{clean} Black Bean Tostadas

I love all things Mexican when it comes to food.  It's taken me 2 years to get to this point next but, I no longer like super heavy, bad for you, Mexican food.  For some reason I find this upsetting because I used to LOVE it.  Last time I consumed a meal from my favorite local Mexican place I spent the remainder of the evening in bed with a "carb coma".  It was terrible. I was SO thirsty after the meal that I was convinced I had diabetes. Seriously, I have issues. My husband and kids are always saying, "I'm thirsty!!!". If you don't feel this way after eating out then you still have a ways to go, but I can assure you that day will come if you truly {clean} up your act completely.

This is something I like to make often:

{clean} Black Bean Tostadas 

Ingredients :

• bag of black beans
• minced garlic
• cumin
• chili powder
• sea salt
• black pepper

Directions:

1)Prepare beans according to bag. I do a quick soak of a hour. Boil water, cover and remove from heat and let it sit for a hour. Rinse, and begin cooking them.
2)Simmer them until they are very tender and then mash.
3)Heat tostadas in oven (approx. 400) until crispy.
4) Spread beans on tostadas (with or without cheese) then add lettuce, tomato, guacamole, and salsa. YUM!

NOTE: Play around with these ingredients. Start out with  2-3 tsps of cumin and chili powder. 4-6 cloves of garlic. Salt and Pepper to taste.  Also try Chipotle Hot Sauce sauce. It's yummy.

Tostadas come from Trader Joe's.

{clean} Leek and Potato Soup

This recipe is adapted from The Eat-Clean Diet (Expanded Edition) Book.  In the book it talks about how consuming onion is a great way to boost the immune system and fight disease.  If you don't know what a leek is, yes it's from the onion family.  I had no clue when I began this journey. YUM!

{clean} Leek and Potato Soup 

Ingredients:

• Approx. 3 cups of leeks (whites only) coarsely chopped and rinsed thoroughly *
• 4 medium baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks*
• 1 Tbps extra virgin olive oil*
• 3 tsp unsalted butter*
• 1/4 cup chopped sweet onion*
• 4 garlic cloves (minced)
• 1 tsp thyme
• 8 cups low sodium, low fat chicken broth or homemade stock*
• 1 tsp sea salt  
• black pepper to taste

*use organic if possible

Directions:

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat olive oil and butter. Add leeks, potatoes, onion and garlic. Cook for about 5 to 10 minutes until soft. Add stock to saucepan and bring to a boil. Once mixture has come to a full boil, reduce heat and cook for another 30 minutes until all vegetables are soft. Puree soup with blender or food processor. 

TIP: Dice leeks and emerge in water, drain and rinse again. Sand and dirt can easily get trapped between the leek leaves. 

NOTE: If you are looking for a rich potato soup this is not it. This is a low calorie option. 

Why in the WORLD would I drink GREEN JUICE???

The energy you get with drinking green juice is amazing!  If you are one that comes home from a busy day at work and is completely exhausted, you should try green juice. If you are spending a lot more time on the sofa instead of anything else, you should try green juice.  If you are wanting to reboot your life and have a fresh start (health-wise), you should try green juice.

 I truly believe after you do a week of green juicing you start to crave that "high" you get on it. I suppose similar to my addiction I had with Diet Coke, but with green juice I feel BETTER after it. Juice on!

Here are some reasons to Green Juice:

Green juice is a readily assimilated, easily digestible, unbelievably nutritious superfood.

 Drinking green juice fills your body with living enzymes, vitamins, oxygen, and phytonutrients.  Which boosts your body's natural ability to fight infection and heal chronic diseases.

 It adds enzymes to you body, and your body's aging process is indicative of how many enzymes are in your body. So by adding green juice to your diet, you may even add years to your life.

 Green juice helps your body return itself to a state of healthy alkalinity. The pH of human blood has a very narrow window of safety, from about 7.35 to 7.45.  If it gets much above or below those levels, you are probably sick. Many foods are acidic (the opposite of alkaline) causing the body to work hard 
to neutralize the affects of these foods on your blood. If the body is working like mad to keep your blood pH stable, it has less energy to fight assaults like cancer, chronic disease, and other infections.

 The Vitamin K in green juice regulates blood clotting, aids in the production of osteocalcin, a protein that stimulates bone growth, protects against osteoporosis, helps prevent diabetes, and protects against inflammatory diseases including arthritis.

 Studies have shown that green leafy vegetables significantly lower the risk of stomach, breast and skin cancer. 

 These same antioxidants have also been proven to decrease the risk of heart disease and prevent cataract and macticular degeneration in the eye.

Courtesy of www.letitflowyoga.com

If you are considering doing a green juice reboot, I highly recommend you watch Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead before you do. You can watch on Netflix or at www.jointhereboot.com

Paying it Forward {clean eating style}

I started my {clean eating} journey in the Fall of 2010. Eating clean isn't a sprint, but yet a new way of life. A new life. It's about learning new, exciting, and helpful things along this journey to better your overall health.

After about 3 months of {eating clean} I was armed with a new zest for life. I wanted to tell the world all about how great I felt. Actually, people could just tell I felt fabulous. I would get asked by friends, family, and strangers: "what are you doing to lose the weight?"  Well, let's face it, they didn't have the time to sit/stand and chat for hours on end to hear what all they needed to know to begin their journey. (and they were going to need a pencil to take notes) With that, the blog {CLEAN FREAK} was created in January 2011.  It was created to share my journey and to inspire others to make the change and feel terrific too!  Oh, what a blessing it has been to myself and others.  If you are taking the time to read this, you know.

Many people don't believe me. Many people want to be quick to judge. Many people don't want to do the work.  Many people don't give themselves enough credit. That's fine, they can continue to live the way they are if they find contentment in that.  I can't change others, but I can sure inspire them.

I have a good friend from college named Jen. We used to battle our weight for YEARS together. We attended LA Weight Loss "appointments" multiple times a week, tracked calories, took supplements, drank diet drinks and sadly, deprived ourselves of foods we loved (often). Over the past 10+ years we both got married, had two kids each, and ended up overweight in the end. Mainly, because we were doing it ALL wrong. 

Jen was one of those people that didn't believe my hype (maybe you feel the same way too, but something told you to keep reading this blog). Jen was one of the first people I told to try {eating clean}. We had struggled so much before with our weight. I was dropping inches EASILY.  I was just sticking to the rules and it was working. She HAD to try it. It may have taken her awhile to get on board, but like with anything...when you make your mind up it will get done! Jen is only 3 months into her journey but she is ON board. She finally gets all the hype. I couldn't be more proud of her. It's so rewarding to see a friend choose to {eat clean} for her family and what rewards that brings. 

Jen feels so passionate about {eating clean} now that she has created her own blog to share her journey with anyone and everyone that wants to listen! In THREE short months of {clean eating} and jogging, she has lost 30 lbs and 20 inches! I'm telling you people, this is NOT hype.

Please go to Jen's brand new site and congratulate her on her dedication to make a change and sharing it with us all! Also, you can read all about what she thought of me before she decided to dive into the world of {clean}!

UPDATE: December 2012: Jen is down 43 lbs and 28 inches. She hasn't even reached her year mark yet! If you click on the PHOTOS tab you can see before and progress pictures of Jen. WOW!

www.cleanandfitmama.com


Here's the book that started it all: