretty sure this one's just gonna be about me, k?)

As you probably heard in my vlog, I'm dabbling with this idea called "clean eating". I've heard the term used loosely before, so I'm trying to figure out exactly what it means for me, my life, and my family.

Tuesday was the first day that I attempted to "eat clean". It was a success....right up until dinner time! Then I ate two corn dogs and two cupcakes for dinner after Elliott went to bed......not clean eating at all!!

So Yesterday was officially my first day of Clean Eating. Here's what I ate (and if you're a clean eating expert, feel free to chime in if you have advice or if I ate something I shouldn't have, etc):

Breakfast: Strawberries

Snack: Grapes

Lunch: Salad with grilled chicken and spicy ranch dressing (most salad dressings are on the do-not-eat list, but there's no way that's going to work for me! I have to have dressing, and so I use it sparingly.)

Snack: Banana and sunflower seeds

Dinner: Salad and Beef Stew (see below about the stew)

Snack: Apple with Natural Peanut Butter (see below about the peanut butter)

I did happen to eat a few jelly beans at work in the morning.....obviously jeally beans are not "clean", but for my first real day of this, I think I did pretty good!! I think that I need to eat more veggies and less fruit, but again, not bad for my first day!

Another first: using my crock pot!!

I've used my crock pot one other time, but that was just to warm queso dip for Elliott's birthday party (and to me that doesn't really count). So yesterday is going down as my first official use of the crock pot, and it was a success!! Granted, the stew took about 3 hours longer than I thought it would, but that's what I get for starting crock pot stew at 2 pm!

Mmmm

I made the stew with beef, potatoes, tomatoes, onion, corn, carrots, and some seasonings. I think this is still clean eating (at least from my point of view, it is. It's essentially just meat and vegetables, and that's good enough for me!). Scott loved it, and I enjoyed it as a nice change from the salad I had been eating all day :) As much as I don't like to cook, I actually found myself enjoying the process of cleaning and chopping vegetables, and of course the end result was well worth the twenty minutes of prep time.
This may have been a first, but it definitely won't be the last!

Ellie being cute while I was cooking

And finally, one more first: Natural Peanut Butter.

I looove peanut butter, and believe it or not, yesterday was the very first time I had ever tried the "natural" kind. The ingredient list? Peanuts. and less than 1% salt. Not too bad. I consider that clean eating. However, it's definitely an acquired taste. You won't catch me licking a spoon full of peanut butter anytime soon. The texture and taste are just a lot different than I'm used to with good ol' Jif, you know? It felt very greasy to me, and the only way I managed to get any down was by taking it with a slice of apple. I think in time natural peanut butter will become a healthy part of my diet, but it's definitely going to take some time.

So there you have it, a little update on my "diet" (although I like to think of it as a lifestyle change, not so much a diet) and adventures in cooking!

My goal for today is the same as yesterday: meat, vegetables, and fruit with a few nuts and berries and no more jelly beans!

~Amanda