Clean Eating Menus Part 1

For the next month or so, I’ll be doing a Clean Eating Menus Part 1: Healthful, Mindful, 2012 … healthy, restore, reset, cleanse, recover, mindfulness, detox.

I have so many descriptors here because I don’t want you to think I’ll be doing one of those diets where you drink only cayenne pepper and lemon juice. Mainly it boils down to more fruits, more veggies. I’ve even convinced the husband to try this with me.

Clean Eating Menus full table of contents

Part 1 menus days 1-3

Part 2 menus days 4-7

Part 3 menus days 8-14

Part 4 menus days 15-21

Part 5 menus days 22-31

Review of days 1-5  

Review of days 6-10

Review of days 4-24

Review of days 22-31

We appreciate your support

Clean Eating Menus Part 1

Many of the ideas I’ll be using are on my Pintrest board if you’d like to take a look.

I hope you’ll follow along this cleanse. Or, maybe you’ll join in. At the very least, I hope you’ll tolerate me doing this restore. Maybe you made a New Year’s resolution to eat better or lose a few pounds.

As Bittman says in his article espousing semi-veganism, “you’ve probably made the annual pledge to eat better, although this concept may be more often reduced simply to “lose some weight.” The weight-loss obsession is both a national need and a neurotic urge (those last five pounds really don’t matter, either cosmetically or medically). But most of us do need to eat ‘better.’”

I’ll be doing this fresh, healthful approach to eating. But, not just eating, I’ll be cleaning out the house too. Organizing, shifting, sorting, throwing stuff away. (And, again, I love Pintrest for these things.) I’ve already started this part, and I have done so many cool things! It totally energizes me!

Cleaning clutter is good for the soul, the mind, and the heart. That clutter might be the junk drawer in the kitchen, the counter where all those “to do” lists have piled up, the clutter of people who don’t bring joy to your life, or simply the clutter of a few too many bags of chips.

One of the things I’ve never been fond of in these types of cleanses, is that it can be so wasteful. They tell you to get ½ cup of cabbage. What do you do with the rest of the cabbage? Or, you get to eat a muffin. What about the rest of the batch of muffins that I baked? Well, I’ll be shifting some of the days to include leftover days. Days where you can use up some of those leftovers. I can’t stand to throw away a whole bunch of perfectly good produce just because the diet doesn’t let you eat leftovers. And, as a guideline, homemade is always preferable, but if you want to use canned or jarred something because you don’t feel you have the time to make it, that’s just fine.

First days

So, here are the first 3 days menus (each is per person) in the Healthful, Mindful, 2012 … Part 1.

And, I’ll be giving updates along the way. Happy New Year to you and yours!

Day 1

Breakfast
¾ cup pineapple juice
1 cup oatmeal with ¼ cup raisins (or chopped prunes) and ¼ cup almond milk
1 orange

Lunch
1 cup cooked whole wheat pasta with ½ cup marinara sauce
tossed salad: 1 cup romaine lettuce, 1/3 cup shredded carrots, ½ cup cabbage, dressed with 2 teaspoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons vinegar, and ½ teaspoon dried basil
garlic bread: 2 slices whole wheat bread, brushed with 2 teaspoons olive oil, and rubbed with 1 clove fresh garlic

Dinner
fresh veggie platter: ¼ cup cauliflower, ¼ red pepper, sliced, and ¼ cup chopped mushrooms with dip: ¼ cup low-fat cottage cheese or plain yogurt with 1 chopped scallion, ½ teaspoon chopped fresh parsley, ½ teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, and pinch cayenne pepper
3 ounces broiled fish
¾ cup steamed brown rice
1 cup steamed broccoli with ½ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, and a squeeze of lemon
½ cup sweet potato with ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Snacks
2 ounces unsalted fat-free pretzels
1 apple, sliced and topped with ½ cup low-fat vanilla yogurt, 2 teaspoons wheat germ, a 1 tablespoon toasted slivered almonds

Day 2

Breakfast
½ English muffin with 1 tablespoon jam
½ cup vanilla yogurt with 2 tablespoons wheat germ
1 banana

Lunch
1 cup pineapple juice
turkey sandwich: 1 ounce turkey (or veggie slices) on 2 slices whole wheat bread with lettuce, tomato, 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar, and ½ teaspoon dried basil
tossed salad: 3 cups chopped greens, 1 carrot, sliced, and ¼ cup chickpeas, dressed with 2 teaspoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons flavored vinegar

Dinner
1 cup veggie soup (like Crock pot minestrone or lentil soup)
3 ounces tofu with rosemary
1 baked potato, topped with dash of garlic powder, black pepper, and chili powder
½ cup broccoli topped with 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 slices whole wheat bread with 2 teaspoons olive oil

Snacks
1 apple
1 banana

Day 3

Breakfast
Fruit shake: blend 1 cup almond milk, 1 cup berries, 1 teaspoon natural peanut butter, 1 cup of ice

Snack
1 cup green beans
1 cup green tea

Lunch
steamed or raw greens
4 ounces lean protein (tofu, chicken, fish, lean beef) cooked in 2 teaspoons olive oil with 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon chopped rosemary, cayenne pepper, and 1 teaspoon chopped basil

Snack
10 asparagus spears
1 cup green tea

Dinner
steamed or raw greens
4 ounces lean protein (tofu, chicken, fish, lean beef) cooked in 2 teaspoons olive oil with 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, ½ teaspoon oregano, ¼ teaspoon thyme, and ½ teaspoon paprika

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