Eating Clean and Saving Green--Improvising

Day 20

Breakfast--banana
Mid-morning snack--nothing 
Lunch--salad with cheese and Ranch dressing
Afternoon snack--peanut butter
Dinner--I wasn't in a mood for what I had planned to eat tonight, so decided to wing it. I put chicken thighs in the oven for about an hour; about halfway through I added a sauce, which consisted of ketchup, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce and brown sugar. (I totally just kept adding things until I thought it tasted good!) We had it with garlic and Parmesan green beans.

Bedtime snack--Nature Valley Granola Thin

Workout--25 min elliptical 

Day 21

Breakfast--Mom's Best Cocoa Crisps cereal
Mid-morning snack--nothing 
Lunch--Subway club (it's any footlong for $5 February...this will be dangerous!)
Afternoon snack--almonds
Dinner--Papa John's deluxe pizza

Bedtime snack--granola bar

Workout--Insanity Core Cardio and Balance

Eating Clean and Saving Green--Rice Pilaf and Homemade Waffles

Day 18

Breakfast--banana
Mid-morning snack--nothing 
Lunch--salad with cheese and Catalina dressing
Afternoon snack--Cheese Itz
Dinner--Swai fillets with garlic and lime juice, homemade rice pilaf and stir fry veggies...the homemade rice pilaf is replacing the Rice-a-Roni I used to opt for. It's my MIL's recipe and it's one of the best rice dishes...easy to make too!

Bedtime snack--Nature Valley Granola Thin

Workout--25 min elliptical 

Rice Pilaf
1 onion, chopped
2 cups fresh mushrooms, chopped
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup rice (use brown rice to make all-natural)
1 chicken bouillon cube dissolved in 1 cup hot water (use 1 cup all-natural chix broth to make all-natural)

Saute onion and mushrooms in 3 tablespoons of the butter until soft and tender. Add rice and remaining 3 tablespoons of butter and brown for 10 minutes. Mix rice and chicken broth in oven-safe dish. Cover and bake for 35 to 45 minutes at 350 degrees F. 

Day 19

Breakfast--green monster smoothie
Mid-morning snack--nothing 
Lunch--salad with cheese and ranch dressing
Afternoon snack--peanut butter
Dinner--scrambled eggs with cheese, peppers and onions and homemade waffles (plus we doubled the recipe, cooked them all up and froze the extras...better than store-bought! Use wheat flour if you want to go 100% all-natural)

Bedtime snack--Nature Valley Granola Thin

Workout--Insanity Pure Cardio

Eating Clean and Saving Green--Yankee Doodle Roast and Pasta with Kielbasa and Swiss Chard

Day 16

Breakfast--Starbucks Hot Chocolate (cures what ails you and I had a major sinus headache!)
Mid-morning snack--nothing 
Lunch--Newman's Own Supreme Pizza. I really wanted pizza for lunch, but didn't want to spend a lot. I was at Kroger's picking up a few things and checked out the frozen pizza selection. Let's just say it left a lot to be desired in the all-natural realm! Then I happened across Newman's Own Brand and the ingredient list was pronounceable and recognizable. The pizza itself wasn't that great, but satisfied the pizza craving for the time being.
Afternoon snack--chocolate chip cookie dough
Dinner--Yankee Doodle roast, potatoes and carrots, courtesy of my MIL...this is one of my all-time favorite meals and it's all natural!

Bedtime snack--Some more cookie dough...I have no willpower when it comes to cookie dough :P

Workout--Pilates

Day 17

Breakfast--banana
Mid-morning snack--nothing 
Lunch--turkey pastrami and cheese
Afternoon snack--cashews
Dinner--Pasta with Kielbasa and Swiss Chard, salad with Catalina dressing

Bedtime snack--Nature Valley Granola Thin

Workout--took another rest day...my sinuses are kicking my butt!

Yankee Doodle Roast
Coat 4 lbs chuck roast with flour, salt and pepper and brown meat in 2 Tablespoons butter in dutch oven.
Cover meat with one sliced onion.
Combine 1 container creamy horseradish with 1 cup water and pour over meat.
Cook covered for 2 hours at 325 degrees F.
Add baby carrots and diced potatoes.
Cook 2 more hours (add water as needed to prevent burning).
You can add flour or cornstarch to the juices to make a gravy. 

Pasta with Kielbasa and Swiss Chard
3/4 lb swiss chard (preferably red, from 1 bunch) (I used spinach)
1/2 lb kielbasa, quartered lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
3/4 lb penne
1/2 cup finely grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, plus additional for serving

1. Cut out center ribs and stems from chard, then thoroughly wash, along with leaves, in several changes of cold water. Cut ribs and stems crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick pieces and coarsely chop leaves.
2. Cook kielbasa in oil in a 5-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl. Cook chard ribs and stems with salt in fat remaining in pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add chard leaves, water, and red-pepper flakes and simmer, partially covered, until chard stems are tender, about 5 minutes. Remove lid and stir in kielbasa.
3. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, then reserve 1/2 cup pasta-cooking water and drain pasta in a colander. Add pasta to chard mixture with cheese and salt to taste and toss until combined well. Thin with some of reserved pasta water if necessary.

Eating Clean and Saving Green--Bonefish Grill

Breakfast--I indulged and had cereal for breakfast. I LOVE cereal!! Seriously, I could eat cereal for every meal, every day and for snacks too. We never had sugary cereals in our house growing up, so when I went to college and had Lucky Charms for the first time, I was hooked! :) Alas, most yummy cereals are full of preservatives, empty calories and sugar. However, yesterday at Kroger, Mom's Best Cereal was on sale for $.99 (killer deal!) and they make a version just like Cocoa Pebbles (called Crispy Cocoa Rice), one of my all-time fav cereals. So, that's what I had this morning. It tasted almost exactly like the Cocoa Pebbles I love!! Even though it was all-natural, it was still super high in sugar (13g) so alas, it will be a once-in-awhile treat.
Mid-morning snack--nothing 
Lunch--leftover Skyline cheese coneys and Pepsi Max
Afternoon snack--nothing
Dinner--Thanks to my awesome bro and sis-in-law, we dined at Bonefish Grill tonight. I had the fish tacos with spring green salad and balsamic vinaigrette. I also had a Rum Punch and one piece of yummy bread with pesto dipping sauce. Delish!

Bedtime snack--Another treat...Orange Leaf :) 'nuff said!

Workout--rest day

Eating Clean and Saving Green--Awesome Grocery Stockup

Day 13
Nothing new yesterday or today! The DH has been away on business, and so I've been uninspired at dinner time. 

Breakfast--banana
Mid-morning snack--nothing 
Lunch--salad with walnuts and Russian dressing
Afternoon snack--Cheese Itz and some chocolate chips (G's been sick, and unfortunately I use food as a comfort :P)
Dinner--Penne pasta with red sauce, carrots and ranch

Bedtime snack--More chocolate chips

Workout--25 min elliptical

Day 14

Breakfast--banana
Mid-morning snack--nothing 
Lunch--turkey pastrami (it's almost gone!) and Pepsi Max
Afternoon snack--chocolate chips
Dinner--Skyline chili on hot dogs with mustard and cheese (I told you there were certain things I couldn't give up! Although, I'm not sure how unnatural Skyline is since they don't list any of its ingredients!) and carrots and dip

Bedtime snack--peanut butter

Workout--Insanity Core Cardio

 $$ Saving Green Alert! $$
Kroger is running it's buy 10, get $5 off promotion...I love these because when you combine items with coupons, you can get some major savings! They are also a great time to stock up your pantry. In the picture I've just included the items in the Buy 10 promotion. I didn't get everything all natural, about 50%.

All-Natural
Mom's Best Cereal $.99/box
Ragu $.87 each after promotion and coupon
Hunt's Tomato Paste $.49/each
Wholly Guacamole $.49 each for 3 after promotion and coupons
Rotel all 6 were free after coupons
Peanuts $2.49/each after promotion and coupon



Not-so-natural
Cheese-Itz $1.99/each after promotion and coupon
Goldfish $.99 each
Tuna $.49/each for 4 after promotion and coupons
Lunch meat $1.99 each after promotion and coupons
Turkey Pepperoni $2.49

The toothbrushes I just threw in because I got all three for free :) They were 10 for $10 and I had three $.50 coupons that doubled. 

Overall, with all my other groceries, I saved $55.30 or 41%. 
 

Eating Clean and Saving Green--Bourbon Pork Tenderloin and Paleasagna

Day 11
 
Breakfast--banana and peanut butter
Mid-morning snack--nothing 
Lunch--leftover chicken from Monday night and Cheese-Itz..another item I may not be able to give up :)
Afternoon snack--peanut butter
Dinner--Bourbon Pork Tenderloin with dill yellow squash, onion and zucchini (recipe below)

Bedtime snack--Nature Valley Granola Thins

Workout--25 min elliptical

Bourbon Pork Tenderloin
1/2 cup orange juice (I used the juice from 1 orange)
1/3 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup bourbon
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 T olive oil
1 T chopped garlic

Mix all ingredients and pour over a pork tenderloin in a gallon ziplock bag. Marinate overnight in the fridge. Cook in crockpot on high for 6 hours or low for 8 hours. 

$$ Money Saving Alert $$

Along with the bourbon pork, I cooked up some dill yellow squash, zucchini and onion. Kroger has precut, packaged veggies in all different varieties, and every other week or so, they always have a bunch marked way down. I stock up and freeze them, then dethaw for dinner. Saving money and eating my veggies!! :)

Day 12
 
Breakfast--banana and peanut butter
Mid-morning snack--nothing 
Lunch--turkey pastrami and colby cheese
Afternoon snack--Cheese Itz
Dinner--Paleasagna (a paleo diet version of lasagna) and bread-machine whole wheat bread...the paleasagna was way better than I was expecting! It actually tasted like real lasagna!

Bedtime snack--Nature Valley Granola Thins

Workout--Insanity Cardio Power

Paleasagna
from whatrunslori

1 white onion, diced
1 pound of extra lean turkey, or ground sirloin (I used ground round)
1 15oz can diced tomatoes, low sodium
3 tbsp tomato paste
3 tbsp Italian spice blend
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 pound of zucchini and/or yellow squash, cut into medallion rounds (I cut them into long slivers)
1/2 cup raw goat cheese, shredded (I used good old-fashioned mozzarella)
2 cups Greek yogurt
1 egg

1. In a large skillet or sauce pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add the diced onions. Sautee on medium-high until softened, about 3-5 minutes. Add the ground turkey, canned tomato and tomato paste, spices, salt, pepper, and crushed garlic. Continue to cook all ingredients until the turkey is cooked through. Set aside when done.
2. In a medium bowl, combine raw goat cheese, Greek yogurt, broccoli pieces, and egg. Mix well.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease the bottom of a 13 x 9 Pyrex glass baking dish. Place a layer of zucchini and squash rounds evenly across the bottom, making a sort of liner.
4. Add a layer of turkey-tomato sauce on top of the zucchini. Top that with some of the broccoli and yogurt mixture, as shown above. Continue with this layering process until you have used all of your ingredients.
5. Top the entire dish with more shredded goat cheese, if desired.
6. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Eating Clean and Saving Green-Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken

Breakfast--banana and peanut butter
Mid-morning snack--nothing 
Lunch--the other half of my Rueben sandwich from the other night
Afternoon snack--turkey pastrami (I know, totally weird, but it's so good! As for ingredients, not so natural either :/ But, I had it in the freezer and I refuse to throw good food out!)
Dinner--Garlic and brown sugar chicken with broccoli (recipe below)

Bedtime snack--Nature Valley Granola Thins...satisfies my chocolate/sweets craving

Workout--Insanity Plyometrics

Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 tablespoons brown sugar
3 teaspoons olive oil
 
Directions

1. Preheat oven to 500°F and lightly grease a casserole dish.
2. In small sauté pan, sauté garlic with the oil until tender.
3. Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar.
4. Place chicken breasts in a prepared baking dish and cover with the garlic and brown sugar mixture.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Bake uncovered for 15-30 minutes.