Grocery Day

Saturday's are normally my days to pack up a cooler, the husband and my grocery list and do the hour long trek to Austin. We go to Austin to get groceries because there are no health food stores around here, and the Whole Foods there is the closest one. We normally run by the Farmers Market there first to try and keep our shopping as local as possible.. but today I'm just a little too tired (pregnancy gets the blame) and I think I'm going to simplify the trip since the husband isn't going to tag along this time.

I have a pretty set system as to how I make my grocery list since I have to go so far away; and there's no mid-week quick trip etc. All week long I see recipes I'm interested in on Pinterest or just online, and on Saturday I sit down with my Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook, my laptop, a cup of coffee and my list. First, if I'm going to be making a recipe from the cook book I start there, running through the ingredients list and writing anything I need down. I try to bracket off the ingredients to specific recipes so that I know why I wanted that specific item; "Oh, the pumkpin spice was for the oatmeal" and I make a list of the recipes I want to make that week so that none of my items go to waste and I remember everything (pregnancy again gets the blame for my inability to remember diddly squat.)

Once I have done the recipes out of the cook book, I look online and on Pinterest and do the same from there.. making sure I either have the website saved or the pin on my cooking board.

The last step is to go over my list and write down all the necessities I may not have included already; milk, bread, lunchmeat, cooking spray, honey, ziplocks, etc.

Once that's all done, I'm ready to go! What do you do differently?

Spring Herb Quinoa Patties - Pinterest got me again!

Spring Herb Quinoa Patties

 (This is my Frenchie; Kimmy, waiting patiently for me to drop food as I cook)

 First off - Just now, my amazing husband just stopped playing his MLB video game when he heard the washer go off and put the load in the dryer, without being asked!!!!!!!! Woah!

Anyways, pinterest drives me crazy with the recipes! I want to cook so much! This one was awesome because I just starting using quinoa, and I needed a side for the fresh salmon my husband was grilling. Let me tell you - o.m.g. These were amazing!! One of my favorite things I've found on pinterest yet, and really, really easy.  
The recipe is originally from Two-Tarts which is a great blog!! You should really check it out. Of course - I altered it just a little using what I had in stock in my kitchen.


(My alterations with be in parentheses) 
2 cups cooked quinoa, 3/4 c. dry (If you don't know how to cook quinoa, the instructions are at the bottom of this post)
2 eggs 
2 Tbsp. green onions (I used about 5 green onions) 
2 Tbsp. mint (I didn't use any) 
2 Tbsp chopped parsley (I used an italian herb mix instead, just a few shakes)  
1/2 cup graded strong cheese (I used a strong white cheese we picked up at whole foods this past weekend, almost 1/2 cup mixd in with a medium pinch of mozzarella) 
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I used up the conventional store bought garlic ones we had) 
1/4 tsp salt

I followed the rest of their recipe exact; 

1) Combine everything but the quinoa in a large bowl and mix well.  Fold in the cooked quinoa until it’s fully incorporated and the mixture is even.

2) Heat a large frying pan, with a drizzle of oil to coat, to medium high.

Using a spoon & your hands, form appox 2” patties with the quinoa mix and plop them into the hot frying pan.


3) Cook each side for approx 3 minutes, or until golden brown.  Don’t disturb them for the first minute or two to prevent them from falling apart!  Flip, and cook the other side for an additional 3-ish minutes, or until both sides are golden brown.

It suggests to top them with additional cheese but I'm trying to cut back on meat and dairy as much as I can, and they were fantastic without the extra cheese. They went great with the grilled salmon, purple asparagus and mushrooms we had. 

So, thank you Two-Tarts! I will be trying more recipes from their blog soon! =)

HINT: (If you don't know how to cook quinoa - it's really simple. Rinse the quinoa and let it soak for 20 mins. Bring to a boil with a 2:1 ratio - so1 cup of water per 1/2 cup quinoa, then let simmer for 15 mins. Fluff it occasionally to ensure it's not sticking to the bottom of the pan. I added my salt when I boiled the quinoa, not when mixing the ingredients - either way)  

Right now in my life I have it pretty dang easy. While I normally work full time (my husband is a full time student) I currently (just started) only work half days because I am in my third trimester. I get up for Army PT from 6:30-7:30, have work call from 9-12 and then I'm free to do mommy-to-be housewifey stuff.. hence my new blog. Don't get me wrong, I'm super tired in the afternoon and can be basically useless.. but it's nice.
Right now my spare time evolves around my hubby, cooking, gardening, and our new chickens. I just finished this semester in school and can apply for my associates (slowly but surely) anytime.
My husband and I started eating clean about a month ago (except the 10 days we were on vacation.. too hard when I spend most of my time at various families house, etc.) We love it. We feel better, look better, enjoy looking for recipes and lost weight.
In order to eat this way we spend weekend time traveling to the Whole Foods and Austin, and farmer's markets- but the biggest adventure we took was to buy 6 baby chicks so we can have our own hens (and fresh, organic eggs!) We will have to wait another few months before they start laying, but I'm super excited.
We also started out first garden this year. Because we are home renters and not home owners yet, we went with a container garden, but I actually love it. It's pretty and fun to watch our seeds grow. (I'll admitt, I don't have the greenest thumb.) I am so excited for the day I actually get to eat something from our garden.
Other than that, I spend the rest of my time with the hubby or taking care of the house - so look forward to more posts about the chickens, gardening adventures, etc.

White Chicken Chili from Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Cookbook

White Chicken Chili from Tosca Reno's "The Eat Clean Diet Cookbook."

I love this cookbook! I use it several times a week - you should definitely get it.

I will give you the recipe and in parentheses I will show how I altered it. 

(I used all organic everything unless I was using something older up) 

3 Medium poblano chilis, seeded and chopped

2 Jalapeno Chilis, seeded and deveined, chopped

2 Vidalia onions, peeled and chopped (I used three)

2 Ribs celery, trimmed and chopped (I used three) 

1 large leek, white only, well rinsed and chopped (my grocery store was out, so I didn't add this)

6 cloves of garlic, passed through a garlic press (for one, I don't have a garlic press - so I used jared minced garlic 3 TBSP = 6 cloves) 

2 TBSP cumin

2 TBSP dried oregano

2 TBSP dried basil (I was out, so this got left out) 

2 TBSP rosemary (I only had 1 TBSP) 

1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt and ground black pepper (I didn't add salt) 

8 cups of water OR low-sodium chicken stock (I used 4 cups water, 3 cups organic low-sodium chicken stock.. for a total of 7 cups which I still think was too much) 

2 x 15 oz cans of navy beans, cannelli beans, or other small white bean or combo (I used 3 cans because I used less chicken - butter beans, navy beans and great northern beans)

3 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked and cubed (I am trying to eat a LITTLE less meat so I used 2 lbs and cooked them in the crock pot for 4 hours this morning so that I could shred them instead of cube them - worked amazing!) 

Juice from 2 fresh limes (My first one wasn't really ripe so I just used one to not waste the other)

Juice from 1 fresh lemon (I used half of a large one left over from yesterday's tea recipe)

1/2 cup cilantro leaves (Bummed but I didn't have this)

4 green onions, trimmed and chopped for garnish (not pictured in the main pic below)

1.) Add the RINSED AND CHOPPED (make sure you always rinse your veggies, especially if they are not organic. YUCKY pesticides and dirt) poblano peppers, jalapeno peppers, onions, celery, leeks, garlic, cumin, oregano, basil, rosemary, olive oil, salt, and pepper to large sauce pan. Cook over medium heat for ten minutes. Onions should be transparent. 

(I had never used poblano peppers, so I googled how to chop them and it's the same as bell/jalapeno peppers. Chop of the ends, cut down the middle and remove seeds and veins, then chop!) 

(Step one - all added to the sauce pan. Smelt yummy!)

2.) In the meantime, rinse your beans in a strainer. This is important because it removes a lot of unnecessary sodium! 

While I waited for the chili to boil, I chopped my green onion and squeezed my lime and lemon together in a little bowl. I realized that my limes weren't really ripe, so I only used one and really gutted it. The poor green onions missed the group picture so here is their debut; 

3) Add your liquids (water/stock), rinsed beans, and cubed (or in my case shredded) chicken to your veggies and bring it all to boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 40 minutes. Add lime and lemon juices and top with your green onions! 

(Pre-lemon/lime/green onion) 

Review; 

As you can see, my bowl was empty! I would definitely consider it more of a soup than a chili though, there was a lot of liquid. I will probably use 5 cups instead of 7 next time (recipe called for 8.) I am also glad I used 2 lbs of chicken and 3 cans of beans instead of 3 lbs of chicken and 2 cans of beans - it was plenty meaty. I think that the cilantro really would have made a difference, but I could taste the lime really great even though I only used one instead of two. Also - my husband and I both added crushed red pepper to our bowl to spice it up. 

It made a LOT, the book says 10 servings. I had one, my husband had two, I put two servings in the fridge for lunch tomorrow and the rest in the freezer! 

Overall, it was great! =) Hope you enjoy! 

Spiced Chai Mandarin Orange Iced Tea

Spiced Chai Mandarin Orange Iced Tea

3 Spiced Chai Tea Bags (Stash) 

3 Mandarin Orange Tea Bags (Lipton)

Frozen Strawberries (optional)

Honey (or other optional sweetener) 

Boil a small pot of water. While waiting for the water to boil, remove any paper tags and staples from the bags. If they have strings I tie them together so I don't waste time fishing them out when they're done. 

I chose 3 black tea and 3 green tea for this batch. Once the water is boiling, add the tea bags and boil for 5 minutes. 

While boiling, add your sweetener to the pitcher. I used about 1/4 cup of honey (the rest of my jar.) In order to get all of the honey out I just added warm water, shook it up and poured it in the pitcher. I also added 3 frozen strawberries from the bunch I purchased at the farmers market this weekend.

Add the hot tea (minus the tea bags!) to the pitcher and stir to dissolve your sweetener. Once dissolved, fill the pitcher with water and add ice =) 

Spring time - time for teas!

Lemon Zinger Tea

I love the spring for about a million different reasons.. but it's ICED TEA TIME! I love tea, I drink tea year round (hot and cold!) But it doesn't have to be plain old lipton! I used this one today;

It's from celestial seasonings and it's pretty dang good. 

You can see I have 8 tea bags, and that's what I used to one pitcher of tea. Simply get a pot of water boiling (I use a small pot.. you don't need enough to fill a pitcher), drop the tea bags in..boil for about 5 mins. In the mean time I add as much of whatever sweetener I am going to use to my pitcher. I used organic honey (about 1/4 cup..) because I don't want it too sweet. I want it healthy too! 

Once your 5 mins of boiling is up, remove the tea bags (dispose of them.) Add your boiling tea to the pitcher right away in order to disolve your sweetener and stir. Then add water to fill your pitcher (with about 2 inches to spare.) 

I cut up half of a lemon (optional, but recommended) and twisted them into the tea - leaving them in.

 I then topped it off with ice and allowed it it to cool in the fridge and waalahh! It's done! At first my husband was all "ehhh babe I want regular tea" but we were out so he got this anyways.. THEN he said that he wants this one for now on, no more plain tea!! 

Eat Clean Pizza - Sunday Night Dinner!

Eat Clean Pizza

I have been really excited to try and make an eating clean pizza. I never used to like pizza at all, but since I've been pregnant it's really grown on me, and my husband LOVES it! I used a recipe for the dough/crust fromhttp://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-pizza-dough/. I followed it pretty much exact.. as for the sauce and toppings, I looked at a bunch of recipes and decided it was easy enough to just wing it.
Here is the dough recipe. It takes about an hour and a half, that's why this is a "Sunday" thing for me - plenty of time! 
1 tbsp. honey
1 cup warm water
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 cups oat flour
4 tsp. vital wheat gluten
1/2 tsp. salt (oops, I forgot to add this!)
2 tbsp. olive oil
I ran hot water in the sink, and thats what I used for warm water. In a small bowl, mix the warm water and honey until the honey is dissolved. Next, add the yeast packet. I gave it one TINY stir to let it mix in, but then I allowed it to sit for at least a half hour while it foamed. 
In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together. 

Once the yeast mix has foamed, add it to the dry ingredients and mix until blended. I used my hands to kneed it. Once mixed, add 1 tbsp of olive oil. Kneed together again. 

Coat the inside of a bowl with the other tbsp of olive oil, place the dough in the bowl and cover securely with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for one hour. 



After an hour, kneed the dough again and let it rise for another 30 minutes. 
Roll the dough onto a pizza sheet (I sprayed some non-sick oil on first) so that it is 1/4 inch thick, cover and let it rise another 20-30 mins while you prepare your toppings. **NOTE** It almost doesn't look like it's going to be enough, but it fed us both and we had leftovers.  

My husband and I chose different things for our toppings. I wanted spinach (I used fresh and cooked it while I waited on the dough), mushrooms, tomato, and onion. He chose onions (and lots!), green pepper, and salami. --- all organic except the salami. 

I decided to use shredded mozzarella cheese and a little colby jack I have left. (Both were from prior to us switching to organic.) 

For the sauce I saw a lot of different options but settled on using a can of organic no salt added tomato sauce mixed with minced garlic (about 2 gloves worth) and red crushed chili peppers to taste (about a tbsp.) You can chose to use any variation of tomato substance (stewed, paste, etc) in order to have the consistency you prefer. 

 After letting my dough "rise" a little more (I really never saw a big difference....) I pre-heated my oven to 410 degrees.

The next step is to spread your sauce and toppings on your pizza. I got a little ahead of myself (I'm was so excited!) and began to put my half's veggies on before the cheese. No big deal though, I caught myself and put the cheese on, then the rest of my veggies and all of his. I used the mozzarella - and a LOT of it.. not so clean after all I guess.. and topped it with just a small handful of Colby Jack.

I popped it in the oven and set the timer for a 10 minute check. 

Let me explain something. My kitchen smelt like an italian pizzeria in less than a minute. LESS THAN A MINUTE!!!

At the 10 minute check, everything looked melty gooey. I poked the crust and it seemed a **LITTLE** soft so I gave it another minute. Just one. 

ANNDDDDD drumrollllll please!

It was amazing!! It fell apart a *little* but I think that's because I didn't allow it to cool enough before I served us up. 

Eat Clean Coconut French Toast!

Eat Clean Coconut French Toast


My first recipe post! 


One of my favorite things to do is to look around online and fine recipes to try for my husband and I. We recently started eating clean, and while we are still using NOT clean ingredients that we had already purchased, we have begun to use mostly organic, clean ingredients. I have been amazed at how easy it is to change this part of our lives because everything tastes JUST as good =) I found this recipe on pinterest, but the original post was here; http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-coconut-french-toast/. 


My husband and I are not sweet fans, so my review for this is mixed. I love coconut, he likes it, and we both like french toast once in a while.. but this recipe is pretty sweet. So, it's good, just a little sweet for my taste. Had I used less syrup (I only used about 2 tbl spoons, it probably would have been perfect!) 


I alter almost all of my recipes, either to make them clean or just to taste, but feel free to use my version or the original. In this case they are almost exactly the same anyway. 



3 egg whites (I used organic) 
1 tsp. vanilla extract (using up old non-organic)
Couple shakes ground cinnamon (non organic)
4 slices clean, whole grain bread (organic)
1/4 cup dry coconut flakes (using up non-organic)
Toppings of your choice - we have a lot of syrup left so we used JUST A LITTLE and fresh organic strawberries I bought at the farmers market =) 
1/2 cup light coconut milk (also organic)


Spray a large pan with non-stick cooking spray ( I use an olive oil ) and set on medium heat. 

Mix the first 4 ingredients together in a bowl large enough to lay a piece of bread flat in. I decided to add a handful of the coconut flakes to the mix as well. 

Dip your bread in the wet mix and flip it over, enough to soak it. Place bread two at a time in the pan, and flip when it's golden (like grilled cheese!) The mix can be messy and I didn't want to drip all over so I set some paper towels between the bowl and the pan, but I ended up just brining the pan to the bowl so there was no mess! 

It's that simple. Once it's done - lay them on a plate and sprinkle coconut flakes and whatever toppings you decided to use. 

A little about me!

Let me say - to begin with - I am a little nervous about starting a blog because when I do something I tend to pour myself into it whole heartedly only to burn myself out. So, for this project, I plan on taking it nice and slow! The reason why I decided to start a blog is because of all the creative things in life that I'm doing right now - and how I use other women's blogs who are like me to stay inspired. I want to share my life too! I spent last year deployed to Afghanistan and one thing it really made me do was appreciate all the things we can do in a home environment. I discovered pinterest while I was there and longed hours and hours everyday to cook, craft, and beautify myself.
A quick summary of me! I am NOT the typical soldier. I am 23, 6 months pregnant, nearing my second wedding anniversary to my best friend in the whole world - and I consider myself a complete housewife - even though I work full time. I am also a part time student.. I am getting my degree so that I can teach High School English. I love cooking, baking, crafting, gardening, reading, and my DOGS!
If you have any of the same interests then maybe you might like this blog. I think it will be mostly to share recipes, crafts, and other ideas (cleaning etc?)
Thanks for visiting!