The Accidental Healthy Girl

I'm almost on week 3 of my organic, whole grain, grass-fed, free-range and minimally processed diet. I have to say it does get easier and easier. Once you get used to eating certain foods (and not eating certain foods), it really doesn't feel like you're missing out.

A few friends have asked me to post a few tips, staples and recipes. Please keep in mind that I am brand new to this!

Tips

• Only eat red meat once per week.
• When you do eat red meat or chicken, it should not be the main part of your meal. Think of it as a garnish from now on. Seriously.
• Pack in as many veggies as you can.
• Always have a salad with your meal. Choose romaine lettuce or mesclun greens over iceberg lettuce as it has very little nutritional value.
• No more white anything. Stick to whole grain bread, whole wheat pasta and brown rice.
• Start eating leafy greens: kale, swiss chard, collard greens. They don't look very yummy but if you saute with a bit of garlic and olive oil, they're actually pretty good.
• Olive oil is great but high in calories. Don't overdue it.
• Only use olive or canola oil for cooking.
• Try to eat only minimally processed foods.
• READ LABELS.
• Do not eat anything with high fructose corn syrup. It is what makes you fat and diabetic. There is no reason why it should be in ketchup, bbq sauce or frozen "health" foods, and it is.
• Try to buy organic when you can.
• Drink more water. I'm still hooked on diet Pepsi but I'm drinking more water than ever.

Staples (excluding fruits & veggies, of course)

Larabars
Kashi TLC granola bars
Tufayan whole wheat pita bread (small)
whole wheat flour tortillas (any brand is fine, just read the labels first)

Smart Puffs by Robert's American Gourmet
almonds
organic ketchup
Annie's salad dressing (low fat honey mustard is amazing)
Annie's bbq sauce (great with grilled chicken)
Fage 0% Greek yogurt
Bear Naked granola - 9 grams of protein per serving!
Morningstar Farms vegetarian products: veggie burgers, mushroom burgers, chick'n patties
Lundberg organic long grain rice

Recipes (well, sort of)

Beef Tacos
lean organic steak
organic/natural chunky salsa
real low fat cheddar cheese
real low fat sour cream
chopped romaine lettuce
chopped tomato
avocado (mashed, with a bit of salt added)
brown rice
black beans

Cut the steak into strips and saute. When cooked, add about 1/2 cup of salsa and mix together. Set aside. Take the whole wheat tortilla add the steak, brown rice, beans, more salsa if desired, lettuce, tomato, a tiny bit of sour cream, grated cheddar cheese and the avocado. Done! The great thing about this is that you are using organic, "clean" beef. When you buy hamburger meat, you are probably ingesting hormones, antibiotics, and quite possibly fecal matter. If you prefer ground beef, just do it yourself at home with a food processor. Additionally, using the salsa is much better for you then those store bought taco seasonings. If you think there are nothing but spices in them you are wrong. Plus, this tastes much better.

Mushroom Burgers
Morningstar Farms Mushroom Lover's Burger
Tufayan Whole Wheat Pita
chopped romaine lettuce
chopped tomato
sliced red onion
organic ketchup

This makes a yummy sandwich. You would think you were eating a burger, and its super healthy. I have this for lunch quite often with a side of mesclun greens.

Fish Tacos
any flaky white fish (tilapia works well)
lime
cilantro
red onion
tomato, cored and seeded
avocado (mashed, with a bit of salt added)
1 whole wheat flour tortilla, cut in half to make 2 separate tortillas

Grill the fish with a tiny bit of olive oil or cooking spray. Once cooked, shred with a fork. Set aside. Chop the onion, tomato and cilantro. Mix together and add the juice of 1/2 a lime. You just made pico de gallo! To make your tacos, take each half of the tortilla and add the fish, pico de gallo and the avocado. Add a bit more lime on top if you wish.

This is really nothing, but I hope it helps!