Clean Eats!

Have you ever been disgusted by food...like all food? We get to that point around here sometimes; it usually happens after a long stretch of eating heavy baked goods, casserole after casserole, party dip after party dip, and a bunch of pop (aka, winter!). After watching Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, I think we're there again. We don't succumb to fast food all that often anymore, but we could improve further by giving more thought to what we eat at home. We do love healthy food - fresh fruit a
nd veggies - those things just take more time to prepare, so we don't eat them like we should. And, there's something about being pregnant... icecreamcakerollsbread--carbs!carbs!carbs! When I'm not pregnant, we all eat much better.

We're in the process of nixing processed foods from our diets. While I don't think you'll catch us firing up a juicer any time soon (because of the expense of buying fruits and veggies simply for the sake of juicing - unless someone can tell me how to juice cheaply {{for a family of 5 soon 6}} - we are looking for healthier options that include basic natural ingredients fixed up to be delicious. I'm especially trying to get the kids away from hot dogs and chicken nuggets. These things are easy to fix and I think that's why we turn to them so often. After all, it's a lot easier to nuke a hot dog on one plate than make a big mess in the kitchen while preparing something more involved.

So, today at lunch I tried something a little different. We had oven-baked turkey and cream cheese crescent rolls (yes, the turkey was from the deli...baby steps...), oven-baked carrot fries, and sliced apples. I have to say, I was much happier serving that to my family than hot dogs, cheese-its, and cheese sticks. I think they enjoyed it also.

I'd love to hear your clean-eating ideas and recipes. Please post in the comments section below. Have a great weekend and see you in a few days for Grace Laced Monday. :)

If you're interested in either of these recipes, here they are:

Stuffed Crescents

Here's what you need: 

• 1 package of jumbo crescent rolls.
• 4 slices of deli meat (chicken, turkey, or ham) each ripped in half
• Approx 1/4 brick of cream cheese, softened

Here's what you do:

• Pre-heat your oven according to package directions
• Un-roll each unbaked crescent triangle
• Place one half slice of meat and about 1T of cream cheese on each crescent and roll up loosely. 
• Bake according to package directions. 
• Serve and enjoy! :)

Note: If you're thinking ahead, you could use a flavored cream cheese OR mix cream cheese with your favorite seasonings/chopped green onions, etc. 

Baked Carrot Oven French FriesRecipe Source

Here's what you need: 

• 6 large carrots
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt

Here's what you do:

• Cut each carrot into 2-inch long sections
• Cut each section into thin sticks
• In a large bowl toss carrot sticks with olive oil and salt
• Spread out carrot sticks on a parchment paper baking sheet
• Bake at 425° for 18-22 minutes until carrots are browned

Note: I just used regular sea salt and added some dried minced onion as well. The fries had a great flavor. You can season them however you wish.