Clean Eating... Mmmm Mmmm Good

It's been a while since I "blogged" but here I am - back in more ways than one. Back to writing my blog, but I'm also back on the clean-eating bandwagon. It's hard when you're away from home, away from your daily routine, to really stick to a clean eating lifestyle (especially when your traveling companion really REALLY wants to sink her teeth into some Dixie Lee - just for old times sake! You go, Jody!!) and it has taken me a few days to get my energy back. But I'm feeling more and more like my old self again (I'd like to think of that as being a good thing... LOL!)

So, if I'm going to be serious about this "Quest" of mine, then eating clean 75% of the time just won't cut it. We have now upped the ante!! And a trip to Jean Talon Market, overflowing with fresh local produce, was just what the doctor ordered. We bought everything we needed for a full week of clean dinners (with plenty of leftovers for our clean lunches!). I chose the recipes from the September/October issue of Clean Eating magazine (which, by the way, is one of my absolute favorite magazines and well worth the subscription cost.) So far, so good. We've made Coconut Chicken, with Strawberry/Pineapple Salsa (photo herewith), Pork Tenderloin, baked with Peaches and Plums and served on a bed of Cranberry/Pistachio Brown Basmati (which, by the way, was absolutely DELICIOUS!) and a Summer Vegetable Curry (which was, on a scale of 1 to 10, about a seven... I may have to make a few adjustments next time).

As I mentioned before, we really were eating clean most of the time, with breakfasts and snacks never really being an issue. And lunches were usually pretty clean too, unless I went out for lunch with friends - but even then, I am pretty good at making healthy clean choices. My problem (and my godsend's problem too) is the evening meal. The meal itself is, again, usually pretty "clean", but we were probably really off on our serving sizes. Add to that the fact that I am a sucker for bread and there you have it - I was kissing my good, clean eating day adieu. Many of our healthy meals (for example, a nice tossed salad with a piece of grilled salmon on top...) would be ruined by my adding a slice (or loaf! .. Okay, slight exaggeration, but you get the idea!!) of crusty bread. Yes, yes... I would be sure to choose whole wheat, but still... Oh, and don't forget the margarine! Oh yeah, and the glass or two of wine!! Do you see where I'm going with this? So by REALLY planning our evening meals, I know that we will start noticing change. No question about it.

Now, I am not going to tell you that we're going to stop enjoying life and that I'll never enjoy a piece of bread or a glass of wine (or two) with my meal, but rather I'll be picking and choosing when to have them. For example, we're heading to a concert tomorrow night, which means we won't be home for dinner. So the plan is to pack an extra snack in my handy lunch bag so that I'm not famished when I meet up with my godsend for a pre-show cocktail. Cocktail? Yes, cocktail! Oh, didn't I mention that I am not going to stop living??