Recipe: 4 stars - Hummus

Last night my daughters and I made the hummus recipe from Epicurious (see below or at http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Hummus-237832).  Our version made the following substitutions:

• no tahini (I couldn't find it at the grocery store)
• double the cumin (oops!); no paprika or parsley

Immediately after making it, we used unsalted crackers to dip.  I loved it!  The girls, not so much.  Hopefully it will grow on them, but it is definately a new regular snack for me.

After the Hummus, I wanted something healthier to dip with, so made some mini pita rounds, using whole wheat flour (instead of the white that the recipe called for) and honey (instead of sugar).  They don't have a lot of flavour, so are okay for dipping in the flavourful hummus ... but the pita recipe needs work before getting posted!



Hummus
From http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Hummus-237832

Ingredients

2 cups drained well-cooked or canned chickpeas, liquid reserved

1/2 cup tahini (sesame paste), optional, with some of its oil

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus oil for drizzling

2 cloves garlic, peeled, or to taste

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon ground cumin or paprika, or to taste, plus a sprinkling for garnish

Juice of 1 lemon, plus more as needed

Chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish

Preparation

1. Put everything except the parsley in a food processor and begin to process; add the chickpea liquid or water as needed to allow the machine to produce a smooth puree.

2. Taste and adjust the seasoning (I often find I like to add much more lemon juice). Serve, drizzled with the olive oil and sprinkled with a bit more cumin or paprika and some parsley.

Salad

This is a smaller, slightly simpler version of the salad in the first chapter of The Eat-Clean Diet Recharged.

Salad
two hand fulls of lettuce
1 carrot, grated
1/4 cup tomato, diced
2 tbsp sesame seeds

Dressing
1 1/2 tsp EVOO
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp ground flaxseed

I'm still only on chapter five, so as I get through the book I'll come back and make sure this is a true clean eating meal!  It could definately be a go to meal for me.

After a weekend of very dirty eating

This post is an attempt to remind myself how crappy it feels when we don't eat properly.

This weekend I indulged.  Continously.  There was huge amounts of delicious, unhealthy food readily available, and I took advantage.  I didn't even eat THAT much, but I ate nothing healthy in two days.  Today I ate lots of white bread, left over chicken cordon bleu, too many chocolate truffles, a bag of cheesies, and coffee.  Oh, and my one consumption where the good might have slightly outweighed the bad - a glass of orange juice.  And that's it.

It is now 7:40 and I haven't had supper yet.  And I don't want supper.  Nothing appeals to me, good or bad.

I feel like crap.

My head hurts.  I feel pressure on both temples.  My eyes are dry and irritated.  I can't look at anything for too long or my contacts get stuck.  My eyelid is pulsating randomly and driving me mad.  My mouth and throat are dry and uncomfortable.  I feel like food is right up to my throat even though I haven't eaten anything substantial in hours.  My neck and back ache slightly and crack when I stretch.  My stomach feels like a lump.  Like there's a huge soaking wet towel just sitting at the bottom of it.  It's hanging out over my belt and feeling gross... and that's without anyone around to see it.  My calves are sore from the little bit of walking I did yesterday (in snow, so it was hard).  But that actually feels okay - it's a reminder that I did something physical, with my daughters, and we all enjoyed it!

I'm irritable in general.  Don't look at me the wrong way or I will bite your head off.  My patience is very short and my temper lost easily.  There's nothing that I really feel like doing right now.  I don't want to be lazy and watch tv, I definately don't want to do anything physical like cleaning, and I don't know that I can do anything work-wise as my brain is certainly not functioning properly.  I feel both unattractive and unattracted.

It's Sunday night and the thoughts of the busy week ahead are daunting.  I don't want to go to work tomorrow, I don't want to tackle the mountain of laundry, I don't want to prepare healthy food for the week.

I don't want to do anything.

This Weeks Challenge

This week my challenge is to get the basics of the diet - figure out exactly what a complex carbohydrate is, and a lean protein, and have lots of examples to work from.

Wish me luck!

What I've learned this week

Clean eating involves:

• five or six small meals at day, spread out every 2 or 3 hours
• lots of water - two cups with every meal
• each meal should consist of a complex carbohydrate and a lean protein
• eliminate refined sugars, white flour, processed foods and anything you can't pronounce

Ideas for future "What I've Learned" posts:
- explain and give examples of complex carbonhydrates
- explain and give examples of lean protein
- find replacements for refined sugars

Time for a change

Yes, it is time for a change.

Time to change the way we look at food.  The way we look at meals.  The way we look at everything that goes into our mouths.

I've often tried to loose weight, but I honestly can't say I've ever been on a diet.  There is no way I could bring myself to do weight watchers.   The concept is not something I believe in - and if I don't believe in it, how could I follow it day in and day out?  Plus, when it comes to food, I'm the type to cheat, or take advantage, or have just a little extra here and there, until the "diet" is blown out the window.

Loosing weight and getting healthy should be a lifestyle change.  It should be a change in habits that can be continued indefinately.  And that is what I'm setting out to do with this blog.  The little I've read about Clean Eating supports my philosphy on food and eating.  Whole foods are good.  Food created with hands that I know is good.  Keeping energy levels and metabolism fairly level throughout the day is good.  Water is good. 

I have two small children and work almost full-time, so to completely change the way I eat over night is not an option.  Much reading, research, planning and learning are needed.  I'm starting this blog to track the concepts and ideas I learn on my road to clean eating.  It will be a place for me to come back to for recipes and ideas and links.  And hopefully it will help someone else out along the way.

I don't expect The Road to Clean Eating to be short.  If I can be mostly eating clean within a year, I will consider that a success.  In the mean time, a clean meal here and there and a new habit every now and then will hopefully help the weight loss early on, and continue until my clean eating habits are well established.

Wish me luck - and I'll do the same for you!