Healthier Eating & the 30 Day Vegan Challenge

It's the New Year... I do not typically make resolutions for fear that I will fail, but this year I have a resolution to be more health conscious. I started researching raw diets, courtesy of my in-laws who have very healthy lifestyles and diets with minimal meat and lots of fruit and veggies. I came across the book below. I figured I'd give it a whirl. I'm still waiting on it in the mail, but I am excited to try it out... it's only 30 days, it can't hurt!

My in-laws are very health conscious.. and it has def. influenced me to watch what I eat. When we were in Oregon for the holidays, my sister-in-law was drinking a daily wheat grass drink (my mother-in-law has also been drinking it for as long as I've known her). It is the product below. I thought, eh, that's all nice and good, but it tasted like grass. Then, when we got back, Andrew tried some of the Naked drinks (they sell them at 7-11). I tried the Mango one and it is hands down the best thing I have ever tasted... not to mention that it is FULL of natural fruits and vitamins (no preservatives or added sugars). Then I tried the Green Machine.. not as tasty as the mango one, but essentially the same thing my in-laws drink daily (with added costs). I knew that this lifestyle change could be do-able, if I put my mind to it. After some searching for bulk Naked drinks (can't find any store that sells bulk Naked, even checked Costco website), I decided that shelling out almost $4.00 for one drink was too costly. I found a website called the NoMeatAthlete.com with a recipe for the Naked and Odwalla Superfood drinks. I took a trip to the grocery store today to get some much needed items, including lots of fruit for my drinks. They are very easy to make. You gather all the ingredients (kiwis, mangos, ginger, peaches,pineapples, and the Amazing Grass Green Superfood Mix) and blend them together. Then you fill them in ice cube trays, freeze them, and after frozen you put them in freezer bags. When you want to make a drink, you just take 3 of the ice cubes and blend them with some apple juice and fresh bananas and you have your very own superfood drink, minus the cost! Find the recipe here: http://www.nomeatathlete.com/homemade-naked-green-machine/

My mother-in-law and sister-in-law both drink this (mixed with water) every morning.

Grocery shopping today... solely vegan diet.. let the fun begin

Andrew and I decided to make an event out of New Years Eve. Since we wanted to keep it pretty low key this year, we just had over our friends Tom and Maddy. I've been trying to be more health conscious about our meals, so I decided to try out a new recipe from my Light and Healthy cookbook (pictured below). I chose a recipe called "Penne with Chicken and Summer Vegetables." The reason I look these cookbooks (America's Test Kitchen aka Cooks Illustrated), is because they explain everything. They test out different products, ways of preparing the meal, and even the healthiest options. This meal in particular was only 430 calories for a 2-cup serving, with 5g of fat, and 30g protein. The recipe consisted of chicken, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, an onion, a red bell pepper, garlic, red pepper flakes, chicken broth, penne, spinach, and basil... fairly simple ingredients. I had some whole grain penne pasta, so we used that to make it even healthier. Overall, it was a big hit and very healthy!

Prep for my meal: chopped bell pepper, tomatoes, and zucchini

Leftovers. This recipe made for 6 but fed 4 of us, and leftovers for lunch, dinner, and another dinner...

I swear by Cooks Illustrated books. This one featured the recipe... although the Best Simple Recipes is also a favorite.