Help with clean eating!

[angie_mitchell]

Hi,

I didn't really know where to post this because there doesn't seem to be a designated forum for eating so I thought I'd try here - I'd love anyone's help.

I just started to think about clean eating and switching my whole family. Our eating has been out of control recently and my husband and I have been working out for years with no real results. I'm tired of it. I am ready to make the real change. Our kids eat typical kid junk and I just don't want to raise them that way (they are 2 and 3 so young enough to still make the change!).

Anyway, I got Tosca's books (diet/cookbook) and read through those last night. I also got the most recent copy of clean eating magazine. I found Tosca's "diet" to be more strict than that of clean eating mag. I also noticed that Tosca recommends Ezekial products while clean eating mag mentions more kashi and annie's products.

Here are my concerns. I really really really dislike tomoatoes (at least fresh ones) and a LOT of the recipes seem to include them. Can I still do this? Also, I'm going to have a hard time convincing my husband not to eat "real" red meat and switch to things like ground turkey and such. He also really hates fish so that will be hard to just have basically chicken, turkey, and tenderloin. I guess we'll throw in the occasional lean top sirloin or something as well and maybe a shrimp meal - and he will do sushi so that helps I guess.

Also, are boca and morning star products considered clean? I guess I'm walking the fine line between vegetarian (which I don't want to do) and clean.

My kids eat (and love) the horrible kid basics - hot dogs, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, pbj. We've recently switched to annie's mac and cheese but how do I do the other things naturally or what do I give them for lunch? They also love waffles (eggo) for breakfast with butter. Would I be okay to switch them to kashi waffles with almond butter?

I'm really overwhelmed and so desperately want to make the change, not just for me but for my whole family! I feel like I need a few staples just to get me started!

Thankfully we have a trader joe's and a whole foods here but in about 3 months we're moving to France. In a way, I think this might be easier becuase of all the fresh food markets but I'm still a bit nervous.

Also, I've been buying boxed risotto in the natural food section at fry's but I'm assuming (as Tosca says) if it comes in a box, it's probably not good.

Okay, this has gotten long enough. Just really looking for some support here. Thanks so much for any responses!

angie
on the road to my new life...

 

[trunyon]

Hi Angie - not Cathe here - but you since she is super busy right now with STS you could post this in Open Discussion. Alot of very knowledgeable people there that I know can help!

 

[Boilergal]

Hi Angie!

First of all, CONGRATS on making a healthy life switch for you and your family!! Change is never easy, and seems intimidating at first, but YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!!!

I have always been a good eater, but went really clean last summer, after my baby turned six months old. I wanted all of us to be healthy and knew eating a lot of pre-packaged, pre-processed foods wasn't doing anything good for us.

So I do my own version of clean eating. You don't have to follow every rule in a book-you can modify to what works for your family! We still eat lean red meat, just only once every two weeks or so. We don't like fish at home (I can NEVER cook it right!) so we don't do that. I make pork tenderloin with blueberry sauce...bonless pork chops dipped with panko breadcrumbs and sauteed in olive oil...chicken roasted with balsamic vinegar and olive oil...ground turkey enchilada casserole with black beans and organic cheeses...lean organic steak seasoned with herbs de province and fresh cracked pepper sauteed in a little olive oil...I serve the above with a vegetable (like grilled zucchini/yellow squash drizzled with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and topped with fresh basil--YUM--or steamed broccoli, or frozen peas...then a grain like brown rice, wild rice, etc.)

But the common thread is SIMPLE cooking. Simple ingredients. All of the above items I can have on the table in 30-40 minutes. (Great for those of us who work!) And my 19 month old daughter eats what we eat. She loves Quiona (that is fantastic stuff!), whole wheat spaghetti with organic pasta sauce, stuffed peppers with ground turkey and brown rice...

Breakfast for us is Wheatbix with frest fruit or oatmeal with fres fruit. My daughter also loves Yo Baby yogurts.

If you want any recipes, please feel free to e-mail me. I'm really passionate about cooking and healthy eating, if you can't tell. LOL! Also, I got a lot of recipes off the Food Network's website. I like Giada from "Everyday Italian." Her stuff is really good and for the most, really easy to prepare. I just modify the cheese amounts and make sure it's organic. And I use organic products whenever possible.

Hope this helps. It's all about simplicity, in my book!